From post-Soviet bloc, a solution to MBTA woes

Oh boy! I hope Dan Grabauskas read his Wall Street Journal today like a good executive, because I think this could be the solution to the T's operating deficit, now tabbed at $105 million on the year. WSJ's Daniel Michaels reports on the Pioneer Railway, a suburban rail line staffed entirely by child labor:

Fun wasn't the goal in 1948, when the line was created by Stalinist apparatchiks to train future rail workers and instill political obedience in youths. Today, however, the line is a mix of apprenticeship and day camp. Children learn leadership and teamwork while playing. Though unpaid, the children are graded on their on-the-job skills. From age 14, they can oversee younger children and organize games and sports activities. Lili Abraham, 14, says she has learned a lot about customer service and event organization during her four years on the line.

The renewed popularity of the railway, which shut down briefly after Communism collapsed in 1989, is one of the more playful examples of how Hungarians and other Central Europeans are burying the worst of Communist legacies.

For another example of what's known in parts of unified Germany as "ostalgia" - nostalgia for the former communist East Germany, check out this BBC article on the milk bars of Poland.