Carpatia Express with CFR 150.216 at Viseu de Sus Station

  If you travel to Viseu de Sus to visit the Mocanita train, you will most likely need a place to sleep. There are plenty of hotels and pensions in town for that, but recently a much more interesting possibility has become available: to spend your night(s) on the Carpatia Express. In case you wonder what that is, its the name of the standard gauge train found in the yard of the Mocanita train station, here:

  Carpatia Express is a train made up of the CFR 150.216 locomotive and 3 passnger cars, in which tourists can sleep. Well, actually, to be more specific, only two of the train cars are for sleeping, the third one is a restaurant car. It is the first ever hotel train in Romania and it is open since the spring of 2011.

  Carpatia Express has a total of 20 compartments, each with two beds and toilet. The price for one night is 59 RON (13-14 Euro) for one bed or 75 RON (about 17 euro) for the whole compartment (and breakfast is included). The hotel train has heating, so it is open all year.

  The locomotive of the Carpatia Express is CFR 150.216, one of the 282 steam locomotives of the CFR 150.000 series built by Uzinele Domeniilor Resita and Uzinele Nicolae Malaxa (Uzinele "23 August") Bucuresti between 1946 and 1960. These were powerful locomotives built after the Second World War for the purpose of pulling heavy freight trains. They were designed almost entirely based on the German BR 50 locomotives, with some modifications like the Cosmovici double fueling system (they could burn both coal and crude oil). The locomotives of the 150.000 series were the last type of standard gauge steam locomotive produced in Romania. Although not so many were built (282), quite a few have survived and some of them can even be seen exhibited today (others have not been so lucky and are slowly being eaten by rust somewhere).

  CFR 150.216 was built by Uzinele Domeniilor Resita in 1958. It served at Targu Mures when it was active. A few years ago it was moved to Razboieni. Some pictures from that time show it in a really bad shape, but since then it has been restored and nicely repainted, so now it's the pride of the Carpatia Express train.

Facts:
ID: CFR 150.216
Wheel arrangement: 2-10-0
Leading Wheel diamater: 850 mm
Driving wheel diameter: 1400 mm
Axle load: 15.3 t
Weight (without tender): 86.9 t
Length over buffers: 22940 mm
Power: 1723 HP
Top speed: 80 km/h
Built: 1958
Builder: Uzinele Domeniilor Resita
Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)
Location: Viseu De Sus, Romania (CFF Viseu de Sus Mocanita Train Station)

  The three train cars of Carpatia Express have been restored recently too, repainted in their original colors, so on the outside they look the same way as when they were produced in the German Democratic Republic. On the inside, however, they are more comfortable than they were during their service time.

Links:
Carpatia Express at Daniel Secarescu's Mocanita blog
The CFR 150.000 series at www.railwayfan.ro
The Mocanita of Viseu de Sus
New Year's Eve on the Mocanita Train at Viseu de Sus
CFF Viseu de Sus Official Site

CFR 50.497 at Predeal Train Station

  The Prahova Valley is a beautfiul place in Romania and it's worth visiting it regardless if you're a train fan or not. However, if you are one, you'll find some nice surprises in almost every train station along the valley. I already wrote about the CFR 230.039 steam locomotive at the Sinaia train station and about the permanent miniature railroad exhibition hosted there. Now it's time to look at the train station of Predeal, where another real steam locomotive is preserved, and not just any steamer, but one that was famous in its own time and is an important part of the history of the Romanian State Railways.
  Predeal is a small mountain resort, a great place to spend your holidays, but if you're more interested in seeing the mentioned steam locomotive, you should have no problem finding the train station, located here:

  The locomotive exhibited just behind the station is the CFR 50.497. It was retired at the end of the 20th century, after a long service. In it's last years of activity it was used for maneuvers in train depots, as steam locomotive traction in Romania was mostly replaced by diesel and electric traction around 1970. After its retirement, CFR 50.497 was kept for a while in the Sibiu steam locomotive museum and a few years ago it has been moved to Predeal and exhibited behind the train station. Unfortunately, as you can see from the images, it is not in great shape anymore, the weather has imprinted its destructive effects on it already...

  CFR 50.497 belongs to the 50.100 series of CFR locomotives, not to the 50.000 series, as one may suspect. There are considerable differences between the two types. The 50.100 series is one that had an important role in the Romanian railway transportation in the 20th century. In the first part of the century Romania's railway system was expanding and there was an increasing need for powerful locomotives. The CFR also tried to standardize the locomotives and their parts as much as possible in order to minimize the problems induced by the fact that their earlier locomotives came from many different builders and many different countries and they were difficult to manage. The locomotives of the 40.000 series were an important step towards achieving these two goals (powerful engines that could handle the increasing traffic volume and that were also standard types), but there was one important problem with them: they were very heavy (17.2 t axle load) and the country's lines were in a bad shape, they could not handle the wight. So CFR looked for an alternative solution of locomotives that could handle all kinds of traffic (passenger, freight, mixed) and were light enough for the existing railway system. So was the 50.100 series born. At first these locos were imported from foreign builders. The first order was placed in 1920 and the German locomotive factories delivered a total of 804 such machines. In fact the locomotives of type 50.100 are a copy of the Prussian G 10 design. The G 10 had been a successful type of steam locomotive used for cargo hauling for quite a few years before the first CFR 50.100 loco has started running. It proved to be a reliable machine with good performance achievements and it was also lightweight, that is why CFR decided to adept the design, but the 50.100 locomotives were a bit different from the G 10 engines. Obviously the parts were standardized and they were fitted with the famous crude oil burning system developed by George Cosmovici.

