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Activities archiveDate: 04 September 2010 Project: Agnita station maintenance, Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: With the help of volunteers from the Agnita Volunteers Service, we managed to cut down the two willows where the ramp will be built, to clear more of the vegetation on the direct line, as well as improve drainage of water from the trackbed. Extras: Participants: 8 See pictures Date: 02 September 2010 Project: Agnita station maintenance, Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: On an English weather, Radu started clearing the switches area of reeds and weeds, while Mihai managed to drain much of the water covering the tracks just outside the station grounds. Extras: When the rain was strongest, we met Mr. Hocevar, who will bring a steam locomotive for the centenary celebrations. Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 28 August 2010 Project: Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance, the passenger carriage Agenda: We split again in two teams, Laurie and Mihai carying on with the carriage, while Bogdan and Marius continued the deforestation of track just outside the station at Agnita, under Ioana's supervision. Extras: Grill sausages and baked potatoes for lunch, followed by the baking of Bogdan's 12 kilos of obergines. An unfortunate encounter with a wild deer, on our way back. The deer was fine and ran off, which however cannot be said about Mihai's car. Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 24 August 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Again, sandblasting, filling and painting. Seems like it's never going to end. Extras: Participants: 3 Date: 21 August 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: As before, works on the carriage exterior continued. Thus, while Laurie covered with filler the tin joints, Mihai and Virgil swapped between sandblasting and the wire brush. Extras: An unexpected visit from the organizers of the Brunch event on Saturday 25 September. During discussions held inside the "restaurant car" various aspects of the event were planned. Participants: 3 Date: 19 August 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Under a scorching sun, we continued sandblasting, applying filler and the protective paint on the exterior. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 14 August 2010 Project: the passenger carriage, Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: Since we gathered in greater number, we split in two teams. Thus, while Laurie, Cosmin and Mihai continued working on the carriage, alongside with the welder who finished the job, Bogdan, Virgil and Erol managed to dig out the tracks at the level crossing just outside the station at Agnita and to clear quite a lot of the 100 meters of track covered in reeds, beyond the level crossing. Extras: Lunch at the summer garden in Agnita. Participants: 6 See pictures Date: 10 August 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Laurie and Mihai went back to the carriage on Tuesday to finish applying the filler which was started on Saturday. Finally, a small part of the carriage is now covered in a protective coat of paint. Extras: Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 07 August 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: We continued with the removal of filler, at the same time starting sandblasting and applying new filler to cover the newly welded bits. Extras: We were accompanied by the chief editor of the Rondul de Sibiu newspaper, to gather info for a story about us. Taking advantage of the Days of Agnita festival, we had our lunch near the stage in the Steinburg glade, surrounded by traditional folk songs and dances. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 24 July 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: We carried on removing the filler and cleaning the interior, but the best part was probably removing some more of the heating pipes by lifting one end of the carriage with a jack. While not yet finished, the welder did a very good job on one side of the carriage. Extras: We were helped by a new volunteer - Marius, and upon returning to Sibiu Radu took us off-roading again between the Bârghiș swamp and Benești, along the tracks. Participants: 4 See pictures Date: 17 July 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: After a short reconnaissance visit from the welder who will fix the holes in the body, Laurie and Mihai started to prepare the carriage by partially removing the steam pipes at the ends of it and clearing the sides on the interior. During this time Vlad was meticulously removing the remaining filler on the exterior. Extras: Vlad rescued a baby sparrow and brought it with, to keep it well fed. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 13 July 2010 Project: tourism Agenda: 30 girls from the GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) camp hosted by the Romanian Organization of Scouts in Nocrich have cleared 100 meters of track just outside the Nocrich station. As a reward we offered them the bicycle trolley for a speed tournament on the length of track the've uncovered. The gift was very appreciated, everybody getting to ride it while putting to good use their previous work on the track. Extras: Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 12 July 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Taking advantage of the good weather, Mihai and Vlad decided to continue working on the carriage. Thus, while Vlad removed the putty left around the acces doors, Mihai started cleaning the interior, in preparation to repair the holes in the outer shell. