TRAIN À VAPEUR DE BANOVIĆI

With its steam train (Banovićki Ćiro), the mining town of Banovići is a popular stop for railway lovers. Along with Zenica (Eastern Bosnia) and Wolsztyn (Poland), it is from here that the last freight convoys pulled by steam locomotives in Europe depart. You can not only see them pulling wagons loaded with lignite, but also climb aboard. Since 2015, the mining company RMU Banovići has operated two tourist lines of about ten kilometers: one to Turija (near Lake Modrac), the other to the recreation area of Zlača, in the Konjuh protected area, with a stop at the folk village of Mačkovac. Depending on the season and demand, the trains have a restaurant car and two to four "panoramic" cars with a row of benches in the middle. The round trip is made at a speed of 26 km/h, with peaks of 35 km/h, to enjoy the landscape. But also because the locomotives are very old. This is the Decapod BR 52 model, known as the "war train"(Kriegslok in German). Designed for the needs of the Third Reich from 1942, it was also built after the war in various countries, such as in France until 1959 under the name "Y 150".

The last BR 52 in Europe. Used from Russia to Turkey, the BR 52 was the most mass-produced steam locomotive in history with about 7,000 units. Most were scrapped in the 1970s-1980s, except here where six are still in use, including a very rare BR 52 class 33 that was destined for Yugoslav railroads. From Banovići, the Ćiro - the affectionate name given to steam locomotives in the former Yugoslavia - serves the nearby mines of Dubrava, Sikulja and Durdevik once or twice a day. The smoke from the trains also blackens the sky as far as the river port of Brčko, where Banovići's lignite is shipped on barges down the Sava River to the Danube. The small local railway network and the line to Brčko (92 km) were established in 1946. It is a "Bosnian gauge" railroad(Bosnische Spurweite in German), which is found throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is very narrow with 760 mm between the two rails, compared to 1,435 mm for the so-called "normal" track, as in France or the United States. This same "Bosnian gauge" can be found in Višegrad, where another Ćiro - this one only for tourists - connects to Serbia.