  With a top speed of 60 km/h, the 50.100 series was considered a general purpose design and these engines were used for pulling just about any kind of standard gauge trains. At the beginning of the 20th century Romania's rolling stock came mostly from foreign builders. But CFR wished to break free from this dependence and in 1927 a law was brought which encouraged the country's own locomotive factories to build their own machines for CFR. So, beginning with this year, CFR bought the Borsig license for the G 10 and the two main Romanian railway manufacturers, Uzinele Domeniilor Resita and Uzinele Nicolae Malaxa Bucuresti started building the engines. Actually, the first 50.100 steam locomotive, the 50.243, was built a little bit earlier at Resita, it was delivered on the 14th September 1926 and it was named "Regele Ferdinand" after the Romanian king. The first engine of the same type left the Malaxa factories two years later, on the 28th of December 1928. It's number was 50.340 and it too was named after a Romanian king, "Regele Mihai". In 1936 an improved subtype was ordered, with a top sepped of 70 km/h, but due to the soon arriving war, only 10 were actually built, numbered 50.1001 to 50.1010.

  The 50.100 locomotive was probably the most wide spread steam engine ever used by the CFR. In the Second World War it transported most of the Romanian troops, before and after the war it transported just about anything. Some engines were still used in the 1990's for maneuvers inside train depots. Many such steam locomotives existed and they played an important role in the Romanian transportation of the 20th century. Surprisingly only two were truly preserved, the 50.378 in the Resita steam locomotive museum and the 50.497 at the Predeal train station. A few more are left to rust in different corners of the country...

Facts:
ID: CFR 50.497
Wheel arrangement: 0-10-0
Length over buffers: 18912 mm
Height: 4250 mm
Wheel diameter: 1400 mm
Axle load: 15.4 t
Top speed: 60 km/h
Built: 1930
Builder: Uzinele Nicolae Malaxa, Bucuresti
Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)
Location: Predeal, Romania (train station)

Links:
CFR 50.100 series at www.railwayfan.ro
CFR 50.100 series at railnet.ro

CFR 230.039 at Sinaia Train Station

  

  As I wrote earlier, this spring I had the opportunity to visit Sinaia, a quiet small town in the center of Romania, which has many things to see and that includes some eye candy for the railroad enthusiasts too. Those who are into railway modeling will be thrilled by the permanent miniature railroad exhibition hosted in the building of the train station, but those who are more into real, full size locomotives, will not be disappointed either because just behind the station there is a beautiful steam locomotive on display, the CFR 230.039.

  The 230.00 series of CFR locomotives includes machines of type Prussian P8 (KPEV, 2C-h2), which is considered to be one of the most successful and beautiful types of German steam locomotives. Their construction began in 1906 in the Schwartzkopff factories, also known as Berliner Maschinenbau. They were elegant, simple, fast and economical engines which were also relatively easy to drive. Most of them were employed in passenger hauling.

  The first locomotives of the CFR 230.000 series have arrived to Romania as war prey after the First World War and their exploitation began in 1919. CFR has also acquisitioned 131 more from several German locomotive builders. The first lot was ordered in 1920 and they arrived to the country in 1921. Seeing that they were so fit for the conditions of the Romanian lines and they had proved very efficient in pulling passenger and mail cars, the Romanian locomotive factories started building them too from 1932 onward. Until the year 1940 several were built, 139 by the "Uzinile Domeniilor" factory from Resita and 91 more by the "Uzinele Nicolae Malaxa" in Bucuresti. The fact that together they have built a total of 230 locomotives for the 230.000 series is just a coincidence. The engines built in Romania were technically updated and they were able to use not just coal as fuel, but also crude oil. Romania did not have much coal, but there was plenty of crude oil in the country, so this double fuel system, developed by George Cosmovici, was applied to many types of Romanian steam locomotives. These locos served the Romanian State Railways for many decades, the last of them being retired in the 1980's.
  Unfortunately not many of them have been preserved, only about 10 (but that's quite a lot compared to how many other types of Romanian steam locomotives have been barbarically melted). I previously wrote about the CFR 230.299 located in the Dej Triaj collection here and here.

