Steam in Asia (West) 2008

Afghanistan Index

For information on railways here see Andrew Grantham's site http://www.ajg41.clara.co.uk/afghanistan.html. Specifically it seems that there are three surviving tram locos in Darulaman (Kabul) - not just two as originally reported - see http://www.ajg41.clara.co.uk/kabul.html, the latest reports date from October 2004 (picture added 2nd September 2005). This is  Wim Brummelman's picture courtesy of Andrew Grantham:

Bangladesh Index

I don't think anyone has ever suggested that active steam survives here. However, Chris Lewis has sent me a picture (24th April 2005) of a preserved Japanese built metre gauge YD 2-8-2 718 at Dhaka. A number of these locomotives ended up in (West) Pakistan and were recorded on the Mirpur Khas system in Sind until quite recently. I know a narrow gauge 2-4-0T was preserved at Saidpur many years ago but information on surviving steam locomotives here is very thin. On the other hand, I am willing to bet that there are quite a few surviving (and indeed working) stationary steam engines here, but that comment belongs on another part of this site!  

India Index

When I meet people on my travels and explain that I am looking for steam locomotives, they always say "India" and look very surprised when I sat that it more or less finished nearly 10 years ago. These days, apart from occasional special trains, there are just two mountain railways (which look very different from the heyday of steam) and a couple of small industrial operations. Hence, with relatively little 'real news' I have cut this section down to a more manageable size with separate pages for each facet of steam in India with just brief notes here which will be joined by updates as they occur. Click here for information on Indian Railway museums.

• Sugar and other industrial steam news (updated 25th February 2008)
• Links to the 1996-2000 reports  (latest addition 20th February 2000) - these include the end of steam on the mainline
• Working preserved steam (updated 15th March 2007)
• Darjeeling news (updated 26th March 2008)
• Ooty news (updated 17th March 2008)
• Matheran news (updated 22nd April 2007)
• Kalka - Simla steam (25th September 2001)
• Fairy Queen (updated 2nd March 2004)
• The Indian Steam Railway Society (link updated 8th May 2006)
• Indian Railways Heritage Support Group (4th March 2003)
• Miscellaneous news on active preserved steam (25th November 2007)
• New steam locos for India? Check out Hugh Odom's pages (17th September 2000)
• Those with a sense of history should check out a web page with old pictures of the North Western Railway (23rd October 2001), see also http://members.tripod.com/shankardubai/nwrhome.htm (11th December 2001).

Industrial steam in India is in terminal decline as it is everywhere. On the IRFCA web site, Simon Darvill has updated (23rd November 2003) his lists of industrial locomotives in India (and other countries in the sub-continent) and added sections on light rail and preserved locomotives as well http://www.irfca.org/docs/locolists/industrial/index.html.

In Assam, the Ledo Brick Works line is now defunct, with one locomotive transferred to nearby Tipong Colliery, where one of the ex-DHR B 0-4-0ST will be in use most days on the 2.5km line. I visited in February 2004 and you can read my illustrated report (2nd March 2004). Alexandre Gillieron fund the railway working normally and very attractive in early 2006 (17th March 2006). Roy Laverick was here at New Year 2004/5 (14th February 2005). Vikas Singh has sent me a report on his visit to the area after the monsoon floods  which do not seem to have affected Tipong. It includes observations of IR steam survivors (25th September 2007). Most recently I have been back to Tipong (for 2 weeks) and have a full update on activity here (25th February 2008).

The metre gauge Hudswell Clarke 0-8-0T at Riga Sugar Mill has been in regular use during the season in recent years. I visited in February 2004 and you can read my illustrated report (2nd March 2004). Vikas Singh tells me (16th February 2005) that Saraya Sugar Mill was unlikely to operate during the 2004/5 season and that the locomotives were once again covered in vegetation, with many wagons sold off and the rails likely to follow.... 

The Ootacumd (Ooty) Mountain Railway runs from Mettupalayam near Coimbatore to Ooty in Tamil Nadu. The spectacular lower (rack) section up to Coonoor remains steam powered but for some years the upper section has been dieselised. The railway is frequently cut by landslides in the end-of-year rains, how long it is then closed depends on the severity of the damage. The magnificent X Class steam locomotives were built by SLM, although there have been some recent misguided attempts to 'improve' them which have, so far, thankfully been less than a total success - this is 37391 being returned to the railway in March 2007. . 

