All about railways in Indonesia (beware of HD pics)

Another historic photo:

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(original photo by Rob Dickinson, uploaded to Facebook by an account named "Buyunk Aktuil")

This is the photograph of D14 series steam locomotive (former SS1400) number D1404 when hauling local train on Bogor - Padalarang line, probably in 1970s or 1980s. The train is seen here stopping at Cilaku station, with one wooden-bodied 3rd class coach is the only coach hauled by this locomotive. Also seen here in this photograph is two levers for operating Krian-type mechanical signals located beside the station building, covered by a small roof for protecting signal levers from being wet due to rain (at that time stations that equipped with Krian signals only had home signals, or in some cases, distant signals; there are no departure signals and all of the switches were "switchstand" type manually operated by station employees).

Cilaku station was temporarily closed in 2001 due to landslide inside Lampegan tunnel, and although the station has underwent modernization work (including the construction of new signalman room at the location where levers for operating Krian signals were once stood, along with installation of Siemens & Halske semaphore signals in place of the aging Krian signals) in preparation for the introduction of a new local passenger train serving Sukabumi and Cianjur regencies (which was named "Siliwangi"), the station was later permanently closed by Indonesian Railways due to low ridership. Because of this situation, the local train "Siliwangi" does not stop at Cilaku station at all since the beginning of its regular operation.

*until September 20th, 2020, "Siliwangi" train serves Sukabumi to Ciranjang section of Bogor - Padalarang line. With the reopening of Ciranjang to Cipatat section, the train is now extended to Cipatat station.
 
The current state of Yogyakarta station during the electrification work of Yogyakarta - Solo section of South Java Main Line per September 24th, 2020:

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(original photo by Ragil Setianto)

Because there is a requirement for not removing large platform roofs when installing overhead line equipments, Indonesian Railways employs rigid overhead line for electrifying tracks inside the station premises. This situation also happens with the neighboring Lempuyangan station, where same situation causes Indonesian Railways to employ rigid overhead line inside passenger platform premises of Lempuyangan station (freight sidings uses normal ones, as there are no large platform roofs that spans over there).

Regards,

Arya.
 
Arya,

I'm really enjoying your blog here on your railways.

It's interesting why they use the rigid catenary rather than regular wire. The rigid catenary also looks like the old Märklin catenary used on their Gage 1 and HO models. We need to get someone to make some of that for us because there are places where we could use it on our routes.

The old steam-pulled local above looks like a scene from the 1940s or 1950s even if it's not.
 
It's interesting why they use the rigid catenary rather than regular wire

The usage of rigid catenary itself is particularly to allow catenary to be installed under platform roofs without need to dismantling platform roof itself, which is for saving time required during the construction of catenary inside the station (the electrification work itself is done at a somewhat high pace; in fact, the current pandemic actually allows the electrification project between Yogyakarta and Solo to be executed as a single project, as the electrification project was originally planned as a two-phase project that covers Yogyakarta - Klaten section for first phase, and Klaten - Solo Balapan section as the second phase). For stations that does not have large roof spanning over the tracks, regular wire ones were used.

While rigid catenary itself is still brand new in Indonesia, currently there are two operational examples, with the first example is the ones found at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Station in Jakarta. One of the main reason for the usage of rigid catenary is because the track was constructed by partially reusing right-of-way of public road inside the airport, and the right-of-way itself crosses under the taxiway that connects North Runway (Terminal #2 and #3) and South Runway (Terminal #1), as well as overpasses for internal access road (between Terminal #1 and #2) and public road, as shown in the following Google Streetview pictures:

1. https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.130...4!1slE2VnaeObH26Uq2y5PRxhQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 - transition point from ordinary catenary to rigid catenary
2. https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.129...4!1sH0jKsJhQ30KCnz6ITKhFew!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 - inside the tunnel that passes under taxiway. Note that support pylons are installed on the border between track and road
3. https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.128...4!1syJI-JJkRWqOdlDh3uYi4mA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 - near the airport station

The old steam-pulled local above looks like a scene from the 1940s or 1950s even if it's not.

