Events > Mining > “Konin” Lignite Mine > The Last Crocodiles – The End of the Mining Railway Era at KWB Konin
The Last Crocodiles (EL2) – Farewell to KWB Konin’s Mining Railway | 18 Apr 2026
A special freight train with photo stops hauled by an EL2 “Crocodile” locomotive — Saturday, 18 April 2026.
About the event
The Last Crocodiles – The End of the Mining Railway Era at KWB Konin is a farewell to a legend: the electric locomotives EL2 “Crocodile”, which for decades hauled lignite across the Konin mining railway network. On 18 April 2026 we’re taking you where you normally can’t go — onto an active industrial site — to see and photograph the closing chapter of a story that will soon exist only in archive photos.
This event is designed for photography and video: a special freight consist, thoughtfully planned photo stops, drive-bys “for the frame”, and photo-bus logistics that mean you’re where and when the action happens. Industrial steel, dust, infrastructure — and the “Crocodile” in the leading role. If you love railways, engineering, and the vibe of real industry: this is the day — the last day like this in this place…
Note: the number of places is limited — we operate as a special event on an active industrial site.
See also: Customer information notice ↗, Schedule ↗, How to dress for the event? ↗
We meet at by the water tower — next to the railway station building in Konin
Recommended way to get there
Getting to the meeting point is easiest by train. Get off at Konin (Kolejowa 1), i.e. exactly where the tour starts. No parking stress, no hassle — you just hop on, ride, and you’re there.
Connections — train travel tips
Choose the connection that suits you, preferably without transfers. Buy your ticket in advance and plan your arrival so that you’re on site before 9:00.
The train is a fast, convenient, hassle-free way to start this trip with no extra stress. 🚆 Our event is coordinated with the transport options listed — everything is in the table below. If your train is delayed, don’t worry: we wait up to 15 minutes.
Required clothing
This event takes place in an industrial area and around railway infrastructure. There’s no room here for sneakers or high heels.
Every participant is required to wear comfortable, stable footwear with a hard, treaded sole (anti-slip) and clothing suitable for the weather and field conditions.
Photo stops may involve walking on ballast, uneven ground, sand, stones, and along infrastructure edges. That’s why we strictly require:
- shoes fully enclosed (covered toes and heel),
- a hard sole with a pronounced tread (recommended: trekking / work boots).
Not allowed: soft-soled sneakers, high heels, sandals, flip-flops, ballet flats, and other “city” shoes without stability.
Note: for safety reasons, the organiser/host may refuse participation to anyone with inappropriate footwear or clothing (no refund).
Clothing: Long trousers, shoes with a stable anti-slip sole
You must bring
An ID card or other identity document.
We recommend bringing
Drinking water.
Snacks for the day (optional).
A notebook or camera, if you want to capture these unique moments.
It’s an intense day full of history, technology, and flavours — if you enjoy technical tours and behind-the-scenes places, you simply want to be here.
You’ll find the detailed plan in the schedule ↗
Lunch is included in the ticket price; you can choose one of two sets
We’ve prepared answers to the most common questions:
Couldn’t find the answer you’re looking for? Contact us by email: hello@zrobotyzowani.com.pl or by phone: +48 792 755 838
Schedule ↗
Photo gallery ↗
About the host ↗
About the Crocodiles ↗
Price from
SOLD OUT
Saturday, 18 April 2026
Sales start: 21 February 2026, 20:00
By purchasing a ticket, you accept General Terms and Conditions.
The listed price includes VAT and is the final price for participation in the event.
By registering for the event, you accept General Terms and Conditions together with the personal data processing policy, which is Appendix No. 1 to the T&Cs.
The price includes
- Participation in the event “The Last Crocodiles – The End of the Mining Railway Era at KWB Konin”
- Entry to the event area in accordance with the Host’s rules
- Transport by photo-bus during the event (between photo locations)
- Organiser support and group guiding (coordination, safety)
- Basic personal accident insurance (NNW)
- [Optional – if included in your ticket] Lunch (meat / vegetarian – depending on ticket variant)
The price does not include
- Travel to/from the meeting point (Konin)
- Accommodation
- Meals (if you choose a ticket without lunch)
- Personal expenses (drinks, snacks, etc.)
