Yangon Central Power Signal Box

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In 2008 I made my first visit to Myanmar (formerly Burma) and travelled on Yangon's suburban railway. The railway trip is described in the post The Circle Line, Yangon.

In a later post, Yangon Area Railways, I described the colour light signalling on the railways around Yangon. I'd discovered that in January 1946, following severe damage to the railways around Yangon during World War II, an order was placed with Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company for two Style 'L' miniature lever frames for Burma Railways. They were intended for 'Rangoon' and 'Kemmendine'. At that time, I hadn't found the signal box at Yangon (as Rangoon is now called) and I was puzzled about Kyee Myin Daing (as Kemmendine is now called) because I'd seen two mechanical signal boxes there, still apparently in use.

In February 2013, shortly after writing the Yangon Area Railways post, I made another visit to Yangon. This time, I located Yangon Central Power Signal Box and, although confined to public areas, confirmed that the Style 'L' miniature lever frame was still in use. I wrote about this discovery in a post here.

Yangon Central Power Signal Box in 2013.

On my next trip to Burma, my friend Doctor Hla Tun made arrangements on 25th April 2014 for me to visit Yangon Central Signal Box and make a cab ride around the Circle Line. The day is briefly described in the post Exploring Yangon's railways.

The Style L Power Frame

Early miniature-lever Power Frames retained mechanical interlocking between the levers, in a similar fashion to purely mechanical lever frames. But as installations became more complex, the problems of providing mechanical interlocking in the limited space available increased. The Style L Frame introduced by Westinghouse Brake and Signal in 1929 interlocked the miniature levers electrically. This meant that a large frame could be installed in two or more sections, if that was operationally more convenient. For instance, the frame at Waterloo was divided into three sections and that at Crewe North Junction into two sections. In addition, all the interlocking was on the operating floor of the signal box. In front of each lever an engraved description or lead plate was provided. Behind each lever, on an almost vertical panel, are the repeater lamps.

Movement of a lever has two actions:-
1) Through a link piece, the lever moves a horizontal lock slide extending to the rear of the frame. Suspended below the lock slide is a sealed Interlocking Magnet which allows or prevents lever movement. A second, smaller Indication Magnet is also provided.
2) Through bevel gearing, movement of the lever rotates a vertical shaft through 120 degrees. Each shaft can mount up to 36 phosphor-bronze electrical contact bands. Where additional contacts are required, a further bevel gear is provided at the rear of the lock slide, rotating a second vertical shaft at the rear of the frame, allowing a further 36 contacts to be fitted.

For more detailed information, refer to Mr. Francis' excellent book [reference 1].

My visit to Yangon Central Power Signal Box

I was made very welcome by two signalmen, a senior signalman, a regulator and a train announcer. Most had some English. Just as well, because the frame, the illuminated diagram and all the lever description plates were in English. That made it a lot easier for me to work out what was going on. I've noticed before when overseas that because most railways work in similar ways, it's possible to work out quite a lot even if you can't ask questions of the local staff, so I quickly felt at home.
The lever frame dominated the signal box - 143 minature levers in one straight line with an illuminated track diagram behind.

General view of the Style L Power Frame and Illuminated Track Diagram at Yangon.

There were some signs that the frame might be getting 'tired' - occasionally a signalman would 'jiggle' a lever, perhaps because of a sticky lock. The lever description plates appeared to be engraved brass, filled white. All the repeater lamps were, as normal, fitted on the nearly-vertical panel behind the levers. Points displayed the usual 'N' (normal) or 'R' (reverse).

Detail of left end of the frame.

The front access panels were plastic glazed, so all the electrical contacts on the front vertical shafts were visible.

Vertical contact shafts at the front of the frame.

Looking from the rear of the frame, there were similar access panels plastic glazed across the top allowing the lock slides and the associated mechanics to be seen. The interlocking magnets themselves were below the top plate but the positions they occupied were visible. Finally, there were vertical rear access panels, plastic glazed (similar to those at the front), allowing inspection of the electrical contacts on the rear vertical shafts.

Conventionally, the relay room was below the operating floor but I was only able to see it through the vision panel on the padlocked door.

