MYANMAR’S MAIN LINE MAGIC
British steam lingers in South East Asia
Isat on the wooden seat in the cab of ‘YD’ No. 964, a British-built Vulcan Foundry 2-8-2, as we rolled along into the gathering darkness, the sun’s dying rays just a thin line on the horizon. The driver, immaculately dressed in a white jacket, lifted the regulator and hooked it by a wire to the cab roof so he could concentrate on maintaining our speed by winding the reverser. He maintained a steady 30mph, a stream of black smoke pouring from the chimney of the oil-fired engine. Wheels and motion revolved almost silently, with just a wheeze from the piston valves as we rocked over the metre gauge double-track main line back to Bago on timetabled passenger Train 86. It was November 2017. Yes, really. And I was the only European on board. How come? It’s a long story… My grandmother’s family were major first-named shareholders in the Ellerman & Bucknall lines, whose ships steamed their way around the British Empire, particularly to the Orient and as part of the ‘Grand Tour’. We still have some dining plates and wooden elephants dotted around the house as mementoes. Our former Eastern empire had always fascinated me. I managed to visit Asia in 1975 to hunt steam locomotives for my own amusement. By that time we were all chasing the sunset of steam and much eluded us, as it was always the forbidden fruits which were the most sought-after. Once China had opened its doors, there was only really one country left which stubbornly declined to co-operate: Burma.
LONDON OF THE EAST
Thirty years ago, Burma opened its doors to tourists for the first time since the war, and relaxed its rules so people would be allowed to stay for more than seven days. Intrepid railway explorers had been there before, but they were a select few. As soon as it was possible to obtain a visa that permitted a longer stay than one week, I saw my chance. Post-war British-built ‘YB’ and ‘YC’ ‘Pacifics’ and ‘YD’ 2-8-2s were still in everyday service, on branch lines and goods trains. Because of its repressive military government, Burma had effectively been closed to the world for some 50 years, creating a timewarp – little had changed since the 1940s. Rangoon (now renamed Yangon), once the ‘London of the East’, was Burma’s thriving port on the Bay of Bengal, a gateway city. From there, China beckoned and the legendary ‘Burma Road’ began. This ‘road’ is a combination of over 400 miles of metre gauge track and 100 miles of highway to the Chinese border, an international trade route. Through the lush green fields of the Irrawaddy rice-growing delta, climbing switchbacks and crossing great ravines, including the one spanned by the famous 2,000ft Gokteik Viaduct, the route twists like a silk ribbon. This ‘road’ follows the route laid down by the ancient Tang dynasty, and it was once trodden by elephants bearing gifts from kings of Burma to the Chinese emperor. Later it became the trans-Burma trade route with China, along which flowed myriad riches: jade, rubies, gold leaf, amber, ivory, silver and teak. The British built a railway of worldwide significance to carry these goods and protect the edge of their empire. British steam locomotives were shipped there, the first being the 1871 Dübs-built 2-4-0T, now on display at the extraordinary new capital Nay Pyi Taw. This was followed by outside-framed ‘F’ class 0-6-0s, then, for the hill sections, mighty Mallets and some of the most powerful Garratts ever built for the metre gauge. On the plains and between the cities ran sleek ‘YB’ and ‘YC’ 4-6-2s, with trusty ‘YD’ 2-8-2s on freights and a multitude of tank engines on the Yangon suburban circle. After the Second World War, further batches of these useful designs were produced to help rehabilitate Burma Railways. Even during military rule, Burma Railways remained a cohesive transport system, running the railway as part of the ‘Burma Road’, as well as stretching its tentacles to the borders of the land with new construction. Steam still ran in patches on this route until the late 1990s, based at three depots
on the plains around the ‘Burma Road’: Bago, roughly three hours by train from Yangon, served the stone trains on the south line towards Golden Rock, and the branch to Nyaungkhashe; Pyuntaza, a little further up the 200 miles of unique metre gauge double-track main line, provided power for the Madauk branch. Pyinmama served the areas around the sugar fields. Then, much further towards the Chinese border, in the unruly Shan state, and from a junction at Namyao on the 180-mile single-track line from Mandalay to Lashio, even the Burma Mines 2ft gauge line held on to two steam locomotives. These shunted wagons in the crushing and smelting plants of what was once the most important British colonial silver-lead mine in the world, at Namtu and Bawdwin. These steam dinosaurs just had to be seen to be believed.
