We did it! At 6:30pm on Saturday 25th September the Sibiu Agnita Railway carriage I have been helping to restore was lowered onto the track by a large crane. At 6:45pm I was in a group of about 16 people who made the first journey since the closure of the railway as the carriage was propelled to Agnita station by 0-8-0T locomotive 764-243.
Earlier in the day, John and Margaret Willemsen had accompanied me to a well attended Transylvanian Brunch event held on Agnita station platform where we enjoyed traditional fresh food. I met quite a few British visitors who had made the trip for this special weekend which also marks the centenary of the opening of the Sibiu-Agnita-Sighisoara Railway. The 47kms section from Sighisoara to Agnita was closed in 1965 largely due to the cost and difficulties of operating over the severe gradients required to cross the hills straddling the Mures/Sibiu county border. The remaining 62kms to Sibiu continued until 2001, operated by steam and diesel locomotives.
The Willemsens left for Cluj around 12:45pm and I took a walk along part of the 2kms of track which had been cleared for the weekend celebrations and took photos and video of the steam loco hired for the event. Around 3pm the message came through that the crane had arrived at the builder's yard where the four carriages are stored and I drove the short distance to the yard, taking some other SAR volunteers with me. Lifting the carriage onto a flatbed articulated truck was eventually achieved but not without some anxious moments. Fortunately Bill Parker, who runs a steam locomotive repair and restoration workshop in the Forest of Dean and who is the driving force behind the SAR restoration, was on hand to provide expert advice as loading/unloading railway rolling stock is almost a weekly occurence for him. Once "our" carriage was lifted clear of the other three carriages, the flatbed trailer was carefully reversed underneath and the carriage was lowered onto timber packing. Straps and chains were used to secure the carriage and after three hours the short, and very slow, road journey began from the builder's yard to a specially prepared area about two kilometres away. As already mentioned, the carriage was then lowered onto the track, the steam loco coupled to it and I joined the group in the carriage for the short trip back into the station area. Everyone was very pleased with this successful conclusion which had attracted considerable attention with cars stopping on the adjacent road while their occupants watched proceedings. They sounded their horns in unison with the loco whistle as we set off for the first trip on what I hope will become a major tourist attraction for the area.
All the British visitors except Bill Parker had left earlier to return to the Apafi Manor in Malancrav so I gave Bill a lift back since the village is in the next valley, just a few kilometres away from my house in Roandola. Bill invited me in to have a look round the beautifully restored house. Already at the Manor was Andrew Scott, a director of the Science Museum in London and former director of the National Railway Museum in York, who I had met earlier in Agnita. I was also introduced to Jessica Douglas-Home, the founder and chairman of the trustees of Mihai Eminescu Trust whose patron is none other than HRH the Prince of Wales. Having been offered a drink, I was then invited to join them for a bowl of soup but Jessica became so interested in my story of how I came to be in Romania and in my plans for Casa Cristina Roandola, that I ended up having dinner with them at Apafi Manor! This was first class networking with the person at the top as MET is one of the organisations which will be very useful to my plans. I eventually got home at 9:30pm, tired but feeling very pleased with the evening's events.
Today, Sunday, I was at the Sibiu-Agnita-Sighisoara Railway Centenary celebrations in Agnita where I met up again for further chats with the many British visitors. The celebration gala started with speeches from the Mayor of Agnita, Bill Parker, Jessica Douglas-Home, guest of honour Andrew Scott and two or three others representing railway preservation groups in England and Wales. We then had some lively traditional Saxon dances performed by three diffent groups of young people. The steam loco was providing rides hauling our partially restored carriage along the whole two kilometres of cleared track. These rides were proving very popular with the carriage packed each time and it was the third trip before I could get on board. As we steamed alongside the road, cars were sounding their horns and slowing down or stopping to watch. The people of Agnita hadn't seen a train on this track since closure in 2001 and we were attracting lots of interest!
Around 1:30pm a group of about 30 invited guests, including me, set off for a restaurant in Agnita where the Mayor had laid on lunch. More opportunity for networking! I had brought my laptop and was able to show people my video shot on Saturday and also provided copies on CD-ROM for Bill Parker, Jessica Douglas-Home and the Mayor of Agnita.
I eventually headed back to Roandola and, as had already been arranged, went to find Jessica Douglas-Home and Andrea Rost from MET who were in the village visiting the German couple next to the Lutheran church. Having located them outside the church, Jessica and Andrea came to have a brief look at my house and I think they were reasonably impressed with what I have done so far and with my future plans for conversion to a bed and breakfast. They also liked my grapes! Due to a need to get back to Sighisoara, they could only spend 10 minutes or so at 130 Roandola but I felt they went away with the right impression and I look forward to working with MET and being their eyes and ears in Roandola to help keep the village houses as traditional as possible.
What a fantastic weekend for me and tomorrow evening I shall be attending the 15th Birthday reception for Fundatia Veritas, Sighisoara for whom I have designed a new leaflet. This will no doubt present more networking opportunities so I must get on with printing some business cards in the morning.
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