Fireless Steam in Austria, October 2024

For earlier reports of visits to Hausmening, please see those from Tom Short (2017) and Nick Kelly (2015).

Aditya Budidarma reports:

Since it was Hungary's Revolution Day on Wednesday, 23rd October 2024 which is a national holiday, I thought I'd take a look at the country next door, Austria. I had been told by an Austrian enthusiast that they still have a fireless loco at Mondi Paper Mill in Hausmening, Central Austria, so I went to check it out. I was initially told that they do up to 40 shunting trips in one day, only to find out they actually normally do just 2! But when I visited, they only did just 1, It seems to depend on the load they had to carry and deliver to the nearby mainline. I found out too that the mill only operates on weekdays so I was lucky because normally I am free only at weekends.

The branch line itself is not long. At a guess, I would say that it's only around 600 metres running from the nearest mainline station (Hausmening) towards the paper mill entrance. I didn't see how long the track was on the inside as I waited at the gate. When I arrived I found the gate was open, but I wasn't sure that the loco would work. So I went back to the station, and that's when I saw it shunting. Then I went back to the paper mill to see the loco reversing the 3 freight wagons back to the mill. I waited at the back gate where I was approached by one of the office staff. I was expecting to be told off and asked to leave the premises, but thankfully he was kind enough to say that it would be okay if I took photos just along the branch line and not inside the mill itself. As usually happens. he asked me for what purposes I would use the photo, and I responded with "For a hobby magazine." I did took a basic German course beforehand, and although it was very basic, not surprisingly it proved somewhat useful.

The photo was taken just as it was reversing back into the mill. The loco itself is an 0-6-0F built by Helmut-Scholz of Meiningen (33058/1987) based on the builder's plate that I photographed.

So to conclude, yes, there is still a real non-museum steam on the European mainland. See also Andreas Illert's short list for May 2024.