From time to time we travel across the border to see how others deal with their railway history and to have a break from our own renovation activities. Our usual direction is Czechia due to the language similarities and the fact that that some of us just fell in love with this country. The common travels are also a form of gratitude to our most active volunteers.

During the weekend of 21^st and 22^nd April we took part in an excursion to the directly neighbouring with Poland Moravian-Silesian province. Our first target was the still operational Třemešná ve Slezsku – Osoblaha narrow-gauge railway. For the younger generation of our volunteers it was paradoxically the first exposure to a narrow-gauge railway still doing its normal work – carrying passengers and goods all year round for the benefit of the local small towns. By the way we could see our colleagues from Slezské zemské dráhy (operating seasonal tourist trains) in action.

The next day we devoted to visit Železniční muzeum moravskoslezské located in the part of the Ostrava střed railway station. The highlight of this visit was to learn more of the driving simulator of the class 742. We intend to build a similar attraction at our shed and we were eager to learn about the experiences of other in this field. The museum also hosts a permanent exhibition of railway signalling and temporary exhibitions regarding the history of railways.

The last highlight of the trip was a visit to the historic coal mine Důl Michal. We were amazed by a pristine condition of the ground-level buildings of the mine. They look hasn’t changed from the time of closing down the facility back in 1993. It’s a great example to support the realistic contrary modern approach in technical and industrial museums.