Steam Locomotive Museum in Sibiu

The city of Sibiu (Romania) is, without a doubt, worth visiting. The Grand Square and the fortifications are just a few of the places that attract tourists into the city that was designated european capital of culture in the year 2008.

And, if you happen to be a steam locomotive enthusiast, Sibiu will offer an additional nice surprise for you, a museum of steam locomotives.

The museum was first open to the public in 1994 and is located at str. Dorobantilor nr. 22.

According to official sources, the museum displays 35 steam locomotives (a few operational), 2 steam cranes and 2 steam snow ploughs, all built between 1885 and 1959.

A few weeks ago I visited the museum and managed to take photos of the following steamers:

- CFR 077

- CFR WMA 65.4

- CFR 130.503

- CFR 131.040

- CFR 1493

- CFR 150.1105

- CFR 20.064

- CFR 375.032

- CFR 324.951

- CFR 388.002

- CFR 389.001

- CFR 40.004

- CFR 620

- CFR 6845

- CFR 763.148

- CFR 764.056

- CFR 764.106

- CFR 764.201

- CFR 94.649

I'll try to describe each locomotive separately in future posts.

My impressions about the steam locomotive museum are both good and bad. The good thing is that the locomotives are preserved and presented to the public and the entrance is free. The bad thing is that they are crowded in a relatively small area and because of that cannot be enjoyed to the maximum. Also, the museum is actually an active train yard, meaning that you cannot walk freely inside it as you wish, beacuse you may be hit by a train.

I wish that the locomotives were repainted more often and offered better maintenance. Also, I think they could be placed in a larger museum which would be more pleasent to visit and could even bring profit to the Romanian Railways (CFR) because people would be willing to pay an entrance fee.

Despite the not-so-professional feeling of the museum, I recommend you to visit it if you like steam locomotives. It's one of the few larger collection of such locos in Romania and a visit to it can be quite pleasent.

Links:

Steam locomotive museum in Sibiu on Wikipedia