Traffic Movements at Sedgeley Junction 1962-1963 (Part 10)

This is one of a series of posts describing traffic movements I observed whilst unofficially working Sedgeley Junction signal box.

As described in Part 1, you can find the passenger timings here and the freight timings here. The notes are intended to go with a copy of the Train Register Book which is missing so, forty seven years later, the meaning of some of the original notes is not very clear. The original notes appear in italics with minimal editing, sometimes followed by my recent comments attempting clarification. The numbers in brackets have been added to assist in locating entries.

Sedgeley Jn. Saturday 20th April 1963

(1) 8175 with a grey S.R. brake passes on the down (off the 'Cuckoo'?).
(2) The 7.25 a.m. down is a 3-car DMU set 325. He's showing Empty Coaching Stock headlights on the rear!
(3) 8674 T47: 4910 T39: 28 equal to 32 Stourbridge with a LMR brake painted bauxite.
(4) Notice Dudleyport local going the wrong way! [Without the train register, I can't be sure what this cryptic note means. I suspect we pulled off to Horsley Fields for a down Dudleyport but the driver stopped whilst we got the road to Dudleyport and cancelled the train to Horsley Fields].
(5) Dudley stops the 'Western' turning out '47' then sends on '39' which is to remain.
(6) 3H47 goes up the Loop while the returning Dudley Port local rolls out of High Level. The down Stour Parcels is just arriving 'on top'.
(7) At 8.14 a.m. 46429 has run round his van [I think this means run round between the two crossovers to the Up Loop at Sedgeley Jn.] and puffs up to Dudleyport.
(8)'39' goes to 'The Port' early with six mineral wagons (2 with steel turnings, 4 with scrap) and an LMS brake.
(9)'39' comes off pushing two steel turnings and his brake. He stands on the Up Main, clear of the crossover while we wait for the Down Walsall to clear Horsley Fields.
(10) WR1 goes down behind 8415, BBC, low BBC(?), 6 tarpaulined wagons, BBC and a WR brake (BBC loaded with rods).
(11) 10.55 a.m. Parcels is two vans and a BG.
(12) T63, behind 4914 is "15=20 Dudleys", slowed by Dudley. (13) 8747 is going powerfully at the head of WR1 with 65 on - 2 mineral wagons of sand (one with 'Timken' axleboxes) odd wagons, Conflat, steel turnings, coal, a BR brake and T63 pounding at the rear. He's 'wired' "Round Oak and Stourbridge only".
(14) 8478 takes WR2 down, reported as 18=30 with Tube wagon, Plate wagon loaded with 4-inch square bars, 4 mineral wagons loaded with coal, one steel open painted (in amateur fashion) "To be cleaned before 6.44 loading" and a WR brake marked 'Bristol St. Phillips Marsh'.
(15) 8415 has ten 3-container wagons, tube wagons, loads of plate, bar, rods, ten coal wagons and a BR brake.

Liverpool & Manchester 180th Celebrations

'Planet' on a passenger train passes 'Rocket' waiting for its next working.

The Liverpool & Manchester Railway can claim to be the world’s first inter-city passenger railway. The original opening ceremony on 15th September 1830 was marred by an accident involving William Huskisson MP, a keen supporter of the new railway, now better remembered as "the world’s first railway casualty". The injured Huskisson was carried by 'Northumbrian' at speed to Eccles for treatment but died of his injuries. Notwithstanding this inauspicious start, the railway was a great success and still forms an important part of England's railway network.

The Manchester terminal station was in Liverpool Road and a number of the original buildings survive. Although rapid growth in passenger numbers required new facilities elsewhere and the Liverpool Road station closed to passengers in 1844, the site remained in use as an important Goods Depot until 1975. When the site closed, a group of far-sighted Mancunians set up the Liverpool Road Station Society to preserve the unique collection of buildings as a working steam museum. That initiative has now become the Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester which likes to be known as 'MOSI' (that always makes me think "Let's mosey on down to MOSI").

In 2005, the Liverpool and Manchester railway was 175 years old and MOSI hosted a 4-day celebration which they called 'Riot of Steam', featuring replicas of the contenders at the earlier Rainhill Trials. I was lucky enough to take part in this event, managing a drive on all of the replicas and giving a talk on the design of early locomotives. My 'Riot of Steam' pictures are here.

The 180th anniversary of the line in 2010 was marked in various ways. At Edgehill station, Liverpool, the Arts Group Metal provided an exhibition starting on the 15th September and going on until the 23rd October. Edgehill claims to be the oldest passenger railway station in the world still in use.

On 11th September, there was an open day at Eccles Station, organised by the Friends of Eccles Station, with street theatre, a brass band, family activities, refreshments and free return trips from Eccles to Patricroft.

At MOSI, the museum's 'Planet' replica was joined by the replica 'Rocket' with its own train. These locomotives gave passenger rides on the museum's line on the 11th and 12th September, the 15th September (the date of the original opening ceremonies) and the 18th and 19th September. I was 'Planet' driver during the afternoon of the 19th and, when we'd finished, I moved across to 'Rocket' as fireman. Charlie from the National Railway Museum let me drive the last passenger trip but, because the fire had been deliberately run-down prior to disposal, the low boiler pressure gave us some problems reversing at the ground frame.

'Rocket' has undergone a number of changes since I was last on her in 2005 - new trailing wheelset, new water barrel, new brake system, a handbrake added, new firebox, boiler tubes closer to the original design.

'Rocket', showing the driving axle and slip eccentrics. The transverse shaft is operated from the foot treadle on the footplate to change direction.

The 'Rocket' replica has Slip Eccentric reversing. This type of motion was also fitted to the 'Planet' class. It was a few years before Gab motion became common and this was quickly superceded by Link motion which not only gave reliable reversing but offered variable cut-off for more efficient working.

'Rocket' - Note rectangular valve chest mounted underneath the LH cylinder; transverse shafts with valve setting levers pointing downwards at 'five o'clock'; Eccentric rods terminated in burnished handles with semi-circular recesses engaged with round bosses on valve setting levers

The set-up of the Slip Eccentric motion on 'Rocket' is more straightforward than on 'Planet' because the cylinders on 'Rocket' are high up at the back, next to the driver. The levers for manually setting the valves drive through transverse shafts. Locking the valves to the (rather splindly) extended eccentric rods is also simpler. Each eccentric rod has a semi-circular recess which is engaged with a round boss on the valve setting lever so that the extended eccentric rod imparts the required motion to the valve setting lever and (through the transverse shaft) the valve. To start the engine manually, the driver knocks the extended eccentric rods out of mesh with the valves, works the valves as required and then re-engages the extended eccentric rods with the valve bosses. Link motion, when it appeared, with its distinctive curved, slotted expansion links was a massive improvement! The simple 'semi-circular recess and boss' method of disengaging the eccentric from the valve can be seen on many stationary engines.

The day I was there, the weather was rather indifferent (it rained intermittently and was cold) but I think the public and the railway operating staff still enjoyed themselves - I certainly did.

My pictures of the 180th event.

Two 'Cromptons'

On the left D6586, on the right 33021 in the North Yard at Shackerstone.

The Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon 'Type 3' diesel electrics became 'Class 33' but were often referred to as 'Cromptons' after the manufacturer of their electrical equipment, Crompton Parkinson.

My first 'hands on' experience with a 'Crompton' was on the Mince Pie Specials at the Battlefield Line with 33019 'Griffon' on 1st January 2008. That locomotive is still at Shackerstone but, for the recent Diesel Gala, two more 'Class 33' visited the line. Before these visitors left, it was decided to put them in service on the weekend of 25th and 26th September 2010. That meant that I was not needed for my rostered DMU turn on the 25th, but I was asked to turn up as a 'Conductor Driver' so that a driver from the owners' group could drive his '33' later in the day.

