The Last Crocodiles at KWB Konin: Farewell to EL2

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.

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.

We continued to go ever deeper into the technical story of Konin. At “Kazimierz — Viaduct” we photographed a halted train above the provincial road. A moment later, “Jóźwin Coal” awaited us along with shots beneath the loading station, and then a category C level crossing, where the train passed us to the accompaniment of an old-type automatic level crossing signalling. There was also a photo stop at a forest crossing and various shots in the Cleaning Area using two locomotives. This part of the day was like the essence of industrial railway photography: switches, traction network poles (including wooden ones!) and the “K” indicators characteristic of this railway.

That was exactly when the scale of the system we were moving through could be seen best. In its mature form, the Mining Railways network of KWB Konin counted 120 km of lines, mostly double-tracked, with 15 stations and 225 switches. The railway served the Kazimierz, Jóźwin, Lubstów and Drzewce opencasts, and transported coal to the Pątnów and Konin Power Plants. Its core was formed by two main lines — the Kleczew and Lubstów lines — while the connection with the PKP PLK network was made via the handover point at Przesmyk-Gaj station. As we looked at successive signal boxes, viaducts and crossings, we were therefore seeing not individual tracks, but a fragment of a vast, precisely arranged industrial system.

After “Jóźwin” came one of the most picturesque scenes of the entire event — “Wygoda — beach.” It was there that we entered in groups onto the pier to photograph the train standing on the bridge. Raw, heavy technology met an almost calm, soft, watery landscape. The contrast was enormously impressive: steel and traction network on one side, the surface of the water and a wide breath of space on the other. After a delicious lunch, we headed to Lubstów — first to the loading station, then to the signal box. We also took a shot featuring an old PKS bus stop sign and the TAM190 bus belonging to the Derenowski family from Tuliszków. This is exactly what we love about such trips: frames no one could invent at a desk, because they are born only where the history of technology still meets the everyday landscape.

At this stage, the memory of the briquette factory in Marantów also returned with particular strength — one of the most important elements of the early mining and energy complex of KWB Konin. Its history began before the war, when in 1934 a lignite seam was uncovered in the Morzysław area, and in 1942 mining works began along with the construction of the briquette factory and a small power plant. The briquettes themselves were produced from lignite with no binder added, and the plant went through successive stages of development, including reconstruction and modernization after a coal-dust explosion in 1960. Although the decision to close the briquette factory was made in 1986, production continued longer — the last batch of briquettes came off the line on April 14, 2002. This matters because “The Last Crocodiles” was not merely a chase after a locomotive. It was a journey through the entire heritage of the Konin basin: from opencasts, through the briquette factory, to power generation.

The end of the route had something of a cinematic closure. At Błonawy we captured a dynamic passage of the train, then moved to a rise by the next crossing to capture the train with stationary shape-form warning signs. At Wygoda, we photographed the train on a trapezoidal crossover.

Shortly afterwards came the time for one of the most recognizable frames of the whole day — a shot with a view of the basilica in Licheń — and further on, the panorama from the viaduct at the Sugar Factory, from which the Licheń temple was also visible. The whole was closed by a return to the East Viaduct signal box, where we photographed the train approaching from the east. It was a perfect closing of the day: not by chance, but by consciously bracketing the beginning and end of the expedition.

It was in these final frames that we felt most strongly that we were taking part in something unique. The fatigue was real — dozens of exits and entries to buses, marches, waiting, concentration and split-second framing decisions take their toll — but the satisfaction was even greater. Because when we were coming back from Estakada Wschód, each of us knew that we were not bringing home only photographs. We were bringing back a record of an ending. And when, on April 30, 2026, the 68-year operation of the EL2 in Poland came to an end, that April day grew to the rank of a true farewell to a legend. 🙌