Dumped at Makkasan along with a C56 2-6-0, pacific and one or two more steam engines is Hunslet #26 seen here with a BHS wagon with Kyosan Kyogo tank engine inside The only time I got close up to one of the surviving Henshels and photographed it, unbeknown to me, My EOS10 camera had started with the infamous sticky shutter problem.When I got back to the U.K I found I had lost a lot of great pics and although the repair was quick and inexpensive it is a great source of regret.
Mentioning the B.H.S wagons I'll digress back onto the bogie freight stock for a bit The B.H.S Bogie high side wagons are basically higher sided versions of the B.L.S B.H.S #217 is seen in the yard at Khon Kaen Specialised wagons include the B.F.H Bogie flat (Heavy) much used to transport military equipment around. Long trains of tanks and lorries can be seen with a couple of B.T.C coaches and a couple of B.V brake vans on the rear They have reinforced drop sides and a pair are seen here at Nakhon Rachasima The standard B.F.W Bogie Flat Wagon like the american built one seen here at Chachoengsao junction are very versatile but also prone to abuse Note the non roller bearing axleboxes. Another specialised wagon is the B.W.T bogie water tank. #1 is seen here at Khon Kaen
I have done some more work on the models I showed you earlier (I haven't forgotten this is a modelling forum!) and should post some pics soon but for now here are some more surviving steam locos in Thailand for me the most important locomotives in Thailand are the survivors of the North British 4-6-0s that were the mainstay of R.S.T operations in the 20's and 30's. I made a pilgrimage to Chachoengsao Junction to find #182 plinthed outside the station.
In between getting the new Z scale Nickel Plate Road layout ready for the Merseyside Model Railway Show at the end of October I have managed to get a bit more done on the 1/32 scale Thai rolling stock The C.G van is now in primer and I am working on the artwork for the lettering The C.F container flat has had some more detail put on it and,like the C.G, should have the air and Vacuum brakes hoses added next As you can see I have cut off the trip pins on the Kadee couplings as I am not intending to do any remote uncoupling. Although I have turned the wheels for these two wagons I am probably going to standardise on Slaters 0 scale, coarse standard, coach wheels in future just to save time
On with more steam! You can get a nice shot of the North British 4-6-0 at Chachoengsao Junction from the station footbridge There is another example languishing in the bushes at Makkasan works. #165 was photographed over the wall. Another of my favourites are the Hanomag 4-6-2s. A nice one is plinthed outside Nakhon Rachasima station shame about the lamp standards eveywhere, however this is a handy one to do detail pics of for modelling purposes. Less accessible is #278 at Makkasan the rubbish in the foreground is from the earthworks from the construction of the elevated rail link from bangkok to the new international airport. i will return to this and the other mass transport systems later
I showed you one of the working C56 2-6-0s based at Thonburi before but there are quite a few more knocking around. The most visible one is #714 whcih stands by the shrine at the end of the platforms at Hua Lamphong station Bangkok This is quite an easy one to get to and photograph less fortunate is another specimen marooned in the trees at Ekkamai museum Ex Japanese national Railway C56.47 which became S.R.T #738 languishes besides the equally derelict pacific mentioning the hanomags here is the G.A published in Locomotive magazine as the class were starting to be delivered should be enough detail there for me when I start building it.
the swiss connection One of the biggest surprises I found as I started to research the railways of Thailand was the existence of some surviving Rhaetian bahn 2-8-0s. What the heck were they doing out here. Seems that when the Rhaetian bahn electrified the Royal Siam railways bought some secondhand. Although the fireboxes are not ideal for woodburning they seemd to be well liked. One is just over the wall from the station at Makkasan and like the North British 4-6-0 seems to be becoming a forest! There is another one at Chiang Mai, thailand's second city up in the north of the country. At Kaemteng road in Bangkok is a rather ratty tender you can see where the extended rails were fitted to hold the logs. there was a nice drawing done by Ian Beattie a few years ago of the locomotives in 'Swiss' condition which I am going to modify to reflect them in service in Thailand Next I will show you how Thailand was surprisingly one of the world pioneers in Diesel traction.
Really nice to see so many steamers...so many in the States were cut up for scrap prior to WWII and beyond... What is the current status of the NG lines inThailand? Well maintained I'd bet.
Condition of the track varies a lot. There is no shortage of labour for track gangs to maintain but the main issue seems to be the quantity of light rail still in use which restricts axle loadings. Some areas are prone to flooding and sadly, in the south near the Malaysian border, there are examples of sabotage to the track. One thing you glean from looking at the Thai language rail website is that when they have an accident it tends to be a big one! As regards surviving steam the theory explained to me,was at one stage that the Thais would keep a strategic reserve of Steam power just in case the oil ran out. They could chop down some trees and be back in action. this is a link to a complete list of preserved steam in Thailand complied by Rob Dickinson. http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/steam/trains/thaipreserved.htm he also does a very nice photo CD of working steam in colour back in the 60's and 70's which I can highly recommend. It actually features a lot of different S.E Asian countries
Swiss connection II Although back in the 1920's Thailand ,or Siam as it was still known as then, would have been regarded as a third world country it was a pioneer in the use of diesel traction. The authorities had realised how ineffecient wood burning was and started to investigate the new techniques. In 1928 two diesel mechanical 0-4-0 shunters were ordered from S.L.M in Switzerland using 200 h.p SLM engines and used for shunting and trip workings #22 is seen here on a test train Forunately the pioneer#21 is preserved in Bangkok The next innovation was an even bigger leap with the introduction of 6 Diesel electric A1A-A1A locomotives supplied by a consortium of Sulzer, Oerlikon and Henschel. the 8 cylinder Sulzer engine produced 450 h.p. These were tested on the metre gauge Rhaetian bahn in Switzerland before delivery. This pic is from an old Henschel Taschen Buche showing one on a test train in the Alps. More Soon!
Awesome work:thumbs_up: BTW, S.R.T. has these LPG tank car in service this remind me of an incident on the eastern route near Klong Ton station when a contractor of airport rail link parked one of their cranes too close to the track. Results: one Alsthom had part of its car body and prime mover whacked off the frame, luckily nobody was injured in this incident. The culprit contractor is now in big trouble.
A bangkok oddity I showed you some of the items in the park at Bang Sue previously but one thing I found was quite interesting. the Thai people have shrines everywhere to leave offerings to Bhudda. In the park they have converted what looks like an old mine or quarry engine into one I have not been able to find out anything of its history, my companion on that day, An S.R.T foreman called Akii could shed no light on it either It will make an interesting model though when I build the layout!
In the Chatuchak museum is an interesting display of locomotive builders plates amongst them are a 'Porter' one and a 'Baldwin' one. The Porter one is off one of the Macarthur 2-8-2s that the Thais got after the war to help rebuild the rail system. The country ended up acquiring 68 of these rugged simple engines built by a variety of U.S manufacturers. They were built by Alco,Davenport,Baldwin,Porter and Vulcan. #432 formerly USATC 763 was a 1944 Baldwin built example The simple lines of these engines can be seen here
One of my friends sent me this classic night shot of #391. This was formerly a Federated Malay State railway one and had been USATC #608. It was built by Alco in 1944
