Keith Chester

I first came across reference to the Bosnian narrow gauge in Pat Whitehouse's 'On the narrow gauge' back in the late 1960s: then I kept seeing references to it, or occasional photographs and other traveller's tales. Restrictions on photography in this former Eastern Bloc country just added to the mystique; then, of course, the uncivil strife that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s made the subject much more interesting. By that time, of course, the narrow gauge had gone, either regauged to standard or closed completely.

Many of the names in this book became resonant during the Yugoslav wars - Sarajevo, Mostar, Dornji Vakuv, Dubrovnik. This book, the product of ten years' work by Keith Chester, is a reminder of better times.

The Bosnian network was very extensive, and boasted a range of motive power from relics of the Empire - including the eccentric Klose radial tanks - through 2-4-2 express engines and hulking 0-8-2 tender locomotives closely related to the 760mm gauge Austrian Engerth locomotives through to eight-coupled engines supplied by the UNRAA for post-war reconstruction. The system itself evolved from a military field railway to connect Sarajevo, the capital of the newly-acquired territory of Bosnia to the rest of the Empire, to a full-blown mainline railway, running heavy freight, express trains with sleeper cars and dining cars, and even special trains such as the special that took the ill-fated Archduke Franz Ferdinand from the sea-port at Ploce on the Adriatic to his appointment with destiny in Sarajevo. The routes themselves passed through mighty mountain ranges, through passes and on high shelves above deep river gorges. The main line from Sarajevo to the Adriatic coast, the route that made the Bosnian narrow gauge into a strategic system, boasted a rack-and-pinion section over the Ivan Pass which demanded special working arrangements and kept overall speeds down for many years. Even so, the seventeen hours it sometimes took to travel from the coast to Sarajevo was a vast improvement on the days it took before the railway was built, along roads and tracks that were all but impassible during winter or times of heavy rain.

The authorities recognised the restrictions that adopting the 760mm gauge imposed, and much of the system was engineered to accommodate standard-gauge wagons on transporters (though these were common elsewhere in Austria, they were not actually used in Bosnia), a move which eased the system's conversion to standard gauge in the 1970s. More importantly, when Bosnia became part of the new state of Yugoslavia after World War I, the new government in Belgrade saw it necessary to build extensive mileage of 760mm gauge in Serbia, Dalmatia and Montenegro to join the railway systems of each country together. This involved very considerable engineering, including multiple spiral tunnels over the Sargan mountain at Mokra Gora on the Serbian side of the border. A preservation group in Serbia has been working to restore the Sargan spirals - a sight fully the equal of any railway spirals to be found in Alpine countries - and they have achieved something unique in the world of preservation: a heritage railway that actually crosses a national border into Bosnia (Srpska Republika to be precise).

This book is definitive and welcome. It is the product of ten years' work, and it shows. Chester not only describes the railways, their history and equipment, but also sets this in the context of the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its system of government. Indeed, the ways in which Austria-Hungary was governed - as two separate countries with one head of state and a number of "common" ministries for dealing mainly with external affairs - form the subject of an extensive chapter of their own which is one of the few places where I have seen the governance of Austria-Hungary described in detail. And this is important, because without understanding how the Empire was governed - that different provinces were under the control of either Austria or Hungary, and the decisions over railway development in Bosnia and the connection of the system to allow direct communication with Vienna hinged very much on the territorial and economic ambitions of the separate states of Austria and Hungary (which was the ruling power in neighbouring Croatia) - a lot about the history of this system (and indeed, about the Empire in general!) makes very little sense .

If the book has one fault, it is that it is almost too detailed. The appendices on standard gauge railways in Bosnia, on the narrow gauge in Serbia and Yugoslavia, and on some lines that were not geographically integrated into the wider Bosnian system are almost the length of a minor monograph themselves and would put other single-line histories to shame. And there are a number of places mentioned in the text in connection with the many abortive railway schemes in the Balkans that are not shown on the otherwise excellent map inside the front cover because they ended up never being connected to any railway at all. But these are minor faults. It is a weighty volume - I bought mine at an exhibition in Vienna and it very nearly put me over my weight allowance on the flight home! It also got me into an interesting conversation with a couple of old boys at the exhibition who were intrigued that I, an Englishman, should have an interest in the railways of the "Old Empire".

That such a book on Yugoslav railways should appear in English from a Swedish publisher should teach us all a lesson.… (altro)