I arrived just as Simon was 'striking up' one of the vistors, 33021. Simon explained that the other '33' was being used for the service trains on Saturday but that a battery charge would be needed before we attempted an engine start. A new set of batteries were already on order and would be fitted before the locomotive left Shackerstone. With the two visitors coupled together, 33021 drew D6586 down to the charging point and Simon placed the locomotive on charge. With the handbrake on D6586 firmly applied, I then 'split' the two engines and drove 33021 through the station to the south end. The signalman had just arrived so Simon made arrangements for us to carry out the Line Inspection with our 'Light Engine'.

Simon invited me to drive, so we set off for an uneventful run down to Shenton where we changed ends and I drove back to Shackerstone. I seem to remember this dyed-in-the-wool steam enthusiast muttering "I could get used to this" at some point in the journey. Having signed off the line as fit-for-service at the signal box, we returned through Shackerstone station and buffered up to the waiting D6586.

The Sulzer 8LDA28 engine in the '33' is arranged for 'air start', like a number of main-line diesel electric designs. This means that the batteries are used to drive the Pre-Start Compressor to charge the main air receiver and this compressed air is then used to 'crank' the engine for starting. Simon showed me how another locomotive (in this case 33021) can be 'piped' to provide air for starting. Very soon, D6586 was started so it only remained to 'park up' 33021 ready to work the service on the following day and put D6586 on the waiting train (six coaches including the visiting Observation Car E1719E).

This took me a little longer than it should have done but we were ready to take the 11.30 a.m. service out a few minutes late with the cheerful secondman and Pete as a supernumary. We had a good trip down to Shenton, the presence of a number of permanent way restrictions making the driving more interesting.

At Shenton, once the locomotive was 'hooked-off', I drew forward into the headshunt and changed ends. When running round with a main-line diesel on the Battlefield Line, the driver always changes ends so as to be at the front of the movement. This involves changing ends three times for each run-round. It's possible to change ends by walking through the engine room although it's noisy and the gangways are narrow. On D6586 the engine room is clean, but I've been on some locomotives that are swimming in oil, so passing through the engine room in such cases is definitely not recommended. Most drivers prefer to avoid passing through the engine room so, when changing ends, they'll climb down at one end, walk along the ballast and climb back up at the other end.

Once attached to the train, I created the vacuum, watched for the temporary drop in vacuum as the guard carried out his brake continuity test and waited for the secondman to relay the Guard's 'Rightaway'. It was a bright, sunny morning so we had a pleasant trip back through the Leicestershire countryside, meeting numerous pheasants along the way who scurried along the track ahead and, as always, seemed very reluctant to move to a place of safety. Somehow, they always appear to escape unhurt. Ian, from the owners' group, was on the platform by the time we arrived back at Shackerstone, so I turned the locomotive over to him for the rest of the day and had a fairly easy time in the right hand seat.

For once, I was glad of an easy turn as I was faced with an 11-hour shift on the footplate of 68013 at Peak Rail the following day.

My pictures are here.

Railways on the Air 2010

The 'Radio Shack' at Shackerstone viewed from an arriving train.

I was unaware of this interesting annual event until I turned up at Shackerstone on 25th September 2010 and found members of Hinckley Amateur Radio and Electronics Society on Platform 2, in a tent sprouting a very professional-looking aerial system.

Every year, amateur radio enthusiasts set up temporary radio stations at participating preserved railways and try to collect as many 'contacts' as possible. For more details, click here.

There were a few pictures but they're currently missing, sorry .

Beyer Peacock, Gorton

During the 2009 Transport Festival, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester organised bus trips to the former Beyer Peacock Boiler Shop at Gorton

The Beyer Peacock works was established in 1854, ultimately expanding to occupy a site of around 22 acres and employ over 2000 workers. The site lay on the south side of the M.S. & L. line out of Manchester (which became part of the Great Central), in between the stations of Ashburys and Gorton. This line was eventually electrified as part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Wath route through the Woodhead Tunnels.

Plan of the site in 1950 (note that north is downwards). Click on the plan for a high-resolution version.

The plan above gives an idea of the range of skills involved in manufacturing a locomotive, with 'Shops' for the various disciplines all integrated on a single site.

The period after WWII was particularly busy as railways around the world attempted to recover from the ravages of the conflict. Later, as demand for steam locomotives reduced, Beyer Peacock produced diesel-hydraulics but the Glory Days were over and in 1966 the famous Gorton Works closed, although diversified production of steel roofing systems and large fans continued on other sites.

Around 8,000 locos were built by Beyer Peacock. More than 1,000 of them were of the articulated 'Beyer Garratt' type.

The first Beyer Garratt to emerge from Gorton in 1909 was the 'K1' for Tasmania. Repatriated and restored, this locomotive now works on the Welsh Highland Railway. On the 17th August 2009, as a publicity event, the 'K1' was taken back to her birthplace at Gorton during the 2009 Transport Festival at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester (MOSI). This co-incided with the 'Great Garratt Gathering' at MOSI with full-size and model Garratts. The K1, as the world's first Garratt, took pride of place alongside 'William Francis' and MOSI's resident 1930 Beyer-Garratt, which ran on the South African Railways until 1972.

Much of the Beyer Peacock works at Gorton has been razed to become a modern Industrial Estate but the huge boiler shop remains, now owned by Manchester City Council. It now serves in various roles as storage, taxi inspection garage and cleansing department maintenance garage for the city.

As part of the 2009 Transport Festival, bus trips were run from MOSI to visit the Boiler Shop on Saturday and Sunday 15, 16 August 2009. I managed to join a trip on the Sunday.

The museum preserves extensive documents and drawings from Beyer Peacock. In addition, Manchester Library has a collection of photographs taken around the works.

Wikipedia have an article on Beyer Peacock here.

There's an interesting site on Beyer Peacock here.

A useful list of Garratts built at Gorton can be found here.

My post on the 2009 Transport Festival and the Great Garratt Gathering is here and my pictures are here.

Pictures taken on my trip to the Boiler Shop are here.

Traffic Movements at Sedgeley Junction 1962-1963 (Part 9)

This is one of a series of posts describing traffic movements I observed whilst unofficially working Sedgeley Junction signal box.

As described in Part 1, you can find the passenger timings here and the freight timings here. The notes are intended to go with a copy of the Train Register Book which is missing so, forty seven years later, the meaning of some of the original notes is not very clear. The original notes appear in italics with minimal editing, sometimes followed by my recent comments attempting clarification. The numbers in brackets have been added to assist in locating entries.

Sedgeley Jn. Easter Monday 15th April 1963

(1) The Up 'Western' at 8.00 a.m. is Set 315, a 3-set coupled to a twin, with no passengers.
(2) The 'Western' returns on the down at 8.20 a.m., displaying Set 303 on the twin.
(3) The 'Walsall' DMU goes up to Dudley and returns on the down a little later.
(4) The Down 'Western' at 9.00 a.m. is three single units coupled together marked Set 105.
(5) The Up Walsall at 9.05 a.m. is formed of two twins. Soon, it's heading back to Walsall.
(6) The 10.00 a.m. Down Western is a 3-car set marked '325'.
(7) The three single units (Set 105) return on the Up at 10.20 a.m.
(8) There's an Up Special from Snow Hill - a 3-car set absolutely packed.
(9) At 11.00 a.m. the down is Set 105.
(10) The 11.23 a.m. Up is Set 105.[This is surely wrong]
(11) A 'Western' 3-car set passes on the Up at 11.41 a.m.

Now it gets interesting!

