RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

On 28 December 2008 the Indonesian Railways Preservation Society (IRPS) organised an excursion at the Cepu Forestry Railways . About 60 IRPS members, plus around 20 non-members, took part on this four hours trip. The 30 kilometer track from Cepu to the teakwood forest memorial at Gubug Payung is part of the Indonesian State Forestry Company’s 1067 mm Cape gauge rail network in the area, built in 1915. Most of the network, however, has been closed, and only a few sections, such as the Cepu-Gubug Payung line, remain. Route of the Cepu Forestry Railway Teakwood ( Tectona grandis L.f .) is not a native of Indonesia, but this high quality wood was already known in Java since the 14th century. Teakwood forests are mainly found along Java’s north coast. The best teakwood in the world are those grown in the hills of Cepu, Central Java. From pre-colonial days this area has supplied timber for the ship making industries of Tegal, Juana, Jepara, Rembang, Lasem and Tuban. By the end of the 19th...

My friend Yosanto Bakhtiar, the Treasurer of the Indonesian Railway Preservation Society (IRPS) Semarang asked me to go with him to Alastuwa, a small station at the east edge of Semarang, on Friday 30 October in the evening. He had promised the station master, who was on night duty that evening, to give him some pictures of steam engines for the station. Allas Toewa (Alastuwa) 1867 Alastuwa 1990 Alastuwa is one of the oldest stations in Indonesia. It is on Indonesia's first railway line built between Semarang and Tanggung. The present station building, however, is not the original one built in 1867. Soon after we arrived at about 22.00 it started to rain very hard. We came by motorbike so we had to wait for the rain to stop till about 01.00 in the morning. But actually we had a good time because the station was very busy at that time. According to the station master between 09.00 and 06.00 the next morning sixteen passenger trains plus a number of freight trains pass through the s...