Google Maps Railfanning Section (READ RULES!)

aryadwi_ef641030 said:
FYI #2: the most interesting fact about Indonesian Railways' GT38ACe locomotives is the presence of 5 additional units (CC205 51 to CC205 55, post-2010 current number is CC205 14 01 to CC205 14 05) which were given by EMD as bonus units for compensating the delay of shipment of 2nd batch units back in 2013."
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That is indeed interesting! :)
 
Rob said:
That is indeed interesting! :)
Click to expand...

You're right, even the "bonus unit as compensation for shipment delay" surprises many rail fans around Indonesia (including myself), because it was considered as a "never-heard-in-the-past" news :hehe:
The result, of course, is the availability of surplus units for replacing locomotives that were temporarily removed from service for maintenance or repairment. Unfortunately two of the 55 units, numbered CC205 21 and CC205 32, are still not available for regular duties due to a heavy accident at Negeri Agung station in year 2015, making the number of GT38ACe (CC205 series) locomotives available for regular duties are 53 out of 55...

=========

Back to the topic, here is the picture of local train "Sibinuang" operated by West Sumatra Division of Indonesian Railways makes a stop at Lubuk Buaya station on its way to Padang station, with the locomotive BB303 78 01 (pre-2010 old style: BB303 22) manufactured by Henschel (model number: DHG 1000 BB, but with custom body to fit with Indonesian Railways' design) hauls the train all the way from Pariaman station. However, it seems that the locomotive's numberplate was mistaken by Google's "automated vehicle registration plate censoring system" as the same with Indonesia's vehicle registration plate, which results in the locomotive's numberplate appears to be blurred when someone attempts to move the cursor toward the position beside and in front of the locomotive (however, the number itself is not blurred when someone views from the location beside the first coach).

https://www.google.com/maps/@-0.834...4!1si3T6UeOXbPoaGY2-qyjZoQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

FYI:

1. The link attached here is the August 2018 version of Streetview image for Adinegoro street that connects Padang city with Bukittinggi city; the newest Streetview image had no train stops at Lubuk Buaya station, as the Streetview car probably passed the station when the local train was still on its way to Lubuk Buaya station.
2. While the train was composed as all-3rd class coaches, the last car is a dining car with diesel-powered generator for supplying electricity to the whole train. On the other hand, the first coach coupled behind the locomotive had smaller body compared to the other coaches, which was originally built in 2009 for use on local trains from Padang to Solok (the reason is the presence of small-diametered tunnels and narrow bridges on the section past Kayutanam station, especially on the rack rail section between Kayutanam and Batutabal stations). However, the plan was foiled after the 2009 West Sumatra Earthquake and 2010 Anai Valley Landslide, which damaged track sections and bridge around Kayutanam station and rack rail sections that passes Anai Valley (ID: Lembah Anai). This resulted in those still-brand new coaches (at the time when the two disasters happened) were diverted for use on Padang to Pariaman local services, coupled with the standard-sized coaches built in 2008.

:)
 
Beautiful shot, aryadwi_ef641030, and I would love to spend a day just walking around and exploring that area, it looks wonderful!
 
Forester1 said:
Beautiful shot, aryadwi_ef641030, and I would love to spend a day just walking around and exploring that area, it looks wonderful!
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I always do that with the Google Earth links. Keep going up the road past the locomotive and take a look at the three bridges. :)
 
Forester1 said:
Sweet! I guess I could spend the day here! Maybe with the fan on I could get a tropical breeze :hehe:
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The only thing I want to recommend to you is bringing lots of mosquito killer spray if you want to spend the day in Indonesia, otherwise no problem at all. :hehe:

JCitron said:
I always do that with the Google Earth links. Keep going up the road past the locomotive and take a look at the three bridges. :)
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While the road itself crosses with the track just before the bridge, you can see the unique West Sumatran-style grade crossing controller post right beside the crossing. The main design is based off the famous Rumah Gadang of Minangkabau culture, to give the respect for native Minangkabau people that inhabits West Sumatra province since long time ago :) and you can see that the grade crossing itself has equipments similar to those used by Netherlands, as Indonesian Railways had their standard type grade crossing equipments were manufactured by Nederlandse Machinefabriek Alkmaar (NMA, already dissolved in 1990s) using the exactly same design in 1980s (the only difference is the Indonesian ones uses warning sirens similar to European police cars and ambulances, instead of electronic bell).