Click here for accounts of visits to this fascinating railway which includes links to some great photographs. One of the most unusual sights I have seen recorded comes from Colin Young. After a locomotive failure in February 2007 a second locomotive was sent down the rack section and HAULED (at least in part) the train up to Coonor (17th March 2008):

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is (was?) one of the great steam narrow gauge railways of the world until, having acquired World Heritage status, Indian Railways promptly dieselised the main services in 2000 although steam has continued to put ever more rare appearances since then. The so-called 'school train' from Kurseong to Darjeeling has been diesel hauled at times but by mid 2007 it was again rostered for steam, confirmed by a visit to the railways website recommended by Jan Willem van Dorp (17th October 2007) which showed that the school train has swapped its base since September 2007 - Ex-Darjeeling at 10.15, returning from Kurseong at 15.00, it is now known as the 'local train'. There are 2 diesel trains each way for the whole length of the line, but you really need to read  the news page to appreciate the improvements.... Keith Taylorson (26th March 2008) was here between 8th and 11th March 2008 and confirms the 'local train' to be rostered for steam. He argues "As to whether the local train operation is 'real', I travelled on it and my impression is that it is in all respects a real working train, conveying passengers from A to B, and they were not interested in whether it was a steam or diesel loco pulling them. Furthermore the 2nd class fare from Darj to Kurseong is 10 Rupees (= 13p approx) which I think must make it the world's cheapest steam ride??"

I have now archived older reports:

• The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway 1997 - 1999
• The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway 2000 - 2007

A number of groups have visited the railway for chartered trains and in 2006 a series of celebrations were held to mark its 125th anniversary. Less welcome (at least visually) are attempts to introduce oil firing and new locomotives. This is a picture supplied by Trevor Heath - any comment would be superfluous...

Nick Lera Indian Steam Videos Now on DVD!

John Raby Digital Railway Videos (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway)

There is a UK based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society, with their own Website (link added 15th May 2000). Ken Walker has set up a DHR Society in Australia (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Supporters Association) and has established a Web Page with pictures. The railway now has its own official website http://www.dhr.in/ (9th April 2006) - a quick visit showed that is has a few too many 'bells and whistles' and not a few bad links - but it was early days and at least showed a more positive attitude to the railway. A revisit in October 2007 found it much more useful for the would be visitor although many of the potentially steam hauled trains are probably more conditional than suggested (17th October 2007).

The Matheran Hill Railway runs from Neral south-east of Bombay/Mumbai. Its original power comprised 4 Orenstein and Koppel 0-6-0T. They were taken out of service some time ago but all survive (in Neral, Mumbai, the Delhi Railway Museum and on the Leighton Buzzard Railway in the UK - the latter is in working order). Steam has been re-introduced for special occasions, but in the shape of an ex-DHR locomotive. A large section of the lower part was washed away in July 2005 in the monsoon and it was only re-opened in March 2007.

Click here for more information on steam operation on the railway (latest update 22nd April 2007).

Dileep Prakash reports (amended 25th September 2001) "Steam returns to Kalka-Simla Railway after 30 years. On Wed. 26th Sept 2001  KC 520 of 1905 vintage will haul a special train from Shimla to Kanoe at 12 noon." This went off OK and now he tells me (1st December 2001) "KC 520 will pull a 4 coach rake on the KSR on Saturday 8th December. She will be her old livery of the NWR days and so will the carriages." Also (added 11th September 2001) "There are two ZB class locos that have been rebuilt. One is at Amritsar waiting to haul trains up the beautiful Kangra Valley Railway soon." Click here for a report on a 2003 charter including images (20th March 2003). The Kalka - Simla line was host to centenary celebrations in November 2003, widely reported in India and outside the country for instance, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3261679.stm (17th November 2003). 

The Fairy Queen is one of the world's oldest serviceable steam locomotives. Click here for the last information I had on its operations covering the 2004/5 winter season (2nd March 2004), it was certainly still operating at least private charters into 2007.

