This report reflects the current situation. For more detailed information you need to read the previous reports from 2003 and 2005.
Contens:
It’s a no go time, November. I was told this several times. I should make the trip in spring or summer ... but, what is a no go time? We had four days with sun, but unfortunately some of them when we didn’t need it (two days while we were travelling and only saw plinthed locos, and the one day we were in Belgrade and only took some State Railway pictures). However, we did have something that friends of mine who have travelled there quite often in winter have never had: deep snow! This was one of the reasons I had arranged the tour for November, there is always a chance to see the first snow of the winter. And we did ... really deep snow. It was fantastic! The other reason was that, in November, the coal mines are working close to their capacity, so railway activities are at a high level as well. This was the case on our trip too with the exception of Kostolac.
It’s a wonder that there is still so much steam around in Europe. But time is passing, and it’s likely that Serbia will be devoid of regular steam soon. Even in Bosnia-Herzegovina the clock is ticking. But it will be a few more years before it’s over here too. However, you should remember that it will not last forever.
It’s essential that you first tell the management of your visit. At most places you need a permit to enter but that’s quite reasonable considering that they’re industrial areas were everyone who doesn’t work there needs a permit to enter. The permit usually will be issued without a problem and at some places you need to pay a fee for it. Sometimes it takes you five minutes, sometimes three hours. So the best way to do it is by pre-arrangement. There are two people in Belgrade who can arrange these permits in advance, Dragan Jovanovic drjovan@yubc.net and Zoran Veresic balk.stm@eunet.yu. The latter one speaks English, so his service is probably best. Of course, their service must be paid for, but it can save you a lot of time. With their help it’s even possible to arrange visits on Sundays, when you usually need to stay outside. If you’re not familiar with the local language it’s a huge advantage to have these papers arranged beforehand. Of course it is possible to get the permits on the spot (it’s not as difficult as you may think, at least if you can speak a few words of the local language) and it’s even possible to behave as you would have done in the 1980’s and make your shots like spies would do, but I can hardly recommend it.
Once you have your permit, doors will open easily and free access is granted. People will be very welcoming and happy to have a cup of coffee and a cigarette with the stranger. You can even ask them to move a loco a little if there is nothing else to do at the time. Remember, most of the operations are shunting movements now but there are a number of interchange services to the state railway as well. Some of these offer really good opportunities, a few even in scenic countryside. Another reason why it’s good to be able to communicate in their language is to get information about these inter-yard movements. You’ll get more good pictures if you speak the language or hire a guide, given a certain amount of time (most of us will not have enough time to wait until they get their shot by accident).
Chartering locomotives is possible but not a cheap game. If you do it officially, you need to count in the VAT. Arranging charters on the spot might be possible as well, but this is unpredictable.
We visited the Blue Train of Marshall Tito in Belgrade-Topcider. The complete train is stored in a shed and maintained in running condition. However, the locos are not. Three steam locomotives from the blue train have survived, one, 4-8-0 11 022, is plinthed in front of Belgrade main station (the other two are in Croatia and Slovenia as far as I know). Three blue German diesel locomotives of class V300 are dumped beside the building where the train is stored. They are in a shabby shape and obviously not serviceable any more. Their numbers in the order they are dumped:
In the main shed at Belgrade, all three serviceable preserved locomotives are stored outside:
The roundhouse is still in use, but not much happens there. Just three electric locomotives parked there the day we visited this site.
After a long mining season last winter, Kostolac had not reopened by mid-November 2007. They couldn’t say when the open cast mine would be used in 2008. Only one locomotive was ready for use, a second one was usable, but had expired boiler certificates, another one (no. 12) was in the shed as stationary boiler for releasing rubber from big roller cylinders.
They were wanting to send one locomotive to the workshops in Zrenjanin for overhaul, but funding was a problem. The management haven’t made the decision to spend money on overhauls for some months. Some of the railway workers have taken this as an indication about the future of the open cast mine. It will be closed sometime soon, the question is only when. Almost everyone was sure the mine will stay open for winter 2007/08 and for 2008/09. But no one was able to give mid-term or even long-term prospects. If you want to see this little line, you should plan your visit at the latest for next winter.
