CFR 40.00 002Bucova Bucova

Tucked away in the Romanian Transsylvanian Alps used to be a real gem until 1978: a steam-operated standard gauge rack line (Abt system) between Caransebeș and Subcetate. In 1908 the Wiener Lokomotivfabrik AG (Floridsdorf) supplied seven rack-and-adhesion 2-8-2T steam engines type 40 D, numbered T.IV C 4291-4296. After 1919 the numbers changed into CFR 40.001-006. The rack section used to be 19 kilometre of the 76 kilometres in total between the two main cities. During my visit there were daily two up and two down trains on the rack section (Bouţari-Sarmisegetuza), and only one each in daylight . On June 2, 1977, engine CFR 40.002 pushes the train into the highest station of the line, Porţile de Fier(Iron Gate).