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The Sarawak Government Railway -- new discovery for the OP

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Calthrop

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A recent chance find on my part, of a one-time public railway totally new to me; occasioning mild astonishment. I had always assumed that the only public railway which there had ever been on the island of Borneo: was the -- still active today -- Sabah State Railway, formerly the North Borneo Railway. In the main, concerning the British-Empire-as-was part of Borneo: Sarawak would seem always to have been rather more on people's radar, than Sabah. Had imagined that if Sarawak had ever had a public railway, we'd have known all about it; but per recent discovery, lo and behold, "it did, and we didn't". Admittedly a decidedly "small-time" -- and short-lived -- public railway; however, it existed.

Very briefly just here: was metre-gauge ("standard" equivalent for "British South-East Asia") -- ran for (consensus) ten miles southward from Sarawak's coastal capital Kuching; extension further south was considered, but never happened -- a further seventeen (max.) miles were surveyed, and some earthworks likely constructed: but no track laid. Opened 1915: ran passenger and general freight services until (seeming "majority verdict") 1933; from then, nominally abandoned, but continued to run sporadically for special duties -- largely, bringing stone from quarries -- until 1947.

Re matters to come, concerning line's history: the ins-and-outs of Sarawak's "White Rajahs", essentially in charge there until World War II, seem more complicated than I had imagined -- essentially, though, one Rajah was responsible for planning the railway and bringing it into being, opening 1915. He died in 1917: "next in line", essentially handled the railway's ultimate decline in the ensuing years.

My computer skills are poor, and usually let me down in the matter of doing links; but I'd wish -- one way or another -- to make available, "gen" from the Internet, on the subject. If one Googles "Sarawak Government Railway": second "hit" as at this time of posting, should be headed, "Sarawak Government Railway" -- https://searail.malayanrailways.com>Sarawak>Sarawak

(the above might work as a direct link, but I wouldn't bet on it). This item will be referred to henceforth as "Searail": it yields a succinct but informative two-section article on the railway and its equipment, illustrated with a number of photographs.

Third or fourth "hit": "Society wants old railway track sites repurposed as heritage" -- https://www.the borneopost.com>news>Sarawak

The just-above item features further interesting information, including photographs and a map.

A contact of mine has furnished further material on the SGR, from a -- never published -- intended brief history of the line, by another student of the subject: this reckoned a trustworthy source; can be seen as supplementing, occasionally disagreeing a little with, the "Searail" article. There follow "addenda" to the "Searail" article: taken from this material provided by my associate.


Alternative account via my associate, has the railway's having opened to the 10-mile point only; but opening thus in its entirety, for all traffic, on 1/8/1915. There were several stations; their names not easy to determine from available info. Stone quarries seemingly the backbone of the railway's freight traffic: combined data would indicate that there was one at the 7-mile point, and another at the terminus 10 miles out. When in the 1920s a metalled road came to be, as far out as the 7-mile point, bus competition set in -- the railway went into decline, and started losing money heavily. Closure dates: alternative account reports end of full public services in Jan. 1931; but public "restricted services" continuing until the Rajah's decision finally to close the line in Feb. 1933; which was implemented -- but, as per the "Searail" article, sort-of wasn't: line continued, intermittently / unofficially, to haul stone from quarry(s). This went on with the -- maximum four -- steam locos, although they were in increasingly poor shape: expedients for switching to diesel traction were looked at; but what with one thing and another, this had not been implemented by the time of Japan's entering World War II and occupying all Borneo, as at late 1941 / early '42. The occupiers continued to use the line, employing the steam fleet -- including, it seems, reopening for passenger and general freight. Line continued active for a couple of years after liberation / end of war: its last task here, basically, to haul materials for the construction of the new Kuching airport, at the 7-mile point -- final such workings were in 1947. For these last couple of years, a (single) diesel loco was at last obtained, from Ruston in Britain.
 
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Calthrop

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@Gag Halfrunt: very many thanks. As regards this kind of stuff, unfortunately I belong in the Stone Age, rather than the railway age.
 

the sniper

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My computer skills are poor, and usually let me down in the matter of doing links; but I'd wish -- one way or another -- to make available, "gen" from the Internet, on the subject. If one Googles "Sarawak Government Railway": second "hit" as at this time of posting, should be headed, "Sarawak Government Railway" -- https://searail.malayanrailways.com>Sarawak>Sarawak

(the above might work as a direct link, but I wouldn't bet on it). This item will be referred to henceforth as "Searail": it yields a succinct but informative two-section article on the railway and its equipment, illustrated with a number of photographs.

@Gag Halfrunt: very many thanks. As regards this kind of stuff, unfortunately I belong in the Stone Age, rather than the railway age.