(12) Dudleyport sends 1X71 for Dudley. 5398 with the reporting number board on the buffer beam and ten non-corridors coasts past with a well-loaded train. We get the message that a Conductor from Aston is not required.
(13) The 12 o'clock Down Western is the 3-car set marked '325'.
(14) We take on 1X69 on the Up. He stops in Dudleyport Low Level and finally heads up the bank making a lot of smoke.
(15) Light engine 5398 off 1X71 clanks by on the down, presumably 'Rightaway Bescot MPD'.
(16) The Up 'Western' at 12.27 p.m. is Set 325 (?), standing room only.
(17) There's an Up Relief following at 12.37 p.m. and this is packed.
(18) We get Empty Stock on the Down for Snow Hill. This is 'Prairie' 4137 with 3 LNER coaches, 4 LMS coaches and one BR(ER) coach, having worked a Malvern - Dudley excursion.
(19) The Western at 1.00 p.m. is Set 105.
(20) Set 325, the 3-set, passes on the up at 1.20 p.m., with the Guard giving a friendly thumbs up.
(21) Excursion 1X39 is taken on on the Up. The train engine is 45641 (carrying the reporting number). But he's '12 on' and 46527 has been hooked on the front as a pilot. Both engines were working well as they came by the box.

Sadly, that's the end of my period of observation, although I saw one more steam-hauled excursion, from Derby I think, with 45611 'Hong Kong' in charge.

Traffic Movements at Sedgeley Junction 1962-1963 (Part 8)

This is one of a series of posts describing traffic movements I observed whilst unofficially working Sedgeley Junction signal box.

As described in Part 1, you can find the passenger timings here and the freight timings here. The notes are intended to go with a copy of the Train Register Book which is missing so, forty seven years later, the meaning of some of the original notes is not very clear. The original notes appear in italics with minimal editing, sometimes followed by my recent comments attempting clarification. The numbers in brackets have been added to assist in locating entries.

Sedgeley Jn. Friday 29th March 1963

Another night turn!

(1) 8375 backs downhill very gently with a long train, Bogie Bolsters and a long line of tube wagons, with a 'Western' brake: it's Target 47.
(2) On the Up line, T65 is 'put on the block' ('Is Line Clear accepted from the box in rear). We're told that the 'Tanks' are already at a stand at Goldshill so we get the road for T65 and his assisting Engine and Brake 'up the loop'. He's going rather poorly as the 'Class 8' passes the box with loaded Plate wagons, coal, Midland Tar Distiller's tanks, open wagons and a BR Brake, helped by another Class 8 with an LMS Brake. The Guard on the rear brake has already set the correct side light to white. The load is reported as 37 equal to 44 for Stourbridge.
(3) On the Down, the 'Gloucesters' come by early with a 'Class 9' on a train of 39 wagons, a brake, 2 open wagons, 1 Conflat and a BR Brake.
(4) WR3 comes downhill with 8459 and vans, open wagons, Plate, BBC, open wagons and a BR Brake.
(5) T63 comes down and slowly shunts Coneygree Siding, putting off one and picking up one open wagon. We get him away to Dudley Port for water, tender first and with a recently-painted LMS Brake.
(6) The Soho Road tanks go down.
(7) 48417 tender first goes down, with about six and the brake.
(8) At 4.00 a.m. WR3 passes on the Up with 30 for Stourport. 48459 is on the front and 48713 with a BR brake van (8T13) is working hard at the rear.
(9) The down Newspaper Train scuttles by on the down as WR3 labours up to Dudley.
(10) The telephone gives an update "WR4 is 28 equal to 36 for Hartlebury, with the 'Cuckoo' to follow."
(11) As advised, WR4 comes up from Great Bridge with a number of 21 ton mineral wagons included in the load. He goes up the loop because the parcels is still on the main line block at Dudley East.
(12) At 4.51 a.m., an engine and brake creeps downhill, 48767, chimney leading, dragging a BR brake (with one of the sidelights out), probably T65.
(13) Just as dawn is breaking and a few birds are calling, the 'Cuckoo' comes up with 25 equal to 30 for Round Oak. The train engine is blowing steam and puffing dark smoke dragging a line of 16-tonners which look empty. The LMS brake van has the tail lamp knocked over and 48713 is in the rear, working hard as usual.
(14) Later, the Parcels Engine, 46425, coasts by on the Up.
(15) I notice the Stoke Parcels on the Down Stour at Dudleyport. He detaches the Dudleys in the South Sidings at Dudleyport. A little later, the Parcels Engine goes down light to Dudleyport to pick up the Dudleys. He's soon heading back to Dudley with a Long Wheel Base 4-wheeler, an Eastern Region Full Brake and an LMS Full Brake.
(16) T39 is a Class 8, 3 vans, 4 mineral wagons and a BR brake.

Cab Ride back to Katha

In the post 'Cab Ride from Katha' I described the journey from Katha to Naba. In this post, I describe the return journey to Katha.

On arrival at Naba, I'd gone on the village walking tour so, by the time we got back to the station, the train was ready for the return journey. We got back to the station by walking alongside the railway, giving me a good view of the 'fixed at danger' bracket signal at the Mandalay end of the station. I also passed a well-preserved water crane situated between the through and platform tracks (on our arrival I'd seen a second water crane at the northern end of the station). Adjacent to the platform, there was a complex gantry of water pipes, with frequent taps over the through and platform roads. I assumed that this was for replenishing lavatory tanks but it wasn't obvious whether the facility was still in use. A large water tank on a steel tower presumably serves (or once served) these watering facilities. It looked as if the branch train to Katha once ran out of a bay platform (provided, at its outer end, with a lengthy inspection pit), but the pit has become a repository for rubbish and a cafe has expanded itself across the track with a series of awnings.

It would have been nice to watch the shunt because, as well as running the locomotive round the train, the Luggage Van had been shunted so that it would be the last vehicle. I said to Mai that I was quite happy to travel in the train if the driver preferred, but he indicated that I was welcome in the cab, so, after a quick inspection of the relative luxury of the passenger coaches, I clambered up into the leading cab, which was as battered as the one at the other end. I noticed that, as a precaution, the bag of stone chippings had been transferred to the leading coupler but conditions were now better and they were not used on the return journey. The diesel engine had been shut down and it was re-started from the engine room. I presumed that either engine start is not provided from the cab or the facility no longer works. The engine started up easily enough and ran with an even beat. I'd noticed that the Engine Room and Cabs were three separate structures so, although it was noisy in the cab, it wan't deafening.

The clipboard of papers were in position on the control panel. A partially-obscured form appeared to be the Train Order - in English I could read "... here by authorised to proceed to ..." and the form had two vertical overprinted bars in red, presumably tro re-inforce its importance. I photographed the form on top and later got it translated - it listed the various speed restrictions and their location.

On the return journey we had the same Driver, Secondman and Inspector but not the other railwayman who'd travelled to Naba with us.

On receiving the rightaway, we slowly moved out of the platform. The Pointsman at the south end was displaying a green handsignal and he'd set the platform road trailing points to let us onto the main line. But the second set of facing points which would divert us onto the Katha branch were set for the main line to Mandalay, so it was clear that we were going to do a 'shuffle' as we had on our arrival. The driver kept going until the whole train was clear of the platform points and then stopped. The Pointsman set and clipped the Platform road points for the Through road and then called us back. The driver propelled the train along the Through road, until we were clear of the points leading to the Katha branch. Whilst the Pointsman was setting and clipping the branch points, I was able to study the Platform road points, which were provided with an EIC locking box. A key had been inserted into the locking box, presumably releasing the lock slide which was provided with two handles. The arrangement is presumably that the key unlocks the lock slide which can be moved so as to allow the points to be moved, with the key remaining held in place until the lock slide is moved back to hold the points in position. Quite how this is used today I haven't worked out because there's no sign of a similar lock on the branch points! But at least they use point clips - a simple threaded hook bolt with a large washer and nut used to hold the switch rail against the stock rail. Another green handsignal and we were able to draw our train onto the branch and proceed towards the trap points which had intrigued me on the way in. The signal protecting the trap points was 'off'. It appeared to be a 3-aspect semaphore arm adapted to 2-aspect!