You're right. Even in 1970s to early 1980s most of branch line local trains in Indonesia were still hauled by steam locos, although they were slowly replaced by diesel powers (either it could be diesel locomotives or even DMUs) or even completely stopped its operation without any replacement due to closure of branch lines. While the closure of branch lines of Indonesian Railways from 1970s until this day were mostly fueled by motorization (including the presence of local buses or even long-distance buses that runs faster than branch line trains), AFAIK two lines were closed in 1970s and 1980s partially due to natural disaster:

1. Ambarawa Line

This line was permanently closed in 1976 after a very disastrous volcanic mudflow that destroys one of the span of Krasak river bridge in 1975. The bridge itself is located just to the north of Tempel Station, with the Krasak river is right on the border between Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta provinces. As the damage was deemed beyond repair, Indonesian Railways decided to completely discontinue trains of Ambarawa Line in 1976, excluding the Ambarawa to Bedono section that was reopened as a tourist line. While this line is planned to be reopened for traffic, the notoriously steep rack rail section between Jambu and Gemawang stations caused the restoration work for the line to be temporarily stopped for unknown time period. :(

2. Cikajang Line

Half of line from Garut station to Cikajang station was closed in 1982 after the eruption of Mount Galunggung in the same year, which causes damages on trackbed and some of bridges. The line was later completely closed in 1983 due to metal damages suffered by steam locomotives stationed at Cibatu locomotive depot, where the culprit was the volcanic ashes from the same eruption in 1982 that contaminates water used by these locomotives (even the Mallet locomotives like CC10, DD52 and CC50 were found having the boiler damaged by corrosions that caused by the contamination of volcanic ashes). Fortunately this line is scheduled to be reopened to passenger service soon using diesel-hauled trains, as this line plays a key role for reducing traffic congestion between Garut and Bandung cities. :)
 
Thank you for the explanation on the rigid catenary. I followed the road through the tunnel and also looked at earlier shots, pre-2015 when available. I'm glad the railway was put through and the road narrowed. :) That airport station is amazing looking. I noticed that the road travel direction changed from left hand running to right hand running. That must've confused the drivers when that change took place!

It's sad to see steam go, but then again there's so much more maintenance required. The bucolic scene though really is classic. Thank you for the background information on that.
 
Thank you for the explanation on the rigid catenary. I followed the road through the tunnel and also looked at earlier shots, pre-2015 when available. I'm glad the railway was put through and the road narrowed. :) That airport station is amazing looking. I noticed that the road travel direction changed from left hand running to right hand running. That must've confused the drivers when that change took place!

You're right, since Indonesia primarily uses left-hand running for road traffic. But fortunately since the police and airport authorities had already announced the change of road travel direction for section along the Airport Railway Line from some months before the opening ceremony of that line, apparently no one accidentally entering the false direction when entering that section. :hehe:

Because the station of Airport Railway Line (actually this line is considered as the branch line of Tangerang Line that starts from Batu Ceper station, but unfortunately this branch line is only for airport trains; local commuter trains using ex-Japanese EMUs are going straight toward Tangerang station) is located in the middle position between Terminal #1 and Terminal #2, the station is connected to both terminals (as well as the larger Terminal #3) by an automated people mover line called "Skytrain".

It's sad to see steam go, but then again there's so much more maintenance required. The bucolic scene though really is classic. Thank you for the background information on that.

While steam itself is very hard in term of maintenance and operation, but thankfully a handful number of steamers are now used by Indonesian Railways for hauling tourist trains on Ambarawa Line (both Ambarawa - Bedono and Ambarawa - Tuntang courses) and Wonogiri Line (named as "Sepur Kluthuk Jaladara", but serving Purwosari - Solo Kota only; the remaining section from Solo Kota to Wonogiri is served by regular railbus service "Batara Kresna").