 

The good news is that a pool of working steam locomotives is now available and steam tour groups are now starting to look at the country again. The first ever National Conference on Steam Heritage Tourism was held on 2nd December 2002 and there was a second conference on 14th February 2004 (report added 3rd March 2004), the associated activities are covered as part of my reports on Steam in India (2nd March 2004). Further conferences were held on 2nd April 2005 and 19th March 2006 with keynote speeches by, respectively Heinrich Hubbert and Bill Aitken.  Rewari Steam Centre is being developed aggressively and and hosted a carnival day on 15th February 2004 (2nd March 2004).

"The heritage of Indian Railways is fast being destroyed. There needs to be a consolidated effort to save the heritage and historical importance of Indian Railways, especially the ruins of the erstwhile Great Indian Peninsula Railway (now called Central Railway), based in Bombay. The Bombay Railway History Groupgroup aims to achieve this by saving those silent structures that once brought glory through railway revolution in India through discussions and by creating awareness. The group can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brhg/ (amended 2nd December 2004). There are exclusive pics of remnants of GIP line in Bombay http://www.irfca.org/photos/gipr-remnants (added 2nd December 2004). All the pictures are of the fast depleting heritage of the nineteenth century G.I.P.R., but in due course will cover other areas." Contact  Rajendra Aklekar rail_india@yahoo.com for more information. (Added 4th March 2003).

The Friends of the National Railway Museum have now been incorporated as a chapter of the The Indian Steam Railway Society (updated 8th May 2006). 

Satish Pai tells (23rd November 2003) me he has tidied up the steam page on the IRFCA site - http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-steam.html - and mentioned some more of the locos under consideration for renovation, etc. For a pretty full list of preserved steam in India check the links on www.indiansteamrailwaysociety.org (link added 29th March 2002).

One beneficial result of the 150th railway celebrations was the rash of new railway museums being established around the country. One of special interest to me, given my oft-stated preference for narrow gauge steam, is the establishment by the South Eastern Railway of a specifically narrow gauge museum at Nagpur (21st January 2003). Jaideep Gupta, gjaideep@hotmail.com - senior divisional electrical engineer and co-ordinator 150 yrs celebrations - would welcome suggestions (and even contributions) for this worthwhile project.

A good site for Indian images is http://www.trainweb.org/railworld/index.htm (added 15th October 2000). Shankar has put up some pictures of steam on http://www.ssbdotcom.com/wpglorymain.htm and http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/9896/superrlysteam.htm. I have been recommended the following site for Indian steam in action (4th October 1999) - http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Bay/7942/steam_masala.htm. 

YP preservation - 2 YPs have been purchased for private preservation went to Ajmer Works for overhaul (16th September 1999). I have had news from Shaun McMahon about them (7th February 2000). Later news (updated 3rd October 2000) had them en route to Togo.

Finally, David Breaker sent a press release from the then newly formed Shakuntala Railway Preservation Society (16th June 2002). However, it seems to have died a death....

Iran Index

The Spring 2006 issue of the Continental Railway Journal carries an account of an extensive DGEG visit to the country. As expected, it was mainly diesel orientated (CRJ in 1977 reported the railways as 'long dieselised'), but some steam relics were observed. Near Tehran station was an unidentified Vulcan (UK) 2-10-2 (52.11-52.74 series, built 1951-3) and a Cowans steam crane - pictures of these are on http://www.phantasrail.com/tehran_(5).htm (added 23rd July 2007). In Tabriz was seen an unidentified 5ft gauge Russian built 0-6-0T (Sormovo/Zormovo), but the star exhibit was the preserved metre gauge 1887 Turbize 0-6-0T at Arak, a picture of this is on http://www.phantasrail.com/pars_wagon_factory.htm (link added 23rd July 2007). If any reader was on the tour I would be pleased to receive pictures of any of the above for the site. In the meantime, Thomas Kautzor has provided these pictures (taken by his friend Arsam Behkish) of a similar Turbize steam locomotive preserved in Park Mellat in north Tehran. Apparently there is a third such locomotive in the middle of a traffic circle in the southern suburb of Shahr-e-rey (added 29th June 2007):

Iraq Index

The December 2003 issue of the British magazine 'Railways Illustrated' carries a picture of a nearly intact standard gauge British 2-8-0 (wartime Stanier 8F) in the loco works yard in Baghdad taken on October 8th 2003..... (added 13th November 2003). More information including pictures on surviving steam in Iraq is available on http://www.ajg41.clara.co.uk/iraq/locomotives.html#steam (added 2nd September 2005). On the other hand, if you want to see some wonderful images of Iraqi metre gauge steam back in 1967, the check out this set of Basil (Badger) Roberts' pictures (2nd August 2007).

