Bulgarian Railways: Velingrad - Yakoruda from the driver's view

Part 2/3 of the cab ride on the narrow gauge line in the Rhodope mountain from Velingrad to Yakoruda with the morning train 16103 and diesel locomotive 77 009. This is the only left narrow gauge line in Bulgaria, which is still in a regular use. The whole journey takes approximately five hours through the beautiful valleys and gorges of the Rhodope mountains with wonderful views in the last part of the journey towards Rila and Pirin mountains.
The railway was built in several stages between 1921 and 1945 with total length of 125 km (78 miles). Gauge is 760 mm. The Varvara-Pazardzhik branch line, which was closed in 2002, was 16.6 km (10.3 miles) long. Due to the characteristics of the route through the mountains, the narrow-gauge line Septemvri-Dobrinishte is also known as the Alpine railway in the Balkans. Avramovo station, situated at 1267 meters above the sea, is the highest station on the Balkans.
Now just enjoy the most beautiful part of the route - from Velingrad - the spa capital of Bulgaria, through the highest railway station on the Balkans - Avramovo, up to the beauiful town of Yakoruda, situated in the Mesta river valey, between Rila and Rhodope mountains.
If you are missed the first part of the narrow gauge cab ride, you can watch it here:
• Bulgarian Railways: Se...
The final part is already available here:
• Bulgarian Railways - Y...
Finally, a virtual timetable of the train:
0:40 - Velingrad
5:50 - Velingrad south halt
22:05 - Ostrets halt
31:50 - Tsvetino
40:50 - Sveta Petka halt
52:00 - Pashovi (not a regular halt, the train stopped here due to a overheating of the locomotive)
1:05:40 - Avramovo
1:16:03 - Smolevo halt
1:28:40 - Cherna Mesta halt
1:39:21 - Yakoruda

[@peterstowell2976]

Hello Ivo from Melbourne, Australia. I am a volunteer Stationmaster and retired Steam Loco Driver on the famous Puffing Billy Railway, which is a 25Km long 762mm gauge Steam Railway Railway. Your video brought back fond memories of a visit in 2014 along this line behind Loco 609/76 during a great rail tour around Bulgaria behind 01, 03 and 05 Locos. I would love another visit to Bulgaria just to travel behind the 46 Class loco. Best wishes , Peter.

[@antonitowarnicki2482]

Piekna trasa. TAKIE TO LUBIE !!! ☺ Pozdrowienia z Polski .

[@ЛюбомирСтоянов-э9щ]

Красиви местности, живописна природа и тази теснолинейка е сякаш линия от приказките! Пътувал съм няколко пъти по маршрута Септември-Велинград и обратно и веднъж от Септември до Банско. За мен е удоволствие да проследя маршурта от положението на машиниста. Благодаря за това видео!

[@Погледец]

Благодаря много! Едно чудесно начинание. Надявам се тези прекрасни гледки да бъдат видяни от мнозина.И да се даде отпор на отдавна замисленото закриване на това невероятно приказно трасе.Уж няма пари да се поддържа .Било нерентабилно и още куп глупости.А за некачествени магистрали пари има. Това трасе е национално богатство като туристически обект.

[@patriotpatriotic3894]

Абсолютно вярно. В чужбина от всичко гледат да правят туристически атракции, а в България, Бог дал много и вместо да се реализира този потенциал... някои се чудят, как да го спират.

[@nicolasvanhorton5043]

Merci merci merci pour ce merveilleux voyage immobile !

[@milankanka5329]

Veľmi prekrásne natočené video 😃😃😃😃. Perfektné super 😃😃😃😃😃. Srdečne pozdravujem zo Slovenska 😃😃😃😃.

[@atlanticcoastexpress]

Superb! Thank you for the animated diagram illustrating the spiral tunnels and route. The narrow gauge locos are almost as big as the British standard gauge versions! The civil engineering is excellent…I’ve visited the standard gauge line (with spirals) that climbs over the Caucuses but not this line. I’m looking forward to Part 2. Excellent work…thank you! Rob in Bournemouth, England.

[@TRAVELS-VIDEO]

SUPER!!!👍👍👍

[@fabioboschetti8145]

Very beautiful line, this one!!!

[@michelledauvergne6830]

Thanks for sharing this travel. Bulgarian landscapes are not known in France.

[@Suhamer-kc6oj]

Great video! The Septemvri-Dobrinishte line is one of the most beautifull in Europe.

[@robertcoleman4861]

This line is a engineering masterpiece thanks ivo,can not wait for pt 3,cheer's bob.

[@laraveenhof418]

Incredibly beautiful, and masterful editing. I esp. loved the graphics in the tunnel section. Thanks!!!

[@arnesw2647]

Very nice ride. Thanks for sharing! 👍

[@railpast]

Awesone and see why it took 24 years to built. Thanks for inviting me along.

[@karldersiebte]

ah! Really enjoyed watching!

[@valeinikofff]

truth is, I've totally enjoyed it (at 1.5 playback speed and Scooter's Soultrain playing in background). Спасибо!

[@aliesf2572]

Amaizing Video thanks

[@MrMondeo2010]

unbelieveabl e scenery building of the railway I call it the ZigZag train.

[@juk-hw5lv]

The serpentines after Sveta Petka are truly impressive. No wonder the old lady overheated a bit. Maybe a pusher engine would do?

[@IvoRadoev]

A second locomotive for sure will help, but generally 8 carriages should not make the ascents difficult for the loco. The problem is the poor maintenance.

[@juk-hw5lv]

@@IvoRadoev I guess theyre trying to save on coolant haha. and this doesnt end with the rolling stock. The colour light signals are barely readable - someone should change the bulbs! And many stations on the line, it seems, were downgraded into halts with side tracks and signalling removed, like Sveta Petka itself.

[@bigcasey4143]

Amazing

[@MartinMiller1]

Excellent

[@lz1clr806]

супер видео..........

[@franklinbrooks9506]

Beautifully done! I love the route. I especially like the animated inset maps in the more convoluted track sections. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@IvoRadoev]

Thanks a lot! It took me a really long time and efforts to animate the movement on the map. I'm glad you appreciate it!

[@franklinbrooks9506]

@@IvoRadoev You do outstanding work. Plus, the beautiful country and the slow speeds make for a very peaceful experience. It’s too bad that the track beds are in such poor condition, but it makes the video more interesting.

[@chessk0]

Мислех, че ще ми стане скучно да гледам 1:40 мин., но всъщност ми хареса много цялото пътуване. Толкова успокояващо действа. Много е живописно, аз съм минавал само трасето Разлог - Аврамово. Поздрави.

[@IvoRadoev]

Наистина е така. Теснолинейката е бавна, но пътуването по нея минава неусетно заради живописните и разнообразни гледки. Поздрави!

[@ЕвгенийМакаров-щ4д]

На конечной станции стоит УАЗ(russian Jeep)

[@anmolmehta7116]

Superb video. When can we get to see a continuation of this video?

[@IvoRadoev]

I'll try for the next month, but can't promise at this stage. I don't have enough free time.

[@AnatoliNekrasov]

Очень красиво Благодарю

[@ivailotonev9682]

Bulgarian Railways: Varna - sofia

[@bobsinn]

Интересно ще е зимата по това трасе

[@gideongoosen]

Beautiful journey. Love the mountains and tunnels. Very scenic region.

[@ykyang9169]

@12:14 An animal that was hit ? ! ?

[@IvoRadoev]

It seems. Probably it is hit from another train.

[@Wallykget1]

👍👍