  CFR 230.039 was built in 1907 by Stettiner Maschinenbau - AG Vulcan. It was retired quite late, after a long service of 76 years, in 1983, and is now exhibited in the Prahova Valley, next to the train station of Sinaia. It was placed there in 2007. You can find a detailed article abut how it was exhibited at the Modelism Feroviar blog, here.

Facts:
ID: CFR 230.039
Wheel arrangement: 4-6-0
Driving wheel diameter: 1750 mm
Leading wheel diameter: 1000 mm
Length over buffers: 18.49 m (with tender)
Axle load: 17.2 t
Own weight: 76.3 t (without tender)
Max weight: 137.9 t
Number of cylinders: 2
Cylinder diameter: 575 mm
Boiler pressure: 12 bar
Power: 1300 HP (868 kW)
Top speed: originally 100 km/h, plates state 60 km/h
Built: 1907
Builder: AG Vulcan
Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)
Location: Sinaia, Romania (train station)

Links:
CFR 230.039 at Modelism Feroviar blog
CFR 230.000 series at railwayfan.ro
Prussian P8 locomotives at Wikipedia
CFR 230.299 at Dej Triaj Train Depot
Permanent miniature railroad exhibition at Sinaia Train Station

CFR 764.410 at Satu Mare

Facts:

ID: CFR 764.410

Wheel arrangement: 0-8-0T

Built: 1958

Builder: "Uzinele Domeniilor" (Resita)

Top speed: 30 km/h

Gauge: 760 mm

Location: Satu Mare

The loco's exact location is this:

Links:

CFR 764.410 at www.steamlocmotive.info

CFR 764.106 at Sibiu Steam Locomotive Museum

CFR 764.106 is one of the many steam locomotives of the 764.000 series. These locos were specially built for the Romanian narrow gauge forest lines by several factories. They proved to be very efficient and reliable, so they were used on many forest railways throughout the country. Actually, they were so fit for their purpose that after the steam era, between 1982 and 1987 the IRUM Reghin factory built an additional 12 locos of this type based on the original Resita design. A few are still working at Viseu de Sus.

CFR 764.106 was built by the "Uzinele Domeniilor" Resita factory and was part of the lot of 100 locomotives of this type built between 1951 and 1959 at Resita. It was assigned to the ministry of mining and it also did service on the Sibiu-Agnita line. This loco was retired late, only in 1998.

Facts:

ID: CFR 764.106

Wheel arrangement: 0-8-0T

Built: 1952

Builder: "Uzinele Domeniilor" (Resita)

Top speed: 30 km/h

Gauge: 760 mm

Location: Sibiu, Romania (steam locomotive museum)

These days the little loco is not used anymore. It is on display at the Sibiu steam locomotive museum in a place where it is accessible to visitors. Unfortunately it is not in a great shape, it seems to me that even some wheels are missing.

Links:

CFR 764.106 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 764.106 at www.infofer.ro

Old picture of CFR 764.106

Sibiu-Agnita railway

CFR 131.040 at Sibiu Steam Locomotive Museum

The locomotives of the 131.000 series, of type 1C1t-h2, are considered a great achievment of the Romanian railway industry. They have been designed and built entirely by Romanian engineers and technicians. The prototype, 131.001, built by the Uzinele Domeniilor Resita factories, was finished in 1939. Its designers were hoping to create a locomotive that could replace the the 375.000, 376.000 and 377.000 series locos that were servicing the secondary lines of CFR at the time because these were too old, technically outdated, inefficient and not powerful enough.

So was the first 131.000 series steam locomotive born, which had an empty weight of 48.5 t and 61.6 t service weight. It could produce a power of 632 HP and 81 kN pulling power. The optimal speed was 50 km/h but it could reach up to 65 km/h. The main wheels' diameter was 1.2 m and the whole locomotive was 11.87 m long.

The tests proved that the 131.001 locomotive was strong enough and suitable for its purpose, so the Uzinele Domeniilor Resita factories started building more of them. 66 more locomotives of this type were assembled between 1940 and 1942. The total of 67 steamers of this kind got the numbers 131.001 - 131.067. Beginning with 1953 some of them were transformed so that they could also use crude oil as fuel. They were used in the Banat region until 1975 - 1976 when CFR retired them. After 1980 most of them were scrapped, only a few survived.

CFR 131.040 was saved in the last moment by railway enthusiasts. In 1992 it was taken to Arad depot in order to be dismantled, but they rescued it and thanks to them since 1994 it is on display in the Sibiu steam locomotive museum.

Facts:

ID: CFR 131.040

Wheel arrangement: 2-6-2T

Built: 1941

Builder: Uzinele Domeniilor Resita

Top speed: 65 km/h

Gauge: Standard (1435 mm)

Location: Sibiu, Romania (steam locomotive museum)

The locomotive is in a good shape, displayed among others in the steam locomotive museum in Sibiu. Unfortunately it is crowded between other locos and homeless dogs live under it, so it's pretty difficult to even take a good photo of it.

Links:

CFR 131.040 at www.steamlocomotive.info

CFR 131.040 at www.infofer.ro

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 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