Reșița Steam Locomotive Museum

Romania's first locomotive

The main attraction is the steam locomotive "RESICZA". It was produced in Reșița in 1872 as the first Southeast European locomotive. The inscription in the museum identifies it as the first steam locomotive built in Romania.[lower-alpha 1] However, Reșița and the Banat region did not yet belong to Romania in 1872, but only from 1920. In this respect the "RESICZA" is strictly speacing the first "built in the territory of today's Romania" locomotive, which, however, clearly marks the beginning of Reșița's and thus of later Romania's tradition in locomotive's construction.

John Haswell, head of Vienna locomotive factory

The SZEKUL - first running locomotive in Banat and template for the RESICZA

In 1871 the manager of the Vienna StEG locomotive factory, John Haswell, had designed a special locomotive for operation in valleys with narrow curve radii. This locomotive with the name "SZEKUL" was transported from Vienna to Reșița in an elaborate operation: first by ship across the Danube from Vienna to the Danube port Baziaș, then via the railway line from Baziaș to Oravița, which was completed in 1854, and finally on a pallet drawn by 36 oxen from Oravița to Reșița.

Steam locomotive operations began in Banat for the first time in 1871 with the SZEKUL. The SZEKUL also served as a model for the Bt-n2 type production in locally in Reșița. The first locomotive build was the "RESICZA" in 1872 followed by the sister models "BOCSAN" and "HUNGARIA" in 1873. The HUNGARIA was brought to Vienna in 1873 and presented at the 1873 World Exhibition there. It was later presented at the Budapest Millennium Exhibition 1896 as the first "steam locomotive ever built in Hungary with Hungarian raw materials".

The other six locomotives manufactured in Reșița until 1918 wre not given names and were of different types: four of the type D-n2 (model StEG 54 Orient) in 1884, 1894 and 1898 and two of the type Ct-n2 (model StEG 123) in 1894 and 1898.

RESICZA in operation

The "RESICZA" is the second of a total of four steam locomotives of the StEG 52 series with the Bt-n2 wheel arrangement. It has a 948 mm gauge, two axles and four driven wheels with a wheel diameter of 711 mm. It is 4470 mm long. The water tank has a volume of approximately 2 m³. It has an empty weight of 9.5 tons and weighs 11.5 tons when ready for operation. Two cylinders with a diameter of 237 mm give it a tracting effort of 1125 kgf (historical reference "kilogram of force" for kilopond, equivalent to 11032 Newton). Their maximum permitted speed was 11 km/h.

After the "SZEKUL", which was imported from Vienna in 1871, the "RESICZA" became the second running locomotive from 1872 on the Reșița–Secu narrow-gauge railway and, from September 3, 1873, on the newly completed Resita-Bocsa. It therefore bore a sign with the inscription “2”, which can be seen in old photos and was lost in 1948.

As the first steam locomotive to be produced in Reșița itself, it marks the beginning of Romanian steam locomotive production, during which a total of 1,461 machines were manufactured in Reșița until 1964.

The “RESICZA” was in operation from 1872 to 1937. After decommissioning, she was used as a steam generator in Câmpia Turzii for an unknown period of time.

After its use in Câmpia Turzii, the "RESICZA" was considered as lost until it was accidentally rediscovered by pupils on a disused track near the city in 1957. It was brought back to Reșița in 1961 and initially presented there on a side track next to the locomotive factory, which was still in operation. Finally, in 1972, it was brought to the Triaj district to serve as the main attraction of the open-air museum that opened in the same year.

RESICZA with the wrong number "1"

Meanwhilelingly, the lost original plate with the number "2" was due to a missunderstanding incorrectly replaced by a plate with the number "1", as was worn by the "SZEKUL" as the first locomotive used in Romania. Therefore, there are early photos of the "RESICZA" exhibited in the museum with the historically incorrect sign "1". This false plate was removed and replaced in 2012 with a historically correct replica of the original with the number "2", so that the locomotive now corresponds to its original appearance.

Since the museum opened in 1972, the "RESICZA" ist presented on a stone base in the center. This originally bore a plate with the inscription "ACESTA LOCOMOTIVA S-A FABRIVAT LA RESITA IN ANUAL 1872" (English: "This locomotive here was manufactured in Resita in 1872") and supplemented the plate with the incorrect number "1" on the locomotive) . The plate on the base was replaced. Now the inscription is: “Prima locomotiva cu abur fabricata in Romania, la Resita, in anul 1872” (English: “The first steam locomotive manufactured in Romania, Resita, in 1872”).