View of the relay room. Racking with large shelf-type relays on the left and cable termination panel on the right.

Operations at Yangon Central Station

It's always interesting to watch operations around Yangon Central station but, of course, the Power Signal Box gives the best view. There are two balconies at the front of the signal box and the signalmen make frequent use of them to check exactly where trains are.

Subsequent changes

Since the visit in 2014 described in this post, the signalling around Yangon has been modernised. The new arrangements are described in the post Railway Operation Control Center, Yangon.

Books

[reference 1] 'The Style L Power Frame' written and published by J. D. Francis 1989 (ISBN 0 9514636 0 8).

My Pictures

Yangon Central Power Signal Box.
You can find all my albums of pictures showing Burma Railways here.

More

Myanma Railways (Index)
You can select all my posts about railways in Burma (in reverse date-of-posting order) here.


There's a post about Crewe North Junction Signal Box here with a little more information about (and more photgraphs of) the Style L Power Frame.

[Minor update & link to 2020 post added 31-Mar-2020]

Peak Rail Update

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I returned from a trip to Burma on 9th May 2014. There's a series of posts describing the trip (starting at Back to Burma with links to later posts in order). This wasn't a railway holiday but I did manage a visit to the power signal box in Yangon and a diesel cab ride around Yangon's Circle Line (there's a brief description in Exploring Yangon's Railways with links to my pictures).

I had a few days to recuperate before my next footplate turn at Peak Rail on Sunday 18th May.

Events of Sunday 18th May 2014

I was booked with Harvey and we started the day with a footplate experience course. Our trainee was a very pleasant young man who, we discovered, had just married and was with his charming wife. It seemed an odd format for a honeymoon but after the course, they both enjoyed a ride on the train and I managed a picture of them both on 'Lord Phil' at Matlock Town. We extend our best wishes for the future to this couple.

Newly-weds Mr. and Mrs. Yeend on the footplate of 'Lord Phil' at Matlock Town.

The format for the passenger service was five rounds between Rowsley and Matlock Town, top and tailing with 'Penyghent'. The only exceptional event was that the weather remained hot all day and at times it was a bit warm on the footplate.

Before our final departure of the day from Rowsley, the station staff asked us to do our best to be 'right time' at Matlock Town as two lady passengers were hoping to make the connection with the East Midland Trains service at Matlock and make a further connection at Derby as they were travelling back to London. We didn't let them down.

'Lord Phil' at Matlock Town standing next to an East Midlands Trains Class 153.

Events of Sunday 26th May 2014

My next turn was with Dave on Sunday 26th May. We were joined by Jacob, on his first Cleaning Turn. The weekend had been advertised as the Mixed Traffic Weekend. Heritage Shunters Trust were running brake van rides at Rowsley, and they rang the changes on the motive power in use, providing an excellent attraction. But shortage of motive power for the service trains meant than it had been decided to operate only the normal service of five top and tailed round trips between Rowsley and Matlock. 'Lord Phil' was on the south end of the train, with Peter Briddon's preserved 'Teddy Bear' locomotive 14 901 on the north end. Wikipedia has a description of the 'Class 14' here.

It was as well I'd taken my heavy overcoat because the weather was quite different from that on my previous turn described above. On my arrival, the rain was sluicing down and it remained pretty wet all day. When it's raining, it's impossible to prepare a steam locomotive standing in the open without getting thoroughly bedraggled and it took me some time to dry out afterwards. But, leaning out of the cab for better visibility when on the move and taking water periodically during the day at Rowsley means that, as soon as you've dried out, you get drenched again. As I often say "Anyone can work on a locomotive when it's fine but it takes an engineman to do it when it's wet".

Fortunately, by the time we arrived back at Rowsley on the last trip, the rain had stopped, so we were able bring the light engine 'on shed' and dispose without another soaking. Disposal is unattractive enough at the best of times - the fire has to be 'knocked out', ash removed from the ashpan, char removed from the smokebox. There's a brief description of the process in the post MIC - Disposal


Jacob beside 'Lord Phil' at the end of his first turn as a Cleaner.

