History
The South Bohemian landscape, where the Vltava river basins gradually rise toward the foothills of the Bohemian Forest, presented both a challenge and an opportunity for railway pioneers in the late 19th century. At that time, Netolice was a significant center of trade, yet it found itself bypassed by the main imperial railway lines. This isolation ended with the Bohemian Provincial Law of 1892, which focused on constructing local railways of secondary importance to stimulate the regional economy. This gave birth to the ambitious plan for a 13.6 km line from Dívčice, designed to connect the breweries, distilleries, and sugar trade of Netolice to the wider world.
The engine shed itself was conceived as the vital technical backbone of this new railway. Its design was far from accidental; it was constructed as a pristine architectural example of the "Normalien"—the standardized plans of the Imperial-Royal State Railways (k.k. Staatsbahnen). Guided by local visionaries like Mayor JUDr. Otakar Kudrna, and constructed by the consortium of Jan Kodl and Engineer J. Cvach, a unique two-track building emerged with its iconic half-timbered structure and an integrated water tower. Despite significant delays caused by heavy rains in 1895, the project was completed in time for the ceremonial opening of the line on October 27, 1895.
The technical life within the depot, as meticulously documented in the historical research of Vladislav Šlégr, mirrored the rapid modernization of European rail travel. In the early decades, the legendary series 310.0 steam locomotives, affectionately nicknamed the "Coffee Grinders," dominated the tracks. However, the Netolice line soon became a pioneer of progress as well. As early as 1928, in a quest for efficiency, diesel traction was introduced with railcars like the M 120.101, which were later joined by the M 132.0 series.
The history of the engine shed was written not only in timetables but also in the shifting fates of the entire continent. In May 1945, the Netolice station became a place where history literally came to a halt. The demarcation line passed directly through this site—the meeting point of the Allied and Soviet armies, marking the definitive end of World War II in the region.
After more than a century of faithful service, the line faced a period of decline. Regular passenger traffic was officially terminated on February 26, 2011, and the engine shed, once the beating heart of the local railway, was abandoned. Over the years, it was nearly swallowed by an overgrown jungle as the masonry and timbers began to succumb to decay. Today, we are striving to halt that destruction. Our work is first and foremost a rescue mission—a race against time to stabilize the failing gables and roof, ensuring that this silent witness to Austro-Hungarian engineering and Bohemian history does not vanish from the map forever.
