There are areas in the country where the railway has been laboriously cut through abrupt rock and tumultuous waters, which posed great problems to the railroad workers. The Salva - Sighetu Marmatiei line (118 km) was built in one such area.
The natural riches of the area (particularly wood and salt) imposed the building of narrow tracks, first for the salt (in 183) and then, on December 15, 1894, the road was also open to passenger travel (on the Sighetu Marmatiei - Valea Viseului route).
The Salva - Sightu Marmatiei line is a sinuous route that has curves as tight as 180 m in radius, with slopes up to 22%. The groundwork is built on a mountain slope on the Salva - Viseu de Jos portion and along the Viseu and Tisa rivers, on the Viseu de Jos - Sighetu Marmatiei portion. Here, on only 118 km, are 426 works of art that include bridges and viaducts, as wll asseven tunnels, the longest of which, Maramures, is 2.4 km long. To this impressive array of constructions add support walls, drains, reinforced ditches, shore barriers, waterbed regulations, etc.
The view is particularly beautiful for the traveler who gazes through the window. The scenery is "protected" by the people who are indispensable in this area - the guardians of the rocks.
Who are they? Regular people, railway workers, whose parents may have worked at the railways before them. Day after day, they must check the areas where rock falls into the perimeter of the line are imminent. They walk many kilometers every day to inspect both the line and the mountain wall in its immediate vicinity.
In general, there have been attempts to eliminate these dangerous points by stabilizing the rocky walls. But there are places where this has proved impossible. Some of these locations are km 6+300, between Salva and Cosbuc stations, 23+270 between Telciu and Halta Fiad, and 3+700 between Valea Viseului and Halta Bistra. This is why, every day, these anonymous people are responsible for the safety of trains circulating along these points. Responsibility, vigilance and seriousness are the key words whose job on the payroll is listed as "hazardous location inspectors", but whom everyone calls simply "guardians of the rocks". They must see and sometimes even anticipate. And they must always act on time and within the available time, so that any rock crumbles are removed quickly and trains are not stalled in their way. People such as Chiharcan George, Petri Ioan, Furcea Ioan, Rus Tanase, Martari Dumitru, Baian Ioan, Dumitru Ioan, Scuturici Gheorghe, Buichigean Vasile, Boiciuc Nicolae, Nicrici Ioan, Boiciuc Vasile, Steleac Gheorghe from districts L 5 Nasaud and L 7 Viseu bear the name of "guardians of the rocks". They are fortunate to live and work in eye-catching scenery, but they also provide for thousands of people to see these places as well.
The "guardians of the rocks" are accompanied in their work by those who remove the rocks that threaten to fall, who are employed by maintenance sections LA 2 Telciu and LA 3 Sighetu Marmatiei.
The preparation and training of the personnel guarding these points is a segment where vigilance and seriousness come as major objectives for the safety of train circulation.
Ileana Statie
