With a slight delay we would like to sum up the longest (4 days) and the most numerous (20 participants) volunteer camp this year. Our crew from signalling exhibition has wrote about their activities already. It is a high time to write on what was happening in the remaining part of the shed from 14^th to 18^th August. There were a couple of projects realized at the same time. We worked by the renovation of the rolling stock, the clean-up of the Shed’s surroundings and building a new fence from the side of the station’s tracks. Evenings were devoted for discussions and exchange of information on various railway topics.

The main activities focused around two of our steam engines. The most work was required by the giant class Ty51-1. The repairs made by the previous owner appeared to be unsatisfactory especially on the tender allowing the rust to show up and paint start to flake. We immediately proceeded to wire brush the affected surface and paint them with rust-proof paint. Small paint job was also required by the class Tkp 6042 ‘Śląsk’ standing inside the roundhouse which is now the part of permanent rolling stock exhibition.

Another major project is the external renovation of diesel shunter class Ls60-143. After covering with anti-corrosive paint, the engine cowl got back on its place together with all its hatches. We also reassembled all components which were sandblasted back in July. Thanks to the machining skill of one of the volunteers, we were able to manufacture new parts for the braking assembly on the lathe.

The is also a scope of activities that are less spectacular but still required. Building repairs and track works always leave behind large amount of waste that waits for a clean-up. This was a perfect moment and the volunteers helped in cleaning up the roundhouse and the coal storage and by the building of the new fence which will prevent the unwanted guests from attempting the dangerous access from the side of the station tracks.

The activities during the camp were filmed by one of the participants:

We would like to express our gratitude to all participants of the camp.

The volunteer camps are possible thanks to PARE’s own resources and the support of

Sponsors of tools

The restoration works at the railway signalling and traffic control exhibition were among the most popular activities during the August volunteers camp. Participants could try out their capabilities in metalworking, mechanics and painting and learn more about inner workings of various interlocking devices during the renovation of three new exhibits.

The largest project which will take us a couple of months to complete is a general overhaul of a key interlocking with block instrument from 1927, originating possibly from the station Łęczyca. This particular specimen was stored outside for some time, before it was finally transported to Skierniewice Shed. This resulted in the poor external condition of the whole device. We started to work on it back in July by thoroughly documenting the electrical connections inside and disassembling the block instrument. In August we focused on the remaining part. First, we disassembled the base and the interlocking box. Next, we proceeded with preparing the base for painting. Due to the complex shape of the cast-iron legs we resorted to a tried-out method of bathing the parts in the solution of caustic soda. Even the thickest or multi layered coat of paint dissolves in the aggressive solution, making the final cleaning with wire brush much easier. After the clean-up, the base was reassembled and painted with a coat of a fresh green paint.

Another exhibit which we hope to bring back to life is a two aspect light signal. This particular specimen is a rare example of early post-war Ericsson-type signal, easily distinguishable by its background plate made form a single piece of sheet metal and a prominent sight for easier regulation of the signal position. Similarly to the key interlocking, some parts have been already taken care of. The main signal chamber has been sanded clean during the previous camp and the post was prepared the previous year. Now we had to paint all the parts and recreate the missing details. The next step will be the assembly and regulation of signal’s optics and recreating the light’s circuits. We hope, that the signal will become a distant signal couple with one of the working light semaphores at the exhibition.

The last project was a matter of chance. While looking for the missing parts in our storage we came across external signalling bells which are commonly used at signal boxes and other posts along the railway as an auditory cue for the phone signals. We think it may become a now exhibit combined with the signal box phones already present at the exhibition. The chosen signalling bears appeared to be fully functional but required a thorough clean-up and repainting.

During the breaks in work, the participants of the camp could learn more about the various traffic control devices and discuss the future improvements to the exhibition.

Volunteers camps become a permanent part of our events calendar. The only difference this year was a different financing model, where we relied more on our own assets earning more flexibility in the scope of activities covered during the camp.

This allowed us to focus more on the rolling stock renovations during the camp on 18th to 21st July. More then 10 volunteers cleaned and rust-proofed our steam engines class Ty51-1 and Tkp 6042, helped by the repainting of diesel shunter Ls60-143, worked at the exhibition of railway signalling and traffic control or participated in the track works at the track № 15 in front of the roundhouse.

The next camp will take place from 14th to 18th August. Feel free to join in by filling in the participation form (more details regarding the camp here).

We would like to express our gratitude to all participants.

