Sargan Eight
Do you remember the train named „Ćira“? The fairytale landscapes through which Ćira passed to form a unique narrow-gauge railway complex "Sargan eight " („Šarganska osmica“) and represent a true masterpiece of Serbian industrial heritage.
Bridging the height differences of 300 meters of a total length of 3.5 km, exactly 100 years ago, the designers designed this line, making it in the recognizable shape of number 8 and as such represents the most attractive narrow-gauge railway in Europe. The loop with which they bridged the height differences is 13.5 km long and is located above the foot of Jatar. In addition to the loop on the route, there are about twenty tunnels and viaducts.
Back in 1925, the steam train Ćira started up. Cira has been driving for almost 50 years when in 1974 he made his last lap with the "Shargan Eight". In 1974, the narrow-gauge railway - Sharganska eight - was abolished.
photo by Herber Ortner, Vienna
Sargan eight – The Ninth kilometer
The idea of making a similar railway appeared at the beginning of the First World War. Serbia was occupied by Austria-Hungary, which wanted to unite the occupied territories by building a railway from Vardište to Užice. Then the first 9km of railway under Shargan was built. The track, which is still called the "Ninth kilometer", carries a strong message and reminds of the unpleasant events that accompanied the construction of the section. A tragedy happened during the work on the ninth kilometer of the railway. A large landslide hit about 200 shift workers who were working on digging the Budim tunnel on Sargan. The dead workers were mostly Russian and Italian prisoners. After this unfortunate event, the works were suspended until 1921.
Continuation of the construction of the Sargan eight
After the end of World War I, the railway tracks Uzice - Shargan - Mokra Gora in the direction of Stalac - Varadiste were completed. After the synchronization of the projects, in 1919, the Ministry of Transport ordered the construction of the Uzice - Vardiste railway to continue.
The problem for the engineers remained the same as during the Austro-Hungarian occupation. The height differences of Shargan had to be bridged. It was an extremely large and complicated construction project. The problem was solved by the famous "Sargan Eight" (railway in the shape of the number 8).
The construction of the railway across Mokra Gora began in March 1921. Construction took almost a full 5 years. The original deadline for the construction, which was breached, was April 25, 1924. The construction of the railway was entrusted to two companies, Plavsic and Phoenix. The works were so complicated and unpredictable that both companies ran into financial problems during construction. In the end, the company Plavšić declared bankruptcy.
The railway was finally ceremoniously put into operation on January 25, 1925. As part of the opening of the section, a documentary film was made "Once upon a time in Obrenovac -" Train Jira ". The film was shot on the legendary Ciri steam train towing wooden passenger cars. In 1938, the first motor train "ran" on these narrow wheels, only 760 mm wide. The same route that his predecessor "Ćira" crossed in 24 hours, this train crossed in the then incredible 16 hours. Due to the speed of 60 km per hour at which it moved, this motor train was popularly called "Crazy Saralji" (it ran on the route Sarajevo Dubrovnik).
Less than half a century later, more precisely on February 28, 1974, the train Ćira and the entire Shargan eight stopped being used because it was estimated that they were not profitable.
Sargan eight - reconstruction and re-establishment
At the initiative of the residents of this area and a group of enthusiasts, the renovation of the Sargan eight was initiated. Serbian Railways accepted the initiative, and the entire project was led by the Traffic Institute CIP. The entire complex project was designed at the Traffic Institute, while locomotive and wagons were brought from the "Serbian Railways" museum.
As the train passes through the Shargan Eight, it crosses five bridges and goes through as many as 22 tunnels with a total length of 5,445 meters. The four stations on Sharganska osmica are Mokra Gora, Jatare, Golubići and Shargan Vitasi. It was the nature of the terrain that conditioned the Shargan eight to look as it does. The whole tour is decorated with beautiful landscapes and vistas from which the view of the natural beauties in the surroundings can be seen. On the route itself, there is a healing spring "Bele vode", while above the railway on the hill Mećavnik is the Ethno village "Drvengrad" of the famous Serbian director Emir Kusturica.
There are numerous interesting facts related to the Shargan eight, so we learn that the loop of rails in the shape of an eight is only 2.7 kilometers long. Also, the only testimony about the untouched nature that surrounds the Shargan Eight is the old saying from those parts, and that is that "At the Jatare station, in the mountain wasteland, no one ever bought a ticket. No one got in or got off the train! "
Sargan eight maps (source google maps/Wikipedia)
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