The most recent addition of steamer on "Sepur Kluthuk Jaladara" tourist train on Wonogiri Line is the D14 series locomotive #D1410 (former SS1400 #1410 of Staatsspoorwegen op Java), though the usage of this locomotive on the "Sepur Kluthuk Jaladara" tourist train called sharp critics from many rail fans due to no historical connections between D14 locomotives and Wonogiri Line (in fact, D14 series locomotives were originally used on section of unelectrified Bogor Line past Bogor station to Padalarang, while Wonogiri Line itself was constructed by Solosche Tramweg Maatschappij or SoTM between 1892 and 1922; the line was operated by SoTM with the cooperation from Nederlands-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij or NIS). Nevertheless, the addition of D1410 as the second locomotive for "Sepur Kluthuk Jaladara" tourist train allows the C12 series locomotive #C1218 (former SS400 #458) also used there to be temporarily removed from tourist train service for maintenance.

Speaking of Wonogiri Line, this line is very popular for having street running section between Purwosari and Solo Kota stations, as this line is formerly a tram line that was later upgraded to ordinary railway line. Even the home signal of Solo Kota station for down trains is located right near the road:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-7.573...1sVUjQA1UdwRqd8nPXhaQusw!2e0!7i1 6384!8i8192

And even the street running section of this line saw ballast spreader trains running with large locomotive and ballast hopper cars like in this video:


Cheers,

Arya.
 
Those who had visited the Railway Museum (Het Spoorwegmuseum) in Utrecht at least remembered the locomotive featured in this video:


(video by Paulus Soni Gumilang, one of senior rail fan in Indonesia)

The SS1600 series Mallet steam locomotive, known as CC50 series in its post-independence days, was the last type of mallet locomotive introduced by Staatsspoorwegen (SS) in late 1920s for hauling trains on mountainous main lines of SS in Java island (particularly the Priangan region, which covers the southern part of current West Java Province). While the base design for this locomotive was based on earlier SS1250 series (post-independence number: DD52 series), but the reduction of total weight allows SS1600 series locomotives to be employed on wider range of operation area, since the already in-use SS1200 series (post-independence number: DD50 and DD51 series) and SS1250 series locomotives were declared to be "too heavy" for use on lines with strict weight restrictions.

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Builder photo of SS1600 locomotive manufactured by Schweizerische Lokomotiv und Macschinenfabrik (SLM), photo from Wikimedia Commons.

SS1600 series locomotives also featured major improvements like standardized components (allowing exchange of components with other type of locomotives) and revamped technical design, where most of them were based off the modification work of both SS1200 and SS1250 locomotives done by SS in mid-1920s to solve serious problems experienced by SS1200 and SS1250 locomotives like backpressure, metal fractures on locomotive frame, and very high fuel consumption. As expected by SS, these technical improvements brought a significant improvement on train traffic, as SS1600 locomotives could handle trains (both passenger and freight) with long consist through mountainous region without any major problems. Because these locomotives were mainly deployed on mountainous region, they were later nicknamed as "De Bergkoningin" by Dutch people (literally means "The Queen of Mountains"), also known among Indonesians as "Sri Gunung". Some of SS1600 locomotives were later reallocated to other parts of Java island for deployment on mountainous lines (e.g. the main line from Prupuk to Purwokerto), as steep gradient is a major problem for railway lines that connects northern part and southern part of Java island (along with lines that connects towns and cities located on the mountain range like Malang, Garut, etc).

During the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army enforced renumbering to all of locomotives of former Dutch Indies companies into the Japanese style, and the SS1600 locomotives were no exception. They were renumbered to CC50 series, and all of them went into hands of Indonesian Railways on September 28th, 1945. While CC50 locomotives were technically more flexible than the earlier DD51 and DD52 (the early 8 units of SS1200 locomotives that got DD50 series number were slowly dismantled from late 1930s to provide spare parts for DD51 locomotives, though in 1955 Indonesian Railways still had 2 DD50s stored in non-operable condition), all of CC50 locomotives were deployed in regular duties for hauling both passenger and freight trains in mountainous region up to its demise in 1980s.