No good news from here either. Yes, we still found two of their class 62 locomotives in service, but in June 2008 they’ll get brand new diesel locomotives. This will be the end of steam. One class 53 locomotive should remain serviceable for another one or two years – just for charters, but then it’s over. During our visit they had a problem firing the locomotive, so we couldn’t see it moving. For a picture they positioned it nicely beside the two 0-6-0’s.
Standard gauge
Narrow gauge
The coalmine still owns the two oldies 120 019 and 126 014. After many years out of use we were the first to witness 126 014 in steam. The loco was in a reasonably good shape, although they ran the boiler with low pressure. We could shunt in the station for a few hours, and it never got boring. At the moment there is no chance of getting these engines back on the rails of the state railway. First they would need proper boiler certificates and a brake that really works. We braked by throwing the reverser in the opposite direction! As it is very difficult to get parts for these unique locomotives, it may be just wishful thinking, but there are some people who are hoping to establish a tourist line. There are some places of tourist interest around, and the line up to Resavica is beautiful. At least it seems they have realised the value of their two locomotives and will keep them in a good state.
120 014 would need a water clack valve casting because the original brass one has cracked. So far they haven’t found a foundry that can do it.
The cable factory is not using steam any more. Passenger service has been ceased, freight trains run only rarely, and their steam locomotives have expired certificates. They are trying to sell one of their class 62 locomotives, but their price is far from what the market would allow.
The two fireless locos are still out of use. The factory has not been restarted yet, although some attempts have been made. It’s not likely that the locomotives will be used soon. First there need to be a realistic plan for the industrial complex to restart production. I guess we’ll see these locomotives another two years or so dumped in outside. Maybe forever – or until a scrap dealer lays his hands on them.
A shadow of its former self and suffering from a lack of orders. In my opinion it is not worth visiting any more as there is almost nothing going on.
In a private compound in Brzan near Lapova we found the small 0-4-0 tank locomotive no. 3 under overhaul. The builder’s plate indicates the number 4885/1911. I forgot to notice which builder ...
On our way we saw these plinthed locomotives in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (excluding Mokra Gora and Pozega):
In addition we saw 61 023 dumped at the paper mill in Cacak
Contents
No news from this site. 62 363 was sitting in the yard, waiting for some movements to be done. The good news is that there is no intention to acquire diesels. Not the most exciting steam operation, but a nice industrial backdrop.
It’s all the same, as reported before. They have sent the boiler of 62 366 to a workshop for overhaul, the rest they’ll check themselves. 62 020, the only survivor with original bar frame and the last American built loco, was still in use. It’s still going strong, after many years of sparse maintenance and hard use. On the short link to the state railway they use the full power of this tank engine, always a nice sound!
There are only a few remains surviving of the Porter built 62 031. Frame and wheels were in the shed area. The planned sale to France has fallen through.
The steelworks will get diesels in June 2008. All together they’ll get eight diesels, which will not only replace the two class 62 locomotives which are still in use now but also the two diesels. MITTAL, the new owner, has plans to reactivate the majority of the steelworks and will make huge investments.
They started a heavy overhaul of 62 361 before the new order for diesel locos was placed. The loco is almost complete. They want to finish this overhaul and then sell the loco to a coal mine. All the other locomotives may go the way of all scrap metal. If you want to purchase such a loco, offer the scrap metal price plus a little bonus, and your chances shouldn’t be too bad!
In May 2007 they stopped the passenger service because some parts of the steelworks complex, formerly served by the passenger trains, were sold. In addition it was said that there were safety concerns. The braking system was down, and this didn’t allow them to run any more passenger trains. So the age of commercial steam hauled passenger trains in Europe (I don’t count tourist lines as well as Wolsztyn) has come to an end! In the last months they used steam only occasionally, one of the diesels did most of the work. So this loss didn’t come suddenly.