My Pictures

Peak Rail, May 2014.
You can find all my Peak Rail Pictures here.

More

You can find all my Peak Rail Posts here.

One Night in Qatar

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Events of Thursday 8th May 2014

Leaving Yangon

I was leaving the Strand Hotel too early to take breakfast in the cafe, but an excellent light breakfast was served in my room. My 'regular' driver was waiting for me in reception, so we were on the road to the airport in good time. Check-in was painless, so I was soon making my way upstairs and passing through immigration. Check-in staff had told me that Qatar Airways now have their own lounge so all I had to do was find it. With that task successfully completed, I was welcomed into the lounge, which was nicely appointed and gave views over both the Departure Hall and the Stand which our aircraft would use.

The Qatar Airways Lounge at Yangon Airport.

The inbound A319 aircraft from Doha was a little late arriving.

The inbound aircraft taxis to the Stand.

Arrival would trigger a flurry of activity - passengers off, luggage and cargo unloaded, crew off. Cleaners would rapidly prepare the aircraft for the flight back to Doha. A new crew would take over the aircraft, luggage and cargo be loaded and eventually the waiting passengers (including me) would board. Depending upon the flight details, the aircraft might need to upload more fuel, water, catering supplies or empty the lavatory tanks. I only saw some of these activities.

The new Crew gather at the Gate waiting to board the aircraft.

I saw the new crew go on board and before long, a Boarding Call was made and the waiting passengers began to empty the Departure Hall and make their way to the aircraft. Before long, I'd moved to my comfortable seat in the front cabin of the A319.

Passengers waiting in the Departure Lounge for the Boarding Call.

We left Yangon a little late and we still a little late when, hours later, we touched down at Doha Airport in Qatar.

Arriving in Doha

On the eastbound leg, I'd been able to transit at Doha, leaving one aircraft and joining another with passing through Immigration. But, travelling westbound, the times of the flights didn't allow that so I'd arranged a hotel for one night. This meant purchasing a visa on arrival. The lady Immigration officer asked if I wanted to purchase a visa, I said yes and handed over a credit card and in moments it was done.

I'd booked (and paid for) a transfer by car to my hotel. My itinerary said I was to find my driver at a particular Car Hire Desk in the Arrivals Hall. Here's where the plan unravelled. I found the correct desk but no driver. The Desk was manned by one man who seemed to be completing a car hire for a waiting businessman. It appeared to be an unusually complicated hire because it was twenty minutes before I succeeded in getting the car hire guy to acknowledge my presence. I showed him my booking receipt and the made a quick call on a mobile, with some reluctance it seemed to me. "Wait over there - the car is coming from the parking garage" he announced, quickly disappearing with his customer and a form to log pre-existing body defects on the car he'd hired.

After another 30 minutes waiting (neither the booked car nor the car hire guy had appeared), a rather grumpy Jan accepted a quote from one of the drivers looking for trade and we walked out of the air-conditioned terminal into the dry heat of Qatar and across to the parking garage. The car was an up-market, modern saloon (with air conditioning, of course) and once we were under way, my mood quickly improved.

By Road to the Hotel

The city appears to have developed initially around a semicircular bay, open to the Gulf in the east. The bay has a pedestrian promenade, Al Corniche, somewhat reminiscent of a Victorian seaside town. On the landward side of the promenade, there's a multi-lane highway called Al Corniche Street, always teeming with traffic. Further inland there are more roads, concentric with the promenade.

At the southern end of the bay, Doha Port and Qatar Flour Mills have been built incorporating a series of jetties and reclaimed land, jutting out into the Gulf. The airport is on more reclaimed land south of the city and the road we took from the airport led onto Al Corniche Street. Near a monument called The Pearl, the Museum of Islamic Art is actually built in the bay and a little further west, there is the smaller Dhow Harbour which also appears to be formed from modern jetties and reclaimed land. There's a satisfying tangle of wooden boats here.

View of the amazing skyline from across the Bay.

