Sad Fate for a Little Steamer - CFR 764.15X at Cluj-Napoca Firing Range

Just outside the city of Cluj-Napoca (Romania) there is a small road, a loop that goes through the Faget forest and connects the Manastur neighborhood with the Calea Turzii exit. From this road, closer to the Manastur end, another small dirth road leads to a military firing range. Well, at least that's what it used to be 20 years ago. Now it's only abandoned buildings and wildly growing vegetation. This is where you can find it:

A long time ago the soldiers used this territory for target practice. Now it looks like no man's land. In the tall grass you can still see a small rusty tank and... a narrow gauge (760 mm) train on a piece of track.

The tracks have sunk into the ground and the train is slowly being destroyed by the effects of the weather. It's composed of two passenger cars, a tanker, two platform cars and... a little steam locomotive! It is in a very bad shape. Eaten by rust, the metal bended, the boiler open, the number plates broken. But the trained eye can recognize that it's a 764.000 series CFR loco. In fact, on the left side, a piece of it's number plate still exists. It reads 764.15... and the last digit is missing. There are no bullet marks on the loco, it hasn't been used as target, but it's in such a bad shape that it cannot be saved anymore.

Facts:

ID: CFR 764.15X

Wheel arrangement: 0-8-0T

Built: 1949

Builder: Uzinele "23 August" (Bucuresti)

Top speed: 30 km/h

Gauge: 760 mm

Location: Cluj-Napoca, Romania (firing range)

I keep wondering how the whole train got there. There isn't any railroad track nearby and even the lines that exist a few kilometers away are standard gauge. At the firing range there is only that piece of track that is under the train and even that is sinking into the ground, so it must be there for a long time. Did they lay only that piece of track and transport the train cars and locomotive there one by one, using cranes? Is it possible that many years ago there used to be a narrow gauge line? When did they take the train there? Maybe 20, 30, 40 years ago?

Searching the steam locomotive sites has lead me to the conclusion that this loco must be one of the following: CFR 764.151, CFR 764.152 or CFR 764.154. The rest of the CFR 764.151 - 764.159 locos have records and their location is known (and CFR 764.150 never existed).

There were a total of 68 steam locomotives from the 764.000 series (narrow gauge, 760 mm) used by CFR:

- 764.001-764.008 (8 pieces), bought from Schw. (Germany), 1923.

- 764.009-764.018 (10 pieces), built by "Uzinele Domeniilor" (Resita), 1937.

- 764.051-764.059 (9 pieces), bought from Chrzanow (Poland), 1949.

- 764.101-764.112 (12 pieces), bought from Schw. (Germany), 1923.

- 764.113-764.122 (10 pieces), built by "Uzinele Domeniilor" (Resita), 1937.

- 764.151-764.160 (10 pieces), built by Uzinele "23 August" (Bucuresti), 1949.

- 764.201-764.209 (9 pieces), built by Uzinele "23 August" (Bucuresti), 1949.

More about locos of this type:

CFR 764.153 at Dej Triaj Depot

CFR 764.158 at Sighisoara Station

CFR 764.158 at Sighisoara Station

This weekend I took a trip to Sighisoara (Romania). It's a nice, quiet city, famous for its medieval fortress, which is said to be the only one in Europe inside which people still make their home. Visiting the city is definately worth while and if you're interested in steam locomotives, you'll find a pleasent little surprise at the Sighisoara railway station. Indeed, it's little. It's a 760 mm gauge locomotive from the 764.000 series of CFR. It seems that this type of narrow gauge locomotive was popular in Romania many years ago because the country had an extensive network of forest railways and the 764.000 series was quite suitable for it. The romanian forest railways are almost extinct today (I'll try to post about them in the future) but fortunately many locos of this kind have been preserved. One of them is the 764.158. This is how it looks today:

As you can see from the pictures, this time I had the opportunity to take a look at the cabin of the locomotive from the inside (I even climbed inside it). I was a bit disappointed because it was full of garbage stuck there by ignorant people. The locomotive is not in the greatest shape possible, but compared to many others, it's doing fine. If you compare the images to a photo that I took 3 years ago, you can see that at least it has been repainted in the standard CFR steam locomotive colour scheme (black, red, white):

Facts:

ID: CFR 764.158

Wheel arrangement: 0-8-0T

Built: 1949

Builder: Uzinele "23 August" (Bucuresti)

Top speed: 30 km/h

Gauge: 760 mm

Location: Sighisoara, Romania (train station)

The little steamer is not used anymore, it's on display at the train station. Unfotunately it's between some bushes and a parking place, crowded between the plants and the cars, so it's hard to even take a good picture of it.