This might be the last list of locomotives in the steelworks at Zenica which is longer than just the plinthed loco at the entrance:
We didn’t see 62 521 this time.
Everything is unchanged here. The good news is that they’re not planning to change anything. The earnings from coal mining are just sufficient to pay the workers and guarantee safety in the underground mine. As they have four locomotives of class 62 and the steelworks to carry out heavy overhauls just around the corner there is no urgency for them to replace steam by diesel.
The wooden covered loading facility is still in place and in use. This facility alone justifies a visit to the mine. Movements of the locomotive along the loading facility can be seen hourly, and they take wagons to the steelworks, perhaps, two or three times a day.
This time the operation was quite normal. Better to say it was on a higher level than in summer as this mine supplies coal for the power and heating plant as well.
No changes to my previous reports. No plans for dieselisation, yet.
The factory has been purchased by Turkish businessmen who have invested a lot in painting the whole factory. The complex was much busier than we have seen before. They’re now receiving and shipping containers, which allows a rather unusual sight these days: a 62 shunting long container trains. There is less than one trip a day to the state railway station in Lukavac, which allows several good pictures. Lukavac station is equipped with semaphores (out of use). The loco faces towards to station, so the chimney is to the north inside the station yard.
The new owners of the factory plan to purchase a diesel locomotive to replace the 62. So far there is no date known, but it won’t be long before this operation is dieselised.
Our charter train with two locomotives of the classic class 83 (0-8-2) worked out fine. At least for some time this will have been the last double headed steam train with class 83 as one now has an expired boiler certificate. It is rather unlikely that they’ll overhaul the locomotive, because they want to get rid of all steam. They’ll start with the standard gauge in Oskova in summer 2008. The first diesel locomotive should arrive by then, and only when this diesel needs repairs will a class 62 or the Skoda class 19 be used. You can also charter a steam loco for shunting activities in Oskova, for good money of course.
On the narrow gauge they have not decided yet whether they’ll purchase a diesel locomotive to replace the steam shunter. The general decision, to replace all steam locos has been made, but there are bigger plans. They will build a new power plant close to Banovici which will be served by conveyor belts from the mines directly to the boilers. This will make the railway redundant. They’re already using long conveyor belts to the railway loading points. You can easily see them on Google Earth.
At the moment there is no fixed date given for replacing the railway with conveyor belts. First they need to build the power station. It may take more than five years. If the time frame slips, they’ll decide to buy diesels for the last few years of rail operation or stick to steam just for shunting operations.
The workshop has more capacity than they need so they have started a museum project. They have already taken the plinthed Budapest built forestry locomotive (55 99) from the old station area and brought it to the workshop. A complete overhaul is currently being done. Next step is to rebuilt a part of the former forestry line from the eastern end of the Oskova station southwards. They want to use the old embankment but this seems to me to be impossible as this is now a road, and, just recently, a paved one! Some of the old railway bridges are now being used as road bridges. So there is some effort needed before the project will become a reality. The then preserved line would be a beautiful forestry line, but of course could not compete with the “Sargan eight” near Mokra Gora.
However, their connections to local authorities may pave the way to a new preserved forestry line on or close to the old line. They want to refurbish some of the unused wagons as well, and they should look like real wagons, not Disneyland-like.
Narrow gauge
Standard gauge
The production of the mine remains low. Only three to four trains a week going to the power plant, hauled by a 62.
Mr. Mustafa, the well known chief of the depot has now retired, and many local people seem pleased with this. The new man is friendly and helpful – and so far he has kept the steam locos alive. One heavy overhaul of a class 33 (“Kriegslok”) was underway. On the other hand, the idea of buying second hand diesels has already popped up! This would be the end of the 2-10-0 class 33, the German class 52! So far they are in a good technical shape. However, at the moment it seems that we can enjoy Europe’s largest regularly used, money earning steam locomotives for freight services for some more years.
Everything was unchanged. Please check my previous reports. Both locations using a class 33 steam locomotive, and both serving the closest railway station of the state railway.
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