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Who we are?We are a team of young volunteers, age 22-41, professions ranging from student to architect, programmer or historian, backed by local authorities and British enthusiasts, who, since summer 2008, get together in their spare time to do railway related works, while having fun.Sure, we could have stayed home and play computer games or watch TV, but what good does that do? Here we have a chance of achieving something in the real world, something which will benefit others and that makes us feel that our time was not spent in vain. And there's a lot of self content coming with that. Since summer 2009 we are organized under the "Prietenii Mocăniţei" (friends of the Mocăniţa) association. What we do?Our main goal is to preserve and gradually restore the assets of the narrow gauge railway linking the town of Agnita to the city of Sibiu. This involves regular maintenance works such as spraying with herbicide, track clearance of trees, bridges maintenance, station buildings maintenance and restoration, rolling stock restoration and dealing with locals, while keeping an eye open to prevent thefts.We first embarked on the Cornăţel station maintenance project, because the station here was the most affected by thefts. Through continuous presence, maintenance works and some security measures we managed to stop thefts by showing the locals that there are people who care about the station and who dedicate their spare time and sometimes their money to improve the railway. One year later, in the summer of 2009, while still caring regularly for the Cornăţel station, in preparation for next year's centenary we switched to a greater project - the passenger carriage. It involves the overhaul of one of the carriages which were saved from scrapping in 2008, with a view of using it and a borrowed steam locomotive to celebrate 100 years of narrow gauge railway on the Hârtibciu valley on 25 and 26 September 2010. Alongside the passenger carriage project we will also do works on the Agnita station maintenance, Coveş station maintenance and Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance projects. For the late we plan to build a motorized trolley which will improve our herbicie spraying efficiency in the upcoming spring. How can you help?Whether you like railways and couldn't find the means to express it so far, simply because you grew tired of your job at the office and crave to do some phisical work, or just because you love volunteering, this is the perfect place for you.Actions planned almost each Saturday all year long give you the perfect opportunity to attend whenever you feel up to it, without any pressure of regular attendance. Please feel free to express your desire to join the team by using any of the methods described in our contact page and you will be subscribed to our newsletter bulletin, which you will get by email prior to each of our actions, so you can decide whether the planned tasks are fitted to your taste and abilities. However, if time or distance doesn't allow you to attend our actions but you would still love to help, you can do so by lobying, sourcing tools or materials which we need, share your experience or raising funds for our various projects. This is as greater help as phisical labor and we'll make sure you get the credit that you deserve. Everybody's welcome to participate in this interesting project, which for sure will mark the lives of those who get involved, while bringing a positive contribution to those living in the deprived area of the Hârtibaciu Valley, Sibiu county, Transylvania, Romania. Mihai Blotor, 31 December 2009 |
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