From 30 locomotives inherited by Indonesian Railways in 1945, most of them were still in regular operation. According to the book "PNKA Power Parade" written by A.E. Durrant, the CC50 locomotives were allocated to the following locomotive depots in 1971:

  1. Cibatu - 2
  2. Purwakarta - 1
  3. Banjar - 4
  4. Sidotopo - 3
  5. Ambarawa - 3
  6. Purwokerto - 10
  7. Madiun - 2
The following photo shows CC5004 (former SS1604) departs from Sidotopo freight yard in Surabaya with long consist of heavy freight train:

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Original photo from "The Mallet Locomotive" by A.E. Durrant, uploaded to Facebook by Faishal Ammar.

One of the member of the class, CC5002 (former SS1602), was known among many rail fans in Indonesia as the locomotive that destroyed at Bendul station (current name: Sukatani station) in Purwakarta Regency on April 11th, 1968, after its boiler exploded when the locomotive stops at the station for some rest. The main cause of boiler explosion was presumed to be the failure of its safety valve, although another assumption said that "clogged boiler pipe" was the real cause of boiler explosion. 6 casualties from this accident were recorded, with the engineer and two firemen (one of the fireman was still in training period) in charge for operating CC5002, along with one of the station employee and two other people near the accident site were killed by the explosion (even the sound from the explosion was heard as far as 50km away from the accident site). As the tender of CC5002 was not destroyed by the explosion, it was later salvaged and stored as surplus unit, in case if another locomotive had its own tender temporarily disconnected for maintenance (CC5001 was reported using the tender of CC5002 in some period after 1968).

Here is one of the photo of CC5002 taken some hours after the explosion:

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Collection of Egief Dudy Hidayat, uploaded to Roda Sayap site by Faishal Ammar.

More information about the accident that destroyed the CC5002 is available here.

As steam locomotives began to be phased out from most of main line duties in late 1960s, CC50 locomotives were also slowly displaced by more modern diesel locomotives, though some of them were reallocated into Cibatu depot for hauling trains on both the mountainous section of South Java Main Line between Bandung and Tasikmalaya, as well as the Cikajang Line (in late 1970s, deteriorating track infrastructure and steep gradient were the main reasons for not using diesels on that line, since the diesel hydraulic ones were too light for mountainous line, and diesel electric locomotives were too heavy for lightly laid branch lines). Since many of Mallet locomotives of Java were gathered at Cibatu depot as primary fleet for trains over the Eastern Priangan region, this depot became very well-known among many steamer fans around the world as the last base for large Mallets in Indonesia. Ironically, the deployment of CC50 locomotives at Cikajang Line was for replacing the older CC10 Mallet tanks (CC50s were actually intended for main line duty, compared to CC10s that were designed for branch line traffic; deterioration of CC10's performance was the main reason why CC50s were the mainstay of Cikajang Line in the late years of that line up to 1983).

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CC5012 at Cibatu depot, probably in 1970s. Original photo by W and H Brutzer, uploaded to Facebook by Faishal Ammar.

The year 1981 saw arrival of CC5022 (former SS1622) at its birthplace in Netherlands, since this locomotive was shipped back to Netherlands as a gift from Indonesian Railways. Unfortunately, further dieselization that already went into effect from late 1970s caused more CC50 locomotives to be retired (the CC5022 that was shipped back to Netherlands received its last overhaul in 1976, and it was already retired from regular duty in 1978), as the more fuel-efficient diesel locomotives like CC201 series (GE U18C) began to took over the role for hauling main line trains from steam locomotives.

Alas, year 1982 was the year where heyday of remaining CC50 locomotives were completely put into an end; large amount of volcanic ashes released from the eruption of Mount Galunggung in 1982 contaminates water for feeding steam locomotives at Cibatu depot. Many locomotives of Cibatu depot suffered malfunction due to the massive volcanic ash contamination, and even CC50s were no exception. As the result, these large Mallets were retired from regular service in very worn-out condition, ending their almost-60 year career in Java division of Indonesian Railways. As the result, the Cikajang Line that connects Cibatu station with Cikajang station through Garut city where those "heavy monsters" once worked regularly in 1970s was completely closed and abandoned in 1983.