We started our climb, with the speed indicated as 10 m.p.h. I judged this to be about right but my confidence in the 'Hasler' was eroded having noticed that it read 5 m.p.h. when stationary in Naba. It might just have been a sticking pointer because the next time we stopped (near the summit of the line) it showed 'zero'.

This time, I had some idea what to expect. At first, there were lush green fields on either side but, having passed the two manned level crossings, the jungle began to close in. The locomotive kept grinding on and, with the rails now dried off by the sun, we had no problems with slipping.

Mileposts indicated our location and the driver seemed to scrupulously observe the specified 'slacks' (speed restrictions). Mileposts are a substantial round wooden stake, shaped to a 'V' near the top. A metal plate, also folded to a 'V' is fixed to the stake with the mileage printed twice, once on each face of the 'V', so that the number is visible to trains travelling in either direction. I couldn't actually read the distances, because the numbers use Burmese characters.

Sometimes, the rails were almost covered by greenery so that the state of the sleepers was hidden. It was more worrying where the sleepers were exposed as the track wasn't in brilliant condition. Some maintenance was being carried out on a 'spot replacement' basis. The occasional new ironwood sleeper with well-defined edges just drew attention to the adjacent more dubious timbers. Reinforced concrete sleepers were sometimes used.

The flat-bottom rails were joined with conventional fishplates. Looking down from the cab, I could see that some of the gaps between adjacent rails were rather large. At one particularly wide gap, I waited for the 'thump' as the wheels bridged the gap but, to my surprise, the locomotive passed over smoothly. I spotted one two- or three-inch length of rail used to 'plug' a wide gap - there were probably more. This was something I'd observed in Yangon on the circle Line (see my earlier post).

Drainage was rather poor on some of the jungle section and the track was waterlogged in places - I presume some of the 5 m.p.h. sections.

We stopped briefly at a Stop Board near the summit of the line and picked up a railwayman who stood behind the driver almost to Katha - he dropped off on one of the slow sections.

The driver applied careful braking on the descent to control our speed. We rumbled over the various river bridges without incident. At one bridge, a motor cycle preceded us, running on the boards placed between the rails to form a footpath but he was perhaps 100 yards in front so the driver seemed to consider this behaviour quite normal. Once over the bridge, the motor cycle turned off onto one of the dirt tracks leading away from the railway.

As we approached Katha, I was intrigued by a lattice signal post which appeared quite old and must have been British, still with access ladder and maintenance platform but with no signal arm or finial. A square white plate bearing a black diamond is now displayed about halfway up the post.

At Katha station, the pointsman displayed a green handsignal so we rumbled over the loop points and the level crossing and slowly ran along the platform. On our left, the afternoon 'mixed' train to Naba, headed by sister locomotive DD1515, was standing in the loop ready for departure with plenty of passengers either aboard or wandering around outside. We came to a smooth stop so it was time to thank the locomotive crew and rejoin my fellow 'Road to Mandalay' passengers for the trip back to the ship.

The railway is significantly underfunded but I was impressed with the professionalism of the railwaymen I'd seen.

Pictures of this journey are here.

Cab Ride from Katha

Tuesday 31st August 2010

As I described in travel post 'Train Ride to Naba', I managed to 'blag' a cab ride in the rather beat-up diesel locomotive which hauled a special passenger train from Katha to Naba and return in Myanmar. The Myanmar Railways running number was DD1527. I think the first 'D' indicates 'Diesel', the second 'D' 4-axle (the bigger locomotives are 'DF' and carried on six axles). The '15' might refer to a 1500 h.p. power plant but I'm not sure. The locomotive carries a Krauss-Maffei maker's plate (F.-Nr. 4611 of 1964) and I surmise the transmission is diesel hydraulic. Certainly, Krauss-Maffei supplied a batch of 30 off M1500BB of roughly similar appearance to neighbouring Thailand in 1969 and these were diesel hydraulic.

The cab is right-hand drive so I easily spotted the brake stand mounted on the right cab side. There was a large valve to control creation and destroying of vacuum to control the train brakes (the British introduced railways into Burma as it then was so the familiar 21 in/Hg is used). The driver’s valve was already pushed forward so that the exhauster released the train brakes. I was surprised that the driver had hung his bag on the handle, thinking this would impede making a brake application. Later I spotted a vacuum pipe rising from the floor, terminated in a flap valve to form an emergency brake. The driver used this flap valve (with great delicacy) to make all train brake applications, leaving the main valve in the ‘create’ position throughout.

On top of the vacuum brake valve, and co-axial with it, was the handle for the locomotive air brake – a simple rod threaded at the end for a ball knob which had disappeared long ago. This valve was also pushed forward to release the brake. I didn’t find a handbrake. The small air valve for the horn was mounted on a bracket on the cab side just behind the brake.

On the right of the inclined fascia in front of the driver were two duplex gauges confirming brake status – air reservoir and brake cylinder air pressure, vacuum reservoir and train pipe vacuum.

Engine speed was indicated on a tachometer directly in front of the driver. Idling speed was about 700 r.p.m. and, when we were working hard on the climb, it rose to a little over 900 r.p.m. To the left of the tachometer a clipboard held a number of forms. I assumed that one was a 'Train Order' authorising us to travel on the single line to Naba.

A small control desk jutted out at an angle to the left of the driver. The most obvious feature was a large 3-spoke ‘steering wheel’ which formed the power controller. The round mounting collar was notched to give a reference to power being demanded as the wheel was turned but the notch seemed to traverse only a series of radial ‘scratches’ in the paintwork of the top of the control desk. To the left of the power controller was the direction selection control, forward-off-reverse, another round rod with threaded end for a long-gone knob. Further to the left was a 5-position master selector.

The window pillar in the right-hand front corner mounted a 'Hasler' speed indicator.

In addition to the driver, there was a Secondman, an older man who appeared to be some sort of Inspector and a younger man whose role I couldn't fathom. At departure time, the driver sounded a long blast on the horn and shortly afterwards the Secondman relayed the 'Rightaway' from the Guard travelling in the 'Luggage Van' at the rear. The driver made a modest adjustment to the power controller and, after a short delay, the train slowly moved away.

Even at the rather modest speed we were making (10 m.p.h. indicated on the 'Hasler') we were soon out of the town and passing through a wooded country area. The railway provided a convenient 'footpath' for the locals and I was intrigued that, in many places, people prefer to walk down the middle of the track.

Fairly frequently, we crossed small river gorges where the British Legacy was a series of well-built brick and stone abutments with steel girders to carry the track. The track itself had received only indifferent maintenance so, although the bridges themselves looked fairly reasonable, some of the permanent way looked decidedly 'iffy'. Permanent way over bridges was normally provided with Guard Rails to help keep vehicles upright in the event of derailment but no form of handrail was ever provided. The space between the guard rails was usually covered with an erratic selection of longitudinal planks for the convenience of local people using the railway bridge as part of the network of footpaths.

Before long, we passed a fixed distant signal and approached a stop signal protecting a facing junction with a branch curving off to the right. A word about signals. As I was to discover, they come in a range of shapes and sizes, the only common feature being that (as on a number of model railways I've seen) they don't look quite 'right'. They look as if they were built by someone who didn't really understand signalling and didn't get the scale quite right. Many of the stop signals are fixed at danger but some can be operated by a lever near the base of the post (again, just like some model railways) but I saw no evidence of any interlocking with points.

At the junction, a thatched bamboo shelter had been provided for the 'Pointsman' who was standing on the left of the track displaying a rather grubby green flag. We trundled over the facing points and I could see that the branch was recently-constructed using concrete sleepered track and well-ballasted. As we continued, another line trailed in on our right and, after running parallel for a few hundred yards, joined our line. There was a single lever for the turnout on our left and a point indicator on our right. From the above observations, I presume the new line makes a triangular connection with the original branch but I've not yet found out exactly what is being built.

