Steam Locomotives at Thonburi Rail Depot

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) still maintains half a dozen steam locomotives that on four occasions a year are brought out to pull a special train from Bangkok's main terminus station, Hua Lamphong, to the historic city of Ayutthaya, a journey of around 70 miles. This remaining handful of once mighty queens of the iron road that have stubbornly refused to go to the scrapyard to join their once domineering brethren are lovingly maintained by the SRT and a gang of enthusiastic volunteers at the perfectly named Thonburi Locomotive House. A fitting location as Thonburi was once the key route into the capital on the SRT map, but that was then, now it has been reduced to an insignificant commuter line, while its former, famous waterfront terminus station has been unceremoniously chopped off from the railway map and all access to it in fact is gone, to make room for the massive concrete extension of the giant Siriraj Hospital, meaning that the stunted railway line now peters out more than a kilometre back from the menacingly dark waters of the Chao Phraya river. But while time and progress march inevitably on, more than a century of glorious railway history is lovingly kept alive on the rows of shining steel rails in the Thonburi yard. With the excursion set for tomorrow, today two of the mighty steam locomotives are being carefully prepared, readied to roll back the years once again. Of the six steam locomotives in the yard it is difficult to say how many are still in for certain working order. Five according to a helpful information poster. Two certainly are, they're the centre of a flurry of all the attention this afternoon, oozing steam from many orifices as they prepare to spin their mighty wheels and pound their pistons once again, shaking off the dust of around half a century and haul excited passengers with a high hoot of their horns. Although today they are moved around by the yard's buzzing shunter. One locomotive in the yard is almost a skeleton, savagely cannibalised to keep its sisters in working order, its a case of survival of the fittest as the breed's gene pool shrinks to almost zero, but of the other two, silently tucked away in the long shadows of the sprawling depot building it is hard to say for sure, although they both look in pretty good order. First thing tomorrow morning the two black-and-green painted monsters, nos 824 and 850 be in action. According to the poster in the yard these are "Pacific Steam Locomotives" and they are the sole surviving pair of a batch of thirty that were once ordered by the SRT from Japan. They were in operation in Thailand from 1949 to 1951, a curiously short period of time it would seem to me, and originally ran of coal power but were later converted to use crude oil. Their wheel format is "4-6-2". Now they're being hooked up back-to-back as, with no turntables left in operation to spin these beasts round to point back the way they came, they need to work in tanden to take the train up to Ayutthaya and back. I'm also told that it can prove difficult to round up a full compliment of carriages that can be hooked up and braked by these steam engines, leaving the SRT to hunt down some of the oldest rolling stock in operation in its fleet. The volunteers are busy putting the final touches to the locomotives, small adjustments, a lot of cleaning and a few repairs, and a lot of smiles, while an incongruously orange forklift truck scurries back and forth with oil drums. These giants of a bygone era are thirsty beasts indeed. There's enthusiasm here, the staff are ever so welcoming and happy to share their passion, and history oozes through every inch of the oil soaked ground, a great tradition is alive and well, preserved as if it has never gone away. Tomorrow a plume of steam will gush forth from the giant arches of Hua Lamphong station, today the final preparations are being made.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• steam
• engines
• thonburi
• pacific
• locomotive
• bangkok
• thailand
• no
• 824
• 850
• 950

[60103Henry]

Loooks Great! I want to go there! :)

[pisit1998]

Krupp Krupp Krupp ^^

[bangkokclown]

Amazing Thailand or Wot! ...Great upload newlifeinbangkok -- I should have come to live here 30 years ago...You have to pay a lot to see anything like this in the UK?

Thanks. E.

[bryansseals]

Good to see the Thonburi locomotives so well cared for

[bryansseals]

@jez952 A special train runs on the Kings birthday to Ayuttaya from Hualampong every year as far as I know, your partner will know the exact date. Also in Nov/December there are celebrations at the River Kwae bridge at Kanchanaburi which normally involve one of the Japanese locos as well as fireworks explosions and the like. Also near the bridge are 2 old British steamers on display as well as a Japanese one.

Outside the main Kanchanaburi station is a plinthed up German articulated locomotive

[jez952]

Hi there ...very interested in your videos..I'd love to know when these special steam trains run ..I get to Thailand offen and have Thai partner. I just got back home after a day with Oliver Cromwell over Sheringhams newly completed level crossing to the North Norfolk Railway.... Love it if you could give me some more info for my next visit. Great vids and so interesting...keep up the good work in Thailand

Jez :o)

[bestlovethip]

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