Over the years, we’ve ridden on several steam trains in different countries. But Romania’s Vaser Valley Forest Railway was different in that as a privately operated enterprise, it is used primarily for the transportation of timber. It travels daily through the forest and up into the Carpathians and returns with wagons laden with logs for the sawmills and wood industry in Vișeu de Sus village. It is probably the last real forestry railway still operating with steam locos in Europe.
However, it also takes tourists, and we stayed overnight in the village at La Cassa as the station was only a 5-minute drive.
The train had seven carriages, each taking around 36 passengers. However, on a Thursday in mid-May, it was around 80% full. Each carriage had a stove in the corner which we suspect would have been very smoky if lit. We read on the website that ‘the privilege of travelling in cars/coaches of historic value compensates for the lack of comfort that we are sometimes criticised for’. However, the wooden seats had inbuilt cushions, which we found relatively comfortable.
Shortly after setting off at 9am, a long announcement in Romanian only, explained the day’s itinerary. This was followed by traditional Maramureş music interspersed with other short announcements about the history which our guide translated.
After 16km there was a short refuelling stop at Glimboaca, when water was extracted from the ground and the boiler was stoked with wood. We also refuelled, as our combined ticket included a voucher for a pastry and a cold drink from a small outlet.
6 km later, we were approaching our final stop, Paltin, when we spotted wild dogs began running alongside the train. On arrival, our ticket included a BBQ lunch comprising two saveloys, two mici (homemade sausages), a pork cutlet, cabbage salad and a bread roll, along with a hot drink. This was a hefty feast, and it quickly became apparent why we’d been followed by the posse of dogs, who benefitted from the leftovers. There were plenty of picnic benches, more importantly toilets and a small museum with information boards on the railway’s history in several languages. We also saw vans which had been adapted to run on the rails, which take workers up into the forest.
Whilst we were having lunch, the engine was moved to the front (so it was backwards), as its own momentum takes it downhill with the brakes having to be applied. On our return journey, we spotted a sign for Sabot de Deraiere or derailment shoe, should we turn into the runaway train.
This was a pleasant trip, but the only disappointment was that the windows, which didn’t open, weren’t particularly clean and kept misting up as it was a slightly damp day.
My advice would be to sit on the left-hand side going up as it follows the river and there is more to see with gardens, houses, logging activity, fields of wildflowers, and hay drying on clothes dryers.
We arrived back at Vișeu de Sus and looked at the range of steam engines before setting off again at 3pm, heading towards our hotel.
