Japan-donated trains in good condition: SRT

[Moonlover]

15 minutes ago, digger70 said:

10 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has announced outcomes of the inspection of the 17 multiple unit diesel train carriages being donated by Japan, finding them all in good condition.

 

15 minutes ago, digger70 said:

Like I said they are Carriages Not Loco's .

One can tow them with ones Ute if you like .

A diesel train carriage, AKA a diesel rail car, has its own propulsion system built into the bogies. They do not need a locomotive to haul them. There are thousands of examples all over the world, including right here in Thailand. I've been on quite a few.

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by Moonlover

[carlyai]

2 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

They do have a steam powered train with old stock running from Kanchanaburi to Sai Yok where it is turned around and you come back. It's a great day out. Other than that the railway bed exists in places but the track is all gone.

Some track is still there. ????

[Burma Bill]

5 hours ago, kotsak said:

Will it run cross river Kwai?

Possibly yes.

Quote from OP:-

 

"for operations in Thailand as tourism trains"

 

[Burma Bill]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Japan’s rail operator JR Hokkaido is donating the train

Wishful thinking, but wouldn't it be nice to have one of their Shinkansen trains:-

 

[Bluespunk]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

with the livery reflecting areas the tourist train passes through.

That should be interesting. 

[josephbloggs]

5 hours ago, JoePai said:

Only the civilised world

Plenty of diesel trains all over the world.  Nearly 30% of the rail in the UK is diesel.  The US is probably 90% + diesel.  Japan itself has plenty of diesel lines - generally they donate decommissioned diesel stock when they replace them with...........new diesel stock.  Must admit I was quite surprised taking the train from Tokyo to Sapporo that half the journey was an a rickety old diesel train.

[digger70]

54 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

A diesel train carriage, AKA a diesel rail car, has its own propulsion system built into the bogies. They do not need a locomotive to haul them. There are thousands of examples all over the world, including right here in Thailand. I've been on quite a few.

 

Never seen one sorry  ,I have seen the electric ones with self propulsion.

But then I don't travel on trains .

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, digger70 said:

They aren't Loco's they are carriages. 

I would think they can hook them up to an Electric Loco as the carriages haven't got self propulsion.

Braking systems etc have to be compatible... but I hope so,

[Chris HIckson]

3 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

I think the bridge is closed

Trains are still running I believe.

[xtrnuno41]

Well here in my country they ordered new, super HS train from Italy, Freya

They were falling apart instantly, they went back to Italy and costed over 300 million Euro's.

No train now and the money also gone. Long live governments.

We also should have the F-35, 80 of them, now cut to about 30, due to development costs.

I believe we have 1 now and in those jets are still about 600 errors.

In many countries they ordered a new helicopter the NH-90, so many problems and breakdowns, there werent enough maintenance people for fixing them again. The grounded them eventually.

 

So these oldies are maybe even lots better then some new. 

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, digger70 said:

Never seen one sorry  ,I have seen the electric ones with self propulsion.

But then I don't travel on trains .

No worries. I appreciate that Australia is not big on trains, even though it has the longest passenger train in the world.

[natway09]

They just had to say "Diesel" carriages, why ?

[mrfill]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

That should be interesting. 

Not so long ago......

[mrfill]

5 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

They do have a steam powered train with old stock running from Kanchanaburi to Sai Yok where it is turned around and you come back. It's a great day out. Other than that the railway bed exists in places but the track is all gone.

Is this page completely out of date?  https://fanclubthailand.co.uk/journey-through-history-death-railway-kanchanaburi/

[Knocker33]

Thailand seems to be receiving a lot of donations of equipment etc lately. Are they really that broke.?

I think various countries are trying to pi$$ off China

[Burma Bill]

4 hours ago, mrfill said:

Is this page completely out of date? 

No, not at all. Same as stated in your reference but sorry, I have no idea if there are any suspensions due to the current pandemic. When living in Thailand, pre-COVID, I drove to Kanchanaburi from Khon Kaen and took the morning train to Nam Tok, crossing both the Kwai Bridge and the Wang Po Viaduct, returning on the same train in the afternoon, giving time to visit the War Cemetery and the Death Railway Museum. The following day I drove from Kanchanaburi north west on route 323 to visit Hell Fire Pass with its Memorial and Museum - a very poignant place. The way down into the Pass was via lots of steep steps however for those who had mobility problems, there was a buggy service, greatly appreciated by me when returning back up to the Museum. At this time, extra carriages were attached to the morning train from Bangkok at Kanchanaburi for the journey to the terminus at Nam Tok.