A little later, we passed the station of Netyetwin - a couple of nameboards in Burmese and English and a simple open shelter for waiting passengers, nothing more. After we'd passed a second primitive station, conditions became more rugged. It was clear that we were climbing and the jungle closed in on both sides.

It had been wet since we started but now the railhead was noticeably wet and the driver was clearly concerned about reducing adhesion. He started leaning out of the side window and looking back, I think checking for incipient slipping. Our speed had reduced but whether that was due to gradient or slipping I couldn't tell. The two windows at the front of the cab were top hinged and had been left open a couple of inches for ventilation but now the driver pushed his window right open so that he could look down and assess the railhead condition. It was very wet. Suddenly, the indicated speed shot up and it was clear we were in a bad slip. The driver removed the power and let the train come to a standstill, issuing instructions to the Secondman at the same time. As I'd boarded the locomotive at Katha, I'd noticed the sack on the floor half-full of crushed stone but the significance hadn't dawned on me. The Secondman climbed down with this sack and laid a trail of dust and stone on the rails in front of the leading wheels. He then balanced the sack on the front chopper coupling and straddled the coupling himself, facing the cab.

The driver started away and we continued, at about 5 m.p.h., with the Secondman periodically dribbling stone onto the rails. In this manner, we continued to what I took to be the summit of the route where the driver stopped the train so that the Secondman could come back to the (relative) comfort of the cab.

In places, the track seemed fairly badly waterlogged and the driver was clearly observing speed restrictions from time-to-time but, now we were on the downhill run, the train was in general much livelier with 15 m.p.h. indicated in places. The driver made full use of the vacuum brake flap-valve to control the speed. In places, bullocks or cows would be grazing on the line but, after running ahead of us for a while, they all managed to jump clear into the undergrowth on one side or the other. The driver kept going at moderate speed and I'm sure he'd have stopped had it been necessary.

We passed a couple of level crossings equipped with very primitive gates to partially close the road side only where dirt coads crossed. In each case, there was a Crossing Keeper displaying the regulation dirty geen flag.

After passing a fixed distant signal, we approached a stop signal at danger on a long straight section. A little way on our side of the signal there was a round sign on a post which I afterwards learned said 'STOP'. We stopped and a railwayman started walking towards us, carrying a pad of forms. It appeared that we were being issued with a Train Order to complete our journey to Naba. The Driver, Secondman and Inspector solemnly read the new form and counter-signed it. The railwayman, satisfield, walked back towards the stop signal and knelt down in the track. The track is generally so overgrown that it's hard to see the rails, let alone any pointwork but I realised that there must be a set of facing trap point beyond the signal which he was setting and clipping for us to pass. Remember, we'd been descending for some time so the railway builders were probably worried about runaways carrying on out of control to Naba station ahead of us, hence these trap points.

The railwayman (well, Pointsman, now I knew he'd a set of trap points to look after) operated the stop signal to 'Off' and displayed a green flag. The signal arm was a rather odd corrugated steel type with unusual proportions. The 'traps' actually led to 'gauntletted' track where the 'run-off' rails formed a sand-drag. Each rail was provided with an inside and outside continuous check rail and the gaps were filled with sand to retard a train on the 'run-off'. This sand drag continued for a few hundered yards and then a 'common crossing' turned the 'gauntletted' track into a separate siding on our right. This siding was then lost from view in the grass.

At this point, the single-track 'main line' from Mandalay came parallel on our left. The two tracks, each provided with guard rails, crossed a substantial river bridge and then we were faced with two more odd stop signals - lattice posts and proper stop arms provided with a typical lower-quadrant spectacle frame (just frame - no glass and no signal illumination) but somehow re-arranged for upper-quadrant operation! Our signal was 'off', so we continued to a crossover which switched us to the main line, encouraged by a green flag displayed by a Pointsman on our right. We then came a two-doll bracket stop signal, the left upper arm probably relating to the 'Through' road, the right-hand lower arm reading to the 'Platform' road. No signals are provided relating to movements onto the loops to the left of the 'Through' road. Unfortunately, both arms were fixed at danger. I've seen this 'fixed stop bracket' signal at other stations in Burma and don't currently have an explanation. Well, my train carried on along the through line, with a couple of trains on our left, with only one surprise left, because we didn't stop but sailed majestically through the station and out the other side. As we finally stopped, I realised we were going to set back and propel the train into the platform track. I'm still puzzled as to why. When we'd finally stopped in the platform, I said 'goodbye' to the Driver and Secondman (the others had disappeared) and rejoined the other passengers for our walking tour of Naba.

The outward journey pictures are here.

My notes on the return journey to Katha are at 'Cab Ride back to Katha' and pictures taken on the return journey are here.

Communication Problems

Monday 6th September 2010

We lost the satellite link which provided internet after a few days of sailing north but they expected to re-acquire it. Unfortunately, it never came back. When we arrived at Mandalay, they were sure I'd get internet at the Sedona Hotel (where I'd stayed on my second visit to Burma) but the link went down just before I arrived and didn't come back. My last day in Yangon was spent at the The Governor's Residence and, after some initial difficulties, I managed to get some e-mails out but my Blog remained inaccessible.

It was only when I arrived in my suite at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok that I obtained a good Wi-Fi connection (144Mbps, sometimes lower).

How quickly we take for granted these amazing technical achievements, commenting only when they're denied us.

Opening of New School Building at Htee Pu

Saturday 4th September 2010

Jan, Dr. Hla Tun, the Head Monk and the School Headmaster after the ceremony

The official opening ceremony of the new school building at Htee Pu had been arranged to co-incide with the afternoon trip from the ship to Mount Popa.

I'd first visited Htee Pu last year when we diverted into the village on the way back from Mount Popa. My report on the trip to Mount Popa is here, my report on our visit to Htee Pu village is here. The Doctor had introduced me to the Head Monk and the Headmaster of the school and I'd decided then that the project to extend teaching to older pupils was well worthwhile supporting. This was my opportunity to see for myself what had been achieved.

We left the ship in a number of buses headed for Mount Popa. My bus, and I think one other, was to detour to Htee Pu for the ceremony before continuing to Mount Popa. Htee Pu is about ten minutes drive from the tarmac road along a rutted track of beaten earth. The bus driver made a good job of negotiating this track and delivering us safely to the school compound.

The new building is the fourth donated by 'Road to Mandalay' guests and it stands at right angles to the other three, slightly apart. A bamboo archway had been erected on the broad path leading to the new building. The archway had been decorating and a large banner across the arch read 'Welcome to Road to Mandalay Family'. The broad path had been trimmed with short whitewashed posts and the overall effect was very impressive. The galvanised corrugated sheet roof of the new building gleamed in the afternoon sun but, before we took a closer look, there was to be a performance for the visitors next to the earlier third building.

The verandah at the end of the third building formed a convenient raised stage so bamboo had been used to form a temporary structure extending outwards for the audience. The roof of this structure had been covered with sheets of thin material to keep the sun off the visitors and the vertical poles had been swathed in material to give a very gay effect.

About thirty plastic chairs had been provided for the visitors and, once we had taken our seats, a group of the youngest pupils walked onto the stage and recited a poem with great earnestness. Next, four older girls performed two dances. Finally, a choir of girls sang for us.

It was clear that a lot of preparation had gone into this performance and teachers could be seen in the 'wings' checking the performers prior to their appearance. Standard school uniform is a green longyi with a white top and all the performers were impressively turned out. I was a little surprised to see that some of the older girls were wearing lipstick on stage. I was not the only visitor to be very moved by this concert.

Now, it was time for the simple opening ceremony, so we moved through the archway and down the broad path to the new building. There were already lots of pupils watching from the shade of the verandah on the new building and a large party of villagers, who had been watching the concert from a distance, now moved towards the new building to observe the formalities. Two pairs of the senior girls were holding tapes across the path. A cluster of gas-filled balloons had been tied in the centre of each tape. An American donor of medical aid and myself were nominated to cut the tapes and two pairs of kitchen scissors were presented on round trays. We simultaneously cut the first tape on either side of the balloons. The balloons slowly rose into the sky. We then repeated the performance on the second tape and that was it!