Jordan Index

Click here for the Locomotive Club of Great Britain 2008 Hejaz Tour

10 years ago, a story circulated that a revamped Hejaz railway around Amman was to become the answer to the city's traffic problems. Now the story has re-emerged with bells and whistles as an eventual reasonably high speed link with Damascus - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1816457.ece, see also the associated slide show. If it is half true then it might just be all over for those steam charters (28th May 2007), but read it carefully! It is the lesser used line north to Zarka which will be rebuilt first, not the spectacular climb south and the devil is in the detail as always "A private Chinese company, Infrastructure Development, in tandem with Pakistani contractors, is to start work in 2009 to transform a short stretch of the neglected line, creating a light commuter railway between Amman and Zarka in the northeast. There are plans then to rebuild the line all the way to Damascus." Don't hold your breath waiting!

Regular working steam finished in Jordan in the 1970s. However, several locos are kept in working order and in September 1997 I joined a tour here. Read about what I found.... and also an update covering May/June 1998 (15th September 1998). Hugh Ballantyne was here with the Dorridge Travel Tour in May 1999 (11th June 1999) and was here again in September 2000 with Enthusiast Holidays (25th October 2000). You can now read the full report of Glyn Dawson's visit (25th November 2003) with the Railway Touring Company. I have a report from Roland Beier of a May 2004 visit (21st June 2004), to which I have appended a few notes from Ray Mason of a Railway Touring Company trip in October 2004 (7th November 2004). Keith Smith tells me (4th June 2005) that he found Pacific 85 (ex Ma'an) present on shed on 30th May 2005, apparently under restoration.

Jan Willem van Dorp has been here in search of steam activity, suffice to say he was disappointed. Read his full report (6th October 2005). The railway here was the subject of a talk on the BBC's 'From Our Own Correspondent' in January 2006 - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4609450.stm but here in China I can't check to see if the link is still valid (added 10th February 2006).... Bill Alborough was here researching a tour in mid March 2006. 85 is now a runner and has been transferred to Aqaba with a view to running tourist trains to Wadi Rum, alas it seems it is not powerful enough for the climb away from the coast. Back in Amman, the usual suspects (23, 51, 71 and 82) are said to be serviceable (added 18th March 2006).

The latest news on 85 comes from Richard Gennis that it did do two runs between Aqaba and Wadi Rum in March and/or April 2006 but that was all and in October 2006 it was said to be waiting to go back to Amman. Click here for more information and some pictures (added 21st January 2007). In April 2007, Graham Williams found 85 back as expected and the loco foreman said that there were five serviceable steam locomotives which agrees with the information above, unfortunately the next scheduled occasional steam special was to happen after Graham returned to the UK (28th April 2007). Thomas Kautzor joined a tour group in October 2007, read his report (30th October 2007).

Dan Gibson tells me (5th May 2005) that he is establishing a website to chart the history of  the Hejaz Railway which will undoubtedly be of interest to regular readers of this page.

Kazakhstan Index

No real steam here, but Torsten Schneider has sent me some pictures of his visit to the country in September 2003 (added 9th October 2005).

Nepal Index

Ashok Sharma confirms (5th January 2004) that Avonside 7 at Janakpur is a runner and available for charter. If you need more information you can contact him on ashok_sti@rediffmail.com. Alexandre Gillieron's small group took this up and enjoyed a day and a half here in November 2006. Read the report (4th December 2006). He (as did Jan Willem van Dorp almost simultaneously) confirms there is no possibility of any return to steam on service trains. However, a tour group in March 2008 tried to charter a special with the locomotive but found it impossible to get the railway to confirm that it could be turned out in timely fashion. It must be doubtful whether they still posses the capability to carry out steam repairs, by all accounts they have enough difficulty keeping both their active diesels running (30th March 2008).

