The word mocăniță is a term of endearment, derived from the Romanian word mocan, meaning shepherd or one who lives in the mountains, and suffixed as feminine and diminutive in keeping with the tradition of naming conveyances and indicating small size. It's also been suggested that it means "coffee machine", as one of the little locomotives is reminiscent of one of these in action.
The most well-known mocăniță runs in the Vaser Valley in Maramureș County. This railway was constructed in the period 1933-1935 and uses a gauge of. It was partially destroyed by German troops during the war, but was rebuilt again. It has primarily been used for logging, and is still used for this purpose, but in 2004 work began on rehabilitating it as a tourist attraction. A Swiss enthusiast who came to Romania in 1987 helped this greatly by starting an organisation for saving the railway: "Hilfe für die Wassertalbahn in Rumänien". Several steam engines are used: 764-211 was built in Berlin by Orenstein & Koppel in 1910; 763-193 was also built in Germany, in 1921; and there are five Romanian locomotives built at Reşiţa between 1953-1955. Diesel engines and other vehicles such as converted minvans also run on the lines. The latter are used by border police, rangers and others for getting quickly up the mountains. The tracks run from Vișeu de Sus, from a yard on Strada A. I. Cuza, 1.5 km north from the town centre. The main line is 43 km long, from Vișeu de Sus to Comanu, near the Ukrainian border, though the service may terminate before then at Faina. This trip usually takes between 3 and 4 hours each way. There are two other branches: along the Novăț Valley and towards Stevioara. The train can occasionally come off the rails, but at a speed of 10 km/hour this poses no danger, and experienced passengers help to get the train back on the rails! The Vaser Valley is an exceptionally scenic location, the habitat of many bears and deer, along with many cattle and sheep. The line is run by a private company, Căile Ferate Forestiere. As well as regular services, trains can be charted by tourists; special services are also run, for instance on New Year's Eve. is accompanied by local music from Maramureș. The railway, and the Mariuța engine complete with rolling stock featured in of that episode on YouTube at time index 2 minutes 54 seconds.
Other mocăniţas
In the Aries mountains region of Alba County. Trains are now operating on the Abrud to Câmpeni section of this line; it is planned that in the future they will run from Abrud to Turda. When operated as a non-tourist railway the journey time for the 93 kilometre trip from Turda to Abrud took some six and a half hours..
Regular journeys last occurred here in 1999, but an association was formed in 2002 to save the train and a number of trips have since been made.
. The line is currently classed as a historical heritage line and used for tourism on holidays.
Other lines have been suggested as candidates for conversion into "mocăniță" tourist attractions, and some activity has been attempted on some of these though the situation may not be stable. These include the following lines: , , and at - though some of these may run on standard-gauge track.