Cutting the second tape

I was then presented with a commemorative banner for the event. After various photographs were taken, we decided that the banner should be retained by the school for display. A rather emotional Jan, after being presented with the commemorative banner

Just one more task remained - the presentation of stationery to pupils. Quite small donations by passengers on 'Road to Mandalay' can make a massive difference to large numbers of pupils.

Jan assists with the distribution of stationery

It was now time for the coaches to leave for Mount Popa and my intention had been to continue to Mount Popa - it's such an improbable and special place. However, when the Doctor offered to take me back to the ship with him, I accepted the offer. I'd picked up an infection on this trip which left me rather tired and the opening ceremony had left me emotionally drained. The bonus was that, instead of hurrying away, I was able to study the construction of the newest building in detail and talk to pupils, teachers and villagers. I say "talk" but that was mainly through the good offices of the Doctor or San as interpreter or non-verbal communication. However, when we talked to the 20 senior pupils who formed the first intake to the new building, their English was good. English is the most common second language taught in Myanmar.

In fact, the nationally-issued textbooks for all but two subjects taken by the seniors are in English. I particularly checked the textbooks on Maths and Physics and confirmed that there was no sign of "dumbing-down" here. The syllabus covered solid knowledge which an English-speaker would find difficult - it must be particularly challenging when English is your second language.

In the country districts, the nearest high schools may be miles away from the family home, denying extended education to poorer children. Even at Htee Pu, it's been necessary to provide simple boarding facilities for the new senior pupils. All this has been organised by the head monk, using an older wooden building as a dormitory and temporary schoolroom. Electricity has been provided from a petrol generator to cover the long study periods the pupils are faced with - the one senior pupil timetable I looked at covered a 12-hour day whilst another ran from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.!

The philosophy of "All must have Prizes" which has infected our education system is quite absent in Myanmar. The results of the tests which the senior students have undertaken are on display with unsatisfactory results highlighted in red for all to see.

It's impossible not to admire the dedication and determination of the Burmese people. Chatting to these hard-working youngsters convinced me (once again) of the importance of the charitable work being carried out by 'Road to Mandalay'. From a Western perspective, it's hard to realise that relatively small sums of money can affect the lives of many people for the better.

My pictures of the Opening Ceremony are here, pictures taken by RTM are here.

Meeting Working Elephants

Wednesday 1st September 2010

The Programme offers a trip to see elephants at work.

I was up before 6.00 a.m. just after we'd raised anchor and continued our journey downstream. Whilst chatting to the Captain, the sun burst upon us in a spectacular way and began its ascent into the sky. We entered the Third Defile and our course took us nearer the starboard (western) bank so each fairy-tale village we passed was brilliantly lit by the rising run.

I was puzzled by a spot with dozens of boats but only a few houses. Each boat appeared to have a substantial plastic pipe leading ashore. One of the waiters explained that, less than a year ago, gold was found in the vicinity and this has led to a 'Gold Rush'.

Before I'd finished breakfast on the open Sun Deck, we arrived at the pretty village of Thabeikkyin on our left and I could see our two Fast Boats moored at the foot of a set of broad concrete steps. The Captain swung the boat around to point upstream and we moored mid-channel.

Shortly after 8.0 a.m., we were being ferried ashore by Fast Boat. The small landing stage was lined with curious villagers. A short, steep climb led us to the main street. We were told we had a few minutes before we were to board the waiting local buses, so a few of us went wandering off. The street was parallel to the riverbank for a short distance and various shops and tea shops lined both sides. At each end of this parallel area, the road climbed a steep hill and turned inland. In addition to the landing steps we'd arrived at, nearby was a small rock-strewn shore where the smaller, wooden boats landed. The range of goods on offer was amazing - all sorts of foodstuffs I couldn't identify, a wide variety of hardware (including plastic piping and aluminium propellors for boats). One set of premises appeared to be a mechanic's. As I climbed beyond the shops, I came to quite substantial teak-built houses so I retraced my steps. Everyone seemed keen to smile at the group of foreigners.

Pictures of the village are here.

Now we boarded the fleet of local buses waiting for us. The seats were pitched very high off the floor to allow plenty of luggage space underneath. To add to our difficulties, the gangway end of all the seats was welded to a steel beam running from front to rear of the bus so getting into the seat involved lifting one's legs over this beam. With the customary lack of shock absorbers and the state of the country roads, I never did find a way of getting comfortable as our convoy drove through a series of villages for our rendezvous with the elephants.

Pictures taken on our bus ride are here.

More to follow ...

More elephant pictures here.

Train Ride to Naba

Tuesday 31st August 2010

The Programme offers: "Experience a train journey to Naba through the majestic teak forests. Visit a small rural village and discover the lifestyle at the crossroads of Upper and Lower Myanmar."

Can you imagine? 'Road to Mandalay' wants to take its guests by train, so they arrange a private charter and have three better-quality passenger coaches brought up from Mandalay to form the service.

I asked Sammy what the chances of a cab ride were and she said 'No problem', asking Mai to make the arrangements. We were transferred to the landing place at Katha by Fast Boat but, this time, a long line of horse drawn taxis were waiting for the longer journey to the railway station. Here were were each issued with a pasteboard ticket for the journey before moving onto the platform. The 3-coach plus Luggage Van train looked very smart in red and cream livery but the diesel locomotive at the head of the train was the usual beat-up specimen I'd seen elsewhere.

Mai went up to what I took to be the driver, sitting on a platform bench like drivers everywhere. Her face clouded over so I went over to see what the problem was. She said there's a belief that it's bad luck to have a woman in the cab. I had one card up my sleeve - a postcard actually - showing me on the footplate of Peak Rail's 'Austerity'. 'Not a woman - an Engine Driver' I countered, presenting the driver with the postcard. Oddly enough, the driver accepted this argument and said I could come.

So I had a fascinating, if none-too-comfortable cab ride to Naba, where we had a long walk looking at village life. By the time we got back to the station, the train was ready for the return journey. I said to Mai that I was quite happy to travel in the train if the driver preferred, but he indicated that I was welcome in the cab.

I've put the technical railway stuff on the outward ride here and there's a link there to a separate post on the return journey, too.

There are a few pictures of our transfer to and from the railway station at Katha here. There's also a Set of pictures at our destination, Naba, here.

If you want to see my pictures on the journey, the outward journey pictures are here and the return journey is here.

Bhamo and trip to the foot of the Yunan Mountains

Monday 30th August 2010

At 6.30 a.m. our Fast Boat transferred the keen types to the shore for a closer look at Bhamo's Market. Just after 7.30 a.m we boarded a convoy of improbable passenger trucks. They take a Japanese pick-up and weld a framework to give them a very tall tilt cover and fit rows of seats across the frame so as to keep the normal load space with passenger seats pitched high up.

Most of us had difficulty getting into the high seats and, bearing in mind the atrocious roads, it was a very uncomfortable ride. I was at the front and found I could stand on a plank fitted across the sides of the pickup, backside resting against the front edge of the seat and hands, when free, grasping the front of the framework.

Unfortunately, hands were rarely free. Apart from trying to take photographs from the bucking truck, the people here see very few foreigners (the three 'Road to Mandalay' trips a year is about it) so everybody was keen to smile and wave and we were keen to reciprocate.

More when I can ...

Pictures of Bhamo's Market and our journey to the mountains are here.
Pictures of the School we visited are here.
Pictures of the return journey to Bhamo are here.

