Wolstzyn: Latest.

[Tiny Tim]

I visited the Wolsztyn-Leszno line in Poland last Saturday (5/7/2014). The regular daily steam services are presently suspended, although there are a number of steam excursions running. A plan has been agreed to resume steam running under the auspices of a new (charitable?) body which will also be responsible for the Wolstzyn Depot. As yet there is no date for the new steam timetable.

Presently there's only one steam loco in service, plus one under repair. The large yard at Wolstzyn seems to have little commercial use (just a couple of sidings of freight wagons when we were there) but holds a dozen or so redundant steam locos in various states of repair. Some appear to have been used quite recently. There are also some locos and rolling stock in the museum area of the yard. Yet more steam and other redundant stock appears to be abandoned at sidings in Leszno.

We were lucky to meet Howard Jones MBE, founder member of The Wolstzyn Experience, who very kindly arranged to get us on the last leg of that day's steam excursion. What might have been a wasted journey ended with a highly enjoyable footplate ride.

 

[Gordon]

.
The question is - at what point does a steam service cease to be 'real' and become a 'preserved' or 'museum' operation.

I'm one of those people who prefers 'real' activity to 'preservation' (although that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the spectacle of an an 'arranged' train - I have been to watch various actvities of this nature over the past few years).

Until the recent suspension the Wolstzyn service still felt comparitively real, although once paired down to one or two available locos it starts to feel more like an operation that is being artificially retained.

Food for thought...




.

 

[Tiny Tim]

The plan is (so I'm told) that the regular timetabled steam service will resume, along side the diesel trains. Of course it's a contrived situation, but the steam trains have to work hard to keep to time so it's no picnic for the crews.