History
The so called “Vaser Valley Railway” (the Romanian vaser means “water”), the forestry railway of Viseu de Sus, located in the high north of Romania next to the border to the Ukraine, is still an outstanding technical culture heritage object: On a network of approx. 60 kms track length you will still find steam locos – besides some motor locos – with wooden firing. For this reason the CFF Viseu de Sus (CFF is the Romanian short cut for Caile Ferate Forestiere „Forestry Railway“) shall be the last real forestry railway on earth.
The track was built with 760 mm gauge, which was the standard narrow gauge within the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and will lead you with numerous curves via bridges and tunnels next to Vaser River into a wild romantic valley of the Carpathian Mountains. The railway opens a huge forest area without any roads and villages, but therefor with bears and wolfes.
The industrial use of the forests started late at the beginning of the 18th Century during the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. German speaking settlers explored the forest areas and transported the cutted lumber by wood rafting via the river down to Viseu de Sus into the saw mills. In 1932 the forestry railway was built – an enourmous technical progress compared to the rafting.
Forestry railways were widespread over Europe, especially within the Carpathian Mountains. The operating principles were very simple: following close to the river, in case of need with narrow curves (therefore the use of the narrow gauge!), and constructed to enable the small locos pulling the the empty logging cars up to the mountains and to coast down the heavy loaded trains to the saw mills.
While replaced in most of the European countries after 1945, the forestry railways in Romania survived for a long time: In 1970 the state-run forestry administration still operated more than 3.000 kms of tracks, up to 1986 still new forestry steam locos were built in Romania, and in 1989 still more than 15 forestry railway existed with together approx. 1.000 kms of tracks.
The economic changes starting in 1990 had a devastating impact on the state-run forestry railways “CFF”: Within a few years all of them were decommissioned, abolished, locos and wagons were scrapped or sold. Only one of them is still operating up to now – the Vaser River Railway. And it is still serving for its primary purpose: a forestry railway for logging.
The railway system is managed by the private Romanian corporation „R. G. Holz Company“ since 2003, which is also the owner of the depot area and most of the locos and wagons. Still in public ownership are the railway infrastructure and the major part of the forests in the valley.
Since 2000 the forestry raiway also gets support from abroad: the swiss association „Hilfe für die Wassertalbahn“ („help fort he Vaser Valley Railway“) (1.6.Swiss association). With the swiss assistance some locos out of commission were putted back into service, new passenger wagons were purchased and the depot and the historic station building were refurbished. The surroundigs at the CFF station in Viseu de Sus will receive all infrastructures for the rising tourism.
Since 2005 regular passenger trains with steam locos are in operation for visitors and since 2007 the vaser valley is under European protection as a part of the Natural Preserve „Muntii Maramuresului“
At the moment the forestry railway is still a little bit pending, there are still a lot of problems. But the beautiful railway found a lot of friends through the whole world and the number is still growing! The last forestry railway of Romania looks into a good future, not at least due to the tourism.