Previously, the first news I had for a long time came from Peter Grace (10th November 2003): "I visited Janakpur only last month. By the engine shed in Janakpur was an Avonside 0-6-2T. It was not working but was ready to do so. Of the four diesel locomotives on the line, two are in pieces, and the other two are pretty sick. They need to have at least two engines to operate all the trains daily. The Avonside is there in the event one of the diesels drops its bundle, then I am sure it will be pressed into service. Further down the line at the old workshops were 11 other engines. 5 have been cannibalised. But 6 are basically all together. One or two were missing some bits, but I was told these were all in the sheds and would be returned to the locos soon. There really was only minor rust damage in the coal bins, although I don't know the condition of the boilers. Included in this lot were the two Garratts from the old Amlekghani line, south of Kathmandu. A project has arisen to move these steam locos, some cars and the workshop equipment to the Kathmandu Valley to build a tourist railway with World Bank assistance. We will see how this goes. With this plan they are basically off the market. Although I don't know who has the final say, it has been reported to me the King does not want the locos, as part of Nepal's heritage, to leave the country."

I understand that steam here is still serviceable although not in regular use as a couple of British enthusiasts hired a train for a couple of days in early 1999 (added December 9th 1999). Whether the usual cast of thousands of extras were included I do not know. The country  is covered briefly in Berndt Seiler's March 1997 report. World Steam reported some time ago that the locos were all for sale, I now have more details available (updated with target prices 21st August 2001).

Click here for Ashok Sharma - Special Tours of India

Click here for the India/Nepal 2008 Tour

 

Pakistan Index

When this page was first established there was still some real broad gauge steam particularly around Malakwal, but that ceased in early 1997. The metre gauge lines around Mirpur Khas continued using steam although the line to the Indian border at Khokrapar has been converted to broad gauge since when the other branches have seen only an intermittent service and when Aya Kakuma and Chris Jeffery visited Mirpur Khas on 1 March 2007 they found that all metre gauge services remain suspended, with little or no hope of a revival. .

All the pre-1998 reports can be accessed from the first Pakistan Archive Page. Later reports from visitors up to the early 2007 have now been collected in the second Pakistan Archive Page, these include details of extant steam locomotives in the country.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, active steam survives in at least three locations:

• Excursions on the Khyber Pass line from Peshawar - click here for more information - however a Far Rail newsletter says the line was cut by floods in June 2007 and repairs will take a long time.... (27th October 2007).
• Excursions from Rawalpindi to Golra Sharif - the location of a railway musuem.
• Changa Manga Forest Railway - click here for the most recent report (16th February 2006), confirmed operational again by Aya Kakuma and Chris Jeffery (12th March 2007).

A Pakistan Railways Newsgroup has been established, pakistanrailways-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, the usual health warning about volumes of trivia will no doubt apply when it has settled down, but hopefully it will make it easier to catch up with steam news from the country (19th June 2003). For a locally run enthusiast group page on the railways of Pakistan with some steam content, try http://www.pakistanrail.com/ (added 22nd April 2007).

A railway museum has been established at Golra Sharif in the Rawalpindi area, at least two narrow gauge locos are here. See the Pakistan Railways website http://www.pakrail.com or specifically http://www.pakrail.com/her4.asp (23rd October 2004). Charan Singh Kundi was here in October 2004 and Nick Lera has provided an edited version of his report with some images (24th October 2004). Aya Kakuma and Chris Jeffery report (12th March 2007) that the Steam Safari to Golra Sharif continues to run on the first and last Sunday afternoon of each month. On 4th March 2007 it was actually transformed into a PR staff charter to Taxila, leaving Rawalpindi at 9am behind HGS 2264; but the assistant station master managed to squeeze them in. In steam in the yard was HGS 2303. CWD 5735 was on display at a revamped Golra Sharif, which had been inaugurated by President Musharraf the previous day. No SPS or SGS seen.

Russia Index

Definitely actually in Europe, Harvey Smith spent some time in St. Petersburg in 2006 and reports what he found, including the excellent Railway Museum there (23rd May 2007).

Leslie McAllister boarded the 4,234 km BAM (Baikal Amur Magistral) steam express in June 2000 - read his report of the longest railtour of all time.....(5th September 2000). One place that got a mention was Sakhalin Island in the far east, formerly Japanese occupied, Tim Littler has provided some pictures of the D51 at work then (31st December 2007) and Harvey Smith (who worked there for 2 years) has reported on some (inactive) steam survivors there (14th May 2007).

In mid-2007, Colin Young sent me some snatched pictures of a couple of L class on a special passenger train in the Lake Baikal area, I didn't upload anything as there was no information on the operation - it now seems this was "The Retro Train" based in Irkutz - more information would be very welcome (19th October 2007).