The volunteer camps are possible thanks to PARE’s own resources and the support of

Sponsors of tools

Before commencing this year’s series of volunteers camps, we were met by the news of changes in the rules of the financing programme of the National Board of Heritage. We expected a major slip in the schedule, but fortunately, the Board has published the results of applications much earlier than expected. This way, with some effort, we were able to start the first camp in the second half of the summer vacations. The official name of the camps, as seen in the application, is Volunteering for the Engine Shed in Skierniewice – maintenance of the Shed’s sorroundings as patriotic care for the history of Polish railways. Our main aim was to enlarge the base of volunteers helping us in maintaining the Shed and to refresh the acquaintance with those who participated in camps in previous years.

Based on this year’s guidelines by the Board, we focused on the mundane, but required jobs of clean-up and upkeep of the Shed’s surroundings. Due to this fact, the planned renovation of class Ty51-1 engine was not the focal point of our activities. During the first stage of the work (11th to 15th August) the participants focused on the removal of graffiti and repainting of the gates in the wall facing the station. To keep the aesthetics of the work, we also refurbished another entry gate in this part of the wall and the internal gate on track № 63.

We also started to get rid of the overgrown self-seeders, first behind the round-house and next in the coal-storage, starting from track № 53. Simultaneously, we cleaned-up the remains after the older roof repairs and plant litter left after previous attempts to clean this area. To avoid leaving the plant waste again, we immediately got the wood chopped and transported away for recycling. During the subsequent camps, we continued the clean-up of the vicinity of tracks № 61 and 63.

The weekend of 20th and 21st October were the last days of this year’s camps. During the total of 13 days Volunteers cleared a large portion of the coal storage from the weeds and bushes. Among the participants were colleagues from organizations similar to PARE – Żuławy Commuter Railway from Nowy Dwór Gdański and Upper Silesia Narrow-gauge Railways from Bytom.

The National Board of Heritage was not the only supporter of the camps. We managed to convince other partners to provide us with tools required for our work. Company “Agentools” equpped us with gardening power tools, invaluable in clearing the coal storage. The distributor of abrasives Pferd and VSM provided us with copious amounts of wire brushes required in cleaning the metal parts of the fence and gates.

The project was concluded in the afternoon of 21st October with a sightseeing trip around historical industrial object in the vicinity of Skierniewice. We visited the first in the world welded bridge in Maurzyce and the heritage park of folk architecture located nearby. Later, we visited the branch of the Station Museum in Sochaczew to see how a professional railway museum functions. In the end we visited what remained from the former linen loom in Żyrardów. It was a rather sad visit which reminded us of the usual fate of industrial heritage in Poland…

Aside from the main clean-up activities, we continued renovation of some of our exhibits – signalling devices and class Ty51-1 steam engine.

As a part of the project, we organized two open meetings regarding the history of railway. On Sunday, 12th August a screening of a documentary “17 days that decided of Poland” took place. The film is notable due to the fact that some of the vehicles from our collection took part in the film. After the screening we had a moment for a short meeting and discussion with the director of the film, Leszek Staroń, and his crew.

On Saturday, 6th October, we invited the participants of the volunteers camps to the presentation by Ariel Ciechański, PhD “Modernity vs authenticity in railway museums” discussing the various approaches to the conservation of railway heritage across the Europe. We had the opportunity to see examples from Romania (steam engine exhibition in Sybia), Austria (LokPark Ampflwang, Heizhaus Strashoff), Belgium (TrainWorld Brussels) and Czechia (Děčín – stavědlo 15, Železniční muzeum ČD Lužna u Rakovníka, depozitář NTM Chomutov). The presentation was followed by the discussion on this topic.

Summary of the project:

20th and 21st October were the last days of this year’s edition of Volunteers Camps. During the soggy Saturday and sunny Sunday morning we finished our little “gardening” in the coal storage. 10 volunteers participated in cutting down the self-seeders and moving the plant waste into storage area where later they will be taken for recycling. In the spring we are going to implement some measures to prevent the regrowth of the weeds in this part of the Shed.

The project was concluded in the Sunday’s afternoon with a sightseeing trip around historical industrial object in the vicinity of Skierniewice. We visited the first in the world welded bridge in Maurzyce and heritage park of folk architecture located nearby. Later, we visited the branch of Station Museum in Sochaczew to see how a professional railway museum functions. In the end we visited what remained from the former linen loom in Żyrardów. It was a rather sad visit which reminded us of the usual fate of industrial heritage in Poland…

Volunteers camps were sponsored from the programme of the National Board of Heritage – Together for Heritage

Media Patronage

Tools sponsored by

We used the exceptionally warm weekend of 6th and 7th October to continue our fight with self-seeders overwhelming our coal storage. With a significant effort we managed to clear a large patch of storage surrounding the track № 55.
In two weeks (on 20th and 21st October) we intend to conduct the last upkeep works and conclude the series of Volunteers Camps with a didactic excursion for the most active participants. All interested can still subscribe in a special participation form.

