Slovenia Railways and Slovenia Railways Museum

I have just picked up a copy of Global Railway Review. The July 2019 issue. The feature article focusses on infrastructure in Slovenia. It can also be found on line (https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/85929/slovenia-rail-infrastructure-investments). Jo, my wife, and I travelled to Slovenia in 2006 and stayed in Bled. Reading the article in Global Railway Review brought back memories of that holiday.

The linked post highlights the changes in the Slovenian Railway System over the years and the Railway Museum.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/08/12/slovenia-railways-and-the-slovenia-railways-museum

Don't miss out on the photographs from the museum in the appendix at the end of the linked post.

 

These are dire times for the Slovenian Railway Museum and the Museum Train. Featured in the current issue of ‘Locomotives International’ and also in the next issue in due course.

The Museum Train is booming on the Bohinj line and bookings with the operators ABC and CLUB seeing full trains. Regular Saturday and Sunday steam runs operate on selected dates until November. However a new Deputy Director at SZ is not sympathetic to the Museum Train or the Museum. Three years ago there were three operable steam locos - the Borsig 06.018, ‘Kriegslok’ 33.037 and the Austrian 2-6-0 25.026. Two years ago the 06 went out of ticket and SZ refused to pay for repairs. At the end of last year the 33 went out of ticket and again SZ refused to pay for repairs. This year the fragile 25 has handled all trains but has failed on a few occasions and this month the train was diesel hauled. It’s ticket also expires at the end of this year and again SZ is not currently minded to pay for repairs. Just recently however, some minimal repair work has been undertaken on the 33 and it is expected to do some work until the end of the year.

The long-standing Director of the Railway Museum, Professor Mladen Bogić - who has led the Museum since it’s inception nearly 40 years ago, has been told by SZ that he must take immediate retirement although no successor has been identified. It is reported that SZ wish to stop the steam-hauled Museum Train and to cut back the Museum by selling off land, disconnecting it from the railway network and scrapping the turntable. It is hoped that these are rumours but there is clearly no support for the Museum from SZ who regard it as a burden.

In trying to plan for next year ABC and CLUB have asked for prices to use the Museum Train and have been cited 50% increases in prices by SZ. It has been suggested that SZ want to operate the Museum Train themselves, diesel hauled, despite having no experience with the travel companies that work through ABC and CLUB to generate most of the business.

So after over 30 years of operation on the stunning Bohinj line the future of the steam hauled Museum Train looks to be in serious jeopardy. At the moment the last steam runs may be in December when the annual Santa trains operate by SZ across Slovenia. A very sad state of affairs and a dereliction of duty to protect the country’s industrial heritage.

 

Very sad news, I have travelled behind two of the locomotives and visted the museum.

I travelled behind the Borsig 06.018 on what I beleive was it's last run on a private charter for RTC hauling a 4-coach train , outwood via a single-track branch line to Trebnje. Reurn via single track line line to Seneca where we joined the Ljubljana to Zagreb see https://paulsimpson.zenfolio.com/p738139461
As well as ‘Kriegslok’ 33.037 on the ‘Transalpina’ Railway' from Jesenice through the Julian Alps to Nova Gorica an return see https://paulsimpson.zenfolio.com/p569979299

Slovenian Railway Museum photos including a narrow gauge loco pulling a standard guage loco along the short section of dual gauge track https://paulsimpson.zenfolio.com/p739886075

 

Deeply saddening news.

 

Photos from an RTC trip in 2014 to Slovenia here:

72 photos of a trip behind 33.037 from Jesenice to Nova Gorica:

https://andrewstransport.smugmug.co...trains/Slovenia-Bohinj-Railway-2014/i-5QVKnHW

45 photos of the Ljubljana museum:

https://andrewstransport.smugmug.com/Bosnian-Serb-Slovene-trains/Ljubljana-Railway-Museum/

Cheers

Andrew N

 

Hi Andrew,

I have really appreciated looking through your photographs. They brought back good memories! The museum looks in a much better condition than when we stayed in Slovenia.

Roger