Continuing around the bay, the buildings on the landward side become taller, each vying with the next to be more preposterous than its neighbour. Near the northern end of the bay, Al Corniche Street moves inland a little and the space between the road and the promenade is Sheraton Park, with the Msheireb Enrichment Centre set in the bay, like a small version of the Museum of Islamic Art. Nearby is the oddly-shaped Sheraton Doha Resort and Convention Hotel. Al Corniche Street continues slightly inland (there's a large building site on the seaward side) and enters the Diplomatic Area, which is now also home to a number of hotels including the Movenpick Tower and Suites, where I was booked.

Movenpick Tower and Suites, Doha

Of course, this hotel is unashamedly modern (there's also a somewhat older Movenpick in Doha which I'd spotted on my journey from the airport).



Movenpick Tower and Suites, Doha.

Any reservations I might have had were quickly dispersed by the friendliness of the check-in staff. They upgraded me to a suite for the night (which didn't hurt, either). A porter took me up in the lift and showed me the accommodation. The large lounge area had a curved picture window along the seaward side giving good, but not uninterrupted, views of the Bay because a number of multi-storey buildings lay between the Movenpick and the sea. I was quite content, even though the decor was a little 'jazzy' for my taste.

View of the lounge, with the bedroom beyond.

A Walk in the Sun

Although tired, I thought I ought to explore a little outside the hotel and decided on a walk around the district. It was already clear that Doha is not a place intended for walking - cars, preferably large and expensive, are the normal means of transport. It was also quite hot, of course but, having applied a dose of sun screen, I left the hotel and started to walk south.

The wide roads are normally provided with broad pavements but I quickly discovered that all the building and road projects under way meant that many of the pavements were impassable. Displaying my trademark stubborn streak, I pressed on, meeting only construction workers toiling in the hot sun, all swathed in high visibility clothing and hard hats which I would have found intolerable. Of course, Qatar, in common with other Gulf States, tends not to use its citizens for hard manual labour. Rather, it admits 'Guest Workers'. As Qatar prepares for the contentious Football World Cup it has been awarded, there has been frequent criticism of the number of construction-related accidents affecting guest workers.

I discovered that the large building site near the Sheraton Doha Resort and Convention Hotel being developed by Qatari Diar will become a car park with three subterranean levels topped by a park. I walked across Sheraton Park towards the Bay. I was amused that the adventure playground was fitted with some form of canvas roof as a sun screen. However, there were no happy families, just the ubiquitous construction workers.

Looking across the Bay, I could see Doha Port. The deck cargo on an unidentifiable ship with stern ramps comprised new lorries and buses, presumably about to be unloaded. Nearby, an area held stacks of shipping containers. Another ship I was able to identify afterwards was 'Rising Eagle', home port Kingston. This is a bulk carrier built in Japan in 1995 and earlier called 'Full City'. Her four large deck cranes were all deployed. She was tied-up next to a tall, white building which I presumed was Qatar Flour Mills. Since I spotted this ship, she has travelled to Kandla (India) and back to Abu Dhabi. Later, I watched another ship arrive. This had distinctive lines of a Car Carrier, presumably bringing another consignment of top-of-the-range cars to Qatar. I identified the ship later as 'Aphrodite Leader' operated by NHK Lines, Panamanian-flagged and built in 2007. Since my sighting, this ship has been to Laem Chabang (Thailand), Singapore, Jeddah (Saudi Arasbia) and, at the time of writing, is in the Red Sea heading south. Modern ships work hard!

'Aphrodite Leader' arriving at Doha Port.

On the landward side of the park, massive buildings reared up. Looking at the one with the spire, I kept thinking of Emperor Mong's spaceship in 'Buck Rogers'.


Massive buildings on the landward side of Sheraton Park.

A broad piazza led to the Msheireb Enrichment Centre which appears to be built on a large barge connected to land by two broad gangways and a short stone causeway. You can find out more here but I'm afraid I was a little put off by its claim to be "a landmark destination created by Msheireb Properties to serve as an educational portal to showcase Qatar's glorious past and soaring ambitions for the future". Nearby, on the piazza I found a 'Costa' coffee shop (no comment).

Msheireb Enrichment Centre

The Bay itself remains attractive. I sat for a while near the warm waters (had there been any beach I would certainly have paddled, like the bird in the picture below).

