Despite the fact, that the tourist season is already over, we are still open to the visits by organized groups. On 21st October we were visited by 82 passengers of a special Train to the Independence co-organized by Łódź Commuters Railway (ŁKA) and the Centre of Initiatives for Development REGIO. The group also visited other points of interest in Skierniewice: the Bishop’s Palace with its impressive park, the town’s market and the former Russian barracks – currently the seat of the Museum of History and branch of the vocational school.

In the Sunday evening of 14th October, the interiors of Engine Shed hosted the rock oratorio “The Petrified Forest. Operation of Łódź 1914. Independence”

According to the information provided by the authors of the spectacle, during the Battle of Łódź in 1914, lasting 26 days, more than 200 thousand of soldiers have perished. Among them were many Poles forced to serve in one of the occupying armies, many times fighting against each other on the opposite sites. The scale of the battle brought the idea to revive the memory about this event in this original form – sharing the characteristics of a concert, a performance, partially even a prayer and actively involving the audience.

The performance is prepared by the foundation “Poland will speak up” in cooperation with Łódź Special Economic Zone and the branch of the Institute of National Remembrance in Łódź. The honourable patronage over the event is provided by the Defence Secretary and the Culture and National Heritage Secretary, the Vice-marshal of Senate prof. Michał Sewerynski. The première of the oratorio took place on 15th August 2017 in the European Institute in Łódź. The performance in Skierniewice was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as a part for the creative fund “Accessible Culture”.

Lyrics: Krzysztof Jerzy Krawczyk, Sławomir Macias, Bogdan Loebl
Music: Krzysztof Jerzy Krawczyk, Zbigniew Nikodemski
Realisation: KGBand
Script: Krzysztof Jerzy Krawczyk, Sławomir Macias
Director: Remigiusz Caban
Dramaturgy: Remigiusz Caban, Adam Słowik
Scenography: Grzegorz Zieliński
Cooperation: Witold Ancerowicz
Executive producer: Andrzej Słowik, Adam Słowik

There’s never too much of good things, yet each time we acquire a new exhibit, we swear this will be the last one. However, how can you decline, when you are offered a well maintained and prepared for exhibition vehicle for free? Such was the story of class SR71-04 line maintenance vehicle whose previous owner, PKP Energetyka S.A., contacted us in the spring of 2018. Of course, one can wonder, whether relatively young construction will be in the right place among the old steam engines. After considering the fact that most of the examples of this small series of specialistic vehicles were already scrapped, we hadn’t any doubts.

In July 2018 we visited the former Engine Shed Strzemieszyce (now part of Dąbrowa Górnicza) to select one of the disused vehicles from the Rolling Stock Maintenance Department. Our vote went to the older and better maintained vehicle № 04, built in 1975 in Railway Works in Lubań Śląski. It is the oldest vehicle of its class. After the inspection we could launch all administration procedures. Simultaneously, we started looking for the money to pay the cost of transportation – the only expense our association had to cover.

In the meantime, class SR71 received a fresh coat of paint and its interior was cleaned and fitted with missing parts. We also took our time to schedule the transport. Due to the technical reasons (the vehicle had its run permit overdue) we were limited to the transport by road. In the mid-September, class SR71 was ready for the trip to Skierniewice. Once again we took advantage of the services of company Panas Transport from Zamość, who helped us in similar ventures and have the experience in transporting the old railway vehicles.

On 24th September class SR71-04 was loaded on the special flatbed and prepared for the road. The transport covered the distance between Dąbrowa Górnicza and Skierniewice without much hassle. On 25th September it reached the engine shed were the vehicle was swiftly unloaded and stored in the roundhouse, where it waited for its grand debut.

The official hand-over was planned for the Open Day on 6th October. In the presence of the vice-president of the City Council of Skierniewice Mr Dariusz Chęcieleski, the representative of the board of PKP Energetyka Mr Mariusz Zalewski oficcialy presented the vehicle to the vice-president of PARE Judyta Kurowska-Ciechańska. After cutting of the ribbon, the vehicle was opened to the guests.

The vehicle was renewed and donated by

The transportation was sponsored by

and various individual donors.

We would like to express our gratitude to all who helped us to collect the money for the transportation of the vehicle. The details of the collection will be published shortly.

On 15th and 16th September we organized a special Open Day for the guests of the 41st Festival of Flowers, Fruits and Vegetables in Skierniewice. We used this opportunity to celebrate the 26th European Days of Heritage as well.

The guided tours were led by the guides dressed in the historical railway uniforms. 1102 tourists that decided to visit us on that day had the opportunity to see the most of our collection stored in the main roundhouse.

Except that, there were additional attractions:

• the exhibition “Piękna Helena” of Mirosław Mizera’s photographs,
• steam engines maintenance equipment,
• interactive exhibition of railway signaling and safety devices,
• the stand of PKP Cargo S.A. with wide variety of activities for children.

Łódź Commuters Railway (ŁKA) prepared for those days a special offer – passengers traveling to Skierniewice with ŁKA train could get back to their departure point for free after receiving a special stamp on their one-way ticket.

In total, during all open days in September, the Engine Shed was visited by 1426 guests. Thank you!

With each new vehicle in our collection we tend to say that this is the last one. However, how can you decline taking care of new exhibit when someone gives it for free and even offers to renovate it?

So is the story of class SR71-04 maintenance of way vehicle owned by PKP Energetyka S.A. It is a unique machine, probably one of the oldest of its class and the only one going to museum. We signed the agreement to take over the vehicle and currently it is being repainted by its owner. The only (and as much) expense on our side is to transport the vehicle to Skierniewice when it will be ready on 6th October. Unfortunately, our budget was fully devoted for the building repairs, so once again we address You, fans and supporters of PARE, to help us collect the money for this cause – 8000 PLN.

We decided to launch another crowd-funding campaign through the portal zrzutka.pl. You can participate in funding under the below link in exchange for small gifts.

https://zrzutka.pl/csanmv

The collected amount will cover the heavy-haulage transport by road (the vehicle cannot travel on its own on tracks) from Dąbrowa Górnicza Strzemieszyce to Skierniewice. Additionally, small amount will cover the operational fees of the crowd-funding and distribution of gifts. Members and Volunteers of PARE will be responsible for preparation of the transport, loading and unloading carrying out those activities for free.

Thank you for supporting us.

The theatre group “Banana Perwers” from Skierniewice celebrates this year the 10th anniversary of its founding. The anniversary performance took place on 5th September in the Engine Shed. After all this was the venue of the most successful performances by this group. This event also gathered a large audience of 113 fans of the “Bananas”. First the official part took place, where the group was congratulated by the president of the city Skierniewice, Mr Krzysztof Jażdżyk and representatives of PARE: Judyta Kurowska-Ciechańska and Józef Kaźmierczak.

During the second part of the event, the group presented the classic piece from their repertoire: “The Cave of Salamanca” by Miguel de Cervantes. Beside the founder of the group, Dominika Dawidowicz starred Marta Krysińska, Beata Konarzewska, Julia Cybulska, Alicja Bednarska, Gabryś Woźniak and Tomek Kowalczyk. In a separate part, Tomasz Staroń and Maciej Białek perfomed pieces by Kabaret Dudek, Wojciech Młynarskiego and Sławomir Mrożek. Music was performed by Mikołaj Mizerski. The performance become also the opportunity to support the animal shelter in Skierniewice – members of audience could bring the food for animals for the cause.

The event was co-organized by the group “Banana Perwers” and the club “Oaza” from Skierniewice.