KWB - Konin Mining Railway, Poland

Locomotive 10 leads a set of empties at Łężyn on 7th March 2022. At this moment we were chasing a loaded train in the opposite direction when this train was spotted heading towards us- there wasn't time to get out of the car so this was taken through the windscreen- luckily cameras were already out!

I first became aware of the existence of the EL2 Industrial 'Crocodile' locomotives a few years ago. Built in quantity by Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke ‘Hans Beimler’ (LEW) of Hennigsdorf near Berlin from 1952 - 1988 the class which numbered over 1000 and was exported over many of the Soviet and communist countries now operates in just a few locations in Europe. 

With the power station at Pątnów, the destination of many of these trains, in the distance, Loco 13 works a set of empties at Niedźwiady. 07/03/2022

Locomotive 07 sits within the loader at Lubstów 06/03/2022

These rugged Bo-Bo locomotives were built for operation in large opencast mines and have a top speed of 65kph. Current is collected from overhead DC electrification, with smaller side pantographs for use within loading areas where traditional OHLE would be an obstruction. As well as their fairly well known operation in Germany at Profen by MIBRAG (Mitteldeutschen Braunkohle AG) and at Cottbus by Vattenfall Europe Mining AG (the later of which have been modernised with chopper control traction motors, cab air conditioning and single arm pantographs), there is one operator remaining in Poland; KWB of Konin.

The city of Konin, located approximately half way between Poznań and Łódź is home to two power stations which are fed by coal from three lignite strip mines in the surrounding area. Connecting the mines to the power station is the railway system powered by EL2 locomotives, a diesel connection also existing between the private system and the national PKP network.

KWB EL2 21 leads a loaded train up-grade at Niedźwiady. 07/03/2022

After a week playing with steam engines at Wolsztyn (see https://www.thewolsztynexperience.org/) it made sense to visit the mining railway before heading home since it is only a 90 minute driver from Poznań on the motorway. 

With the aid of my drone, Loco 16 is seen heading across 
the bridge at Wygoda with a set of empties. 07/03/2022

Arriving on a dull Sunday afternoon we were unsure how much activity there would be, but still it was an opportunity to scope out some locations for the following morning. While driving over one of the numerous crossings near Niedźwiady caught the first pair locomotive lights on the railway and caught our first EL2. It was surprising both how slow the train was, and how quiet it was, despite being uphill on this section. With the slow progress of the train it was immediately apparent that with our hire car we could chase it to another crossing and this was duly achieved.

There are three loading points on the network and each of them were visited on the Sunday afternoon. The first is north-west of Konin at Wygoda which takes coal from the mine at Bolesławowo. This branch runs largely through trees and appeared to have limited photographic potential, while there was a train stabled in the loading point there was clearly no activity and we did not visit this branch again.

Loco 25 is seen under the loader at Lubstów with 07 seen further back. Note the side feed power arrangement used where the train is being loaded. 25 is employing both pantographs at this point. 06/03/2022.

EL2 18 approaches one of the few points of elevation on the
route, the road bridge at Łężyn. Having left our hotel in full sun
conditions it was disappointing to find cloud in charge just an 
hour later- fortunately it did clera before our departure. 07/03/2022

Heading to the north east of Konin the mining railway has a double track formation before splitting to two further loading points, the first at Lubstów which loads coal from Kopalnia Tomisławice. This loading point is on a public road and appeared to be active on a Sunday with two trains positioned under the loader. Furthest from the power station is the loading point at Jaźwiny which loads coal from the nearby mine at Szarłatów. Again this is located right next to a public road and while containing a train it looked to be inactive on a Sunday afternoon. The double track section between the power station and these latter two mines would form the focus of our activities over the remainder of our time in Konin.

Trains are all formed of a single EL2 locomotive with 10 bogie coal hoppers in what appeared to be fixed formations. Each of the eastern branches features a triangle near to the loading point where the train is turned, propelling into the loader to allow the loco to lead over these longer runs.

Traffic levels were not consistent throughout our visit, at times there were busy patches of activity where trains could appear almost one behind another, while there were also long gaps in the activity, sometimes of more than an hour. On average I would estimate we saw roughly two trains an hour in each direction on Monday, with slightly less activity on the Sunday. 

No problems were encountered taking photographs from the public locations we chose. We chose to photograph the loading points on the Sunday when there were less staff around and stayed away from the power station itself.

While the railway here has plenty of traffic today, in line with much of the EU and the world Poland is looking to reduce its reliance on coal as a power source and with that any railway such as this should be considered under threat. If you want to see these quirky electric locos at work there really is no time like the present.

Undoubtedly one of the most scenic spots on the network is at Wygoda where the mining railway crosses the shore of Licheńskie Lake. 07 hauls a loaded train towards the power station on 7th March 2022.