And here is the video of the grade crossing located just before the bridge, made by one of Indonesia's rail fan (slightly off-topic, but still related to the location):


===========================

I just found another good Streetview shot, this time at Semarang Poncol Station in the western part of Semarang City in Central Java. Here is the picture of Indonesian Railways CC201 series (GE U18C) number CC201 83 34 (pre-2010: CC201 72) of Semarang Poncol locomotive depot underwent switching movement inside the station. Since the locomotive stops just before the grade crossing, the grade crossing is in open condition (fortunately Google's "automated vehicle registration plate censoring system" does not blurring the numberplate at all, but if you move forward to the position in front of the locomotive, this time you will find that the middle window of the locomotive was blurred for some unclear reasons :hehe:).

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.974...4!1soRJwUgmy21gUMM-fUb0hKg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
 
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Thank you for the history and information on your railway. This is very fascinating!

I thought the crossings looked European.

I've been studying the tracks and signals I can see at this location here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.9740...7i16384!8i8192

Does your railway use the Netherlands signaling system as well? The shunting signals look very European which is why I ask.
 
JCitron said:
Thank you for the history and information on your railway. This is very fascinating!

I thought the crossings looked European.

I've been studying the tracks and signals I can see at this location here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.9740...7i16384!8i8192

Does your railway use the Netherlands signaling system as well? The shunting signals look very European which is why I ask.
Click to expand...

Basically it is similar to Netherlands ones, but the current system employed by Indonesian Railways are having complicated origin due to the influence of British and Germany systems employed on the older signals as well as the addition of original parts made by Indonesian engineers (most of the modern-type ones are now produced by the government-owned PT LEN Industri in Bandung, or in some cases, ordered to European companies like Siemens with the system customized to Indonesian practices).

For mechanical signals, those operated by Indonesian Railways were developed with a mixture of Netherlands and Germany practices, although the oldest type of mechanical signal employed by Indonesian Railways in the past (colloquially known by both railroaders and rail fans as "sinyal tebeng" in Indonesian language, it uses a roundel-shaped or roundel-colored square steel plate mounted above a tower or a pole) was purely developed by Dutch people during the days of Netherlands-Indies in 1880s, as shown in these two links:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cc20501/3017165313 - square-shaped, unfortunately it has been removed and replaced by the current Siemens & Halske mechanical signals (the replacement work itself was probably done in the period around early 2012 to 2013)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Prajekan_sta_150521-51058_bws.JPG - roundel-shaped, this one is from Kalisat - Panarukan railway line that has been closed in 2004 due to aging infrastructures

:)
 
Aahh, the semaphore signal is the up-bound distant signal of Tabing station, and since the arm is in "clear" state it indicates that a train running toward Padang station can safely entering the station (the home signal is located just after the bridge). By the way the semaphore signal itself is what many rail fans in Indonesia called as "Siemens & Halske Type Semi-Automatic Interlocking Mechanical Signal", because the basic system was built by the Siemens & Halske company in 1930s (though the current examples were installed in 1970s for replacing older type signals). :)

This is a video that shows the operation of Indonesian Railways' Siemens & Halske mechanical signal in the current days, though it was filmed at Kalisat Station in East Java:


===================

And back to the topic, here is the picture of Indonesian Railways CC206 series locomotive (GE CM20EMP) number CC206 13 70 (old-style: CC206 70) of Jatinegara locomotive depot stops just before entering Rangkasbitung station with a coal train from Cigading to Nambo, as the train waits for a clear aspect. Unfortunately the side numberplate of cab #2 (which is basically the long-hood end of the locomotive) was falsely recognized as vehicle registration plate, resulting in the numberplate being censored by Google's censoring system.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.349...4!1slDwCUprtdaN_TVcvYOgNBQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

FYI:

1. This is the February 2016 version of the Streetview image, as the current version photographed on June 2019 had no trains captured there.
2. Just before the bridge (if seen from trains heading to Rangkasbitung station) there was once a diverging point for the now-defunct Labuan Line (closed in 1984, currently in preparation for reactivation works), where the line branches off from mainline to Merak via Serang and Cilegon cities as a branch line that serves town of Pandeglang and city of Labuan through the center part of Pandeglang regency. The Labuan Line itself had a branch line named Bayah Line that diverges from Saketi Station to Bayah Station, where the Bayah Line was built by Imperial Japanese Army from 1942 to 1944 for transporting surface-mined brown coals in Bayah region using rails looted from some branchlines and some sugar refineries around Central and East Java (Bayah Line, however, was closed in 1951 due to the railway operation deemed to be too dangerous for that line)

:)
 
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Thank for the history and the information. This is fascinating. I watched another video by the same guy that showed the level crossings being operated. There were two operations the manual one with an older gent turning a wheel to open and close the gates and another that was automated.