Beside the CC5022, other 2 locomotives were also preserved in static yet complete condition: CC5001 (SS1601) is now part of the collection of Transportation Museum of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in Jakarta, while CC5029 (SS1629) is under auspices of Ambarawa Railway Museum in Ambarawa, Central Java. One locomotive is plinthed inside the area of Cibatu locomotive depot, but unfortunately as a cut-up model (although the locomotive carried the numberplate of CC5030, but it is not clear whether it is really the cut-up model of CC5030 or not).

Cheers,

Arya.
 
Just found another interesting video in YouTube:


This video covers the "walking along the track" from Purwakarta station to Ciganea station, with the video from 2:08 to 2:59 shows the restored building of former Purwakarta locomotive depot, once known as one of the base of heavy mallets like SS1200 (DD50 and DD51), SS1250 (DD52) and SS1600 (CC50). Although the area where the depot's turntable once stood was converted into "train cemetery" for temporarily holding aging coaches, non-AC EMUs formerly used by Jabodetabek Commuter Region of Indonesian Railways and non-AC DMUs scheduled to be scrapped as early as 2011, but in recent years the "train cemetery" no longer accepts more aging coaches, EMUs and DMUs that were scheduled to be scrapped due to the site being no longer suitable for fulfilling the requirement set by Indonesian Railways.

I remembered that when I visited the depot area in 2016 the building was still in derelict condition, with the original red brick walls were still exposed to weather, none of the doors were present, and glass windows were damaged (even the Streetview photography near the depot taken in June 2019 showed the still-derelict depot building). But fortunately the depot building has been restored back into its original condition (probably some times between July 2019 and June 2020), despite it is not clear whether it would be refunctioned as locomotive depot or not, since rumors said that the depot would be refunctioned as crew office and warehouse for storing archives.

Cheers,

Arya.
 
The station in Jakarta is called Gambir and is located in the city center, near Freedom Square, an airfield quadrangle with a giant white pillar in the middle. If you stand in front of skyscrapers and return to the sea, give praise to President Djokovi and turn left, then sooner or later you will find yourself where you were going - near the green gate.
Porters_waiting_to_go_inside_the_train.JPG
 
Please refrain from posting anything that contains direct or explicit political references here in this thread, thank you.
 
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... thankz a lot for that Purwakarta-info ... as my dutch grandfather (father of my mother) was there kepala bengkel/instructor (head of workshop/driver training) in the twenties, it gives an extra dimension ... it must now certainly become a trainz asset, for my new wip ...

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in an old recovered family album i found a beautiful loc pic ... most likely taken by my grandfather ... (about 100 years ago .. ! ..)
(SS)906 = 2-8-0, built by Hanomag (Hannoversche Machinenfabrik AG) in 1914 (factory nr 7158) ... final nr D5006 : ".. renumbering is for the account of the Japanese, who placed all locomotives of all companies in a uniform (Japanese) numbering system .. the letter before the locomotive number stands for the number of axles .. after 1945 the numbering system was taken over by Het Verenigd Spoorbedrijf / Staatsspoorwegen and after 1949 it was also used by the PNKA .. the photo may have been taken in Purwakarta, before 1939 ... these locomotives were then rebuilt and provided with smoke deflectors, among other things .." (info Eelco Storm, author of "de laatste stoomlocomotief" - ISBN/EAN: 9789462582460)
 
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, thanks for another precious collection!