The Second Defile, Thein Pa Taung Meditation Centre and Bhamo

Sunday 29th August 2010

The short version:

We continued upstream through the Second Defile, passed by Bhamo City (on our right) and reached the limit of our cruise just short of the narrow entrance to the First Defile. The ship turned around and anchored mid-stream. Our Fast Boats transferred us to the Thein Pa Taung Meditation Centre. After our return to the ship, we continued downstream to moor midstream opposite Bhamo's waterfront. At 5.0 p.m. our Fast Boats transferred us to the city for a walking tour around the market and town.

The longer version:

We'd previously negotiated the Third Defile and that hadn't been particularly exciting - the river certainly narrowed but the scenery didn't seem that different from further downstream. So we were intrigued as to what the Second Defile would bring. At first, we passed a number of isolated farms and small villages, with most of the inhabitants watching the great white ship as it passed. We spotted an elephant slowly emerging from a pool near a group of houses. Presumably the elephant had been to the pool for washing. As I discovered during my encounter with elephants in Thailand (see 'Elephant Camp'), elephants are fastidious creatures and regular bathing is important.

We pass riverside houses with an elephant in the background and the plain gives way to wooded mountains.

The river narrowed further and the ground rose up on either side, heavily wooded and presenting rocky cliffs. In places, the water became quite turbulent. I found it reminiscent of my cruise on the Mekong through Laos (see 'Into Laos'). Most of the passengers were out on deck, many on the open bridge.

We'd been told about a feature in the rock wall called "The Parrot's Beak" so we were all on the lookout for that.

The Parrot's Beak.

Fortunately, the rock in question had been helpfully painted green for the plumage with a red beak and black and white eyes, otherwise I think we would have missed it because it was only a few feet across, just above the water.

The Second Defile has steep, wooded cliffs which reminded me of the Mekong in Laos

Eventually, the river widened and the mountains receded, leaving a fertile plain encouraging a number of larger villages. We passed our destination, Bhamo, and continued almost to the start of the First Defile. Looking ahead, we could see the wooded hills closing in on a much narrower river. But this was as far upstream as we could go, so the Captain turned the ship and we glided downstream. Pictures of our journey upstream are here.

I'd spotted our Fast Boats moored at the bank so, around 2.00 p.m., we went through the by-now familiar routine of being transferred ashore. The Thein Pa Taung Meditation Centre is situated on a wooded hillside and a long set of concrete steps led up from the landing place. It was very hot so the sections of the steps provided with a roof were very welcome. As we entered the main compound I was distracted by the generator house and made a very brief inspection.

The building contained two diesel engines, each driving a generator through a belt. The Chinese single-cylinder diesel engine is found everywhere in Myanmar, driving boats and trucks. I afterwards identified the engines as type ZS1115 made by Yingtian in Jiangsu, China. This single-cylinder 4-stroke diesel is intended for boats. With a 115mm bore and 115 stroke, it's rated at 16kW shaft power.

There were a number of buildings where students practice meditation.

Students practising meditation in one of the large dormitories.

We saw nuns meditating in relatively private spaces but most students were in large dormitory-style buildings, one for ladies, one for men. Provided we remained quiet, we were allowed to look in on these rooms. We also climbed to the shrine at the summit of the hill which commanded splendid view of the river below.

The spirituality of places like the Meditation Centre doesn't come out in a bald description of what we did but the beliefs of the Burmese makes even visiting a place like this quite an experience. After we'd walked round the site, the RTM people had (as usual) arranged a refreshment stop with cold drinks and fruit on the steps of one of the temples. Then I noticed the Doctor and a group of nuns sitting on the floor in another open-sided building so I walked over and he invited me to sit with them.

The Doctor had just finished a consultation with the Head Nun, a dignified but friendly person in her 70's who was now suffering from back pain. The Doctor had administered one injection and intended to give a second on his next (and final) visit of the year. Three younger Nuns were in attendance and, although I couldn't converse with them, we all shared the humour of the situation. A kitten wandered in and lay down beside me while I stroked it and we found that very funny, too. Eventually, the Doctor and I got up to leave and one of the younger Nuns presented me with four bananas, scurrying off to find a plastic bag to carry them.

Pictures of the Meditation Centre are here.

We all rejoined the two Fast Boats but the 'Mother Ship' had gone! The Captain had already taken 'Road to Mandalay' downstream to Bhamo, turned to face upstream, and anchored mid-channel. So the Fast Boats took us downstream to board the ship. There was time for refreshments on the Observation Lounge but not much more, for at 5.00 p.m. the Fast Boats were to take us ashore for a walking tour of Bhamo.

The riverfront had a variety of craft berthed at various landing places. We disembarked at a set of concrete steps, watched by a number of friendly locals. At the top of the steps, a dual-carriageway ran parallel to the river with traditional teak buildings on the landward side. I didn't at first realise it was a dual-carriageway because the roadway nearer the river seemed to be used mainly for parking or for pedestrians either walking or just standing talking. But, occasionally, vehicles would pass, patiently waiting for people to move out of the way.

Bhamo is the largest town in the area, a staging point on the main northern trade route with China. Goods are imported from and exported to China by road and then the river provides good communication with the rest of Myanmar. Architecture is a mixture of the traditional and modern. Most of the modern buildings are owned by Chinese.

Our walking tour took us away from the river and I was quite shocked by the amount of traffic - mainly motor bicycles but with a fair number of small trucks, pick-ups and a few private cars. I'd become unused to this amount of traffic in the days since boarding at Mandalay! We passed pavement sellers with large displays of vegetables and numerous shops, including the first opticians I'd seen in Burma. The Fire Station appeared to be still using a couple of Japanese fire appliances dating from the second World War. The three-storey KBZ Bank building looked very prosperous. Kanbawza Bank Limited is a Myanmar bank owned by 'a close business associate' of government officials. On the pavement outside the bank was a top-of-the-range Caterpillar-built 'Olympian' 50kW packaged diesel standby generator. I was reminded of the rather more basic installation at the Meditation Centre.

Our tour finished at a large monastery complex dominated by a large golden pagoda. By the time I'd made a quick tour around some of the buildings on the site, I was happy to accept Mr. Win's suggestion of a lift back in one of the larger motor rickshaws. We stopped for complimentary drinks at tables outside a modern building facing the river then we walked the final few hundred yards back to the landing place. The Fast Boats transferred us back to 'Road to Mandalay' at anchor just as it became dark. Then it was dinner and bed so as to be refreshed for the next day's adventures.

My pictures of Bhamo are here.

[Amended 12-Oct-2010, 21-Oct-2010].

Katha and Shwe Paw Island

Saturday 28th August 2010

The ship continued its journey upstream to Katha. This is one of the towns created by the British as an administrative centre. One claim to fame is that George Orwell's last posting with the Colonial Police was at Katha, before he contracted malaria and left the police to become an author.

We anchored mid-channel opposite the town and the International Signal for 'I am at anchor' (a black 'ball') was hoisted from the short flagpole at the bow. I spotted our two Fast Boats moored at the landing stage and shortly they moved across to our ship to ferry the passengers ashore. It had rained heavily during the night but Katha was gently warming up and it was quite pleasant.

Landing at Katha - "A long line of trishaws were waiting for us ..."

A long line of trishaws were waiting for us and members of the crew were allocating us, two at a time, to individual trishaws. The trishaw is a three-wheeled cycle able to carry two passengers. There are two main types. In one type, the passenger seats are two abreast behind the driver and the machine has two wheels at the rear. The other version is a bicycle plus 'sidecar' where the sidecar has one seat facing forward and a second seat facing to the rear.

The trishaws took us to a fairly green area of town clearly laid out by the British. We walked past a grain warehouse which we were told was a Government Store and paused to look at a single-storey Colonial building which I believe was the British Club originally. We made our way back to the trishaws past the former British tennis courts. Another ride in the trishaw took us through what was clearly the British residential area. The layout reminded me of the similar residential area in Maymyo.

George Orwell's house today.