Information about Russian steam in far away places continues to dribble out... Henry Posner III reports (15th October 2003): "In Krasnoyarsk diesel shop, on August 5, L-3150 was undergoing preparation for storage, having work a 2-coach shuttle to Divnagost (end of the branch line to the hydroelectric dam) 2 days previous for Railway Worker's Day (first Sunday in August). Personnel interviewed indicated that there is a sizable strategic reserve of steam on the Krasnoyarsk Railway to the west at Bogotol."

In late 1998 I was told that 'Steam was being used again on the Trans-Siberian Express'.  It sounded too good to be true so I ignored it.  When I was in Bago (Myanmar) in late January 1999, I got talking to a Dutch couple who had recently been across Russia (and on through Mongolia to China) and they confirmed they had steam haulage for part of the way. 

There have been two reports also of steam in the far east of the country.  A German traveller reported in October 2004 "While traveling recently on the 19CH China - Moscow train, a steam-hauled pw-train was spotted in the freight yards about 2km after Borsja station (about 3 hours from the China-Russia border)". Charles Towler adds (5th November 2004) "I also observed steam in this area while on train 20 going towards China, passing this area on the 22nd September 2004. I saw L Class number 3899 in steam coupled inside a TEM2 diesel on a freight (possibly engineers) train. Sadly I wasn't quick enough with my camera! The station name was either Ehchn Torey (or Zchn Torey - I can't be sure from the cyrillic in my notes). The only other steam locos I saw though were obviously dumped, three L class in the yard close to Zabaikalsk station, which I explored during the long tedious stop there and others near the depot. I had previously passed this way in 2000 and seen a loco in steam, but I couldn't identify it in the dark."

Tim Littler (of GW Travel Ltd/Trans-Siberian Express Company) writes: (16th May 2001):

GWT's P36 (the only privately owned locomotive in Russia) was steamed for the first time in St Petersburg on the 17th April and on 28th April worked a 580 mile test trip around Lake Ladoga, NE of St Petersburg. No problems were encountered and the engine will make its first revenue departure on 22nd May when it takes an 800T, 14 car GWT 'Trans-Siberian Express' out of St Petersburg. Restoration at St Petersburg Moskovski Sort depot took just under 3 months with 14 people working 7 days a week to complete the job on schedule. A new shed will be built within the depot limits to accommodate the 200 tonne 4-8-4 and we expect it to be used on 5 tours and for over 2,000 miles in 2001. By 2004 it will be used on 27 day trips and several longer tours. We plan to restore a second P36 in 2003.

A later note (9th November 2002) says: "We are researching the possibility of improving the performance of our locomotive P36 0032 by adding a lempor exhaust system installed by Phil  Girdlestone, who has made two visits from South Africa to Saint Petersburg  this year. If agreed, we hope to have the work completed this winter. In any case performance has been improving with 73 mph achieved on our last  public trip and 82 mph on an earlier test trip."

Really the following information (9th November 2002) should appear under separate countries for Central Asia but I am including it here for convenience:

"Our Central Asian Tours 21st August - 5th October, Caspian Steam Express : Saint Petersburg - Astrakhan. Locomotives from October and North Caucasus Railways in poor condition. Fortunately P36.0032 managed to work the entire distance without any problems (Except for a broken stoker when they loaded rocks instead of coal in Ryazan). We took 2xL class from St Petersburg to the Southern Caucasus for two tours:

Armenia. Very poor country and railways in dire state with virtually no traffic. Yerevan has only four local trains per day plus a train to Tbilisi every other day. There was one L class on Yerevan depot that had been partially restored but work stopped when the restorer died. The steam reserve at Masis was mostly cut up. The steam reserve at Gyumri has gone except for several locos (steam and diesel) trapped in the old depot that had been destroyed during the 1988 earthquake.

Georgia. No local steam noted and we covered a large part of the country from Batumi on the Black sea to the Azeri border, with side trips to Vale and Telavi.

Azerbaijan. Very efficient and well run railway. only steam noted at Balandry depot on the outskirts of Baku where there were several intact L's and Er's and the remains of many more. The management had indicated that their reserve of approx 100 locos was being cut up.

