# Zenica Coal Mine - Bosnia-Herzegovina



## tarboat (Jul 31, 2008)

Zenica Coal Mine - Bosnia-Herzegovina

An explore from my 2007 trip to the Balkans.

This is an old mine opened in 1884 and employs around 1,100 men. The shaft is 275 metres deep and the deepest seam worked is at 410 metres. Brown coal seams here are often several metres thick but the quality is low. There has been little investment in this mine since the civil war and it shows in the state of the buildings.

Permission was granted to view the outside of the mine from the yard but not to enter the buildings. The men working on the tipplers and creeper for the tubs seemed quite happy to see me there but the supervisor moved me off when he saw me taking photographs. A return visit at dusk enabled me to access the washery building which contains some archaic equipment and feeds the bunkers in the amazing wooden structure where road and rail wagons are loaded. This was also remarkable for the fact that water pumped from the mine passed through the washery and then emptied into the roadway where the lorries loaded. Needless to say the whole area was a morass of mud and coal slurry.

A surprising survivor of the old-fashioned type of mine that was once common in Britain.






The winding tower and tub circuit.










The tub creeper.





Tipplers





Under repair in the locomotive shed.





Loading bunkers.





The wooden loading bunkers are an amazing survival.





Inside the washery building.




















The loading bunkers at night.




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## Lacelotte (Jul 31, 2008)

Great pictures!
I love the last two of the engines


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## Earth Worm Jim (Jul 31, 2008)

Groovy.


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## smileysal (Jul 31, 2008)

WOW what an amazing place. Love that winding house, and the wooden loading bunkers, very unusual. Absolutely love all the pics with the steam engine, especially the last two.

Excellent find tb, and excellent pics.

Cheers mate,

 Sal


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## thompski (Jul 31, 2008)

Love those last few shots, sort of like a 19th century/early 20th century industrial time warp (in my brain at least). The fifth from bottom looks like something out of the Matrix films (those wooden framed metallic sheets remind me of monitors).


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## Sabtr (Jul 31, 2008)

What an amazing place. It's as if you have travelled back in time 60 years! Great pics there.


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## BigLoada (Jul 31, 2008)

Eastern European mines are fascinating. Thats the weirdest headgear I've ever seen! Would love to do a mine exploration tour of Europe. Great pictures Tarboat


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## no1rich (Jul 31, 2008)

Looks like you've gone back to the turn of the 1900's. Sound pics Cheers for sharing them....


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## Foxylady (Jul 31, 2008)

Fabulous place. Really very interesting to see. Superb photos. Excellent work.


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## Neosea (Jul 31, 2008)

Looks like hell to me! Cool photo's, love to visit but not to work


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## Virusman26 (Jul 31, 2008)

Great to see what looks like a derelict ruin still in use!!! Top quality night shots, good work.
Just think how most of the industrial sites that we've explored in this country would have had similar working conditions, only well over 50 or more years ago! And those mad gits are still working like it!


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## Reaperman (Jul 31, 2008)

Looks brilliant, Cheers for posting those pictures.


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## The Pirate (Aug 2, 2008)

Fantastic stuff...really good pics.


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## NobodyGirl (Aug 3, 2008)

ohhh! this is the kind of place of my dreams... WOW!


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## Locksley (Aug 4, 2008)

Fantastic pics, especially the ones of the locos. Surprising they still use steam and haven't gone to diesels.


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## tarboat (Aug 4, 2008)

Locksley said:


> Fantastic pics, especially the ones of the locos. Surprising they still use steam and haven't gone to diesels.



The survival of steam locomotives in places such as this is partly due to the EU sanctions imposed during the civil war when diesel fuel was very scarce. Even now the country has lots of coal and limported oil is expensive so there is little incentive to invest in expensive diesels. The change will come although I suppose that it is possible that the mine will close before diesels appear.


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## Neosea (Aug 4, 2008)

tarboat said:


> Zenica Coal Mine - Bosnia-Herzegovina
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Wish I took this picture, its great, but then, they all are good.


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