Travelling by…

A Unique Nostalgia Train

At the beginning of this month, the Company for the Management of the Railway Assets (SAAF) has inaugurated the narrow gauge railway line Targu Mures - Band.
Three reconditioned coaches, endowed with bar, hauled by steam locomotive, are in the composition of the nostalgia train operating on Targu Mures - Band - Lechita route. The line will be exclusively meant to the tourists, the hosts being already prepared to welcome the guests as it should.

Everything has started from something that happened with more than a year ago, when a group of northern tourists showed their availability to take out of their pockets quite a lot of money for only a single trip for a few hours through the plain of Mures region…
Because there have been many investors expressing their interest of the reintroduction into operation of the "mocanita" in touring purpose, considering it a very profitable idea, MLPTL and SAAF had the initiative to launch, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, a new form of railway tourism.
That is how, since June 1, the current year, the representatives of the three institutions, next to the locale personalities, have attended the inauguration of the action, to which, due to the fact that it way the Child's Day, have been invited to take part Olympic students from Mures district. Among the personality attending this first railway touring event of the year we can mention: Traian Panait - the state secretary in MLTPL, Nicu Radulescu - state secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Ovidiu Natea - the prefect of Mures District, Emil Groza - the vice-president of Mures District Council, the senator Ioan Nicolaescu and the deputy Tiberiu Zbarcea.
"This program has implied a lot of work performed by the employees of SAAF, but only this way we could hope to renew the activity of railway tourism in Romania. We already have a few demands for this program, from Greece, and also from a few schools. We are hoping that the involved parties will be willing to collaborate", wanted to specify Mr. Constantin Dale, the technical director of SAAF.
The travel on the inaugural route Targu Mures - Band has been performed with a special reconditioned train set, formed of a steam locomotive (series 764.053, produced in year 1949, at Resita factories, which operates with a maximal speed of 35 km/h), as well as two passengers coaches (built between years 1953 - 1985, at Arad Factories) and an uncovered coach, gondola type. "Mocanita" which is going to exclusively serve the tourists, either they are Romanians, or foreigners, is 50 years old.
"All these components representing the railway rolling stock in preservation have been rehabilitated, arranged and checked by the specialists from the Company for the Management of the Railway Assets", we have found out from Mr. Traian Panait, the state secretary within MLPTL.

"Mocanita" and…the avatars of the market economy
The narrow gauge railway line Targu Mures - Band, built between the years 1911 - 1913, by an Austrian consortium, has been put into operation for the passengers and freight transport in year 1914. Unfortunately, the line has been shut down and put into preservation in 1997, due to economical inefficiency… reasons, although as we have understood from the locals, a great number of people were daily travelling to work by this train. And also as a "variation" on economical themes: people remember that once with the disappearance of the train, the price of the vegetables and fruits has been all of a sudden increased quite a lot in the market of Targu Mures. But these are… simple avatars of the market economy!
There was a luck to occur this idea to "revive" the "Mocanita"! Certainly, although this will not serve them as mean of locomotion, it will still change the lives of the locals.
From now on, the ones that will cross this region by "mocanita" will enjoy the wonderful sight offered by the hills from Mures and, in the same time, they will be able to taste the wines from Tarnave and from Lechita offered in the mini-bars arranged in each coach. The passengers should not worry about spilling the drinks from the glasses, because, as we were mentioning earlier, the train travels with a speed of only 35 km/h.
The inhabitants of the communes from this area, finding out that their region will be once again visited by tourists, have already started to prepare themselves in order to welcome the guests. "We will welcome them as it should: with bread, cakes, "sarmale"(Romanian stuffed cabbage) and a glass of "tuica" (Romanian plum brandy), a villager from Berghia was very glad to say, happy to see once again the train on the crest of the hill.

