Rail traffic in northeastern Bosnia - Heavy industry freight trains - EMDG16 diesel locomotives [4K]

Railways in the northeast of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the area of Tuzla Canton, connect the largest industrial centers of heavy and dirty industry of Bosnia. Those lines are not electrified and connect coal mines with thermal power plants, industry for the production of coke coal, alumina, salt and sugar. Rail traffic in that region relied on steam locomotive traction. Today, steam locomotives mostly have replaced by large and powerful diesel locomotives manufactured by the American General Motors. Those locomotives are the backbone of freight traffic on non-electrified railways in Bosnia. These are locomotives of the EMD G16 series (Electro-Motive Division locomotives), in these areas known as the 661 series, under the nicknames "Kennedy" or "Džems".
Heavy freight trains video compilation shows freight trains of Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine), Railways of Republika Srpska (Željeznice Republike Srpske) and freight wagons from abroad, such as Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary... Along with the video scenes of all trains, the basic data about those trains, such as train length, train mass, type of goods being transported and the train's transport route, are also written. There are mainly trains for the transportation of various types of coal, but there is also something really rare and exotic, such as the transportation of soda to Ukraine.
The largest generator of trains in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the complex of heavy and dirty industries in Lukavac. Some of the most important industries which use rail transport are:
Industry for coce coal production (Global Ispat Koksna Industrija doo (GIKIL, Koksara Lukavac)),
Sisecam Soda Lukavac,
Banovići, Šikulje and Dubrave coal mines (rudnik Banovići, rudnik Šikulje, rudnik Dubrave),
Thermal power plant Tuzla (Termoelektrana Tuzla),
Sugar refinery in Brčko (BIMAL Grupa) and
Alumina Zvornik in Karakaj, near Zvornik.
Coal for making coke coal is transported by trains from the Port of Ploče on the Adriatic Sea. Coke coal is exported by trains most often to the ironworks in Radinac, Serbia (HBIS Srbija, Železara Smederevo). Raw, crude sugar is brought from Brazil by ships to the Port of Ploče and then by trains to the sugar refinery in Brčko...
Lukavac train station is the main hub for all these heavy freight trains transports. Bosanska Poljana railway station is the main junction of the two main railway lines in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is intersect of Brčko - Banovići and Doboj - Tuzla lines. Another significant freight railway line, Živinice - Zvornik Novi, is separated a little further, at Živinice. Trains on all these lines are shown in this video.
In that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no passenger rail traffic anymore. The passenger train at the beginning of this video is a special passenger train on the occasion for celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Brcko - Banovići railway line. Right after that passenger train, only freight trains are shown.
As the railway traffic in these parts of the Balkans is very neglected and on some lines and tracks only one or two trains a day come across, the collection of material for the creation of this video lasted eight years. The recording period was from 2016 to 2023, during various seasons, mostly during the winter or late fall period.
It was a real pleasure and enjoyment recording to these powerful diesel locomotives, watching and listening to them live, while releasing a large amount of smoke, pulling heavy freight trains. I hope that at least a part of that feeling can be conveyed through the video.