From 13^th to 15^th March we participated in the 21^st fairs – Touristic Sites “Where Cultures Meet”. This time we were invited by the City Council of Skierniewice to join their representatives on a common stand. The invitation was not accidental. The promotion of the Town upon Łupia river took into account the 170^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Warsaw-Vienna Railroad’s train to Skierniewice. What is worth noting, this first train was a sightseeing trip for Railroad officials.

We were happy to have Mr. Witold Stępień – the Marshall of Łódź Voivodeship, Mrs. Jolanta Chełmińska – the Voivode of Łódź Voivodeship and Senator Ryszard Bonisławski – the outstanding expert on Łódź cultural heritage as our guests. It was a good opportunity to present our latest achievements and talk about Association’s plans for the nearest future.

Of course, we were also visited by countless guests of the fairs, whom we encouraged to visit our engine shed during the upcoming Open Days. The youngest visitors were really intrigued with the railway exhibits on our stand.

The last, but the most interesting point of our participation in the fairs was the improvised by the organizers railway uniform fashion show. Our colleagues dressed in historical uniforms from 1960-1970 period took part in it together with our friends form Rogów-Rawa-Biała Narrow Gauge Railway. The contemporary uniforms, derived from the old ones we’ve shown, were presented by the employees of Przewozy Regionalne. It is only a pity, that the representatives of the youngest railway operator in Łódź Voivodship – Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna – could not take part in this event.

Those, who could not participate in the fairs, can watch a short video from this event:

We would like to thank to all the guests, who visited during those three days the stand of PARE and Skierniewice’s City Council. We would like to express our gratitude to the Skierniewice’s authorities for their invitation to participate together in the fairs. We do hope that we’ve managed to encourage our guests to visit the town upon Łupia river and to drop in the Shed at Łwoicka Street 1. See you on the next fairs next year.

To all those eager to visit the Shed, we remind that Open Days start on 2^nd May.

Under such motto the city council will encourage the citizens of the town upon Łupia river to donate their 1% of income tax to the public organizations based in Skierniewice. On this occasion a special event in which all of Skierniewice’s organizations will take part is planned on 7^th March, from 11AM to 2PM on the Market Square. Of course, we will be there too. After all, the major part of the PARE’s activities take place in this city. We will be represented by our colleagues dressed in historical railway uniforms. They will not only encourage the event participants to support our association but also to visit the Engine Shed.

On the occasion of the International Tour Guide Day, which took place on 21^st February, 25 different walks around Warsaw’s historical places were organized by the Council of City Guides PTTK, Varsaviana foundation, KORT TPW branch and Guides Warsaw association. One of the tours was devoted to the Warsaw-Vienna Railroad.

Marek Moczulski, graduate of former Railway School in Warsaw, lighted candles under the memorial stone.

Participants of the tour met at Jerozolimskie Avenue by the Warszawa Śródmieście station. In this place, 170 years ago a terminal station of the railway (Dworzec Wiedeński) was build. First train to Grodzisk departed from here on 14^th June 1845. Another point of the walk was the St. Barbara chapel and the church of St. Peter and Paul by Nowogrodzka Street 51. In 1865, the chapel was renewed by the Railroad employees and became their parish church. Participants of the walk visited the place, where in 1873, the board of Warsaw-Vienna railroad created the training workshop – the ancestor of now defunct Railroad School in Warsaw. The workshop was located till 1953 by Chmielewska Street 88. A memorial stone sponsored by the graduates of the school in 1998 marks the original location of the facility.

A former workshops of the Railroad were also visited. Their erection began in 1852. Part of the complex was a building at Chmielna Street 73, demolished in 2013. The tenement by Pańska Street 100 had more luck – it survived two wars, rebuild of the city, changing governments and building of the nearby underground line.

The walk concluded at… “Siberia”. It’s the nickname of the large area of warehouses, sidings and utility buildings of the former Warsaw-Vienna Railroad goods station, originating back in 1875. The buildings by the Kolejowa Street 8/10 accommodates now countless clubs, car dealers and wholesales. Probably thanks to that, the old walls survived till today being one of the last remnants of the great Railroad.

The tour was guided by our colleagues Andrzej Paszke, Zbigniew Tucholski and Marek Moczulski.