On the hill by "Mocanita"
The inauguration day, the villagers along the route of "mocanita" have prepared themselves to welcome the guests according to the customs. At each stop of the train, the personalities attending the event have been waited with bread and salt, and at the final stop, on the crest of the hill, they were offered a proper peasant meal - a real feast, with delicious plates specific to the region, where there did not miss the hot goulash. Yummy, such goodies! Yet the children were quite overwhelmed by the hospitality of the hosts, because they have been spoiled with many kinds of goodies, sweets and fruit juices, and also the fact that, once reached on the crest of the hill, they could run and scream at will!
"Through the revival of this railway line, through its introduction in the touring circuit, we also propose a presentation of the route of this railway section, which includes a series of works of art - bridges and culverts - which increase the attractiveness of the route, which is quite attractive yet, crossing a region of a unique beauty. We know the motive of the touring activity through which the operator offers to the tourist the whole range of services, starting with the transport, accommodation, meals, up to the visitation of certain touring objectives and spending time in a very pleasant ambient. In this context, the railway transport on the narrow gauge railway line represents something unique of a great attraction. With regard to the rest of the touring services offered, we are confident in the partnership that will be created with local authorities.
The action of today is not singular with respect to the MLPTL programs aiming at developing the railway tourism. In this respect, we present the fact that during the next period of time we will attend the inauguration of the programs which are in achievement process, namely: the touring railway services organized on railway routes with normal gauge by making available some leisure trains - Regal, Nostalgia, Brasov and Moldovita (the structure of these railway means of transportation is in an advanced stage of rehabilitation and arrangement); the extension of the touring transport unfolded on the railway lines with narrow gauge on Targu Mures - Sovata and Sibiu - Agnita routes; the organization of museums with railway specific (namely, museums exhibiting wagons, locomotives, dresins) in accessible places, for the delight of the amateurs and of the ones that love the railways.
We have great expectations of this activity of railway tourism. We appreciate that, after a short while, there will be set up a partnership with the Ministry of Tourism in order to know all the beauties of this country blessed by God", Mr. Traian Panait, state secretary on railway problems within MLPTL, has declared to us.
On his turn, Mr. Nicu Radulescu, state secretary in the Ministry of Tourism wanted to strengthen the declaration of his colleague from the Transports: "It is a beginning of good omen the fact that here, in Targu Mures, we base a partnership, I can say a special one, for the Romanian tourism, through the national program for narrow gauge railway rehabilitation meant for tourism. With regard to the promotion part, which the Ministry of Tourism is assigned with, we will take care, as it should, because it is a very important thing to be able to develop a great part of the wealth of our country. These trains are a real masterpiece of the nostalgia architecture, presenting the special touring attraction, and obviously, we should find solutions in order to include in our packages these offers. We are optimistic. To prove that stands the fact that we have actively involved, I, as well as my colleague, Mr. Traian Panait. Now everything depends on the way in which this action will be promoted, because it represents a premier. The region is splendid, and certain touring points should be valorized. MLPTL has performed a wonderful thing, and it is our turn, of the ones within the Tourism, to promote it with our own means and recipes. Because indeed, after so many years of absence, the travel by nostalgia train is a touring attraction, and it is also a product that should be very well conceived in order to succeed to make of it an original product.
And I can not conclude without reminding the extraordinary tradition that this resorts have in this area, and obviously, the hospitality that the tourists are welcomed with by the wonderful people of this region. We thank you very much and we assure you that we will continue our collaboration. It is just a beginning. I congratulate you for this beginning; I congratulate the organizer, the deputies, senators and everyone, who together with us, as a team, are willing to start a wonderful work for the tourism of this country. Thank you."

Travelling once again!
It is a re-launching! In 1914, this train had an economic purpose, yet presently, by changing the data of the problem, it has become a touring train. In fact, the two programs made available to MLPTL passengers and the Ministry of Tourism aimed at interweaving the useful and the pleasant, so that this investment - made for the infrastructure, as well as to the rolling stock - can be profitable.
As we were reminding, this railway-touring event took advantage of an active participation of the local authorities, Mr. Ovidiu Natea, the prefect, assuring us that "in every halt there are things that can be admired; we have wonderful places, as well as various attractions - wines and traditional food - which the tourists loving the nature can enjoy. It represents a new concern for us. It will be useful and I am sure that we will have sufficient clients."
From the state secretary Nicu Radulescu we have found out that "there is tried the extension of this program in Tragu Mures - Sovata Bai region and we will probably find tourists, because the areas crossed by this line are picturesque and we would like to launch advantageous offers for the foreign tourist willing to visit our country."
As we have also mentioned before, for the normal gauge railway there are other nostalgia trains which can be rented to the organized tourist groups: Calugareni, Nostalgia, Regal etc., according to the requirement of the operators, of the touring agencies and of the organized groups.

