Burma Mines Railway, Railtruck to Namtu, Myanmar

The 2ft narrow gauge Burma Mines Railway provides a public service with converted Hino Lorries from Wallah Gorge to Namtu in the Shan state, Myanmar / Burma. On its journey from the mine to the city the train runs around the famous spiral.

Umgebaute Hino-LKW verkehren als öffentliche Personenzüge auf der 610-mm-Schmalspurbahn der Burma Mines Railway von Wallah Gorge nach Namtu in Myanmar / Burma . Auf der Fahrt von der Mine zur Stadt passiert der Zug die berühmte Spirale.

???????? Myanmar | Time Travel by Rail

For over a century, a railway line has crossed Myanmar's Shan province. The Mandalay - Lashio Express connects the hot lowlands with the green mountains of Shan State in north-east of the country.

Pyin Oo Lwin Station: Arrival, Shunting & Departure - Myanmar Railways (Burma)

This video shows Pyin Oo Lwin Station: Arrival, Shunting & Departure, in the Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). The 132DN train, hauled by loco No. DF2078 arrives at Pyin Oo Lwin station from Lashio and passengers alight. Loco No. DF2079 travelles along the sidings, from the maintenance yard, to replace loco, No. DF2078, that had just arrived. DF2079 will haul the train for the remainder of the journey to Mandalay. In addition to the loco DF2078, two coaches are also removed, probably in preparation for the mountainous desent into Mandalay. See them coupling the new loco and people and their goods boarding the train.

All locomotives are Chinese CNR, manfactured by Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. Ltd., which had 2000 hp CAT engines.

Filmed on the 4 and 5 October 2018

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MYANMAR BY TRAIN, an amazing burmese experience | The old british colony in Burma

An amazing trip from Bagan to Pyay, my second train ride in Burma. Maybe the best way to travel the country for the train lovers like me, the burmese train is a piece of a colonial story.

A bit of history:

The first railway in what was then the British colony of Lower Burma opened in 1877 between Yangon (The Capital) and Pyay, a distance of 161 miles (259 km). Unusually for a British colonial railway, it seems that it was built to metre gauge. Subsequent development was to the same gauge, and by the early 20th century there was a network of almost 2000 miles (3200 km) in Lower and Upper Burma. There was also the Burma Mines Railway, a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge mineral railway some 50 miles (80 km) in length in the Namtu area, the first section of which opened in 1906.

#myanmar #train #backpacking #birmania #burma #tren

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Un viaje increíble de Bagan a Pyay, mi segundo viaje en tren en Birmania. Tal vez la mejor manera de viajar por el país para los amantes de los trenes como yo, el tren birmano es una parte de una historia colonial.

Un poco de historia:

El primer ferrocarril en lo que entonces era la colonia británica de la Baja Birmania se inauguró en 1877 entre Yangon (la capital) y Pyay, una distancia de 161 millas (259 km). Inusualmente para un ferrocarril colonial británico, parece que fue construido con un ancho de vía métrico. El desarrollo posterior fue del mismo calibre y, a principios del siglo XX, había una red de casi 2000 millas (3200 km) en la Baja y Alta Birmania. También estaba el Ferrocarril de las Minas de Birmania, un ferrocarril minero de 610 mm (2 pies) de ancho de unos 80 km (50 millas) de longitud en el área de Namtu, cuya primera sección se inauguró en 1906.

Burma Mines Railway, steam train from Namtu to Lopah, Myanmar

No 42 (2-6-2, Bagnall 1928) hauls a FarRail charter train from Namtu to Lopah on the 2 ft narrow gauge Burma Mines Railway.

Dampflok 42 der Burma Mines Railway (1C1, Bagnall 1928) befördert einen FarRail-Sonderzug auf der 610-mm-Schmalspurbahn von Namtu nach Lopah.

Burma Mines Railway, Railtruck to Namtu, Myanmar .#Short Video

20131212 19 MYANMAR NAMTU WALLAH GORGE 1/2

Extrait Trip Report B.Seiler

Chemin de fer de Mines de la Birmanie : Namtu

2014: 100 ans!

