Mocanita din Viseu - Part 4

Around 12:30 the CFF Viseu 764.421 "Elvetia" locomotive, coupled to the back of the train and announced us with the whistle that it was time to leave for Viseu de Sus. So we all got back into the passenger cars and we slowly started rowling down the Vaser Valley.

The journey back seemed to be shorter. We stopped less and we traveled somewhat faster. Maybe it was because downstream the locomotive did not have to make a big effort, the train was rolling down mostly only using the brakes.

So, we arrived to Viseu de Sus. We took some last photos of the train and the mocanita trip was over.

It was truly a unique experience, one that I recommend to everybody who likes trains and nature. My only regret was that we only went to Paltin, we did not go further upstream, where there are tunnels and the nature is even wilder. But who knows, maybe they'll repair the line and will allow tourists to travel further next year. Hopefully the last real steam powered forest railway has a future and with the money gathered from tourists and with the help of the Swiss foundation we will see the little steam trains traveling up and down the Vaser Valley many years from now...

<- Part 3

Links:

CFF Viseu official site

Daniel Secarescu's Mocanita Blog

Mocanita on Wikipedia

Muntii Maramuresului

www.wassertalbahn.ch

Google search for "Mocanita" pages

Mocanita din Viseu - Part 3

The mocanita has arrived to Paltin around 11:30 AM. The train chief told us, tourists, that we will have a one hour long brake before returning to Viseu de Sus. So we all got down from the train and started looking around. The landscape was beautiful, with many trees, rocks and the river of course. There was a merchant selling hot drinks and snacks. the prices were pretty high, but negotiable. There were a few wooden tables and benches, so we could sit down and eat our sandwiches in peace.

After a few minutes the mocanita went ahead a few hundred meters uphill and shortly after it pushed the passenger cars back onto a secondary line.

The locomotive went uphill again and started maneuvering with some train cars loaded with logs. I found it really interesting that it did not push the logs all the way down to the secondary line where they were meant to remain until a second locomotive came to pick them up, it just gave them a push and let them roll down freely. We didn't get a chance to see what finally happened to the logs but probably a Diesel loco picked them up later to be processed at Viseu de Sus. These days the steam locomotives are mostly used for tourist trains in order to keep them active as long as possible. The wood is transported mainly by Diesels.

When the maneuvers were complete, the CFF 764.421 "Elvetia" locomotive positioned itself near a small bridge over a little stream. The train chief took its long rubber hose and put it in the water in order to refill the locomotive.

Finally, after another few minutes, the locomotive coupled to the opposite end of the passenger cars and we were announced that we should prepare ourselves to return to Viseu de Sus...

<- Part 2 Part 4 ->

Links:

CFF Viseu official site

Daniel Secarescu's Mocanita Blog

Mocanita on Wikipedia

Muntii Maramuresului

www.wassertalbahn.ch

Google search for "Mocanita" pages