Unfortunately most of SS900 (D50) locomotives were later displaced from main line freight duties by the much more powerful (yet very tricky) D52 locomotives that became the only tender steam locomotive ever purchased by Indonesian Railways (when it was stiil known as "Djawatan Kereta Api" in Indonesian language). But in post-independence days most of them were already refitted with large smoke deflectors that eventually became its standard up to their retirement from service. :D
 
One of the most interesting fact regarding the guidance book for understanding the signalling aspects and signs currently in use by Indonesian Railways is the fact that roundel signals ("sinyal tebeng") used from very early days of railways in Indonesia (when it was still known as Netherlands East Indies) are still present there as part of illustration for describing signalling aspects, even after the usage of roundel signal was completely discontinued by the 2000s:

1. Semboyan 5 (EN: "Clear")

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2. Semboyan 6 (EN: "Caution")

Semboyan_6_PD3.jpg


3. Semboyan 7 (EN: "Stop")

Semboyan_7_PD3.jpg


(all of pictures were from Indonesian language version of Wikipedia)

Note that the leftmost one is the roundel signal that dates back from 1880s, although the ones used by the guidance book itself is the ones known as "Krian signal". While the one for "Stop" signal is from ordinary type without "rotating semaphore", the other two used by "Caution" and "Clear" had the "rotating semaphore", as the only type of roundel signals capable for showing both "Caution" and "Clear" was the "Krian signal". Ironically, those found in West Java were having the roundel replaced by square plates painted with red color circle on yellow ground, while those in East Java had the original roundel still intact. :hehe:

While roundel signals were a common mainstay of stations of Indonesian Railways in the past, most of them were already displaced by the ordinary semaphore signals (especially those manufactured by Siemens & Halske), or even disappeared without any replacement due to the closure of railway line. Nevertheless, they played a key part for ensuring safe railway operation in Indonesia during the days when semaphore signals were still not available, and later when usage of semaphore signals were limited to some stations only.

Cheers,

Arya.
 
This is the photo I took back in August 2016, when the building of Purwakarta locomotive depot was still in a "mess" condition:

Purwakarta-1.jpg


As you can see here the entrance door was still a simple fence, and the wall inside there was very dirty. Even there were two units of driving trailer car of non-AC EMU (either former KL3-78, KL3-83 or KL3-84) stored inside the depot as it waits for scrapping, along with unused "geslotenwagen" a.k.a boxcar with enclosed body (although it was probably GW, judging from its more modern silver-coloured body). Unfortunately everything inside there are now became part of the past, though the depot's main building has been renovated.

Regards,

Arya.
 
It looks like the hailstones had some fun there too and the birds found a nice home.

Was the equipment worth preserving?
 
Regarding the equipments, the non-AC EMU and old boxcars stored inside there were actually worth for preservation, since both of them were once supporting the growth of railway transport in Indonesia. In fact, the non-AC EMU itself were part of modernisation plan of urban commuter train operated by Indonesian Railways in the Greater Jakarta Region after 1976, as old EMU and electric locomotive-hauled trains from the Netherlands East Indies era were considered to be out-of-date for passenger operation in the post-independence era (though in the last years of electric locomotive operation in Indonesia they hauled 20m steel body passenger cars ordered in 1950s).

Due to its historical value, many of rail fans in Indonesia hoped that one of them (non-AC EMU) could be preserved at museum, even to the fact that one set of non-AC EMU has been already slated for preservation (and it was kept inside Manggarai Workshops for some years after the abolition of non-AC EMU). As the ones photographed by myself back in 2016 were part of a large group slated for scrap, of course it was not part of those intentionally kept inside the workshop for preservation. Unfortunately, the change of CEO of Indonesian Railways in 2015 brought a very bad hit for further effort of preservation of those historical trains, as the new CEO came up with different approach on how the company should perform business. This led to the abandonment of preservation program for those non-AC EMU, and those slated for preservation (along with trainset formerly involved in Ratujaya accident back in 1993) were towed to Cikaum station for scrap (though it is currently only separated from body and stacked on an empty stretch of land reserved for temporarily holding old trains, before eventually cut up there by employees of scrapyard company who won the bid for scrapping old trains)...
 
