Indholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2024 i Locomotives International

In the early 1960s, I was working in Romania for a British company, but my railway interests were somewhat inhibited by the recognition that my career prospects would not be improved if I were to be thrown out of the country for taking photographs etc. Thus it was not until the 1990s when times had changed that I had the opportunity to visit the Romanian State Railways (CFR) narrow gauge railways, or what was left of them! I wrote some notes on the CFF (Romanian Forestry Railways) lines for LI issues 96 and 97, but here I will confine myself to the CFR narrow gauge. But back to the 1960s. My earliest CFR timetable is for 1965 and shows 6 CFR narrow gauge lines with a passenger service. All of…

After nearly four days spent at Zhongwei over Christmas 1987 (featured in Steam and Rail in China), we then headed for Jiayuguan in the northwestern province of Gansu. This was a 28-hour, 1,076km-long journey, steam hauled all the way by a succession of QJ class 2-10-2s and glimpses of 1987-built JS class 2-8-2s working as station pilots. My Lonely Planet guide book from the time described the fortress at Jiayugaun dating from 1372 as the ‘terminus of the [Great Wall] and the end of the empire’. Whilst the fortress had been restored after the ravages of the Cultural Revolution, the Great Wall this far west was little more than a mound of rubble. Jiayuguan was also where in late 1987, apart from a few local workings, steam haulage ended and…

Contributions for this section should be sent to the Editorial Office, with the following exceptions: • Southern Africa - John Middleton, c/o Editorial Office. Email: johnmiddleton3401@gmail.com • South America - Lionel Price, 9, Liverpool Road West, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 1PE. Email: jldprice@btinternet.com • Spain & Portugal - Joan Carles Salmerón, c/o Editorial Office. Email: cet@terminus.cat Contributions which are primarily photographic in nature should all be sent to the Editorial Office to give the best choice of material for covers etc. Similarly historical articles and features should be sent to the Editor. The Editor's contact details are inside the front cover. AFRICA CONGO Service Nationale (SN) This appears to be a new operator. In mid-February a former SAR Class 33 was outshopped by ARTS in Pretoria in a light blue livery…

The Sabah State Railway (Keratapi Negeri Sabah) is the only steam heritage railway in Malaysia. It is among the most isolated railways in the world being some four hours by air from Kuala Lumpur and a great distance from other steam venues and is a unique survivor of the British colonial era. In September 2001 I was on a business trip to Brunei and had completed my assignment by Thursday. My flight back to UK was booked for the following Sunday so I reckoned that there was just enough time to make a whistle stop trip to Sabah to chase some steam engines! Brief history Construction of the North Borneo Railway (now the Sabah State Railway) started in 1896 with a 20 mile (32km) 3'6” (1067mm) gauge track between Beaufort…

During a trip to the Harz narrow gauge system in February 2023, the horrifying thought struck the writer that it was now over FIFTY years since his first visit. In 1972, our group arrived at Wernigerode on the D170 express from Berlin (the group had boarded at Magdeburg) and arrived behind 2-10-0 50 3645! (this loco took over at Halberstadt). The shed at Wernigerode was then visited, with locos pulled out for photography, before travelling to Eisfelder Talmühle. The main line was then from Wernigerode to Nordhausen (four return trains daily) with a branch to Hasselfelde and a “pass holder only” branch to Schierke with the Selketalbahn being separate. This was when the “DDR” was still seen by the UK and most other countries as the “Soviet Zone of Germany'’.…

In the north of Moravia, in the region of Jesenicko, you can find the only narrow gauge railway operated by Czech Railways (CSD). The railway connects Třemešná ve Slezsku in Silesia - which is located on the standard gauge railway from Krnov to Jesenik - with Osoblaha which lies near the border with Poland. It's 20km long, and the maximum speed is 40km/h (originally 30km/h.) Service is by diesel train four times daily year round and in the summer there is one additional return steam train on Saturdays and Sundays. The railway from Olomouc-Krnov with branches to Opava and Jindrichov had started in 1872. A year later, the railway was extended to Polish Glubczyce. Thanks to this, the villages all around started to develop quicker. Osoblaha needed connection with the…

Eljas Pölhö writes: The mystery 4-6-2 on page 62 is Denver & Rio Grande Western No. 1006 (Baldwin 39149 of Jan 1913), later No. 800. The complete class was Nos 1001-1006 (Baldwin 39144-39149 of Jan 1913). They were reclassified from 261 to P44 and renumbered to 800-805 in Dec 1923 or soon after (No. 1006 became No. 800). They had 26×26” cylinders and for a main line Pacific small 67” drivers (clue to the picture). They were D&RGW's only 4-6-2s and retired between 1949 and 1953.…

The Baltic country of Latvia has a population of around 1.88 million people, of whom 690,000 live in the capital, Riga. It is an historic city, founded some time in the 2nd century. The historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The country has been invaded many times, but it has always been a busy trading centre, situated 15 kms from the sea on the broad Daugava river. Riga has provided a safe harbour and and an important economic base. Latvia achieved independence from Russia on 6th September 1991, and continues to grow and be a busy city. Trams have been a vital part of Riga's transportation system for over 150 years. They have been an integral part of the city's infrastructure, connecting people to various parts of the…

The Patiala State Monorail Trainways (PSMT) was a 50 mile system constructed from 1907 from Sirhind to Alampura and Patiala to Bhavangarh. It was built on the Ewing system by Colonel Bowles. The track was a single rail on one side of the road. The locomotive in the photo is PSMT No. 4, and was built by Orenstein & Koppel of Berlin in 1907. It is an outside cylinder 0-3-0 with double flange wheels on one side, and a flangeless balancing wheel 39 inches in diameter which runs on the road to balance the train on the other side. The line was managed by a private construction company, Marsland, Price & Co., until 1917, when it was taken over by the state. It was closed in 1927. The four steam…

I visited Japan for two weeks in November 2018 and travelled on a number of ‘Bullet Trains’ during my stay. Introduction to Japanese Railways The first railway line in Japan opened in 1872 between Tokyo (Shimbashi) and Yokohama. The railway was constructed to a gauge of 1067 mm (3 foot 6 inches), which is still used today as the ‘standard’ gauge across much of Japan. The loading gauge was generous, which means that internally the space available is similar to that of a UK standard (1435mm) gauge train. The railway network was gradually expended, reaching Osaka in 1889, but with a journey time to Tokyo of around 20-hours. Between 1885 and 1890 the government railway network expanded from around 270km to over 886km, whilst the network of private lines increased…