Al Corniche Promenade, looking south from Sheraton Park.

I decided that, although I'd seen little of Doha, I'd perhaps better return to my hotel - it was still very hot and I had another early start the following day to catch my flight to Manchester. One small incident I observed on the way back amused me. Because of all the road works, the area was well-plastered with alternating red and white plastic barriers (all stencilled 'BOOM'). I watched an Ashok Leyland bus approach a junction on a lane narrowed by barriers. He just couldn't make the turn and gently pushed at the plastic barriers but still hadn't enough room. A passenger left the bus to shove a number of barriers out of the way until the bus could complete the turn. All the passengers were dark skinned, dark haired and all wore white shirts. I decided they were probably 'guest workers' being returned to some sort of barracks at the end of their work day.

The bus that couldn't quite make the turn. Click on image above for an uncropped view showing the plastic barriers being moved clear.

Back at the hotel, I treated myself to a meal in my room and went to bed, in preparation for an early start the next day.

Events of Friday 9th May 2014.

After the fiasco of the missing car on my arrival in Doha, I wasn't too confident about being transferred back to the airport, although reception had assured me they could soon rustle up a hotel car if needed. However, when I went down to reception early Friday morning, a driver was already waiting for me and we had an uneventful journey around the bay to the airport. The varied architecture was as surprising as it had been on my arrival. Still under construction, the National Museum of Qatar designed by Jean Nouvel looked as if it had suffered a terrible accident but perhaps it will be alright once finished when "a collection of disks, some vertical, some near horizontal, interlock and create a volume".

The National Museum of Qatar under construction.

We passed a cheerful cautionary road sign with a cartoon traffic policeman and the slogan (in English) 'Speed Leads to Ruin'. But the picture of a car speedometer indicated 250 km/h! Not that many cars over here would manage to get up to 150 miles per hour.


The speed warning sign.

At the airport, check-in was quick and friendly. It took me two attempts to find the right lounge but, again, everybody was very friendly and I relaxed watching the various passengers come and go. At the appointed time, I made my way to the Gate and was directed downstairs to a Departure Lounge overlooking the main internal airport road. I had a few minutes to wait for the next transfer bus which would take me from the Departure Lounge to the aircraft, whilst a steady stream of airport vehicles passed on the road outside and, every couple of minutes, an aircraft roared past on the runway at the far side of the road.

They'd been building a new airport terminal and, a few days after my departure, the new Hamad International Airport terminal opened for use, modestly claiming to "exceed expectations and redefine passenger transit experience". I presume most transfer buses have been replaced by Air Bridges, connecting the terminal directly to the aircraft.

The view from the Departure Lounge.

The flight from Doha to Manchester was in an A330 with a particularly pleasant crew who looked after me very well. The four Qatar Airways flights I had on this trip left me with a very favourable impression of the airline. I watched some films and finally went for 'The Lego Movie', expecting to find a CGI film with Lego characters dire. Er, I loved it.

John met me at Manchester and brought me home after one of the most tiring and fascinating trips I've made.

My Pictures

Strand Hotel, Yangon.
Yangon Airport.
Doha Airport.
Movenpick, Doha, Qatar.
Qatar.

More

This is the last in a series of posts describing my trip to Burma in 2014. You can find them all here or go back to the first post in the series Back to Burma (with links to go to each subsequent post in turn).

[Revised 11-Jun-2014, 12-Jun-2014]

Last Day in Yangon

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Events of Wednesday 7th May 2014

Walking in Yangon

I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the Cafe at the Strand Hotel. I managed to contact both Doctor Hla Tun and Captain Myo Lwin on the telephone and we all arranged to meet in my hotel later in the day.

Although still fairly exhausted, I decided I'd take a walk in the city. There's always so much to see and the legacy of Britsh-inspired buildings is a permanent fascination. There's a useful book [reference 1] on Heritage Buildings in Yangon, with the delightful sub-title 'Inside the City that captured Time'. I decided to head north, away from the river but, instead of taking the major thoroughfare Pansodan Street, I took the narrower street to the east, Seikanthar Street. My first discovery was that the side of the Strand Hotel was being cleaned. Four men were clinging to two rather primitive rope ladders with bamboo 'rungs', scrubbing away at the walls. One man on the flat roof was controlling the water supply to two flexible plastic pipes dangling by the cleaners.


