4K CABVIEW Mokra Gora - Višegrad (Tunnel bats, Rzav river canyon, Serbian - Bosnian border crossing)

Railway line Mokra Gora - Višegrad is extension of the Šargan Eight scenic narrow gauge railway line. It is a part of the former Austro-Hungarian railway network, of the former Užice - Zelenika, Dubrovnik and Sarajevo narrow gauge railway line. Today it is used for tourist purposes. It's getting through the valleys and canyons of several rivers on its way down from the Šargan, Zlatibor and Tara mountains towards the Drina and Višegrad.

Followed downhill, from Mokra Gora station first begins a long descent through the winding valley of the Kamešina river. Soon after, the line makes a serpentine entering the Beli Rzav river valley. After that serpentine, it comes to the border crossing between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The border line is located in the tunnel 53, known as tunnel "Vojnik". After the border, the line slowly enters the Rzav river canyon. That area stands out with its narrow and very steep rocky cliffs, where the railway and road route was cut in. That part is full of bridges and tunnels carved directly into the rocks. Those details are very photogenic, a little bit creepy and beautiful to look at and ride through. In tunnel number 54, which is also the longest on this route, there are even many bats. The tunnel vault is not concreted, it is natural rock, and considering that rail traffic there is very rare, cave bats have taken up residence inside.

After leaving the canyon, the Dobrun Monastery appears. The train stops there for 20 minutes, so that tourists can tour the monastery. After visiting the monastery, the train ride continues along the Rzav river valley, downhill to Višegrad. After a few more tunnels and bridges, Višegrad is reached. The locomotive is shunted to the other side of the train and prepared for the return ride. There is a break of less than three hours for a city tour. After visiting Višegrad, the famous "Ivo Andrić's" bridge over the Drina river and tasting the famous kebabs, city tour is over and tourists board the train for the return trip.

This return train trip is followed by a ride all the time uphill, through the already described scenery mountain areas. During the entire journey train passes through scenic nature and countryside, that are fascinating at times. There are train stops in the monastery and on both sides of the border crossing. There are documents control by the Republic of Srpska border police and the second Serbian border police checkpoint, in front of tunnel number 53.

There are a total of ten tunnels and a dozen railway bridges along the route. Narrow - gauge track is 760mm wide. It has four railway stations: Mokra Gora, Vardište, Dobrun and Višegrad. The maximum slope on the route is 20‰ and the maximum allowed speed is 20km/h. Such a low permitted speed is a consequence of the very poor track condition and many years of non-investment and rail maintenance. There are frequent train derails, in some places the track is very bad and the train driver slows down for safety. It remains to be hoped that some day investment will be made to extend the life of this railway tourist attraction.

This train consists of Romanian manufacture diesel narrow-gauge locomotive and three authentic vintage passenger cars. It is a part of the Serbian Railways, known as museum-tourist railway which also includes the famous "Šarganska osmica" (Šargan Eight railway), as an extension of the railway line from Mokra Gora to Šargan Vitasi. The filming was done from the locomotive platform, in both directions, from Mokra Gora to Višegrad and back.

Timelines for easy video tracking:
00:00:00 - 00:23:10 Mokra Gora - Border crossing
00:23:10 - 00:34:17 Serbian / Bosnian border - The Rzav river canyon
00:34:17 - 00:46:20 The Rzav river canyon - Dobrun
00:46:20 - 01:23:18 Monastery Dobrun - Višegrad
01:23:18 - 02:01:22 Višegrad - Dobrun - The Rzav river canyon
02:01:22 - 02:17:00 The Rzav river canyon - border crossing
02:17:00 - 02:42:23 Serbian / Bosnian border - Mokra Gora

Date of recording:
August 2023.