Date: April 18, 2026 | Location: Konin Lignite Mine | Mission: Farewell to the Crocodiles
Some events in industrial tourism are simply interesting. Others become defining moments of an era, and still others close chapters in a story. “The Last Crocodiles” at KWB Konin was exactly that kind of day: on April 18, 2026 we gathered on the mine’s railway grounds to bid farewell to the legendary EL2 locomotives and accompany them on one of the last — and so photographically extensive — runs across the network of the Mining Railways of the Konin Lignite Mine. From the perspective of just a few weeks later, we now know that this moment was even more precious than we suspected: on April 30, 2026, the 68-year operation of EL2 locomotives in Poland came to an end.
For us, this is not just an event report, but something more: a record of access to a world that ordinary tourists do not enter. Since 2019, Zrobotyzowani have been building a “renaissance of industrial tourism” in Poland, organizing tailor-made technical tours and opening the doors to places not seen up close every day — active plants, industrial railways, mines and technical facilities. We try to show you the “behind the scenes of great industry,” to step onto active mining sites, to let you touch the spirit of the industry that Poland was once built upon. That is exactly why the farewell to the “Crocodiles” had such power.
Want to see with your own eyes how gigantic, multi-storey bucket-wheel excavators effortlessly swallow entire hills, and how mighty spreaders can reshape the terrain and move rivers within hours, creating a completely new landscape? Join our upcoming events and discover these and other secrets hidden at the bottom of the great, moon-like opencast mines! Join us, subscribe to the newsletter! Don’t be an ordinary tourist – become a Zrobotyzowany!
Where the ordinary tourist does not reach
It was clear from the start that we were not taking part in an ordinary trip. The introduction to the commemorative brochure prepared for the participants emphasized that this event had a special character, as it was connected with the farewell to locomotives that for years had been the trademark of the Mining Railways in Konin and attracted the attention of rail enthusiasts from Poland and around the world. At the same time, the organizers reminded everyone that it was the third and final special run with the “Crocodiles” prepared by Zrobotyzowani — and one of the last opportunities to see these machines in their natural environment.
This was not a day for improvisation either. From the very beginning, the event was communicated as a special program on the grounds of an active plant: with a bus ride following a special freight train pulled by an EL2 locomotive, with photo stops, lunch and clearly defined safety rules. Long trousers and shoes with stable, anti-slip soles were required, and the Zrobo team reminded everyone that there is no room for going off the rules on railway and industrial premises. Excellent — it is exactly this kind of discipline that makes Zrobotyzowani’s technical tours intensive and exclusive – and most importantly, safe.
Morning at the EW signal box and traces of the mine’s oldest history
We caught the first frames in the area of the EW signal box — Estakada Wschód (East Viaduct). We started with a shot “with the power plant in the background,” then moved to the area of the Pątnów Power Plant viaducts — where the owner himself had to give consent for our visit and photography. Already here we could feel what we love most in such events: focus, full readiness and that characteristic tension before the run, when everyone silently counts down the minutes until the train appears. Although the existing, harsh light placed high demands and forced us to squeeze the absolute maximum out of our cameras, the perfect geometry of the place and the great, raw, “electric” background did their job. When the heavy train finally entered the frame, everything played out exactly as we had planned. There was no coincidence in this — only a well-laid-out script, efficient logistics and the satisfaction of capturing a frame at that one, unique moment.
What’s more, on that day our train was the only one moving across the Mining Railways network – all to ensure the highest safety standards for our guests.
In this morning section of the route, the historical context resonated particularly strongly. The beginnings of the lignite mine in Konin are linked to the Morzysław deposit. Although coal was already mined there during World War II, industrial exploitation started after the opencast was taken over by a Polish crew in 1945, and from 1946 onwards the coal was also used for briquette production. In the earliest period, transport relied on small single-bucket excavators, a chain railway with a 500 mm gauge and an overhead cable railway about 1,382 metres long, running along the line of today’s Wyspiańskiego Street in Konin. These were modest beginnings, but they were the foundation from which the later, impressive railway-mining organism grew.
Want to see with your own eyes how precisely laid hundreds of kilometres of industrial tracks pump millions of tons of black gold straight into the ever-hungry boilers of power plants, and how powerful freight trains continuously fuel the country’s energy heart? Join our upcoming events and discover these and other secrets of the iron routes of great industry! Join us, subscribe to the newsletter! Don’t be an ordinary tourist – become a Zrobotyzowany!