Cleaning the Strand Hotel.

I passed a number of Colonial-era warehouse buildings and a few commercial/residential buildings, none in a very good state of repair. These were interspersed with more modern apartment blocks, usually seven storey.


Seikanthar Street, looking north.

What was most striking was that this appeared to be 'Computer Street'. Most of the ground floor businesses were selling computers, mobile phones, audio equipment or 'white goods'. Rather than the usual crowded jumble of stock, most of the premises were well-lit, western-style showrooms and most of the posters were in English, with only the occasional Burmese text.

The Computer Showroom of Eastern Empire Co. Ltd.

Not far from these showrooms selling 'state of the art' products, I passed a more low-tech business - a one-man mobile snack bar. Two specially-made small wooden tables carry two metal pots of food plus accessories. Four metal supports rising from each table are gathered into a supporting ring. The owner has a wooden yoke so that, to move to another location, the supporting ring on each table is threaded onto each end of the yoke and the whole weight can be carried on the owner's shoulders. There were also three small moulded plastic stools for the customers which (elsewhere) I've seen wedged into the framework of the wooden tables whilst the whole set-up was being moved.

Mobile Snack Bar, Burmese-style.

Yangon Central Station

Perhaps inevitably, when I reached Bogyoke Aung San Road (which runs east-west, south of the railway), I climbed the steps of the bridge which gives access to the station and descended onto platform 7 (one of the three 'suburban' platforms). One of the new Japanese diesel railcars was standing in the platform, covered in advertising, but before I could draw level, it departed westwards. The rear of the train carried its running number 'RBE-P5032' on one panel and 'Gold Roast COFFEE MIX' on the other - another triumph for marketing, I suppose, just like the ghastly trains with advertising running around in Britain.

Japanese diesel railcar leaving Yangon Central Station.

City Hall

I slowly made my way back towards the hotel, this time using the busy Pansodan Street. At the junction with Mahabandoola Road, I passed City Hall - a curious but imposing confection in Britsh - Myanmar style built in stages between 1925 and 1940 where components of Burmese Palace and Temple architecture have been added-on to a typical British municipal building. In 2011, it was repainted in a striking lilac with purple details.

City Hall.

Central Telegraph Office

Built between 1913 and 1917. By 2000, it had lost most of its original roles. It is owned by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telgraphs and I believe the ground floor now houses stalls selling mobile phones.

Central Telegraph Office.

High Court

This 'archetypal colonial administrative building' was built between 1905 and 1911 and remains in use, although the Supreme Court has moved to Naypyitaw.

Rear elevation of High Court.

Internal Revenue Department

This building was commissioned by Surti Indian Traders from the port of Rander (hence the name 'Rander House'). It was built in 1932 and, after serving various roles, in now used by Inland Revenue, with apartments in the upper floors.

'Rander House', now the Internal Revenue Department.

Meeting Friends

I was back at the hotel in plenty of time for my visitors Doctor Hla Tun and Captain Myo Lwin. They declined the offer of a meal so, instead, we had soft drinks in the Bar. Soon, it was time to say 'goodbye' to my friends - I was leaving Myanmar early the next morning by air for Doha in Qatar.

Books

[reference 1] '30 Heritage Buildings of Yangon', published by Association of Myanmar Architects in association with Serindia Publications Inc (ISBN 978-1-932476-63-7 Softcover).

My Pictures

Yangon (Rangoon).

(Pictures from March 2008, September 2008, September 2009, September 2012)

Yangon (2013).
Around Yangon, 2014.
Strand Hotel, Yangon.
Yangon's Railways

More

Next Post describing this trip.

Sittwe, Myanmar

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More events of Tuesday 6th May 2014

Introduction

When I arrived at Sittwe by air on 3rd May 2014 (described in the post On to Mrauk U), we simply drove along the Main Road through the town to the boat yard where I embarked for the trip up the Kaladan River to Mrauk U.

