In 1958, Myanma Railways embarked on a programme of dieselisation. The initial purchase was six diesel locomotives, after which steam locomotives were gradually phased out as more diesel locomotives were acquired. Initially, all major repairs were carried out at the existing Locomotive Workshop at Insein, Yangon. There's a report on a visit I made to Insein in the post Insein Locomotive Works. But, as the number of diesel locomotives increased, it was decided that a second workshop was required and in 1969 work commenced on a second workshop at Ywa Taung, not too far from Mandalay, initially to carry out repairs on the Diesel Hydraulic fleet of locomotives. The Ywa Taung Workshop was opened on 1st April 1975 and, over the last 40 years, has successfully expanded its role to cover repairs of Diesel Electric Locomotives and carry out staff training for both Mechanical and Electrical departments.
Ywa Taung Locomotive Workshop (Photo: Myanma Railways)
On 1st May 2015, I spent the day with my friend Htein Lin and his family, as described here. It was a public holiday so Ywa Taung Locomotive Workshop was closed, but I was able to discuss the work done by the Factory with the Divisional Mechanical Engineer Production.
The Main Gate at Ywa Taung Locomotive Workshop.
Locomotives are admitted to the Works for one of three reasons:-
1. Major Overhaul (M8). This is a Heavy repair normally carried out after 24,000 hours in service.I believe the Workshop is carrying out 20 heavy repairs each year and around 100 nominated repairs (I don't have a figure for Semi-Overhaul).
2. Semi-Overhaul (M7). This is a Mid-life repair normally carried out after 12,000 hours in service.
3. Nominated repairs. These follow a failure in service which cannot be repaired at the running depot.
Of the 665 employees at the Workshop, 472 have Basic Education, 20 have a B.Eng., 40 hold a Dip. Eng. (B Tech), 33 a Dip. Eng. (ETC) and 100 hold a B.A. in Science or Arts. The Staff Training provided at the Workshop forms an important part of Staff Development. Basic and Advanced courses are provided in Welding, Machining, Fitting, Electrical, Diesel Locomotive Repair, Electrical Repair. There is also an Electronics Course and a Technical Skills Refresher Course. Currently 160 persons are receiving training each year.
Ywa Taung Workshop produces its own Brake Blocks and Cylinder Liners.
A particular problem faced by Myanma Railways has been the long period of Myanmar's relative isolation from the rest of the world which, it is hoped, will continue to ease. One result has been an aging locomotive fleet. Out of 405 locomotives, the distribution by age is significant:-
| Quantity | Age (yrs) |
| 220 | over 30 |
| 71 | 20 - 30 |
| 72 | 10 - 20 |
| 42 | under 10 |
The age and diversity of the locomotives has required considerable ingenuity on the part of the railway to keep the fleet operational. Insein carries out most of the 'Re-powering' of locomotives where obsolete prime-movers need to be replaced but Ywa Taung has also demonstrated its ability to 'Re-power', fitting a CAT 3508 engine to locomotive DD901 in 2007.
Ywa Taung Workshop has 130 machine tools in use (of which only one is a CNC machine), plus a further 37 which are currently unserviceable.
A further consequence of this isolation has been the need to produce local designs using available parts for a number of special-purpose vehicles and Ywa Taung Factory has been involved in the design and manufacture of a number of special-purpose vehicles.
D1B Short Trip Locomotive
| Running number | Build Year |
| D1B 301 | 1993 |
| D1B 302 | 1993 |
| D1B 303 | 1993 |
| D1B 304 | 1993 |
DB Shunting Locomotive
| Running number | Build Year |
| DB 302 | 1993 |
| DB 303 | 1993 |
| DB 304 | 2011 |
| DB 305 | 2012 |
LRBE Local Rail Bus Engine
| Running number | Build Year |
| LRBE 68 | 2003 |
| LRBE 69 | 2003 |
| LRBE 72 | 2004 |
| LRBE 73 | 2004 |
DAL
| Running number | Build Year |
| DAL 2026 | 2000 |
| DAL 2027 | 2000 |
| DAL 2028 | 2000 |
| DAL 2029 | 2001 |
| DAL 2030 | 2002 |
| DAL 2031 | 2002 |
| DAL 2032 | 2003 |
| DAL 2033 | 2003 |
DRC Diesel Rail Car
| Running number | Build Year |
| DRC-101 | 2001 |
| DRC-102 | 2002 |
MCA Motor Car Armour
| Running number | Build Year |
| MCA 5 | 2003 |
| MCA 16 | 2004 |
RGC Rail Gang Car
| Running number | Build Year |
| RGC 007 | 2004 |
| RGC 008 | 2004 |
| RGC 009 | 2004 |
| RGC 010 | 2005 |
| RGC 011 | 2005 |
| RGC 012 | 2005 |
EMC Engineering Motor Car
| Running number | Build Year |
| EMC(D) 26 | 2006 |
| EMC(D) 27 | 2006 |
| EMC(D) 28 | 2006 |
DMU Diesel Multiple Unit
| Running number | Build Year |
| DMU-301 | 2001 |
| DMU-302 | 2002 |
| DMU-304 | 2003 |
| DMU-305 | 2004 |
Associated posts on this site
Diesel Traction in Burma.
All my posts describing railways in Myanmar can be found here.
Acknowledgments
It's impossible not to be impressed by the professionalism and dedication of all the railway employees, often working under difficult conditions to keep the trains moving. I am grateful to Myanma Railways staff for providing much of the information in this post but any errors are my own.
My pictures
The following albums (on Flickr) include pictures relevant to this post:-
Presentation on Ywa Taung Diesel Locomotive Workshop.
Ywa Taung Station & Diesel Locomotive Workshop.
All my pictures showing railways in Myanmar can be found here.