By registering for the event, you accept the internal regulations of the Hosts of the visited sites.
Any questions, please contact the Organisers by email: hello@zrobotyzowani.com.pl or by phone: +48 792 755 838
The English version of this website uses machine translation and does not constitute a binding commercial offer – such an offer can only be found in the Polish version.
Gallery
See what the Mining Railway in Konin looked like in the best light — EL2 “Crocodile” locomotives, freight trains, shunting, and photo stops in an industrial setting KWB Konin / PAK. This gallery isn’t just photos: it’s a record of the closing chapter of the lignite era and the infrastructure that powered the region for years (open pits, railway lines, technical facilities). If you’re looking for rail photography inspiration or information about the Konin mining railway, scroll on — here you’ll find atmosphere, scale, and details you won’t see “from the road”.
Schedule
Below you’ll find the schedule for the event “The Last Crocodiles – The End of the Mining Railway Era at KWB Konin”. It’s a day plan built around an active industrial site and photography: photo-bus runs, photo stops (static and drive-bys), viewpoints over infrastructure, and key moments involving the locomotives EL2 “Crocodile”. The order of points may change for operational reasons (mine/rail traffic), but the goal remains the same: maximum great shots and safe organisation.
Saturday, 18 kwietnia 2026
9:00
Participants gathering
We meet by the water tower — next to the railway station building in Konin.
Saturday, 18 kwietnia 2026
10:00
The Last Crocodiles – Shooting locations
Our adventure starts in Konin — we meet for the briefing and immediately get into the “special expedition” mood. Then comes what you’re here for: we board the buses and head into an area you normally won’t get to see. We travel in a unique lineup: a vintage TAM190 (a classic with character) and a surprise bus — and this logistics itself is part of a wonderful, though bittersweet, story.
Saturday, 18 kwietnia 2026
10:00-19:00
Lubstów → Wygoda → Cleaning Area → Gaj Pass → Pątnów Power Plant viaducts → Kazimierz Biskupi
The route is designed like the script of an industrial film: from Lubstów, through the Gaj Pass, all the way to places that deliver a real “wow” even for people who have seen a lot of industry. We’ll look around the Cleaning Area, ride across the Pątnów Power Plant viaducts, feel the scale of infrastructure that powered the region — and reach Kazimierz Biskupi. This is not a regular ride “from A to B”. It’s a moving expedition through the heart of Konin industry: views you don’t catch from the road, places you don’t enter “out of curiosity”, and the atmosphere of an active mining site.
In practice it means one thing: you get a day packed with strong highlights, with no dead mileage. We move efficiently by bus, and every section of the route has a purpose — it takes you where industry is real, raw, and large-scale.
Why buy a ticket now?
Because routes like this aren’t a “standard product”. This event runs in the reality of an active mining operation, with constraints and limits that can’t be “expanded”. Places are limited — and if you want this route in the best lineup and this configuration of locations, this is exactly the moment. Click, book your spot, and you’re sure you’re coming with us into an area you normally can’t access.
Saturday, 18 kwietnia 2026
14:00
Lunch break
Halfway through the day we make a quick pit stop in Licheń: 40 minutes to reset and we head back out. Lunch is included in the ticket price — you choose one of two sets:
Meat: tomato soup with noodles + chicken de volaille, potatoes with dill, salad.
Veg: tomato soup with noodles + potato-and-cheese pierogi (pierogi ruskie), salad.
Not having lunch? This time is yours: a walk around the area or a quick visit to the Basilica in Licheń (on your own, during the break).
Saturday, 18 kwietnia 2026
19:00
End of the event
At the end we return by photo-bus to Konin. We close the day calmly: last chats, last photos in your camera — and the sense that the “Crocodiles” are really leaving. If there’s time, we’ll do a short wrap-up and a group photo — more as a souvenir than a “programme item”.
Event end location: by the water tower — next to the railway station building in Konin
The order of programme items may change.