If you right click links (true in general, not just Google) from the results, you should get a 'copy link address' or 'copy link' (depending on Browser type) option in the box that appears. You can then right click anywhere in your post in the text box on this site and push 'Paste' and the copied link will appear. The forum automatically turns it into a clickable link when you post it, as such: https://searail.malayanrailways.com/Sarawak/Sarawak.htm
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Please tell us more... !
Sorry, I got confused, the one I travelled on was in Sabah, a bit further along, I was getting my Malay States confused. The Sabah one was very good though, not sure if any of it still runs, there was a passenger service from near Kota Kinabalu to Tenom and Beaufort and also a steam tourist train for part of the route with Tiffin served. Anyway, I shall slink off now and stand in the corner for not reading the thread properly. :oops:
 

Calthrop

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Ah ! all is made clear :smile:. To the best of my knowledge, the Sabah State Railway is still relatively thriving, for passenger and freight; extensions contemplated, even -- don't know what the effects of Covid might have been; hopefully, if any, just temporarily. In a favourite "musing-on scene" in general, of mine; in, I suppose, the "should get out more" department -- no doubt there are still people alive, who have travelled on the Sarawak Government Railway. It'd seem that one would need to be at youngest, some way into one's eighties to have any meaningful memory of the experience -- and at that, it would have been a matter of an unofficial ride on one of the relict freight workings; and / or under unpleasant conditions during the Japanese occupation...
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Ah ! all is made clear :smile:. To the best of my knowledge, the Sabah State Railway is still relatively thriving, for passenger and freight; extensions contemplated, even -- don't know what the effects of Covid might have been; hopefully, if any, just temporarily. In a favourite "musing-on scene" in general, of mine; in, I suppose, the "should get out more" department -- no doubt there are still people alive, who have travelled on the Sarawak Government Railway. It'd seem that one would need to be at youngest, some way into one's eighties to have any meaningful memory of the experience -- and at that, it would have been a matter of an unofficial ride on one of the relict freight workings; and / or under unpleasant conditions during the Japanese occupation...
I just looked at Sabah State railway and it does still seem to be operating, with plans to extend as you say and even in the future across the boarder to the Indonesian part of Borneo.
 

Calthrop

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I just looked at Sabah State railway and it does still seem to be operating, with plans to extend as you say and even in the future across the boarder to the Indonesian part of Borneo.

I'd always understood "received wisdom" to be that although Indonesian -- formerly Dutch -- Borneo has had industrial / plantation railways; it has never yet had any public railways in operation (though what with recently discovering the totally unsuspected SGR, a little bit of wondering is prompted...) -- should the cross-border extension come to pass, it's reckoned that it would be a "first" re "the other bit of the island". One gathers that if history at one period, had taken something of a happier course than it did; the greater, "non-British" part of Borneo might have known public railways -- in the 1920s, the Dutch colonial authorities had ambitious plans to inaugurate same in Borneo and on the island of Sulawesi, and for linking-up of the several physically separated systems in Sumatra. Sadly, the 1929 financial crash and consequent world-wide economic depression meant that these things did not come to be.
 
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dutchflyer

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Terima kasih=thanks you for this info. I´ve done the overland trip-by bus out of necessity and by boat, from Kuching via Brunei to KK=Kinabalu a few yrs ago and then on a saturday could do the northern half of the Sabah railway-just 2 trains/day, ending at some way out of town suburban halt in KK (which as such is a rather big city nowadays), with competing buses running into town ev. 30 mins-except that the one I planned to go out did not turn up and the few passengers were directed into the alltoocommon share-teksi. I understand the southern half of this line serves otherwise completely inaccessible minor hamlets=desa. For some reason entry into both Sabah and Sarawak is considered as different from an entry into mainland Malaysia with also different rules on it.
However: as for Kalimantan (the Indon. name for this island) will get a new Indonesian capital (like f.e. Brasil or Kazakstan got a few years ago) on this island -even away from the coast, to relieve the horrendous Java-overcrowding and there will be a railway also built to serve it-or at least these are the current plans. So there might well be a railline there before this one.
No, AFAIK there have never ever been iron roads in this very big part of island: about the only commodity to export was teakwood and this went via the many kali=rivers. These rivers still form the main means of transportation there.
 

Calthrop

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@dutchflyer: most interesting -- thank you. I've never been to the "East Indies"; but Indonesia has fascinated me rail-wise, ever since it became widely known to Western enthusiasts circa 1970, that the country was then an amazing steam paradise, with a mind-bending variety of steam types and classes, active -- albeit in ever-worsening mechanical condition.

I'm pretty sure that I have seen a photograph with caption, of a steam loco on an industrial line (in an oilfield, possibly?) in Dutch / Indonesian Borneo: taken IIRC in 1945, shortly after the end of Japanese occupation. I think that this picture was, likely, in the now unfortunately defunct quarterly Continental Railway Journal -- to find it, would require working my way through 2 -- 3 decades' worth of my back copies of that periodical; which I'll try and do, but it will be liable to take time ! Will post further, as and when I find it.



Posted 27/6/2021, a day after the just-above:

Found it ! in the Spring 1997 issue of CRJ. A letter from a subscriber: with a photograph of a small tank loco, seemingly in going order; certainly looking to be of European-continent build. The letter runs: "Railway at Balikpapan, Borneo. The accompanying photo was taken by my father, in July 1945 at Balikpapan, Borneo. [His military unit] had attacked Balikpapan to gain control of the oil refinery from the Japanese. The loco is an 0-4-0T with outside Allen valve gear and appears to be about 60cm or 75cm gauge. Unfortunately the photo is not clear enough to read the builder's plate. [Description of railway-irrelevant {non-"mucky"} things chalked on the side tank by the soldiery.] Can anyone provide information about the railway and locomotives at Balikpapan?"

It would appear that no CRJ readers could oblige with any answering info to the letter-writer's question.
 
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