We then took the train on the ferry across the Caspian to Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan. The line from Turkmenbashi through the Kara Kum desert was the first in the USSR to be dieselised in 1946, however, there was still some steam. A derelict FD in Turkmenbashi, 2 x FD and 5xEr on the way to Ashgabat and 2xEr on Ashgabat depot. Turkmenistan had positioned water tanks every 70 km and were very efficient. We took a new (1996) branch to Saraks 500 yards from the Iranian border and 30 km from Afganistan.

Uzbekistan. Despite us running regular trains here every year, the most difficult country. They still have a working steam reserve of 20 x Er at Kokand in the Fergana Valley. Tashkent Museum contains an excellent and complete selection of former Soviet steam. "

The upper picture is P36.0032 on 26th April 2007, the occasion of the launch of GW Travel's Golden Eagle train, the lower dates from 2001.

Saudi Arabia Index

A railway museum opened in Madinah in January 2006 (all this added 16th May 2007) according to an article in the Arab News http://www.arabnews.com/?page=21&section=0&article=76563&d=23&m=1&y=2006. The picture below is taken from it and shows two restored steam locomotives present:

More information on their identity would be very welcome, it has long been reported that locomotives were still in existence in the desert and pictures of them prior to restoration are on the unofficial Hejaz Railway website which has a mass of other pictures too - see http://nabataea.net/medinalocos.html. That suggests the locomotives in the picture may be SLM 158 and Hartmann 54. Thomas Kautzor has provided more information (20th September 2007) to which I have appended the text of the article above in case it is removed, he also joined a tour group in October 2007 and had a first hand account from a Jordanian driver who had worked in Madinah, read his account (30th October 2007).

Sri Lanka Index

There is a list of extant/preserved steam locomotives available on this site - http://www.infolanka.com/org/mrail/locos1.html (10th May 2005).

The Railway Touring Company ran another trip here in March 2006, Robin Patrick has sent me a brief account together with some pictures (added 2nd October 2006). Richard Gennis found 340 in use on an evening excursion in December 2007. Read his report (22nd January 2008).

The Railway Touring Company successfully relaunched the Viceroy Express in February 2004 reports Phil Lawson (1st April 2004). Things are not yet perfect but the potential from this once war torn country is excellent, the tsunami will have caused further problems in the tourist industry. A repeat trip in March 2005 (added 26th March 2005) saw the following steam legs:

251 Airport - Mount Lavinia
251 Mount Lavinia - Kandy
340 Rambukkana - Kandy
340 Kandy - Nanu Oya / Badulla - Nanu Oya
251 Palugaswewa - Trincomalee
251 Palugaswewa - Maho Junction - Polagahawela
251 Mount Lavinia - Chilaw (on Puttalam line)

Diesel assistance was made on the incline beyond Rambukkana and beyond Gampola 'up country' - apparently this is compulsory following an accident. In addition, the Sentinel railcar V2 331 was steamed specially on a short section at Dermatogoda Shed (Colombo) along with the other serviceable narrow gauge steam loco Hunslet tank 220.

Vic Allen tells me (15th December 2002)  "All steam train operations suspended (including/especially the Viceroy Express workings) because of lack of coal in Ceylon." Obviously only a temporary setback, but it seems at least three UK tour operators have postponed their planned 2003 tours. The potential for steam tours here is enormous, now it looks as if there is a better chance of peace than for some long time past, the local organisers are JF tours, http://www.jftours.com. However, there are several tours were being promoted for 2004 so it seems that the problem may be resolved.

Preserved steam has been used here for some time mainly under the imprint of the 'Viceroy Express'. Chris Lewis (22nd March 2002) travelled on one such tour with the Railway Touring Company. "Excellent week with Viceroy Express. Steam engines were 213, 240 and 340. 213 proved to be a little belter! Managed all the planned routes with steam at least in one direction, usually in two. (Colombo-Homegana (narrow gauge no longer available), Colombo-Candy-Badulla, Harbana-Colombo, Colombo-Galle.) Highlight was a trip from Candy to Matale with steam at 21.00 with just a third class coach (no lights) after regular service had finished for the night. The Hunslet and Sentinel were working at Dematagoda works. The Garratt at Ratmalana works is in danger of being scrapped. We implored this was not allowed to happen, and our guide was going to take this up with the works management. The engine under major overhaul 251 was said to be ready in about six months. The two sentinel lorries had been moved to the training centre (two very nice lady instructors), were said to be steamable, but may be plinthed. Despite an initial reluctance for run pasts, cab rides, etc it soon changed to absolute freedom to do what we wanted. Trip included double heading and banking."

