RAILWAYS of INDONESIA

Semarang, 22 June 1865: NIS 1 - Indonesia’s first locomotive – starts its service Though the first railway line in Indonesia, between Semarang and Tanggung, was only officially opened on 10 August 1867, in 1863 the Netherlands-Indies Railway Company (Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorwegmaatschappij – NIS) had already put orders for two locomotives from Borsig, Berlin. These two locomotives were intended for the Kedungjati – Willem I (Ambarawa) line, which in some parts had gradients of 2.8 percent. At that time Borsig engines were already widely used in the Netherlands. Exactly one year later the two locomotives were ready and sent to Semarang. On 22 June 1865 these two first Indonesian engines were operational, carrying the numbers NIS 1 and NIS 2 respectively. As the tracks were still being constructed, the two engines were enlisted to speed up the work, and at the same time to train the personnel who will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the machines. It should be not...

It was to be the greatest exposition ever held in the Netherlands East Indies, an unabashed celebration of colonial supremacy. And the venue was Semarang. As the colonial administrators drew up their plans for the exposition celebrating the centennial of Dutch independence, they hoped the Koloniale Tentoonstelling would draw many visitors and an influx of revenue to the city. New hotels and pensions were opened; car rental companies were set up. The city was galvanized into activity for the grand event. Unfortunately, by the time the exposition opened on August 20, 1914, rumblings of war in Europe, triggered by the assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, cast a dark shadow on the event. Due to the tense political situation the patron of the exposition, governor general Idenburg, was unable to attend the opening ceremony. And even though Japan, China, Australia, India, French Indochina and the United States were represented by their respective pavilions, all...