The signalman has a busy day at the station. The system looks to be electro-mechanical but still has a bit of manual operations to it with the levers.
 
JCitron said:
The signalman has a busy day at the station. The system looks to be electro-mechanical but still has a bit of manual operations to it with the levers.
Click to expand...

You're right. Even each levers had special keys for preventing false handle movement, which are part of default equipments for the current mechanical signalling system. In North Sumatra operation region, however, there is a modernized mechanical signalling system with fully-computerized interlocking system, allowing a smoother operation for lines still equipped with mechanical signals (though it is now a common practice for replacing mechanical signals with electric signals, but at least this solution was deemed to be economical for safer operation in the transition period).

JCitron said:
I watched another video by the same guy that showed the level crossings being operated. There were two operations the manual one with an older gent turning a wheel to open and close the gates and another that was automated.
Click to expand...

For the grade crossing, the ones operated with a rotating handle (labeled as "hand generator") is commonly found on those with less frequent road traffic density, though sometimes this type is also used at main roads in the rural area. On the other hand, the automatic ones with switches and buttons are mostly used on grade crossings where the road traffic had high traffic density (or even congested), and for safety measurements they are equipped with "boom gate brake button" for temporarily stopping the boom gate in particular durations (normally it is used for clearing road vehicles trapped inside the crossing). However, if the crossing is located right inside or near the station, the equipments for operating the crossing are placed inside the station's signal operator room (even those who operated the crossing are station personnels, including the signalman).

Beside the common ones, there are also crossing that are still operated using mechanical handle connected to the boom gate with steel cable and chain, though they are slowly replaced by the automatic ones. Even many unofficial crossings made by local people are found equipped with boom gates made of bamboo (painted in red and white stripes) and connected with a rope between one each other (many of them were later closed by both Indonesian Railways and local government for increasing safety measurements, since grade crossing accidents are one of the serious problem faced by Indonesian Railways in the past, and even today).

========================

And here is another one from me:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.256...4!1sWNjPlZoNrMVRM4i6kc8CbA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This one was photographed on March 2018, with a 205 series EMU of former East Japan Railway Company trainset 205-122 (former trainset HaE 14 of Kawagoe Depot) seen here serving the down commuter train (probably toward Rangkasbitung, though it is probably the ones that terminates at Parung Panjang station and returns back to Tanah Abang station). Previously there was a grade crossing here, but it was replaced by an overpass after a horrific grade crossing accident occurred on December 9th, 2013, when former Tokyo Metro 7000 series EMU trainset 7121 as commuter train number 1131* slams into a gasoline-carrier truck and causes fire with explosions due to leakage of gasoline load from the truck, where 7 fatalities were recorded (including the three train crews that serves the train). Ironically, the former grade crossing where the 2013 accident occurred is not far from the site of tragic head-on collision occurred on October 19th, 1987, where negligence of signalman caused two trains packed with lots of passengers to collide and took 156 fatalities (which is the worst accident in the history of railways in Indonesia to date).

*the train number is now used by one of Bogor Line commuter train that serves Bogor - Jakarta Kota corridor
 
You might want to edit that. It's P&W for Providence and Worcester. :) The P&W used to, maybe they may still do, offered dinner train rides and line tours on their system from Worcester to Providence, down through to New London and up the Norwalk to Worcester line, forming a loop ride. It took a good couple of hours, but it was a great run back when I took it in 1985. They have since expanded their operations a lot since those days and sadly now they too are part of the GWI family.

I've been on I-95 and drove right past here before the catenary was installed. I would say to myself then it's too bad the catenary wasn't installed all the way to Boston like was planned back when the New Haven put the wires up in 1910. Just shy of a century later, it finally happened.
 
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