We stopped at the two-story house, timber-framed with brick infill and a corrugated iron roof set in around a couple of acres which had been the home of George Orwell in the 1920s. Today, it is very run-down but provides homes for a number of Burmese families. We were allowed to walk around inside the house. The unmarried lady upstairs spoke quite good English and was happy to chat with the foreigh vistors. The married lady we met downstairs did not speak English but was also happy for us to wander round. Her son (eleven years old, I think) showed us his workbook and he had considerable talent as an artist.

Then it was back on the trishaws and our convoy made its way to the Market. On the periphery of the Market there were a number of permanent shops and tearooms. I looked at one clothes-making shop where a man was cutting out material using cardboard patterns. I couldn't work out what the cut pieces would become. Next door, there was a picture-framing and mirror shop. In the back was the raw aluminium extrusion which would be cut and mitred as necessary. A number of sample mirrors and pictures were on display. A recurrent theme was a picture of a young person on graduation wearing a mortar board and gown. We saw this sort of picture proudly displayed in a number of better-class homes we visited on our travels. Outside this shop was a very clean Chinese-made 'Kenso' motor bicycle. I was intrigued by the 'Manchester United' custom saddle. Further observation showed that numerous Premier League clubs are featured. Then we went into the market itself, stepping over a low wooden step padlocked in place presumably to stop motor bicycles or similar entering the narrow aisles between the stalls.

A well-stocked pharmacy inside Katha market

As always, the overriding impression of the market was of the wide range of food and non-food items on offer and the friendliness of the population. Most of the stallholders were women, some accompanied by young children. The walls of a pharmacy stall were lined with wooden cupboards with glazed doors, crammed with remedies in a variety of bottles and packets, presumably mainly traditional.

Rejoining our fleet of trishaws, we started back towards the landing stage but, given the option of walking part of the way, I bailed out and walked down one of the main shopping streets. You see bicycles, motor bicycles, trishaws and tractors but I didn't see a single car. With the threat limited to fairly slow-moving vehicles, I was not too suprised to see three men engaged in an extended conversation in the middle of the street, oblivious to the passing traffic weaving around them.

Back at the riverbank, there was time to look around the outside of the temple and stupas, watch people joining the local ferries with all sorts of luggage and marvel at a rather derelict-looking 'Pandaw'-style boat which appeared to have two side-by-side diesels aft driving two fairly modern 'Z-Drives' from which I guessed she is still at work. Although there was a set of concrete landing steps leading into the river wherewe boarded, these were not in use but were occupied by an elderly woman washing clothes in the murky river water. From the number of bags and plastic containers of washing laid out on the steps above her, she either had a large family or, more likely, was providing a professional laundry service. My pictures around Katha are here.

By 10 o'clock, the two Fast Boats had transferred us all back to 'Road to Mandalay' and the ship set off upstream passing a succession of large and small villages with temples and stupas and friendly residents who frequently stood watching the great white ship as she passed. We passed a series of logging camps where barges were being provided with outriggers to support the heavy logs to be carried away downstream.

A barge provided with outriggers. The network of ropes attached to the booms suspend the logs to be transported just underwater.

At a school we passed, all the pupils were on the river bank cheering and waving, so I assumed they'd benefitted from the RTM charity. My pictures as we sailed north are here.

We enjoyed buffet lunch and later Sammi had arranged a visit to the ship's stainless steel kitchen where twelve people work.

As we continued our cruise, I was introduced to a huge, green praying mantis with a head-neck-body length of about 5 inches. I was told he'd been happily sitting on the ship's rail, hitching a lift, since lunchtime. One of the guides seemed to think it was a grasshopper although I thought it was a mantis (on my return I confirmed it was a mantis, probably Acromantis indica, common name Burmese Mantis). A German passenger taking photographs disturbed the mantis who, to my surprise slowly climbed onto the back of my hand where he seemed quite happy.

Jan makes friends with a green praying mantis.

There are a few more pictures of the mantis here.

Whilst this was going on, we had arrived at Shwe Paw Island and dropped anchor mid-channel. The Yellow Flag Fast Boat had loaded its complement of passengers so I dashed to my room and then to the boat, muttering apologies about having been delayed by a "grasshopper". A short trip by Fast Boat took us to the island and its village of Shwe Paw Kyun.

It seemed a fairly idyllic spot and, at least as far as the first area we walked through, a fairly well-off place. Houses were substantially built of teak, in a rectangular garden with bamboo fences. A series of beaten earth 'roads' thread between the properties. We'd been assured that we'd be welcome to look inside any house we came across - the occupants would see it as an honour that foreigners would want to inspect their abode. This view is so different from the Western belief of a 'home being a castle' that I found it impossible to test the theory. However, after the Guest Lecturer, Pauline, inspected a handsome property, I diffidently approached the girl in the upper storey of the house and, in sign language, confirmed that I was welcome. The girl called herself Mi-Mi and in the dark cool upper room I spotted a picture of her in mortarboard and gown, although she looked too young to have been to university. Further on, San chatted to a dignified lady of 71 who stood at the bamboo gate of her house, with a dog curled up nearby. We passed a woman with a long bamboo pole, knocking coconuts from a tree, then a group of three women, two with young babies, just chatting on a street corner. I never did find out who the three men were who followed us for some time, one talking earnestly into a two-way radio, one with an important-looking sheaf of paperwork. We crossed a creek on a very attractive covered bridge, where a young woman was sitting with her beautiful young daughter. At another very prosperous-looking substantial teak-built villa the owners, a middle-aged couple, came over to talk to San. It appeared that they were the owners of the Fast Boats which we were using. On subsequent days, the man appeared on our Fast Boats. I formed the opinion that it was probably his wife who was the driving force for the business.

Smiling villagers in Shwe Paw Khun

Pictures of the village are here. We carried on towards the island's Primary School, watched by more groups of smiling villagers.

Another presentation of stationery was being made to the pupils at the primary school but, by the time my group arrived, this was virtually completed. However, there was time for photographs of the happy, excited children.

'RTM' passengers visit Shwe Paw school.

Pictures of the school are here.

We made our way back across the island and entered the monastery complex. This is an ancient and revered site as was clear from the multitude of buildings we walked through. We saw the head monk, attended by four elderly monks. I was intrigued by the contrast between the simplicity of their life and the installations of sound equipment necessary to relay the reading of the Buddhist scriptures to the outside world. We passed through the museum where numerous treasures are kept. Outside, we walked alongside lifelike statuary illustrating various Buddhist stories before coming to an area crammed with pagodas of various ages and designs. With perhaps hundreds of close-packed spires pointing skywards, I was reminded of my visit to Kakku on a earlier trip to Burma.

Pagodas at Shwe Paw Monastery.

More pictures of the Monastery are here.

We left the monastery via a long, covered passageway and soon came back to the landing place for our fast boat. However, I was told that the Doctor was holding an impromptu clinic a little further along and I was invited to have a look at that and catch a later Fast Boat back to the ship.

The Clinic held by Doctor Hla Tun on Shwe Paw Island (Photo: RTM)

There is no doctor, nurse or midwife on Shwe Paw island so the impromptu clinic set up by Doctor Hla Tun attracted 19 patients. In the absence of a suitable building, the clinic was set up at the side of the road, with some wooden staging used as an examination couch. The Western concept of privacy appears unknown, so a crowd of villagers watched the consultations in awe. The Doctor treated a series of problems apparently completely unfazed by the conditions, producing meticulous notes on the patients and the remedy prescribed. Oral medicines were dispensed from a carrier bag of assorted treatments but some of the conditions required injections. I watched for a time but, when the departure of a Fast Boat to the ship was announced, I returned to the ship. The Doctor returned later when he'd completed the consultations. My pictures of the Clinic are here.

After dinner on the ship, we were entertained in the Observation Lounge by a group of Shan Dancers. There are a few more pictures here.

[Additional material added 20-Sep-2010, 21-Oct-2010]