The first Saturday after the Christmas surprised us with a spring weather. Sunny day and a belly-fat accumulated during the Christmas fest encouraged to an increased physical activity. No wonder that on this day a large group of PARE member and volunteers appeared in the engine shed. Due to the winter season the range of duties was limited to rather dull but necessary maintenance works.

First of all a parcel left after the demolished battery cart shed badly needed some tidying up. The shed – a typical post-communistic, sloppy construction – disfigured the appearance of the office building and made its wall catch humidity. In the past years it was carefully disassembled, yet there was hardly any time to clean up the patch of ground left after the shed. At last we’ve managed to accomplish this and now the levelled terrain awaits seeding some grass.

Another non-railway but necessary works regarded the prevention of breaking into the roundhouse. Slowly we cut off any possible migration routes for burglars by putting bars in windows and properly securing the temporary precautions, even in places which seemed inaccessible (ex. due to height). During the Saturday works we managed to shut the last unsecured window above axle lathe.

Each winter it is vital to provide appropriate social conditions, namely the appropriate heating. Dispatcher office is mainly heated by means of tile stoves which consume several cubic metres of wood each year. Despite the warehouse full of appropriate fuel, there is always a need to cut it down into smaller pieces. We are really grateful to the members that took up this rather ungrateful but essential task.