Freight train consist: the special train will be formed with an electric locomotive EL2 (“Crocodile”) and Polish wagons type 410V.
Locomotive livery choice: approx. 2 weeks before the event we will run a poll among ticket holders. Participants will choose whether the consist is hauled by EL2-09 in the “sky” livery or a “Crocodile” in classic green.
Learn more about the Host and the site being visited
PAK KWB KONIN
PAK KWB Konin is one of the most recognisable industrial landscapes in Poland: lignite mines, vast technical infrastructure, and logistics that for decades powered the region’s energy heart. Here you can see the scale of industry “live” — not in a museum, but in a working system: from open pits and spoil tips, through process facilities, all the way to links with Pątnów Power Plant and a network of facilities across the area.
History of the pits and the “railway for coal”
Konin’s open-pit mining is the story of huge excavations, conveyors, spreaders, and the whole engineering built around lignite extraction. Successive open pits reshaped the region’s map, and with them came transport infrastructure that became the mine’s bloodstream. In this world, an important role was played by the KWB Konin Mining Railway — an industrial network built not for passengers but for hard work: moving mass, handling process traffic, and feeding the entire extraction–processing–power chain.
It was on these tracks that the legendary locomotives worked EL2 “Crocodile”: powerful, simple in form, uncompromising in character. Built for conditions where traction, reliability, and steel calm matter — even when the train is heavy and the terrain tough.
Energy transition, reclamation, and “the end of an era”
Today the region is undergoing an energy transition: from a lignite-based model to new development directions. The role of the mine is changing, the economic environment is shifting, and in the background topics like production cuts, shutdown, dismantling infrastructure, reclamation of pits, and future use of post-mining land. It’s a process spread over time, but the signs are impossible to miss — and that’s why “The Last Crocodiles” carries such weight.
During the event we move through areas connected with the operation of the mine and its facilities (incl. around Lubstów, Gaj Pass, Cleaning Area, the Pątnów Power Plant viaducts and the area of Kazimierz Biskupi) — places that usually remain out of reach of “ordinary sightseeing”. That inaccessibility and authenticity are what make it not just a tour, but an entry into a world that is just becoming history.
This place is living regional history: Konin lignite mine (KWB Konin/PAK), its open pits, transport and energy infrastructure and topics that interest thousands of people today: energy transition, phasing out extraction, dismantling infrastructure and reclamation of post-mining land.
Other events from this host
Report from the 13th Congress of Urban Transport Enthusiasts
On the Safety Track – Railway Traffic Control at KWB Konin
EL2 “Crocodile” – 100 tons of industrial legend
If Konin has an icon of engineering, it’s EL2 locomotives, which we call “Crocodiles”. This isn’t railway “for passengers” and this isn’t rolling stock “for photos”. The EL2 was built to haul heavy loads: day after day, in open-pit dust, on tracks that were often more “worksite” than perfect. That’s why it looks like a predator — low, massive, with a distinctive “spine” on the roof and a silhouette you can’t mistake for anything else.
During The Last Crocodiles you’ll see this machine where it makes sense: in the mining landscape, among infrastructure and the industrial scale of KWB Konin. And importantly: this is a farewell, not “just another chance”.
Where did the EL2 come from?
The EL2 was built at LEW Hennigsdorf (GDR) in the years 1952–1988. A total of around 1,384 units — it’s one of the most widely built electric industrial locomotives in history. Dozens came to Poland (including 62 brand-new units), and the Konin network became one of the places where the “Crocodiles” worked the longest and most intensively.
Why “Crocodile”?
Because there’s something animal-like about it: heavy, long, low-slung — it moves calmly but relentlessly. In the mine it doesn’t have to run. It simply has to pull. And it does it in a way that commands respect, even if you’ve seen a lot.
EL2 in Poland — the last strongholds
In Poland, the “Crocodiles” got a second youth. They worked, among others, in KWB Konin, KWB Adamów, KCW Kujawy or ZGH Zębiec. Many machines underwent upgrades (e.g., control desks, converters, braking solutions), but in mining reality one thing mattered: the locomotive had to be ready to work whenever needed.
