Covasna
Romania
Gauge : 760mm
Status : Ceased (approx October 1999)
(Click on images for full size picture)
In May 1993 the working loco at Covasna was 764-001 built by the Reghin Tractor Works. It shunted around in the transfer yard before building up a train of empty bolster wagons for a trip to Siclau.
On the way to Siclau the track ran along the roadside for a short distance.
The famous gravity incline at Siclau. A loaded wagon has just arrived down from Commandau.
By coincidence the attractive Krauss 4-6-0 was parked in a siding at Siclau, after being transported back from CFF Oituz.
When 764-001 arrived at Siclau with the train of empties it shunted the Krauss to the end of a rake of wagons to ensure that both locos did not go over the bridge at the same time and then gently pushed the dead loco across the bridge and onto the platform of the gravity incline.
By some means the Krauss loco then ascended up the incline. As this was a gavity incline it was not clear how this was achieved when only a wagon of loaded timber descended down in the opposite direction. From the top of the incline the loco was then pushed to the sheds at Commandau and since 1993 had continued in use prior to closure of the system.This line ceased working in October 1999, but in late 2003 a group of preservationists have begun working on the line to reopen it as a museum railway.