Due to a rainy weather on the Open Day on 6th July we were far from braking any attendance records. Still, the 247 guests are not the result to be ashamed of. As during the previous open days, guests could choose between the tour of our collection of the rolling stock inside the roundhouse, a visit at the exhibition of railway signalling and traffic control or the exhibition of photography by Zbyszek Gradowski Railways in Skierniewice.

The offer of Łódź Agglomeration Railway of free return trip for the guests of the Shed was also valid on this day. The catering was provided by the Atmosfera pizza house.

We would like to inform that on 27th June we have published the required by law financial report of the public benefit organisation for the year 2018 approved by the internal audit board of PARE. The report has been submitted to the National Institute of Freedom database and its copy is also available at our website.

We would like to once again express our gratitude to all our supporters and donors.

The end of may appeared quite fruitful for the crew taking care for our exhibition of railway signalling and traffic control.

First of all, we reached the final stage of the general overhaul of the block post lever frame. We started with repainting the block instrument from the initial bright green colour to a little more toned down. The initial colour was correct from the stand point of modern regulations, but has little to do with the historical practice. Simultaneously, we composed a complete palette, which will save us time when looking for the correct paint during the next renovation. A separate activity was taking place away from the Shed at the home workshop of our volunteer. All plates and small painted indicators were brought back to their former glory. Finally, we performed the most pleasant part which was assembling the whole lever frame into one piece, crowned when the manufacturers plate was attached back into its place. There is still a couple of bits left to finish like the reconstruction of electric circuits and assembly of the wooden panel of the block instrument. Still we are already inspecting which of the other exhibits should be taken care of in the first place.

We also should mention the improvements of the didactic value of the exhibition. Last year, we have prepared a set of information boards which in the meantime were aesthetically framed. Now we found some time to attach them close to the relevant exhibits to make it easier for the visitors to understand the inner workings of each of the devices.

PARE and the PKP Group’s Foundation would like to invite all the interested to participate in the 35th meeting at the Old Powązki Cemetery on the occasion of the 174th anniversary of opening the first section of Warsaw-Vienna Railway. The meeting will take place on 14th June and start by the grave of Stanisław Wysocki (1805 – 1868), the main designer and engineer of the Railway. Next the participants will take a tour along the graves of famous people related with railways. The tour will be led by Marek Moczulski. We meet at the St. Onorata’s gate at 2PM.

The Saturday on 1st June was fully devoted to the youngest railway fans on the occasion of the Children’s Day. During that day 693 guests visited our shed.

Visitors could see our collection of the historic railway stock displayed along the sightseeing route inside and outside the roundhouse. The exhibition of railway signalling and traffic control was also open to the public.

Our new attractions also found some interest among the visitors: the exhibition of photographs by Zbyszek Gradowski Railways in Skierniewice and, especially popular among the young guests, garden railway. At the stand of the biggest Polish goods transportation company, PKP Cargo S.A. kids could participate in various competitions with prizes and have their face painted. The PKP Group’s Foundation promoted the safety crossing action and at its own stand the Bolimów Landscape Park invited the potential visitors.

For years now PKP PLK S.A. is joining us during the Children’s Day. This time the company arrived with the road-rail vehicle Uniroll from the railway emergency services. The modern vehicle was joined by his older counterpart, Unitarpan, belonging to a railway fan from Lubelszczyzna. A patrol car represented another branch of PLK, the Railway Guards. Officers provided short lectures regarding the safety on the railway areas.

Łodź Agglomeration Railway prepared also for this event its special offer allowing the guests of the Shed to return for free to their original departure point. The Atmosfera pizza house made sure that none of the guests stayed hungry.

Many thanks to our guests, partners and volunteers for participating in this successful event.

We would like to invite all interested to yet another Photo Day in Engine Shed on 15th June. From 12PM to 3PM the Shed is open exclusively to all enthusiasts who would like to focus on photography, undisturbed by the crowds of tourists.

Registration of participants at the entrance till 12:30PM. Free admission!

For the 10th time in the history of PARE invited the residents and guests of Skierniewice to visit us during the Railway Night of Museums. On 18th May all interested could visit us during the night time (from 7PM till midnight). We noted that with 930 visitors we were close to breaking the attendance record of 2014 edition of this event, despite this time there were no special trains for rail fans from Łódź and Warsaw.
It is worth mentioning that the Engine Shed was the first and only institution in Skierniewice to join to this event in 2010. Over the next couple of years we managed to expand it beyond the boundaries of Skierniewice thanks to the cooperation with our colleagues from Rogów-Rawa-Biała Narrow Gauge Railways and other railway operators.

Due to a typo on the poster advertising the event, we opened the gates of the Shed earlier than planned. We were surprised that before the dusk more than 150 people has already come for sightseeing – after all it was still a good moment to visit us with children. With the last rays of the sun, the rolling stock inside the roundhouse was brought back to life by an atmospheric illumination. Our signalling and railway traffic control exhibition was also a major attraction allowing one to taste the atmosphere of a night shift inside the signal box.

Our guests could also visit the exhibition of photographs by Zbyszek Gradowski Railways in Skierniewice and observe the traffic on our small garden railway. Our partners also contributed to the success of this evening. The Atmosfera pizza house provided the catering and Łódź Agglomeration Railway (ŁKA) prepared a special offer of free return trip addressed to the visitors of the Shed.

Other institutions in Skierniewice also opened their doors to the visitors during this evening. The city council organized a special fare-free bus line which allowed for quick transition between the point of interest during that night.

With regret we would like to inform that our colleague and long-time member of PARE, Dariusz Lisiecki passed away on 29 April 2019 at the early age of 63. The funeral service will take place at the chapel by Strobowska Street on 8th May at 11AM.

Dariusz was a member of PARE from 2004 to 2014, later due to various circumstances our ways parted. Still, he maintained the connection with the Shed always willing to lend a helping. We will miss you, Darek…

On behalf of the board, members and volunteers of PARE we would like to send our condolences to the relatives of Dariusz.

On 4th May we commenced the 15th season of sightseeing in the Engine Shed. Despite rainy weather, we hosted 509 visitors. This time, apart from the usual attractions like the guided tours and the signalling exhibition, the guests could also visit the photography exhibition Railways in Skierniewice by Zbyszek Gradowski and witness the first run of our own garden railway.

We would like to thank to the guests for visiting us and to our partners (Łódź Agglomeration Railway and Atmosfera Pizza-house) for help in organizing the event.

See you on 18th May at the Railway Night of Museums!

Over April and May we continued the track works by the track № 14 leading from the turntable to one of the stands inside the roundhouse. We started with placing the rails back to their place and securing them to the ties. Due to the different types of the rails utilized in this section of the track, we had to use special fasteners and constantly check the gauge. Another step was to fill in the ballast. The track still requires tamping but we are already preparing to complete the assembly of the neighbouring track № 15.

The track works in the engine shed are sponsored by the City of Skierniewice.