there is light at the end of each and every tunnel in the Sargan Eight railway
We had come to Mokra Gore, all the way in the west of Serbia, to ride the Sargant Eight railway, the narrow gauge railway that connected Belgrade with Sarajevo for 50 years, from 1925 to 1974. It no longer does, of course, and the refurbished section which is now the main tourist attraction of the area is only some 15 kms, connecting Mokra Gora with the station of Sargan Vitari.
part of the station entrance in Mokra Gora
and our wagon, 3rd class, hard wooden benches
We were lucky to get tickets. Even though it is end of September, the train was fully booked, and we had to wait until the last minutes to purchase the tickets of people who had a reservation but didn’t turn up. But, we managed!
the station on Mokra Gora, and our train ready for departure
The Journey
The train itself is wonderful. A diesel engine pulls five or six wooden carriages, of different ‘class’, the one more luxurious than the other – ours was just hard benches without backrest. I had hoped that the Eight in the name referred to the track, in the form of an eight, but no, the train goes just up and down, doing the same track in reverse. The promised expansive views of mountain scenery were somewhat reduced by the trees that block much of this view, and, another important factor, by the many tunnels we pass through, which obviously have no view at all. To compensate for this, the train makes three extra stops on the way back, for us to take pictures of that famous view at some of the smaller stations. The last stop actually lasts half an hour, and is primarily introduced for commercial reasons, a restaurant, a tourist shop, and ice cream seller, that type of thing. The highlight of the trip? Talking to an old Serbian couple, who had travelled by this train to get to school, every day, some 60 years ago!
always nice, a picture from the window
this is the view from the moving train: mostly trees
and this is the view, from one of the intermediate train stops
this is actually a view of Mokra Gora, and its station, from a higher intermediate station
at one station the platform is high above a small church
we were not the only ones enjoying the view at the intermediate stations!
turning the engine at the Sargan Vitare station
more rolling stock, not being used
another intermediate station building, also wood
The whole journey takes some 2.5 hours. Quite a lot given that the day before we had taken a mere ten minutes to drive from Sargan Vitare to Mokra Gora, by car. With great views.
A bit overrated, perhaps?
next: some of the Serbian monasteries
next to the station of Sargan Vitare is a beautiful wooden church; not that old, actually, built in 2010 or 2011, but nice, nevertheless