Links:

CFR 764.158 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 764.153 at Dej Triaj Depot

After all the big and fast steam locomotives that I have posted earlier, allow me to present a much smaller and slower, yet graceful little steamer, the CFR 764.153, displayed at Dej Triaj depot. The little narrow gauge loco, built by the Uzinele "23 August" (also known as Uzinele "Faur" and Uzinele "Nicolae Malaxa") factories, has a top speed of only 30 km/h.

Facts:

ID: CFR 764.153

Wheel arrangement: 0-8-0T

Built: 1949

Builder: Uzinele "23 August" (Bucuresti)

Top speed: 30 km/h

Gauge: 760 mm

Location: Dej Triaj, Romania (depot)

The locomotive has been recently restored and looks very nice, but it's not being used anymore.

Links:

CFR 764.153 at www.steamlocomotive.info

WPZ Snow Plough and CFR 231.092 Tender at Dej Triaj Depot

The tender CFR 231.092 comes from the appropriate steam locomotive and it seems that it's a special one, only 5 of its type were built in 1932. Together with the WPZ snow plough (both standard gauge (1435 mm)) it's being displayed at Dej Triaj depot.

CFR 231.050 at Dej Triaj Depot

In 1913 the Romanian Railways (CFR) have bought from J. A. Maffei the first 20 Pacific (4-6-2) type locomotives, which were numbered 2201 - 2220. In the following years another 20 have been aquired, numbered 2221 - 2240. Due to the good results obtained with these locomotives, in 1922 CFR has ordered another 20 from J. A. Maffei München and 30 from Henschel & Sohn (Kassel). These were numbered 231.041 - 231.090. The locomotives in series 231.000 were very fast (top speed 126 km/h), actually the fastest steam locos ever used in Romania. CFR has used them to pull express passenger trains. Currently there are only two surviving locos, the 231.050, being displayed at Dej Triaj depot, and the 231.065 in the Sibiu railway museum.

Facts:

ID: CFR 231.050

Wheel arrangement: 4-6-2

Built: 1922

Builder: J. A. Maffei (München)

Top speed: 126 km/h

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Location: Dej Triaj, Romania (depot)

The locomotive is in fairly good shape, but is not being used anymore.

Links:

CFR 231.050 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 231.050 at Bucuresti Nord in 1969

CFR 230.299 at Dej Triaj Depot

Between 1907 and 1930 the Romanian Railways (CFR) have bought 131 steam locomotives of type Prussian P8 from several german companies. These were the first ones in the 230.000 series. Because they worked very well in Romania and they were suitable for their purpose (pulling passenger and mail cars), Romania started building its own locomotives of this type. 139 were built at the "Uzinele Domeniilor" factory in Resita, Romania and 91 more at the Uzinele "Nicolae Malaxa" in Bucuresti, Romania, all between 1932 and 1940. The locomotives produced in Romania were revised, technically updated and they were able to burn both coal and crude oil as fuel. They were used in service until 1980. 10 locomotives of this type have been preserved, one of them is the 230.299, displayed at the Dej Triaj depot.

Facts:

ID: CFR 230.299

Wheel arrangement: 4-6-0

Built: 1935

Builder: Uzinele Domeniilor (Resita)

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Location: Dej Triaj, Romania (depot)

The locomotive is a bit rusty, it has known better days, but it still looks good. Not used anymore.

Links:

CFR 30.299 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 230.299 crossing a viaduct near Romuli in 1996

http://www.infofer.ro/zoom14_eng.htm

CFR 151.002 ("Malaxa") at Dej Triaj Depot

This is a unique locomotive, a true masterpiece. Only two of its kind were built by the Uzinele "Nicolae Malaxa" at Bucuresti, Romania. The first locomotive, 151.001 was finished in 1939. After the II World War it was taken by the Soviet Union as war compensation and lost forever. According to unofficial sources it was distroyed at Harkov. The second prototype, finished in 1942, the 151.002 ("Malaxa") was in service in Romania until 1971. Since 1994 it is being displayed at Dej Triaj depot. The two 151.000 series prototypes were created to pull heavy freight trains on steep stretches and they were the most powerful steam locomotives ever built in Romania.

