Interview
with
Radu Bellu
Railway Journal:
Who is Radu Bellu?
Radu Bellu: I was born in Bucharest, but spent all
my childhood in Sinaia. My family - by grandfather, father, my brother and mother, were
all working for the railways.
R.J.; So this is how your passion
for the railways began?
R.B.: Yes, and this is where my love for the
railways comes. And after love, these was passion, because I was practically raised in the
Sinaia railway station. There were locomotives that I loved, and when I could not find
them, I would ask everyone: "where's the 823?", "where's the 850?".
They were my locomotives. Sometimes I would get spanked for running from school just to
see a new locomotive that was due to pass through Sinaia. A particular event that
impressed me a lot then was when a Schultzer Diesel locomotive passed on Valea Prahovei.
Then came the collections: train tickets, railway magazines, etc. I collected them in a
storehouse that was, in a way, my technical shop.
I graduated from high school at 15 years and a half, and at 16 I was a student at the
Railways Institute, Operating Faculty. Here I first came in contact with another dimension
of the railway world: the Bucharest Depot, the Pacific locomotives; I was happy. Meantime,
I continued to gather a lot of materials: old photographs, personal documents from various
people, old pass cards, hats...
R.J.: When did you begin to write?
R.B.: The idea came to me as a
student, but ever since I was a child was traveling with my father on a train, I used to
take notes of the train number, the number of wagons, the locomotive type, etc. These
notes came in useful later.
Because I was very fond of history, I started looking for information about the history of
railroads. The big and unpleasant surprise was that I could not find anything any written
document. Between '45 and '45, it was banned to own documents or photographs on the
pre-communist period. Many people destroyed their personal documents. The history of
railroads was not to be written. For instance, you could not say that the Transylvanian
railroads were built by private company, or that those in the old Kingdom were the work of
Carol I and of the great I. C. Bratianu, a single word about whom could get you into
prison. Since I was a station chief for almost ten years in Targu Secuiesc, Sfantu
Gheorghe and Predeal, I still managed to gather some documents. Then I worked for eight
years in the field, at the traffic safety Revision office, when I would find something
interesting every day.
Every returned to normal after 1990, when I could work and write more easily. I
systematized all my material and started working on the monograph of railroads in Romania,
a book that I designed to have seven volumes. So far, the first three have been published,
concerning the Brasov, Cluj and Timisoara regional branches. I should point out something
of particular interest about the lines in this area: very few people know that, although
part of them were built during the Austro-Hungarian empire, the two states contributed
less than 10% to their overall value. The rest was provided by Romanian, French, Belgian,
German, Austrian and Hungarian private companies. Unfortunately, the railroad history is a
very limited field, with few people preoccupied of what happened here. But there are a lot
of interesting things to say: for instance, everyone knows that the first railroad built
in Romania was Bucharest - Giurgiu, in 1869. The truth is, however, totally different. The
first line on the territory of modern Romania was Oravita - Bazias, commissioned on August
20, 1854. The 15-year different puts us much higher in the hierarchy of railroad building
in Europe. It is different to be on 8th or 9th place, rather than on 19th.
R.J.: Let's return to the
monograph. What will the other volumes comprise?
R.B.: The fourth volume, now being printed at the
Filaret Publishing House, treats the Constanta and Galati regional companies, with the
Danube area. The book presents the Saligny Bridge and the role of engineer Ion Baiulescu,
who was the sharp mind behind Anghel Saligny. The entire Baiulescu family had an important
role in railroad constructions in our country.
The fifth volume will refer to the Bucharest and Craiova branches, and the sixth will
concern the Iasi branch. The seventh volume of the book will present the history of the
railways in North Bucovina and Basarabia, but I am still short of material to go, and
people in these areas did not support me at all, on the contrary, I was received with a
dose of hostility.
R.J.: Have you thought about
establishing a club, an organization of those attracted by the railroad, by its history?
R.B.: The club exists in a way, but has no official
form. I have an extraordinary team: Daniel Secalescu, a 4th year Architecture student,
Florin Lupescu - a colleague from the Ploiesti Warehouse, the best connoisseur of steam
engines in the country, and engineer Mircea Dorobantu, a fan of railway modeling. Together
we make research, documentation, and scientific publishing. But we have no time to build a
club.
R.J.: What else are you working on?
What other books do you plan to publish?
R.B.: I am planning a 600-700 page volume
representing all railway lines in Romania, with historical data and less technical
details, to the understanding of the broad public.
Another project I have is about a man that has done a lot for the railway: "Elie Radu
and the construction with Ciurea brick of the Pitesti - Curtea de Arges railroad" is
a probable title. Elie Radu was the author of extraordinary railway constructions: 13
lines, plus the architecture of numerous stations, as well as the Adjud - Targu Ocna -
Ghimes line. I am also finishing an album of biographies of all railway leaders in
Romania. I have lots of projects; I hope I have time and health for them all!
Interviewed by Aurelia Nicolae
