Moscow, Russia - August 28 2007

1. Wide shot children marching at the opening of the Children of the Railway Workers Olympics

2. Wide shot children making way onto field

3. Mid shot judge handing the batons to the participants of relay race at the Children Olympics

4. Close up judge fires the starting gun pan to children running

5. Mid shot children running

6. Wide shot children screaming supporting the runners

7. Mid shot pan young girls chanting to support the runners

8. Wide shot children running the relay race

9. Mid shot young girls warming up ahead of the races

10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Ira Vasilchuk, participant of the Children Olympics

"I always wanted it (to be in the railway), I have been to lots of places, lots of cities already. And being here is the most important thing for me. Because my parents work here (on the railway) and I represent the railways here."

Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia, Russia - August 23, 2007

11. Wide shot of Children Railway train

12. Close up young train driver in his cabin pan to train control panel

13. Close up train driver in the cabin, rail track in the background

14. Close up train control panel monitor

15. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vyacheslav Rogov (14 years old), Children Train Driver

"I was scared. It is always scary at first. When I first got in here and started driving, I was scared. But then I got used to it, and it was very interesting. I learnt what all those speed counters and other gadgets mean. I now understand everything and it is quite easy for me."

16. Wide shot Children Railway station

17. Wide shot young railway workers reporting to the instructor

18. Close up instructor

19. Mid shot young girls in railway uniform

20. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Irina Skvortsova, Children Railway instructor

"They feel themselves grown-ups, they feel responsible here. And it is very important for them, at their age, to feel somehow above other kids who don't wear uniforms. The most important thing is - even if they will not become railway workers in the future, - they find a lot of friends here, they communicate and they learn the skills that could probably be useful for them in the future."

21. Wide shot Children Railway train

22. Mid shot kids in railway uniforms near train

23. Close up tourists in the train

24. Mid shot young girls in uniforms in the train doors

25. Close up young train conductor closing the train door

26. Wide shot pan tourists in the train

27. Close up children looking out of the train window

28. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasya Solyanov(13 years old), Train Conductor:

"I want to finish school as soon as possible and to enter the Railway Institute. And after that to work as a head of a railway station somewhere."

29. Wide shot tourists in the wagon

30. Mid shot tourists

31. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anna, Irkutsk citizen

"I have heard a lot about this train, but have never been here before. And now my relatives from Chelyabinsk have arrived and we decided to go and take a ride. They don't have a Children's Railway in Chelyabinsk, so we were all very interested."

32. Wide shot tracking shot of railway platform, young girl with a stop sign standing on the platform

LEAD IN:

The Railway is one of the many things that holds a lot of mystique for children and adults alike.

Children love the sound of trains as they chug along on their journey, and many even dream of becoming train drivers when they grow up.

But for children in the Siberian town of Irktutsk, that dream can become a reality from the age of 11.

This is not an ordinary children's sports day. This is the first ever Railway Workers' Children Olympics. And if you think it's an event just for children of railway workers...think again. Some of these teenagers are railway workers themselves. They are train drivers, and ticket collectors and conductors.

They all represent railroads and railway families from various parts of the country.

The Russian railway system is a growing and changing industry. With over 1.2 million employees and 1.3 billion passengers annually, the state-owned company is one of the biggest in the world.

Many of the children at the Olympics have come from families who have worked on the railways for generations. And many plan to follow their parents and grandparents into the profession.

Ira Vasilchuk has come to the Olympics from the small town of Belogorsk in the Russian Far East.

Her parents and grandparents work at the Zabaikalskaya railway and she wants to be a train conductor herself - when she grows up.

"I always wanted it (to be in the railway), I have been to lots of places, lots of cities already. And being here is the most important thing for me. Because my parents work here (on the railway) and I represent the railways here."

But some children don't have to wait until they're grown up to drive a train.

These teenagers from the Siberian city of Irkutsk have their own railway.

At a special school they are taught all about the railway industry and then can put what they learn into practice on a 3km long line.

They operate the entire line themselves. Today's driver is 14-year old Vyacheslav Rogov. He was 12 when he started driving the train.

"I was scared. It is always scary at first. When I first got in here and started driving, I was scared. But then I got used to it, and it was very interesting. I learnt what all those speed counters and other gadgets mean. I now understand everything and it is quite easy for me."

He had to pass a special exam and got a license to drive the train. He really thinks of this as of his future profession.

The Children's Railway has a long history in Russia. It was invented in the 1930's, and the world's first railway was opened in Moscow's famous Gorky Park in 1932.

By the 1950's the former USSR had developed a whole network of railway schools and at the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the country had 52 children's railways.

More than half have since closed. But its hoped that they will be revived. and with the enthusiasm of the children who have been trained to work on the railway, this looks like it could be the case.

13 year old Vasya Solyanov says "I want to finish school as soon as possible and to enter the Railway Institute. And after that to work as a head of a railway station somewhere."

Children from ages 11 to 16 perform all the duties associated with the railroad, including engineer, attendant, flagman and stationmaster.

But this is no game.

They have to undergo a five-year training period, studying theory for three years before they get any practical experience.

All teenagers at the Irkutsk Children's Railway treat their jobs very seriously, because it allows them to feel themselves grown-ups says Irina Skvortsova who is the Children's Railway instructor.

Children who work at the railway everyday in the summer seem to prefer being railway conductors, linemen, switchmen and fare collectors to playing games and hanging around in the streets, like many of their friends.

The Railway is great for the tourist industry too. Visitors from all over the country and some curious locals ride the train and put the children through their paces.

Keyword-wacky