Facts:

ID: CFR 151.002

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0

Built: 1942

Builder: "Uzinele Nicolae Malaxa" (Bucuresti)

Top speed: 85 km/h

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Location: Dej Triaj, Romania (depot)

The locomotive is in good shape. It was restored in 1994 for being displayed.

Links:

CFR 151.002 at www.steamlocomotive.info

http://www.infofer.ro/zoom21_eng.htm

151.002 in Cojocna 30.7.1969 picture 1

151.002 in Cojocna 30.7.1969 picture 2

CFR 150.105 at Dej Triaj Depot

A fine example of the 150.000 series, built by the "Uzinele Domeniilor" factory from Resita, Romania, is the CFR 150.105 steam locomotive being displayed at the Dej Triaj Depot, which is now part of the romanian national heritage. The 150.000 series locomotives were developed and built between 1946 and 1960 for pulling heavy freight trains. They were the last type of steam locomotive manufactured in Romania and also the most modern. 282 pieces have been built (numbered 150.000 - 150.282) at the Uzinele "Nicolae Malaxa" in Bucuresti and "Uzinele Domeniilor" in Resita. They were retired from service in 1978-1979.

Facts:

ID: CFR 150.105

Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0
Built: 1955
Builder: Uzinele Domeniilor (Resita)

Top speed: 80 km/h
Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)
Location: Dej Triaj, Romania (depot)

The locomotive is in good shape but is not being used anymore.

Links:

CFR 150.105 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 150.105 at romanian national heritage classification

http://www.infofer.ro/zoom20_eng.htm

Dej Triaj Train Depot

At a few kilometers from the city of Dej, Romania, their is a larger classification yard (marshalling yard) and depot, which stores a number of old romanian CFR locomotives. Actually, the locomotives are on display, but it seems that not anybody can go in and look at them. On the entrance their is a warning plate stating that unauthorized personnel will pay severe fines and may even go to jail if caught trespassing. However, the guards seem to let people in to admire the beautiful locomotives.

Location of the Dej Triaj train depot:

Beside the new diesel and electric locomotives there are 6 steam locos, all in pretty good shape, but none is used anymore:

- CFR 150.105
- CFR 151.002
- CFR 230.299
- CFR 231.050
- CFR 764.153

- CFR 150.1123

Also, there is a snow plough:

- WPZ and it's special tender, CFR 231.092 (only 5 of this type were built in 1932)

And last but not least, there is an old electric locomotive:

- 1

MÁV 424.353 at the Train Station in Tokaj, Hungary

Let me start by presenting a steam locomotive that I've had the chance to see in late October, 2008. It is the MÁV 424.353, being displayed at the train station in Tokaj, Hungary. It is part of the many locomotives of the 424.000 series, which were the most famous and best steam locomotives of MÁV. A total of 514 such locomotives were built until 1958 (of which 149 were foreign orders) and most of them ran until 1984, when the steam locomotives were withdrawn from service in Hungary.

Facts:

ID: MÁV 424.353
Wheel arrangement: 4-8-0

Length: 20.79 m

Weight: 83.2 t

Built: 1958
Builder: MÁVAG (Budapest)
Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)
Location: Tokaj, Hungary (train station)

The locomotive is a little rusty, but in a fairly good shape. It is not being used.

Links:

MÁV 424.353 at www.steamlocomotive.info

MÁV class 424 at Wikipedia

The Beginning

I have loved trains ever since I can remember. When I was a kid, I used to sit for hours in the railway park located close to my home, in Cluj-Napoca, watch the trains go by and count the train cars. And, of course, locomotives were always the most interesting. I always enjoyed traveling by train and being in train stations.

During the last few years I've taken lots of photos of trains. I've also found out many things about them on the Internet. Recently I've seen and photographed many steam locomotives which are, to me, the most beautiful things that can be seen on railroad tracks.

So I decided to share my knwoledge and my photos, my railroad experiences, to turn them into one of those blogs that may be useful for others. This is how this blog was created.

In my future posts you may read about mostly anything that has something to do with railroads. Currently I think I'll focus mostly on steam locomotives that I've personally seen.

So watch for the new posts and... enjoy!