Edited September 11, 2021 by Burma Bill
additional information

[scorecard]

16 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Plenty of diesel trains all over the world.  Nearly 30% of the rail in the UK is diesel.  The US is probably 90% + diesel.  Japan itself has plenty of diesel lines - generally they donate decommissioned diesel stock when they replace them with...........new diesel stock.  Must admit I was quite surprised taking the train from Tokyo to Sapporo that half the journey was an a rickety old diesel train.

Trains in Japan are wonderful, I've travelled on the shinkansen service Tokyo to Osaka and return many times. So smooth, clean, comfortable, good wi-fi and good clean food and drinks service at your seat.

 

Also used an older (not ancient) electric service from Iwakuni to Hiroshima and return (1.5 hrs each way) several times on week-end excursions. As expected, totally clean, comfortable and in good condition. About 20 minutes after departing (both directions) a young lady and young man (both probably 17 years old) delivered hot coffee and donuts to all the passengers (train was about half full).

 

Again 10 minutes before arrival the 2 kids came again with a ham and cheese sandwich (popular in Japan) and coffee and a bottle of water, all in a nice cloth bag. The young man touched my arm to get my attention then pointed to himself and with his fingers made a motion of walking and then walking back, then read from a small card in broken English "Hiroshima (Iwakuni on return trip) I help    you".

 

Sure enough 1 minute before arrival he was back, took my backpack and my arm and motioned to the door. When the door opened he pointed to the gap between the carriage and the platform and said seriously several times 'NO, NO, NO.'

 

He then took my arm to the exit gate then with a big bow he said 'bye bye' I did the same, bowed and said 'thank you' and got a wonderful smile. 

 

 

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by scorecard

[lopburi3]

On the frozen island of Hokkaido these 40 year old dark wood trains were in there element -  in the heat of Thailand "warm and cozy interiors" are likely not what is needed. 

 

[Katipo]

It's surreal as you drive bast the massive new shiny Bang Su Grand Station and see the dozens of decrepit trains lined up near it.. 

[meltojanc]

I hadn't ridden trains since I was a kid until this year.

[BangkokReady]

On 9/11/2021 at 3:28 AM, RichardColeman said:

Looks like a train carriage used to carry the Japanese officials to sign surrender in WW2 seventy odd years ago ! Should be on Antique road show 

I'd take it over any modern monstrosity.

 

Sterile plastic paneling and chairs over wood?  No contest.

[herfiehandbag]

On 9/11/2021 at 12:26 PM, digger70 said:

Like I said they are Carriages Not Loco's .

One can tow them with ones Ute if you like .

A Diesel Multiple Unit is a set of carriages with built in (usually underfloor) diesel engines to power the train. The carriages are equipped with driving cabs. As many vehicles as are required are coupled together in sets to form a train ( hence multiple units). They don't need a separate locomotive, and you don't have to "run round" to reverse the train, the driver just changes ends.

 

You could, possibly, tow them (very slowly) with a "Ute" but as they would be unpowered and have no brakes it would be awfully messy when you tried to stop them!

 

 

[herfiehandbag]

On 9/15/2021 at 4:00 PM, Katipo said:

It's surreal as you drive bast the massive new shiny Bang Su Grand Station and see the dozens of decrepit trains lined up near it.. 

The yards at Bang Su are used to store broken locomotives and rolling stock, much of which is "cannibalised" to provide spare parts for serviceable stock. State Railways of Thailand (SRT) is hugely handicapped by a shortage of money to maintain its rolling stock, to the extent that even if they wished they could not increase the number of trains they operate as they don't have enough rolling stock

 

The current metre gauge SRT system is fundamentally robust, safe and fit for purpose. Signalling systems are safe ( mainly British supplied Westinghouse systems) and the locomotives and stock ( many Daewoo from Korea) adequate for the speeds at which they operate.

 

If a fraction of the money being spent or proposed for glitzy high speed trains were to be spent on the existing network and stock they would have a sound system for years to come.

 

Don't get me started on closing the main terminus in the centre of Bangkok ( Hualampong) and moving services to a station in the suburbs. That is a bit like closing Paddington (in London) and concentrating all long distance services on Slough! Daft - unless you are a property developer masquerading as a railway manager...

[meltojanc]

I hadn't ridden trains since I was a kid until this year. While on vacation in Germany, we decided to visit Frankfurt and were advised to take the train there https://www.oebbfahrplan.com/de/. I remembered the old trains I rode as a kid, and there wasn't much desire to ride them again in the packed cars, but this was something else. I was thrilled with the design, the cleanliness, the comfort, and most importantly, the speed. That day, we took a trip to Frankfurt and back, had time to do some sightseeing. It was the best vacation I've ever had.