STRATEGIC RESERVE
Of course, even steam locomotives in countries with fragile environments are eventually replaced by diesels. Yangon’s Insein works are very capable of overhauling and rebuilding both the Chinese and Indian diesels, and more arrived so as to eliminate the need to keep the remaining steam. After a few years of being relegated to overseas enthusiast charters, the last oil burner in a Myanmar Railways steam locomotive was turned off, but none of the remaining locomotives were scrapped. Instead they were stored at Pyuntaza depot in a secure compound, just in case. While enthusiast photographers turned to other destinations, Burma remained in my consciousness. I had made many friends there over the years travelling around it, and it had also become possible to visit the 2ft gauge Burma Mines Railway in the north east, with its incredible spiral, switchback and river gorge running – a complete 1910 timewarp where nothing had changed except tree growth. Many happy trips were made to this faraway line, photographing and footplating their centenarian Hunslet ‘Huxley’ 0-4-2T and 1920s Bagnall 2-6-2. But still the metre gauge steam locomotives languished – and beckoned. An idea came to mind to promote a luxury tourist train in South East Asia as an extension to a client’s portfolio. A reconnaissance field trip to have a look and discuss the concept with the Minister of Railways didn’t kill the idea off. On the basis that nothing is impossible, a couple of us pursued it further. The cost to us was simply air fares and time. It turned out that, yes, the state railway would be prepared to run such a train. The Ministry of Transport and Myanmar Railways recognised this would bring economic benefit to a country now opening up to tourists. The Minister of Tourism is an active supporter of the idea. He even enthused over a Vintage Trains Tyseley-style brochure! On a visit to Insein workshops to discuss the operating logistics of such an enterprise, it was impossible not to ask if the old steam locomotives could be put back in order to run some short-haul day trains. After some scratching of heads, the possibility was acknowledged. Even the works manager took me to one side as the meeting ended and showed me the workshop line where the steam locomotives used to be maintained. “We could bring people back from retirement and try. I hope you will do this project,” he confided. Maybe we were just in time, but only just. So we decided to press on with the adventure. Having made several trips to Myanmar, we now have an understanding with its government and state railway to create this project. We also have agreement in principle to use steam locomotives for day trips. Indeed, because of our initial discussions, Myanmar Railways dragged several ‘YCs’ and ‘YDs’ off the Pyuntaza storage line and put two ‘YDs’ and one ‘YC’ back into operable condition for hire on tourist trains. The railway did the same for an ‘ST’ 2-6-4T, but gave it as a present to China, so it had to restore a second one!
We visited Insein works to witness the amazing spectacle of one of the ‘YCs’ being completely stripped down to its component parts and reassembled with the boiler of another spare ‘YC’. Bearing in mind our own culture of health and safety, it was staggering to watch Burmese workers, dressed in T-shirts and open-toed sandals, splitting rivets using a mallet and chisel and tearing away metal casing. The first stage involves putting some steam locomotives back into working order and seeing how long they last. Support systems will need to be established at Bago depot, with staff who know what they are doing. The last step in the first stage will be to encourage tourists to visit the railway.
FRESH IMPETUS
Nobody in Mynamar knew how to promote steam tours so, pending the conclusion of our project, these locomotives languished at depots. There was one locally managed, half-hearted and unsuccessful attempt to promote day tours from Bagan, a city featuring thousands of temples and stupas [hemispherical temples] on the Irrawaddy River. But Bernd Seiler of Germany’s Farrail picked up the baton and persuaded the railway to put life in the steam locomotives again for his specialist photographic charters. Now based at Bago depot, two ‘YDs’ and one ‘YC’ are steaming again, maybe twice yearly for his tours, and maybe others. Last year, for the first time in many years, ‘YD’ 2-8-2s ran a timetabled passenger train once again from Bago to Moulmein, past Golden Rock, purely for the pleasure of taking pictures. The last remaining workable ‘YC’ metre gauge ‘Pacific’ also wheezed up the double-track main line, also for pictures. For now, this is fun and there are likely to be several such photographic charters until the steam locomotives require major work – which they will, and Insein works will need our help to do that. The firebox metal of the ‘YC’ is thin, but the ‘YDs’ are in better condition. We will then have to put our hands in our pockets. However, our tourist train discussions have started the journey to ensure that the prospect of regular steam trains in everyday use is more than possible in Myanmar. Sure, the road will be hard and expensive, but the state railway is prepared to enable it, working in partnership with our project. Local businessmen are interested in helping fund the project. While the luxury train will, by necessity, be diesel-hauled, we now have the prospect of overhauling, say, a couple of Burmese metre gauge steam locomotives to run everyday trains in the tourist business from Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan. Using the lessons learned from British preservation we will follow the template. And the Myanmar Minister of Tourism thinks it’s a great idea.