That situation happens all too often. The famous Western Maryland had a great round house and turntable for years that was all set to be preserved, but a change in management made a decision to destroy the historic structures. This has also occurred with other historic buildings and equipment over the years.
 
You're right, change in management would either brought good news or bad hit to the future of historical assets, especially those of railway company...

Speaking another side of history of railways in Indonesia, here is another historical photograph of Indonesia's steam locomotives:

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Original photograph from "Steam Up Indonesian and Thailand" written by John Joyce and Allan Tilley (1972), scanned and uploaded to Facebook by Yoga Bagus Prayogo Cokroprawiro

The photo shows two locomotives that both became the icon for mountainous line despite its different original owners and different usage: the one near the camera is CC50 series #CC5003 (former SS1603), while the rear ones slightly far from the camera is B25 series #B2504 (former NIS234). While the CC50 itself is a Mallet locomotive for handling heavy trains on conventionally-laid lines running through the mountainous region, the B25 (NIS230 series) is a rack tank locomotive specially designed for handling trains over the rack rail section of Ambarawa Line between Jambu and Gemawang stations. The photograph itself was taken by John Joyce (one of the author of "Steam Up Indonesian and Thailand" book) at the Ambarawa locomotive depot sometimes between 1971 and 1972, as the locomotive depot was handling a few amount of CC50 locomotives transferred from West Java division of Indonesian Railways back in the 1960s (?). Unfortunately both of the locomotives were no longer in this world; CC5003 was cut up at Cibatu locomotive depot in early 1980s (probably some months near the eruption of Mount Galunggung in 1982), while B2504 was illegally cut up at the site of former Kedungjati locomotive depot by both metal thieves and illegal scrapyard owners sometimes between late 1990s and early 2000s (the period itself is known as "Periode Reformasi" or "Reformation Period", where Indonesia suffered very critical political instability after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the resignation of Soeharto as the 2nd president of Indonesia following the 1998 riots).
 
While this one is slightly "Streetview-themed", but it is interesting for those who want to know more about rack rail lines in West Sumatra Division of Indonesian Railways:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-0.463...4!1stymcrG-mfF9Mb8_a9n8CGw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

This one was photographed near the home signal of Padangpanjang station for Sawahlunto and Payakumbuh-bound trains. As the signal is located right inside rack rail section, special attention is required to ensure that none of the trains were stalled in front of the home signal. Unfortunately the signals were already in decrepit condition, as they were completely went out of use after the 2009 West Sumatra Earthquake; the paint became very dirty due to weather, some section of steel wires for operating the signals were loosened (or even stolen), and even pylons for supporting signal wires were covered by rust. The same thing happens with rack rail itself; while it is still intact, but they began to be slowly consumed by wild grasses.
 
Decided to revive this thread after a slight "accident":


This is a video comprising several footages of mainline rail actions of Indonesian Railways' Java division (as well as a few sugarcane railway) taken by Mr. John Raby in year 2001. From the beginning of video up to 7:39 we could see the action of Panarukan Line local train hauled by BB303 series locomotives (model name: Henschel DHG 1000 BB) at both Panarukan station and the diamond crossing between Panarukan Line and Wringinanom Sugarcane Railway located about 1.3km to the west of former Tribungan halt. Since the local train uses a 3rd class coach and 2 boxcars owned by PT. Pupuk Sriwijaya (state-owned fertilizer company), the train itself could be called as a "mixed" local train.

To protect trains of both Panarukan Line and Wringinanom Sugarcane Railway from colliding each other at the diamond crossing, special mechanical signals were installed a few hundred meters before the diamond crossing from each directions of both railway lines, as well as barrier doors on the sugarcane railway side. Unfortunately this diamond crossing went out of use when Panarukan Line was permanently closed on April 2004 due to sharply decreasing ridership and aging equipment that requires large amount of money for replacing it (at that time Indonesian Railways was still in not healthy condition for its finance), leaving only the Wringinanom Sugarcane Railway trains that crossed the diamond crossing up to this day...
 
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