A vast collection of unique railway vehicles which, each year, can be seen in its full glory during its “Locomotive Parade”
The Roundhouse in Wolsztyn is still an operational locomotive depot from which, each day, steam locomotives are sent out on scheduled services on the routes to Poznan and Leszno. The roundhouse was built in 1907 and continued to grow till the 1970’s.
Currently there are about 30 items of rolling stock, unique locomotives and historic carriages. One of the most valuable is the “Beautiful Helena” locomotive, No. Pm36, dating from 1937 with a top speed of 130km/h. Each year in Wolsztyn is the “Locomotive Parade” which is attended by tens of thousands of spectators and the “Miss World of Steam Trains” is crowned at the roundhouse..
The museum at the Roundhouse in Wolsztyn includes examples of station buildings (stationmaster’s offices and ticket booths), rail supply services (equipping of the roundhouse, trains and offices), communication equipment (switchboards and telephones) and ancillary rail services (traffic control systems – rail crossing equipment, signal boxes, rail system layouts and signal lights). In one room of the exhibition is a diorama, about 2.7m long, showing part of the station in Wolsztyn. It includes the roundhouse and the surrounding layout of rail tracks.
Steam Roundhouse in Wolsztyn (woj. Wielkopolskie)
www.parowozowniawolsztyn.pl