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 10 July 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: We continued with removing the putty and the items at both ends of the carriage. Unfortunately we had our first accident, with Mihai injuring the top of his leg. It's nothing more than a big scratch, but we all learned to be more carefull. Extras: Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 03 July 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: The excruciating task of removing the putty gives us more headache than we anticipated. Today we managed clearing the area above the windows on one side of the carriage and the same operation was started around the access doors. In parallel we took on removing the putty left behind by the punching hammers, by means of angle grinder mounted wire brushes. We also continued removing attached items at the carriage ends. Extras: Improvisations in the restaurant car - the cap of a pate tin can as knife for salami and tomatoes, an ice cream spoon to handle the pate. Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 02 July 2010 Project: the passenger carriage, Coveş station maintenance Agenda: We continued with removing the putty from the carriage, while in the end we painted the window frames at the Coveș halt. Extras: During the lunch break in Agnita Laurie showed us photo albums from his 1992 trip to Romania, which were indeed very interesting. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 26 June 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: The weather forecast deceived us again. Although it said only cloudy skies, the rain didn't stop pouring down until, of course, we left. However, we bravely stood up to it, working under the cover of an improvized roof. Thus we managed removing the putty from more than half the other side of the carriage. Extras: We've met the coordinator of scouts, in Nocrich, had lunch with market bought food in the restaurant carriage and enjoyed the company of yet another new volunteer - Cristi. Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 19 June 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Although so far we tried various methods to remove the layer of putty, this proved to be very slow, so today we switched to the old method of chisel & hammer and drilling machine driven chisel. Thus our efficiency increased considerably, managing to remove the putty from almost an entire side of the carriage by the time the afternoon storm banished us home. Should we source more drilling machines, next Saturday we hope to end the "putty" operation, which will be followed by grinding and sandblasting. Extras: Due to the construction works on the road between Sibiu and Agnita, we took on secondary roads, longer but much more beautiful. At noon we served pizza in "the reastaurant car" and, most importantly, a new volunteer offered his help - Virgil. Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 12 June 2010 Project: Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance, the passenger carriage Agenda: Due to the late weeds, we sprayed herbicide once more on the Agnita station - Agnita warning signal sector. In parallel, the carriage exterior cleaning continued by using mechanical methods as well as sandblasting. Extras: This marked the first action for our newest member - Vlad, a 2'nd year student. Although the hard work on the carriage and the heat ran him down eventually, he eagerly awaits our next action. Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 05 June 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Although we started well, unfortunately we stumbled upon problems with the sandblasting, managing however to overcome some (water inside the air compressor, a production fault at the blasting gun) and learned some more about the technology. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 29 May 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: In preparation for the sandblasting, the space around the carriage has been cleared of furniture removed from the inside (seats, panels, luggage supports. etc.), saving only the parts which can be reused. Although personal problems intervened to one of our colleagues didn't allowed us to start sandblasting and putting a protective coat of paint on the carriage exterior, we managed to run a test of the sandblasting technique. The results are promissing. Extras: We were helped by our newest volunteer - Laurie, a British citizen who recently moved near Mediaş. At the same time the age average among the friends of the Mocaniţa has significantly increased. Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 22 May 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: The interior dismantling continued by removing the last separating wall and panels on exterior walls. Extras: Participants: 3 Date: 15 May 2010 Project: the passenger carriage, tourism Agenda: The cooperation with the Agnita Volunteers Service continues, thanks to them we managed dismantling today almost all separating walls and the floor of the carriage. On our way back to Sibiu we were able to bring smile on the faces of children of a family from Sibiu, to which we handed the bicycle trolley for it's first run this year, between Cornăţel and Hosman. Extras: Pizza lunch break. Participants: 7 See pictures Date: 27 April 2010 Project: Agnita station maintenance, Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: Due to a donation of herbicide from the Agnita Town Hall, we managed to spray herbicide on the approximately 2 km between the Agnita station and the Bârghiș swamp, as well as the western switches area, line no. 7, half the length of lines no. 1, 2 and 3, and the western side of the station platform. Extras: We were visited by a group of young people, both Romanians and Germans, that came to the area to gather informations about the Hârtibaciu valley, in order to write an article about it. During the hour they spent with us, the young journalists were introduced to the history of the railway, actions of the Friends of the Mocanita, as well as plans for the future. Together we then walked along the line between the Agnita station and the Coveș halt, several hundred meters that illustrate all current states of the railway, from tracks burried under earth and lost in reed fields, to sections cleared of earth and weeds, as well as restored buildings. Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 22 April 2010 Project: Agnita station maintenance, the passenger carriage Agenda: Though we arrived equipped for spraying herbicide, the rain at Agnita made us change our plans. Thus, while waiting for it to stop, we made a list of further works needed to reequip the carriage and took measurements and pictures based on which we'll come up with a list and quantities of materials. Once the rain stopped, we started clearing the area of tracks 1 to 4 in the station at Agnita of dried out weeds, with the trimmer, in preparation for spraying herbicide. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 17 April 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: The thick layers of putty were manually cleared from the carriage exterior, in preparation for its sandblasting. Extras: With 9 participants, the Agnita Volunteers Service has made a substantial contribution for the fourth time to our efforts. Participants: 11 See pictures Date: 10 April 2010 Project: Agnita station maintenance Agenda: The west switches area of the Agnita station was cleared of reeds that invaded the tracks and part of a track was cleared of earth and vegetation. Extras: Third collaboration with the Agnita Volunteers Service, this time much more substantial. Participants: 9 See pictures Date: 01 April 2010 Project: Coveş station maintenance Agenda: Gaps in the roof of the recently restored Coveș building have been filled with tiles saved from the derelict water tower in Cornățel. Extras: Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 20 March 2010 Project: Agnita station maintenance, Coveş station maintenance Agenda: Tiles have been added on the roof of the building at Coveş and some of the reed that invaded the Sibiu end of the station at Agnita has been cleared. Extras: We paid a visit to the new inhabitants of the station at Agnita, whom he want to support in settling here. They are a young family who want to create a living, not only to drink and steal. On this occasion, some of the broken tiles have been replaced on the station building's roof. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 20 February 2010 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: First exit this year continued the carriage work series, by dismantling the heating system in the saloon. Dismantling of the toilet and lobbies at the end of carriage was also started. Extras: Second cooperation with the Agnita Volunteers Service. We were also joined by a new friend - Horaţiu, which is currently studying restoration and has advance knowledge of mechanics. On the way back home we went off-roading, taking the short but dirty way between Agnita and Beneşti, a muddy road that follows the railway. We noticed here that many of the railway's telephone poles have recently been cut down and stolen. Participants: 4 See pictures Date: 12 December 2009 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Further dismantling of the carriage interior has been done, including partitioning walls and parts of the heating system. Extras: Participants: 3 Date: 05 December 2009 Project: the passenger carriage, Coveş station maintenance Agenda: The carriage project continued by removing some of the outside window frames and the inner side walls. New bars were installed at the Coveş station building door. Extras: We were accompanied by our newest member - Dan, an engine driver assistant from Sighişoara Participants: 2 Date: 21 November 2009 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: Work on the carriage continued with the careful dismantling of the seats which got away last time, windows, lamps, ceiling and part of the floor. Extras: Collaborating for the first time with the Agnita Volunteers Service. Participants: 5 Date: 31 October 2009 Project: the passenger carriage Agenda: The carriage restoration project started by cleaning the interior of the bits saved after the vandalism in Sibiu, inventoring the important parts on all 4 available carriages and a long thinking of how to approach the task. Extras: Photographing tumulus on the Hârtibaciu valley, for Raluca. Participants: 3 Date: 29 October 2009 Project: Historical monuments Agenda: Noticing the advancing works on the road at Cornăţel, the mayor of Agnita was asked to enquire about the planned situation of the nearby level crossing. Upon discussing with the works supervisor it became clear that the level crossing was supposed to be dismantled, with no regards of the line's status as historical monument. Fortunately the level crossing was saved, at least for the moment, an agreement being made not to do works on the road for 25 meters each side of the level crossing. Extras: Participants: 1 Date: 24 October 2009 Project: Agnita station maintenance Agenda: The end of line no. 7 was dug out in the station at Agnita. Extras: Pheasant hunt, with the photo camera. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 16 October 2009 Project: Historical monuments Agenda: The mayor of Apold was verbally notified that the trackbed of the Sighişoara-Agnita railway and the items which survived (buildings, bridges) had been listed, though a written notification was already sent to him back in 2007, and he was handed historical monument plates for the station buildings of Apold and Şaeş Extras: Participants: 1 Date: 11 October 2009 Project: Cornăţel trolley shed Agenda: All tiles were removed from the roof of the trolley shed, which leaned so much that it threatens to collapse. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 10 October 2009 Project: Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: Digging out the tracks continued at the Coveş station and the forest of weeds between the railway and the road was cut down. Extras: Wine, palinca and food as gift from those who visited us. A lucky meeting with the mayor of Agnita and that of Chirpăr. Participants: 6 See pictures Date: 26 September 2009 Project: Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: The trackbed near the Coveş station has been cleared of grass and dirt and trees have been cut down at Bîrghiş swamp. Extras: Baseball with shovel and chestnuts, target practice with chestnuts. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 05 September 2009 Project: Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: The trackbed at Bîrghiş swamp has been cleared of overgrown blackberries, nettles and trees. Extras: Participants: 3 Date: 08 August 2009 Project: Warning entry signal to Agnita station, Agnita station maintenance Agenda: The signal painting has been completed, after painting in gray the signal pole and the white bits on both sides of the plaque. The hatch on the roof of the Agnita station was closed and the current state of the station has been evaluated. Extras: Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 18 July 2009 Project: Warning entry signal to Agnita station Agenda: the painting of signal has continued with finalizing the protective coat, finalizing the guidance mark, painting both sides of the signalling plaque and painting in black the signal base. Extras: Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 13 July 2009 Project: Warning entry signal to Agnita station Agenda: the painting of signal has continued with aplying the protective coat on almost all of the surface and painting the guidance mark in white. Extras: the company of a very playful and vigorous dog Participants: 3 Date: 11 July 2009 Project: Warning entry signal to Agnita station Agenda: Though the plan was to repaint the warning signal, due to the rain we were only able to clean it and paint a protective coat on about 50% of the metal surface. Work will be continued soon. Extras: cevabcici, sausages, beer and baked potatoes Participants: 8 Date: 21 June 2009 Project: Agnita-Beneşti sector maintenance Agenda: The last 2 km of the railway have been sprayed with herbicide, from the big bridge at Bârghiş swamp to the entry signal at the Agnita station. Extras: Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 20 June 2009 Project: Coveş station maintenance Agenda: The two rooms and surroundings of the canton have been cleaned of furniture bits and clothes left behind by the last inhabitants, the access door has been secured and the outside walls have been marked with Sibiu-Agnita N.G.R - Access forbidden ! Extras: Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 27 May 2009 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance Agenda: Planks were installed to block access into the windows and attic door of the L9 infrastructure building, as well as the window of the water tower. Also, broken tiles were replaced and all tiles covering the infrastructure building were marked with paint, to prevent theft. Extras: Participants: 3 Date: 24 May 2009 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance Agenda: Following yesterday's discover of the dismantled and piled up bricks in the water tower pending transport, these have been transported to safety inside the station building. The same thing happened to the bricks dismantled from the storage shed floor. Certainly the robbers will be in for a surprise when they'll come to transport their prey. The missing tiles on the roof of the infrastructure building were replaced and soon the tiles on all roofs in the station will be painted, to prevent theft. Extras: Gathering elder flowers. We managed, for the first time, to speak with the prime suspect in all thefts on the station ground. Of course he sustains his innocence and passes the guilt to other villagers in the area. Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 23 May 2009 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance, Historical monuments, tourism Agenda: Thefts of bricks from the water tower and tiles from the L9 building's roof were noticed in the Cornăţel station, as well as the use as landfill of the water tower's building by the neighboring shop. Historic monument plates were mounted on the water tower at Cornăţel and the canton building at Hosman. The bicycle trolley was lended to a group of tourists, on the Cornăţel-Hosman sector. Extras: Visiting a friend in Hosman, one of the inititators of the SAR restoration project. Participants: 2 See pictures Date: 26 April 2009 Project: Hosman-Cornăţel sector maintenance Agenda: By means of our bicycle trolley, we sprayed herbicide between km 84+400 and 81+100 on the Cornăţel-Hosman sector. Extras: Cevabcici, sausages, potatoes and obergines on a grill, with friends. Participants: 3 See pictures Date: 22 April 2009 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance, Hosman-Cornăţel sector maintenance Agenda: Spring cleaning - small trees were cut down and the rest of the station ground was