On 6th May 2014, I returned from Mrauk U to Sittwe by boat and this journey is described here. However, on this occasion there was time to see a little of Sittwe before catching my flight back to Yangon.

Mrauk U had been the capital of the Rakhine state for centuries and, initially, the British had a presence there. But the British decided to develop Sittwe (or 'Sittway' as they spelt the name) as their Adminstrative Centre, accelerating the decline of Mrauk U.

The influence of the British is still visible. Most of the development took place along a long, straight thoroughfare parallel to the shore called 'Main Road'. A number of the buildings, even today, clearly show British architectural ideas.

The Merchant's House

We entered the forecourt of a large house set back from the road. The design was generally 'British Colonial Villa', although the arched windows gave a rather ecclesiastical appearance. The building was topped by two gilded spires of Burmese design which I assumed were a later addition.


Merchant's House in Sittwe.

During the British period, certain people did very well from the trade opportunities and this house had been the home of a businessman of, I think, Indian origin who died in 1911. A rather austere photograph of the merchant hangs on the wall.

The Sittwe Merchant.

I believe the merchant bequeathed the house to the people of Sittwe and appears to be currently part of a Buddhist temple. The ground floor of the building formed single, large room, with a number of columns supporting the upper floor. I was intrigued that each column was formed from two substantial rolled steel 'U' sections, back to back, simply painted yellow. The sections were clearly marked 'DORMAN LONG & Co LTD MIDDLESBOROUGH ENGLAND'. All the doors and windows were open, leaving the large room cool. A number of men were stretched-out on sleeping mats on the wooden floor resting from the heat. There were few furnishings, other than a Buddhist shrine with two adjacent boxes for donations.

The ground floor of the Merchant's House.

A wooden staircase led to the first floor. This was fitted with an ancient retractable lattice gate (like the gates on old-fashioned lifts) so that the upper floor could be closed off. Sections of Marsden Matting (the perforated steel planking designed in World War II for temporary roads and runways) had been adapted to 'box-in' the stairway. The first floor appeared to be empty, apart from a couple of men resting.

The Sittwe Temple

Next to the Merchant's House, there was a particularly exuberant building. Its design owed much to traditional Burmese monastery practice, but there were various European-influenced features, like arched windows and a clock tower.

The Sittwe Temple.

Entering the Temple, the main impression was one of size - the structure was huge, rivalling European cathedrals. This had been achieved by adopting steel framing throughout, with corrugated iron sheets for the various roof sections and wood for walls. No attempt had been made to disguise this construction and, somehow, this made the effect more breathraking. Four massive rolled steel columns supported the central tower and similar, smaller columns were provided for the other roof sections. At least one column was marked 'TATA IRON & STEEL'.

The complex roof is supported by numerous steel trusses.

A large Buddha image occupied the centre of the tiled floor. Once again, there were various people sleeping on the floor.

The Buddha image in the Sittwe temple.

This wasn't the first time I'd seen a large steel framed building used for religious purposes in Burma. In November 2011, I visited Yangon's huge Reclining Buddha which is housed in a steel framed 'shed' as described in my post here (with more photographs here.

Bhaddanta Wannita Museum

Five minutes drive from the Sittwe Temple, we came to another Colonial-era residence which now serves as the Bhaddanta Wannita Museum. Bhaddanta Wannita was the head monk at the Maha Kuthala monastery and he collected the various artefacts which are now displayed here.

Bhaddanta Wannita Museum.

There was a large collection of Offering Bowls and Buddha Images but some of the items were more prosaic - smoking pipes and old currency, for instance.

Offering Bowls and Buddha Images displayed at the museum.

Sittwe Port Area

As we approached the port area, we could see two large cargo ships anchored offshore. There is only one decent jetty (made of reinforced concrete) where a larger ship can discharge and load. Otherwise, ships anchor in deeper water and use their derricks to transfer cargo to and from a smaller lighter which can moor at one of the quays.

Cargo ships anchored offshore unloading and loading to lighters.

