Steam locomotive museum in Reșița

About

The Reșița Steam Locomotive Museum is an open-air railway museum located in the Triaj Park district of Reșița, Caraș-Severin County, Romania. Entry is free and there is no restriction on examining the exhibits. It claims it is the largest open-air railway museum in Europe. The museum was founded by Engineer Mircea Popa, then director of the locomotive manufacturing plant located in Reșița. Its inauguration was meant to coincide with the centennial anniversary of locomotive manufacturing history in the city. The locomotive factory produced 1,491 steam locomotives with the last one being produced in 1964, after which production shifted to diesel and electric locomotives. Reșița became an extremely important pillar of the railway industry in Hungary and Romania around 1867 after private companies, like the iron factories and steel works of Rimamurány-Salgótarjáni Vasmű Rt. (Rimamurány-Salgótarján Ironwork Co. - RMST), and Állami Vaspályatársaság (State Railway Company - ÁVT - Staats Eisenbahngesellschaft – StEg in German) started production in Reșița. There are a total of 16 locomotives on display, 14 of which were produced by local factory and span over 100 years in steam locomotive...

The open-air museum hosts 16 locomotives, with 14 constructed locally:

- „RESICZA“ – First locomotive produced in Romania

- „PRINCIPESA ELENA“ – First locomotive designed in Romania

- CFF 704.209 – Sister model of the „PRINCIPESA ELENA“

- CFF 764.001 – Forest steam locomotive, model 764–REȘIȚA

- CFF 764.103 – Forest steam locomotive, model 764–REȘIȚA

- CFF 704.493 – Factory steam locomotive, model 764.4–REȘIȚA

- CFF 704.404 – Forest steam locomotive, model "Anina II"

- CFU 14 – Industrial steam locomotive, model "Siderurgică"

- CFU 28 – Industrial steam locomotive, model "MÁV XIVa", later "MÁV 475"

- CFU 29 – Industrial steam locomotive, Modell "Siderurgică"

- CFR 50.025 – Replica of the Austrian type " KkStB 80 "

- CFR 230.128 – Replica of the "Preußischen P8"

- CFR 142.072 – Replica of the Austrian " BBÖ 214 "

- CFR 50.378/50.115 – Replica of der German " G 10 "

- CFR 131.003 – Last Romanian self constructed steam locomotive ng

- CFR 150.038 – Replica of the German " DRB Class 50 "

The main attraction is the steam locomotive "RESICZA". It was produced in Reșița in 1872 as the first Southeast European locomotive. The inscription in the museum identifies it as the first steam locomotive built in Romania. However, Reșița and the Banat region did not yet belong to Romania in 1872, but only from 1920. In this respect the "RESICZA" is strictly speacing the first "built in the territory of today's Romania" locomotive, which, however, clearly marks the beginning of Reșița's and thus of later Romania's tradition in locomotive's construction.

Viennese Haswell locomotive "SZEKUL" as the template