ŽOS Railway Workshops
The abandoned ŽOS Railway Workshops have a history going back to 1868. The huge complex once repaired locomotives and railway cars for the Austro-Hungarian railway network. Today, empty halls and old railway buildings show what is left of this once busy place.
- Built: 1869
- Abandoned: 2014
- Status: Endangered
- Visited: 2023
The story started with the railway from Vienna to Bohemia. The Kaiser Franz Joseph Railway built a large station in 1869. Construction of the railway workshops began in 1868. The first repairs started in 1869. In 1871, the workshops became the main repair workshops of the Kaiser Franz Joseph Railway. Smaller workshops were also located in Vienna and Plzeň.
The railway soon changed the area. More workers arrived, and new houses were built around the station. In 1874, the workshops and station were expanded. More covered work areas and railway tracks were added.
From Austria to Czechoslovakia
After the First World War, the border changed. The station and workshops became part of Czechoslovakia in 1920. A new town grew around the railway facilities.
The workshops remained an important employer. During the Second World War, around 1,000 Czech workers were sent to the railway workshops as forced labor. On 23 March 1945, Allied aircraft bombed the railway station and workshops. Much of the complex was destroyed.
After the war, the workshops were rebuilt. Around 1,000 people worked there in the 1950s. From 1956 to 1965, the workshops repaired fast steam locomotives. Later, the main focus moved to railway carriages.
The End of the Workshops
The company became Železniční opravny a strojírny, or ŽOS, in 1974. It continued to repair railway vehicles for many years. The workshops also became known for repairing historic steam locomotives.
Eventually, after privatization in 1993, the number of orders slowly fell. The company was later sold several times, and in 2012 Legios took over the site, but the company closed the workshops in June 2014. As a result, almost 100 people lost their jobs.
What You See Today
The former railway workshops now stand largely empty. The large industrial halls are slowly falling apart. Some roofs have collapsed, while vegetation is taking over parts of the site.
The abandoned buildings still show the scale of the old railway operation. Long halls, workshops, and railway tracks tell the story of a place where generations of workers repaired trains.