Sponsored by the National Heritage Board of Poland, programme Together for Heritage

Media patronage

Sponsors of tools

The last in this year regular open day in Engine Shed took place on Saturday, 6th October. As usual, visitors could learn more about the history of the facility and the exhibits from our collection. An extraordinary addition to this event was the official hand-over of the class SR71-04 inspection vehicle from PKP Energetyka S.A. to the Shed. Except that, our guests could visit the temporary exhibition of photographs by Mirosław Mizera, our interactive exhibition of railway signals and traffic control and see our collection of rolling stock and steam engines maintenance equipment. To sum up, we were visited by 303 guests.

Łódź Commuters Railway (ŁKA) prepared the special offer for the visitors, who could return back for free to their departure station after receiving a special stamp on their one-way ticket. Catering was provided thanks to the Atmosfera pizza house.

In the evening one could take part in the presentation by Ariel Ciechański, PhD “Modernity vs authenticity in railway museums” discussing the various approaches to the conservation of railway heritage across the Europe. The presentation was followed by the discussion on this topic. The presentation was a part of the Voluntaries Camp sponsored by

The Programme of National Heritage Board of Poland – Together for heritage.

Encouraged by the positive response to our previous summer camps for volunteers, we would like to invite all the interested for a yet another edition of this initiative. You can join us and test yourself as a volunteer in the Engine Shed Skierniewice on the following days:

• 11^th – 15^th August,
• 25^th – 26^th August,
• 22^nd – 23^rd September,
• 6^th – 7^th October,
• 20^th – 21^st October.

All those who are at least 16 years old, are of good health and would like to devote their free time in the rescue of railway heritage are welcome. We encourage the participants to choose from the many of planned activities:

• renovation of steam engines class Ol49-4, Tkp 6042 “Śląsk” and Ty51-1,
• expansion of the exhibition of railway signalling and traffic control,
• track works in front of the roundhouse,
• upkeep of the surroundings and green areas of the shed,
• maintenance and repairs outside and inside of the Shed’s buildings,
• other works depending on the needs and attendance.

To subscribe to the event, please use the special entry form. During the camp, the coordinator of the project will be awaiting the participants on Friday 10^th August starting from 7PM. During one of the first days we will organize the Health and Safety training. Each day we will start the work at around 10AM and continue till 7PM. Each day will be concluded with a hot meal.

To the participants, we provide:

• return of the costs of commuting to/from Skierniewice (only 2^nd class train tickets or equivalent public transportation or bus tickets) – based on the original tickets or printouts of the internet tickets;
• overnight stay in the Shed, in the camping standard (in case of the number of participants exceeding the capacity of our social area, we will look for the possibility of overnight stay outside the Shed);
• water and hot meals;
• basic work clothing (gloves);
• tools;
• a participation certificate, if requested.

Due to the limited capacity of our social area and the need to plan the activities in advance, we would like you to state in the enrolment form the intended time of stay, accomodation preference and the activities you are interested in.

If you would like to receive more information regarding the volunteers camp, please contact us at wolontariat@psmk.org.pl

The volunteers camp is supported by

The plan for another volunteers camp, which took place on 22^nd and 23^rd September, was straightforward: to cut down as much as possible of the overgrowth in the old coal storage. We made a good use of all available in the Shed saws, shears and chainsaws. For 2 days 20 volunteers removed most of the unwanted plants. It was also possible thanks to the experience of some of the participants – our colleagues from Żuławska Commuters Railway from Nowy Dwór Gdański and Upper Silesia Narrow-gauge Railway from Bytom.

We intend to continue the work on the next camp, which will take place on 6^th and 7^th October.

The volunteers camp is supported by the National Heritage Board – Together for Heritage.

Media patronage

Another turn of this year’s volunteers camp took place during the weekend of 25^th and 26^th August. We had quite ambitious plans but the weather stood against us. Still, it did not discouraged from continuing the uneven fight with the overgrowth. This time we had to chop our way through the little jungle that over the years took over the old coal storage. We would like to say a big thank you to all the participants. Those who would like to help us but hadn’t the opportunity so far can join us on 22^nd and 23^rd September. See you!

The volunteers camp is supported by the National Heritage Board – Together for Heritage.

Media patronage