RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

These pictures were taken at Hualamphong Station , Bangkok, during a brief visit on 16 October 2010. The portrait of King Chulalongkorn (1853 - 1910) the modernizer of Thailand dominates the main hall. In 1891 the King issued a Royal Proclamation for the construction of the first railway line in Thailand between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima. An Altshom AD24C diesel electric locomotive Two General Electric CM22-7i diesel electric locomotives I wished I had the time to ride one of the State Railway of Thailand 's (SRT) trains. I especially would have liked to travel to Kanchanaburi and see the infamous Thai-Burma Death Railway .

On 29 October 2010 a special train was run from Semarang Tawang Station to Tanggung Station. This 25 kilometer trip along Indonesia's first railway line commemorates the 143th anniversary of railways in Indonesia. Departure from Tawang Station, Semarang. at 07:00 AM Arrival at Tanggung Station, 1 hour 30 minutes later The special train was made up of two coaches (converted GW cement trucks) and a YR truck, hauled by a Krupp D301 diesel engine disguised as NIS 01. NIS, of course, stands for Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NISM), the first railway company in Indonesia that had build the Semarang-Tanggung line. For this trip guests were asked to dress in 'period' costumes. This train will later serve as a tourist train running along the scenic Ambarawa-Tuntang line.