A leisure trip
That is how, once with the beginning of the summer, Romanian tourism, more exactly the railway tourism, has enriched with a new route: Tragu Mures - Band. It crosses a very charming relief area, which the arrival of the month of the cherries has added a plus of savor; the raw green of the leaves, the red of the fruits, the scent of the fin freshly mowed, the poppies, the daisies, the fairies, and all other flowers, which were growing among the lines, the multitude of colors and scents, all make the journey a route that you can never forget in the days that are not so bright for you. And even the wild animals - dears, rabbits and pheasants - from the region have arrived at the first meeting, after many years, with the little monster which, taking out steam on its nostrils, has crossed the hills and the valleys.
Yet, undeniable, the children have been the happiest of these …meeting in the nature with the animals they only saw in their coloring books. The number of kids from the train has been increased more and more with each stop in the localities on the route, the coaches being filled up with their joyful voices, all of them enjoying the unique gift received on their Day. We have talked about the "special guests" of the Day with the school inspector, Mr. Felicia Stela Ionescu:
"We have invited to this leisure trip15 children from Targu Mures and Cristesti, all of them awarded at the National Olympiad for Romanian Language, Mathematics, Latin Language and Biology. The prefect of Mures had this initiative, in collaboration with the District School Inspectorate. Therefore our pupils had the occasion to see how people were travelling in the past by train and they have immediately made some comparisons with the current conditions; moreover, there have been already delineated ideas for school trips in this region.
It was and it still is a pleasant day for us. Especially that the kids from other villages joined them and there has been formed a more heterogeneous group; they have been singing, have discovered the dears and the rabbits, they have been laughing, they have been telling adventures…school stories!
The section of the railway route put into the service of tourism once again is part of a narrow gauge line, having a 90 kilometers length, which crosses nine localities from Mures and Bistrita Nasaud districts. The route presents areas with big slopes and curves, encountering along it three bridges and 18 level crossings with roads and district roads, on a length of a kilometer and a half from the route of the train crossing just through the woods!

A Nostalgia … railway man
…we can not conclude the pages that we have dedicated to this debut of the summer in the railway tourism without presenting you another declaration, which we have picked from one of the members of the railway "team" which has taken us to the wonderful areas from Mures. Imagine him dressed in a genuine uniform from the beginning of the century, with the cap and the unfailing whistle, proudly standing next to the victorious locomotive that has reached the crest of the hill without any help from the Diesel auxiliary locomotive, which, cautiously, the railway men have prepared in order to help the old steamy lady. These were the opinions, of Astalus I. Ioan, track officer at SAAF Brasov.
"After seven years of searches and financial and intellectual efforts, this day represents a first victory. Moreover, you saw for yourself: a first whistling signal and…the nostalgia train or the touring train, as it is called, has started off!
From now on, we only have the future to decide if, after a hundred years, all those who have been the precursor of our endeavor have done something. If in 1997 the operation of this train has been stopped due to economical reasons, it was a plea. It was not a moral one. Because 250,000 people remained without the most useful mean of transportation and around 50,000 children without the possibility to go to school; and, from here, everything that represents an affluent region of 340 km in which people had no way of displacement.
It is true that in 1997 the private car touring undertakings thought that the annulment of the train is manna for them. They were wrong. Because many of the things that have not been achieved in one hundred years could not be accomplished in two days. To the extend that the situation has been clarified, the ones that were transporting by auto vehicles have quitted because the passengers came back to the railways.
This means that there can be still operated the narrow gauge railway lines, inappropriately said "mocanita", because this word comes, from the etymological point of view, from "mocan", who is nothing else than the inhabitant of the Apuseni Mountains, where the name also comes from; the "mocan" with kits and, in fact, with everything that meant the gold of Vlanta. Yes, after so many years, our "mocanita", finally operates once again. Therefore, the long whistle, which gives the start, was not only the departure signal of the train, was also a sign that we are beginning to think! This is poetically said. Yet, besides any words, drawing a diagonal line for those that are coming after us, this new start will be justified not only economically, but also spiritually. People from Targu Mures - Band, Targu Mures - Lechita, Targu Mures Mihaies, Targu Mures - Sovata, including Praid, will have to gain. I repeat, money, as well as the spiritual side, even the latest one is a word that has quite lost its value in our "original' transition."
Mr. Astalau talked to us about poetry and caricature, about hills and the people of the region, about the Romanian villages, which, fortunately for us, the town inhabitants, maintain their ancestral order and soul genuineness: "It is true, but seen from above, Bucharest is also a village; a village full of ministers, a village where there can be conceived three times and performed only once, because performing only one time is better. If for 100 years on this line the traffic was quite all right, it is difficult to understand that it can not be any traffic at all… at least 10 years, as I have left until my retirement… It is the sign of a beginning. And in time those of us, who will meet again, will have only one sign of recognition, of reconciliation, the smile! - he told us, in the end of our discussion, the "nostalgia" railway man that we met on the crest of the hill full of flowers and children, next to an old train that has been rejuvenated.

Silvia Mirea
Oana Branzan