sprayed with herbicide, as well as about 2 km of track towards Hosman. Extras: red painted eggs and sponge cake, in the dark Participants: 6 See pictures Date: 16 April 2009 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance Agenda: Spring cleaning - the dried weeds which got away last time were now set on fire and much of the station ground was sprayed with herbicide. Extras: Participants: 4 Date: 07 February 2009 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance Agenda: Spring cleaning - the weeds were cut down/burned on part of the station grounds, the paved platform in front of the station building was cleaned, trees and branches grown too close to the tracks were cut down. Extras: reconnaissance mission at steam loco 764.056, whose appearance we will soon start to improve Participants: 4 Date: 13 December 2008 Project: Cornăţel station building Agenda: The damages suffered by the teracota stoves in the office and waiting room were noticed and a plan to repair them was settled. Also, in order to improve security, the ticked office window was blocked. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 15 November 2008 Project: Sibiu depot maintenance, Cornăţel water tower, Cornăţel trolley shed Agenda: The interior of a carriage was cleaned, the tiles and lasses were removed from the collapsing roof of the water tower in Cornăţel and work started on the roof of the trolley shed. Extras: work was followed by pizza/spaghetti at the "La Piazetta" pizzeria Participants: 3 Date: 25 October 2008 Project: Sibiu depot maintenance Agenda: By means of a mobile pulley and brute force, the 3 carriages stationed out between the weeds were brought in front of the depot, the intervention ditch was cleaned of debree left behind by the scrappers. Extras: Participants: 5 Date: 18 October 2008 Project: Sibiu depot maintenance Agenda: The cleaning continued by removing the weeds around one of the carriages and digging out one of the switches. Extras: Participants: 2 Date: 11 October 2008 Project: Nocrich watercrane Agenda: The watercrane was dismantled and transported to a safe location, pending restoration. Extras: beer and a very lazy puppy Participants: 3 Date: 27 September 2008 Project: Sibiu depot maintenance Agenda: The area was prepared for the movement of the 3 carriages stationed out in the weeds, meaning one of the switches was cleared of vegetation, small trees along the way were cut down, a level crossing was cleared and the platform waggon was cleared of the weeds which surrounded it. Because of the low number of prticipants we couldn't move the carriages, the action being postponed until next time. Extras: Participants: 3 Date: 02 September 2008 Project: Sibiu depot maintenance Agenda: We tried to manually bring in front of the depot the other 2 carriages, a heating wagon and a platform wagon which were abandoned in the middle of weeds far from the depot. We only managed to bring in the heating wagon, mostly because the others were left over two half opened switches. Extras: Participants: 5 Date: 29 August 2008 Project: Sibiu depot maintenance Agenda: The components of two carriages vandalized by those who were supposed to cut them to pieces, after them being saved from scrap. The carriages filled with seats and other bits were then pushed back inside the depot. Extras: Participants: 4 Date: 26 July 2008 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance, Cornaţel watercrane Agenda: The weeds between the warehouse and the wagon weighing bridge were cut down, the water crane was dismantled and transported to safety, much of the intervention ditch has been cleaned. Extras: Potatoes baked in jar, a very close encounter with a snake. Participants: 4 Date: 12 July 2008 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance, Cornăţel-Caşolţ sector maintenance, Historical monuments Agenda: The weed clearance advanced to the watercranes area on line no.2, the entry into the goods warehouse was also cleared of vegetation, recent theft of one of the watercranes has been noticed and the Roşia police station has been notified, branches and small trees have been cut down on the line between Cornăţel and Caşolţ, the historical monument plate was placed on the Caşolţ station building. Extras: A trip on the bicycle trolley between Cornăţel and Caşolţ (6km). Participants: 4 Date: 05 July 2008 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance Agenda: Weed cutting and vegetation removing continued on the station grounds, between the tracks and on the side and inner court of the station building. Extras: A grill filled with cevabcici and a trip on the bicycle trolley between Cornăţel and Hosman (7km). Participants: 4 Date: 28 June 2008 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance, Historical monuments Agenda: The grass was mowed on part of the station grounds, the paved platform has been cleared of vegetation and a hystorical monunment plate was placed on the station building. Extras: cevabcici and beer Participants: 4 Date: 08 June 2008 Project: Cornăţel station building Agenda: The office and ticket rooms have been cleaned and a new locking mechanism was placed on the door to prevent others from getting in. Extras: Participants: 5 See pictures Date: 31 May 2008 Project: Cornăţel station maintenance, Cornăţel trolley shed, Cornăţel goods shed Agenda: The current situation has been valued, a list of necessary works has been put together and small repairs were made on the trolley shed roof and one of the warehouse doors. Extras: A chat and drink with the tennant of the railway apartment at the back of the station building. Participants: 2 See pictures |
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