Near the quays there was a busy market. The narrow passages between stalls were also used by a number of porters shifting prodigious loads on massive and rather ancient 2-wheel trucks so it was necessary to keep a sharp lookout.

The Market at Sittwe.

One part of the quay seemed to serve as a 'taxi-rank' for small boats ferrying people and goods around the Sittwe area.

The quay used by small boats.

The small boat quay gave a good view of the numerous small boats criss-crossing the water and the single jetty where a cargo ship was berthed and able to discharge its load directly to trailers which were then hauled along the jetty by a tractor (I think the first tractor I'd seen on the trip - farm work is more usually done by animals).

The busy scene near the Jetty.

We continued our tour of the market, passing through the Fish Market to the area where large volumes of dried fish were being bagged and weighed prior to being exported to Bangladesh as animal feed. As we came back to the road, there were two ladies with treadle-operated sewing machines offering an 'instant repairs' service.

Clothing repairs while you wait.

We rejoined our vehicle at a point where the map shows a second jetty which I failed to spot. I think this jetty is used exclusively by the Myanmar Navy, which operates a significant fleet. There's a list of vessels on Wikipedia here. We continued south past a large construction site next to the water. This is apparently a second commercial jetty being built by India.

Sittwe View Point

The road then turned into a modern promenade leading to a spit of land called View Point. I realised that this was the area I'd photographed from the air on my arrival at Sittwe.

Sittwe's View Point area from the air.

I'm sure the improvements carried out have made the area a popular destination for locals. The light house at View Point is a distinctive landmark and replaced a now-disused light house visible on a island just offshore. To the west, we could see View Point Beach stretching away.


The Light House at Sittwe's View Point.

It only remained for us to drive back towards Sittwe, passing the British-built jail (still in use) and make our final stop at a modern pagoda.

Lawkar Nanda Pagoda

Construction of this pagoda only started in 1995 and the enshrining of Buddha relics took place in 1999. The main pagoda is surrounded by eight small satellite padodas. The upper part of the main pagoda was covered in woven bamboo 'scaffolding' to allow maintenance work (usually 're-gilding').

Lawkar Nanda Pagoda.

Nearby, we examined the Sakkramuni Image, now housed in a special chamber called Maha Wayyan Sasana Beikman. This is an ususual bronze Buddha image about 18 inches tall where the entire body is covered with small Buddha images. It was re-discovered at Mrauk U 14 years ago by a fisherman and is credited with "miraculous powers".


The Sakkramuni Image.

Sittwe Airport

We continued to the airport terminal building where the guide released the car. Check-in was quick and then the guide and I walked to the Airport Cafe (a couple of hundred yards away back along the approach road!) for a soft drink. Having said our 'goodbyes' after an absorbing three days, the guide made his way to relatives in Sittwe where he was going to spend the night before travelling back to his home in Mrauk U the following day.

I walked back to the airport and went through security into the departure lounge, to discover that my flight was running around an hour late. An 'Asian Wings' aircraft on the apron provided a small diversion. I'd been told it was awaiting technicians to carry out repairs. 'Aircraft On Ground' ('AOG') is a serious business and, whilst I waited, two mechanics opened the access cowlings on the starboard engine and, after carrying out some work, started the engine. Later, flight crew boarded the repaired 'Asian Wings' aircraft and carried out comprehensive power checks. By this time, my delayed 'Air KBZ' aircraft had landed so I was able to board for the direct flight back to Yangon.

Mechanics working on the failed 'Asian Wings' aircraft.

On arrival in Yangon, my usual friendly young driver was waiting for me outside the domestic terminal to transfer me to the Strand Hotel. It was dark and I noticed that the city now has many more illuminated advertising signs than on my first visit back in 2008. I suppose this is what we are pleased to call 'progress'.

I received the usual warm welcome at the Strand Hotel. This time, I was in room 107 on the first floor. After the exertions of the day, I slept well.

My Pictures

Sittwe, Myanmar.
The Merchant's House.
Sittwe Temple.
Lawkar Nanda Pagoda, Sittwe.
Sittway Airport, Myanmar.
Strand Hotel, Yangon.

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[Revised 9-Jun-2014]