The Doctor had made arrangements for an official visit to Bago station and he drove me there and accompanied me on tour. We left at about 11.20 a.m. and spent the next 45 minutes struggling through Yangon's horrendous traffic. Once clear of the worst of the traffic, we made better time on the road to Bago, a dual carriageway with three lanes in each direction. There wasn't much proper countryside visible - 'strip' development continued to Bago.
The road from Yangon to Bago, near Bago, 9th May 2018.
The Doctor and I arrived at Bago station at 1.00 p.m. and were ushered into the Station Master's spacious meeting room.
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018: The Station Master's spacious meeting room.
After introductions to the people who would accompany us on our tour, including an English speaker, we set off to check out the area. We started at the Station Master's Office, where one man directs all train movements in the area. Then we crossed various tracks to reach the North signal cabin. Our hosts were fascinated with my attention to detail, as I delightedly photographed trackside equipment from a former era.
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018: Facing point lock and Locking Bar.
We entered the mechanical signal cabin of Bago North where, on the operating floor, two signalmen were on duty. I photographed everything in sight for later study and the young signalman set up a route to demonstrate the operation of the levers (but I didn't ask to try myself).
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018: The young signalman set up a route.
I asked to see the locking room and, again, took a number of photographs.
To my delight, they offered to show me to locomotive shed, where I knew they kept three steam locomotives sometimes used by the German travel firm FarRail Tours (www.farrail.com) for photographic charters. Their Trip Reports are full of interesting information and pictures. I climbed onto the footplate of each locomotive in turn, grabbing as many pictures as I could.
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018: For once, Jan looks quite happy.
With temperatures in the high 30s Celsius, I was fairly tired when I'd finished but still disappointed when they said there wasn't time to visit Bago South signal cabin.
This was because it had been suggested that I might like to return to Yangon by train, a suggestion I readily accepted. Train 32 from Naypyitaw (from where it departed at 08:00) was due to arrive, they said, at 15:00. They also suggested that my photographic opportunities might be better in an Ordinary Class coach, where all the windows were sure to be fully open, rather than an Upper Class coach. I agreed with their reasoning and a ticket was issued. Then they said the train was 15 minutes late and it actually arrived about 15:20.
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018: Train 32 from Naypyitaw arriving at Bago.
According to the rail travel website 'The Man in Seat 61' here, the train was not due in until 15:20 and was due to depart at 15:23, arriving Yangon at 17:00. Well, we left about 15:23 and cracked along at what, for a Burmese train, was a a very good speed. We made just one stop and arrived at Yangon Central Station at 17:00.
The Doctor made the journey back in his car and met me at Yangon Central Station. Then we picked up the Doctor's wife and daughter and drove back to the Doctor's home.
I’ll defer the technical railway stuff to a later post.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 13th visit to Myanmar.
The post Travelling again is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will show the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2018 reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2018 reports.
My pictures
Where necessary, clicking on an image above will display an 'uncropped' view or, alternately, pictures may be selected, viewed or downloaded, in various sizes, from the albums below:-
Yangon around and about.
Bago Station (earlier pictures).
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018.
Bago to Yangon by Train, 9th May 2018.
All my general pictures on this trip to Myanmar can be found at Burma 2018.
['My pictures' links and pictures added 6-Aug-2018]
