Mocanita Vişeu - Steam Train

The construction of the Vaser Valley forestry railway marked the beginning of a new period of logging in the region. After the inauguration of the first section of railway on 1st October 1933, an event that took place in the presence of important political figures including the Minister of Land and Agriculture, the old rafting method of transport was gradually abandoned. The railway operated until October 1944, when it was partially destroyed by retreating German-Hungarian troops. After the Second World War, CAPS restored the railway, later extending it by a further 14 km and adding other branches in adjacent valleys such as the Novăț Valley.
In 1961, after completion of all work on the railway, the CFF(1) Vișeu de Sus network had a total length of 79.095 km, of which 46.028 km were main line, the rest being branches, sidings and passing loops at stations. It should be mentioned that the line beyond the CFF station in Vișeu de Sus was built to the narrow gauge of 760 mm, as specified for rugged terrain, so that it could follow the tortuous course of the Vaser river.
(1) "CFF" (Cale Ferată Forestieră in Romanian) means "Forest Railway".
CFF Vișeu de Sus currently has several working locomotives available for tourist use. The oldest of them, and the favorite for visitors, is "Măriuța" - built by Orenstein & Koppel of Berlin in 1910. Almost as old is the Krauss locomotive, built in Linz, Austria in 1921. Moreover the Reșița locomotives are well represented today, the CFF having 2 examples: "Elveţia" and "Bavaria", both built in 1954. Another locomotive, "Cozia-2" - built by Reșița in 1955 - was acquired by CFF Vișeu de Sus for timber transport as early as 1962. One of the last series of steam locomotives, produced in Reghin in 1986, is "Cozia-1", which has worked tirelessly since its day of construction.