I (RD) have a number of pictures available of steam here in the 1970s which will be used on one of the future Image of Rail CD ROMs.

Syria Index

Click here for the Locomotive Club of Great Britain 2008 Hejaz Tour

10 years ago, a story circulated that a revamped Hejaz railway around Amman was to become the answer to the city's traffic problems. Now the story has re-emerged with bells and whistles as an eventual reasonably high speed link with Damascus - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1816457.ece, see also the associated slide show. If it is half true then it might just be all over for those steam charters (28th May 2007), but read it carefully! It is the lesser used line north to Zarka which will be rebuilt first, not the spectacular climb south and the devil is in the detail as always "A private Chinese company, Infrastructure Development, in tandem with Pakistani contractors, is to start work in 2009 to transform a short stretch of the neglected line, creating a light commuter railway between Amman and Zarka in the northeast. There are plans then to rebuild the line all the way to Damascus." Don't hold your breath waiting!

Dan Gibson tells me (5th May 2005) that he is establishing a website to chart the history of  the Hejaz Railway which will undoubtedly be of interest to regular readers of this page.

Jan Willem van Dorp has been here in search of steam activity, suffice to say he was disappointed. Read his full report (6th October 2005). The Summer Friday picnic train has ceased - apparently some time ago! The railway here was the subject of a talk on the BBC's 'From Our Own Correspondent' in January 2006 - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4609450.stm but here in China I can't check to see if the link is still valid (added 10th February 2006).... Bill Alborough was here researching a tour in mid March 2006. He found signs of regular (alleged daily) steam freights from Damascus to Dera'a, Hartman 260 was seen at both ends and 90 was being prepared to go out too. More good news was the re-establishment of a tourist service on a 12km section of the Sergaya branch, from El Hame to A-in Fidje every Friday out at 09:00, back at 16:00. The trip takes an hour, four locos are still outstationed at El Hame – 91 and 755 are usable, 754 and 751 are not working (18th March 2006). Charles Towler adds similarly (30th April 2006) "As of Early April Syria Hejaz Railway Hartmann 2-8-2 number 260 was trundling from Damascus to Der'a (123 km) with a mixed train a few times a week. Borsig 2-8-0 number 90 also sees use. "

You can now read the full report of Glyn Dawson's visit (25th November 2003) with the Railway Touring Company. Manfred Schoeler went with a small group in April 2003 to sample Syrian steam, highlight was the return to service of one of their Mallets (11th May 2003). I have a report from Roland Beier of a  May 2004 visit (21st June 2004), to which I have appended a few notes from Ray Mason of a Railway Touring Company trip in October 2004 (7th November 2004). Thomas Kautzor joined a tour group in October 2007, read his report (30th October 2007).

Christoph Oboth was here in March 2001 and found the Friday Serghaya train running. Read his full report (6th April 2001), for the pictures look on http://www.eisenbahnbildarchiv.de/main.html?E7=./pages/syrien01.html and http://www.eisenbahnbildarchiv.de/main.html?E7=./pages/syrien02.html (17th August 2001).

Working steam exists here after a fashion. Certainly the Fridays only (Summer holidays, mid-July to mid-September) Damascus - Serghaya train was regularly steam hauled in 1997. In addition, locals speak of regular sightings of steam at work in Damascus station, presumably as a result of diesel failures. There are several locos kept in working order and in September 1997 I joined a tour here. Read about what I found.... and also an update covering May/June 1998 (15th September 1998).  Don't rush out and buy an air ticket, but if you are passing through anyway, ask at the station or Cadem works if any steam movements are planned. Hugh Ballantyne was here with the Dorridge Travel Tour in May 1999 (11th June 1999) and was here again in September 2000 with Enthusiast Holidays (25th October 2000).

Tajikistan Index

No real steam here, but Harvey Smith has sent this picture of a preserved E class in a park near the station at Dushanbe (14th August 2008):

Uzbekistan Index

No real steam here, but Torsten Schneider has sent me some pictures of his visit to the Tashkent Railway Museum in September 2003 (added 9th October 2005). Colin Young has added some further images of different locomotives (10th December 2007).

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