Far East Railways.

[48111]

Ok you lot, listen, who knows if there is still any steam workings in the Far East ?
Places such as Malaysia, Singapore etc.

Well somebody must know !LOL.

48111

[Anon Mouse]

There are still pockets of Industrial steam in China, but steam is nearly dead in China and Chinese Railways are being modernised at an alarming rate. I vivisted Shixi in December and took plenty of photos of narrow guage freight & passenger, but was unable to travel on it

I belive there is still steam working in Myanmar (Burma), but I think the other countries that were famous for steam such as North Korea and Vietnam have replaced steam with diesel and electric traction.

When I visited Bangkok 2 years ago I stumbled upon a depot at Thornburi that had steam locos under maintaince by Thai Railways and found out that there are steam specials running on a frequent basis. I also witnessed a loco in steam at the main station (there was a movie being made). However for obvious reasons Thailand is probably best avoided until the political situation improves.

I hope this info is useful

[48111]

Originally Posted by Anon Mouse

There are still pockets of Industrial steam in China, but steam is nearly dead in China and Chinese Railways are being modernised at an alarming rate. I vivisted Shixi in December and took plenty of photos of narrow guage freight & passenger, but was unable to travel on it

I belive there is still steam working in Myanmar (Burma), but I think the other countries that were famous for steam such as North Korea and Vietnam have replaced steam with diesel and electric traction.

When I visited Bangkok 2 years ago I stumbled upon a depot at Thornburi that had steam locos under maintaince by Thai Railways and found out that there are steam specials running on a frequent basis. I also witnessed a loco in steam at the main station (there was a movie being made). However for obvious reasons Thailand is probably best avoided until the political situation improves.

I hope this info is useful

Yes mate good morning..thank you.

48111

[Anon Mouse]

If you have the time and money Shixi (Shinbaxi Railway) is well worth visiting. You can fly to Chengdu on KLM via Amsterdam and from Chengdu there are frequent coaches to a City called Leshan (famous for its giant Buddha) and from Leshan there are coaches to Shixi. The Shinbaxi Railway is trying to woo tourists do you be best going sooner rather than later. Also in addition to steam hauled coal and passenger trains there are also electric hauled coal workings by narrow guage locos which slightly resemble the NCB Harton electrics.

If you visit Chengdu, there is an Industrial museum next to SM Square which has a plinthed SY class loco, sadly used as the local climbing frame.

If you can visit Beijing the Chinese Railway museum is well worth a visit (even if its a pain in the rear to get to), well that is if you can cope with loads of black steam locos!

[Fryderyk HPH]

Originally Posted by 48111

Ok you lot, listen, who knows if there is still any steam workings in the Far East ?
Places such as Malaysia, Singapore etc.

Well somebody must know !LOL.

48111

Hi, I'm from Singapore. As far as I know, there are no steam workings in Peninsular M'sia and Singapore. But we do have our Mass Rapid Transit EMUs running on 1435mm, and the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad(KTMB) has railways at metre gauge running from Tanjong Pagar Station to Peninsular Malaysia. I'm not to sure about those in Eastern Malaysia however.

The KTM Tanjong Pagar Station is going to move to a location in Woodlands, a northern part of Singapore Island by sometime next year. Malaysia technically owns the land in Singapore as the land along the rails belongs to them under colonial rule by the British. That sucks, coz that basically splits the island into half.

Of particular fascination is the Eastern & Orient Express(yes, still running) and it goes to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth. Am not so sure whether that one uses steam engines though(I think not).

[John H-T]

Welcome to the Forum Fryderyk. Look forward to more from you about the railways in Singapore.

Best wishes,

John H-T.