Why is this event unique?
Because the EL2 is disappearing from Europe’s landscape along with changes in energy and mining. In the background are processes everyone hears about today when they google “KWB Konin”: energy transition, phasing out extraction, dismantling infrastructure, pit reclamation and new uses for post-mining land. And the “Crocodiles” — a symbol of that era — are leaving with it.
The Last Crocodiles is the moment to:
see the EL2 in motion,
hear and feel the scale of this machine,
take photos in an industrial environment that won’t be a given anymore.
This is not an exhibition. It’s a farewell.
Engineering that gets the job done ⚙️
The “Crocodile” is simple in concept, brutally effective 💪
- 🚂 Bo’Bo’ wheel arrangement (two bogies, two powered axles each) — stable on rough track
- 🧱 Weight approx. 100 tonnes — traction and grip, not “lightness and comfort”
- 🔌 DC supply 1.2 / 1.5 / 2.4 kV (depending on version)
- ⚡ 4 traction motors and hourly power of approx. 1320 kW
- 🐊 Powerful starting tractive effort — in a mine what matters is tractive force, not a sprint
That’s why the EL2 was valued in open pits: 🏗️ heavy loads, 🥾 ballast and uneven trackbeds, 🌧️ mud, ❄️ frost, 🌫️ dust, 🔁 constant shunting — and work “from dawn till dusk” ⏱️
Themed merchandise — KWB Konin
Looking for a souvenir from “The Last Crocodiles”? On Zrobki.pl you’ll find merch for rail and industrial fans: T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, bags, magnets, and posters inspired by engineering and the world of mines. The shop also has a dedicated collection EL2 “Crocodile” (Trains → Electric locomotives), as well as categories Mining and Excavators — perfect if you’re into the vibe KWB Konin and the region’s industrial heritage.
Free shipping in Poland from 299 PLN — if you’re adding something to your cart, now’s a good time.
Learn more about the Organiser
Who are Zrobotyzowani?
Zrobotyzowani are enthusiasts who turn “no entry” signs into invitations. We take you where an ordinary tourist won’t reach: inside active steelworks, mines, or train factories. Feel the pulse of heavy industry, see unique machines, and discover engineering from the inside. Our trips are more than sightseeing — they’re an industrial adventure packed with knowledge, made for the demanding. Looking for thrills and unique shots? Join us and see what’s hidden!
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Important information
➕ Worth knowing
- Places are limited — first come, first served.
- This is a one-day event (less than 24 hours) and is not a tourist event within the meaning of the Polish Act on tourist events.
- Your reservation is confirmed only after the ticket is paid (until the allocation is exhausted).
- By registering for the event, you accept General Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) together with the personal data processing policy (Appendix No. 1 to the T&Cs).
- In accordance with the Host’s requirements, each participant must provide: full name, identity document number, and home address. You provide the data in an encrypted form, which we will send to the email used for the booking about 2 weeks before the event.
- Entry may be denied, if the data from the booking/form (full name + document number) do not match the data on the document shown at entry.
- The Organisers and Hosts may conduct random sobriety checks before entry; refusal or a positive result results in denial/exclusion with no right to a refund.
- For reasons beyond the Organiser’s control, the event may be cancelled — in that case the participant will receive a full refund of the paid amount.
- Due to the nature of the site (stairs, slopes, uneven surfaces, hard-to-access places) the event is not adapted for people with reduced mobility, including wheelchair users.
- Please arrive on time at the meeting point — late participants may not be admitted (entry procedures and schedule).
CUSTOMER INFORMATION OBLIGATION
If you couldn’t find the answer you’re looking for, or if you have trouble filling out the form, we encourage you to get in touch.
Registrations for the event are accepted only by purchasing a ticket via Zrobki.pl, by clicking the “Buy a ticket for the event” button.
In random cases beyond the organiser’s control, we reserve the right to cancel events.
The order of programme items may change or be reversed.
The author of the black-and-white photos in the page intro is Mr Krzysztof Nożyński — thank you kindly for permission to use the photos.