La région de Namtu a fait face à de sévère pluie durant la saison sèche. Cinq sections de ligne entre Tiger Camp et ER Vallée ont été endommagées, même le railtruck ne passait plus. Les travaux de reconstruction ont démarré dès la fin des pluies, tout ne fût pas réparé mais nous avons pu monter jusque ER Vallée. De là un peu de marche à pieds et un camion nous ont permis d’atteindre Bawdwin et l’usine.

La situation du chemin de fer des mines est en baisse, malgré que le nouvel investisseur laisse fonctionner la partie jusque Wallah par la gorge ; les camions ont pris le relais entre Bawdwin et Namtu pour le transport du zinc.

La nouvelle fonderie (l’ancienne fut détruite durant la seconde guerre mondiale) a été construite à seulement deux miles de l’ancienne, mais sans embranchement ferroviaire.Depuis 2009 aucun train n'est monté à la fonderie.
Nous étions le premier groupe à monter en train à vapeur jusqu'à la fonderie.
Un rail a cassé lors des manœuvres dans l’ancienne fonderie, retardant de quelques heures notre programme. Tout a été réparé et nous avons pu reprendre notre circuit.

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Burma Mines Railway: Namtu

2014: 100 years!

In Namtu the situation was different. They faced severe rain in the dry season. Five small sections of the track between Tiger Camp and E.R. Valley were damaged and couldn’t even be passed by a railcar. We asked them to repair as much as they could, but they replied they can’t do anything before the rain stops. Eventually it stopped raining, but the time wasn’t sufficient to repair all the broken sections. But they managed it, at least, to the second reversal and the pagoda. From there we had to take a railcar. The light railcar was able to go up to E.R. Valley. As the railcar in Bawdwin is broken and couldn’t take us we had to walk from here. At the first possible point a road truck took us to the mine and the concentrator plant.

Since our last visit, the situation of the railway had become depressing. Although the new investor let them work the track through to Walla Gorge, he’d decided to use trucks for the lead and zinc transport from Bawdwin to Namtu.

They’ve built a new smelter near the site of the old smelter (the one which was bombed to the ground by the Royal Air Force in WWII), some two miles along the way to Namyao. They used the railway to transport some construction materials up there although the smelter has no rail connection and is not visible from the railway. The line is usable and obviously in a good shape. Since 2009 no train has run up to the smelter. We were told that the smelter is still in working order, but recruiting staff to run it wouldn’t be easy as most of the original staff are now working in the new smelter, elsewhere or retired.
We were the first group ever to run a steam train up to the smelter. I tried this about a decade ago, but our loco failed to haul the two wagons up to the smelter. This time we paid a four digit sum of money (in Pounds – not in Kyats) to repair the track. It took us a good while up there to bring two points back to life, but we got the desired shots. After it, a rail cracked and the loco derailed with all axles. With the help of diesel DC 303 they re-railed the loco within an hour. It went back to the depot and was repaired there within half an hour, so we could run our intended afternoon charter train to Lopah.

20131212 19 MYANMAR NAMTU WALLAH GORGE 2/2

Extrait Trip Report B.Seiler

Chemin de fer de Mines de la Birmanie : Namtu

2014: 100 ans!

La région de Namtu a fait face à de sévère pluie durant la saison sèche. Cinq sections de ligne entre Tiger Camp et ER Vallée ont été endommagées, même le railtruck ne passait plus. Les travaux de reconstruction ont démarré dès la fin des pluies, tout ne fût pas réparé mais nous avons pu monter jusque ER Vallée. De là un peu de marche à pieds et un camion nous ont permis d’atteindre Bawdwin et l’usine.

La situation du chemin de fer des mines est en baisse, malgré que le nouvel investisseur laisse fonctionner la partie jusque Wallah par la gorge ; les camions ont pris le relais entre Bawdwin et Namtu pour le transport du zinc.

En fin de séjour le rouleau compresseur à vapeur a été allumé pour notre plus grand plaisir.
Puis nous avons parcouru quelques kilomètres jusqu'à l'ancienne fonderie de Mill sur la branche de jonction vers Namyao.

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Burma Mines Railway: Namtu

2014: 100 years!

In Namtu the situation was different. They faced severe rain in the dry season. Five small sections of the track between Tiger Camp and E.R. Valley were damaged and couldn’t even be passed by a railcar. We asked them to repair as much as they could, but they replied they can’t do anything before the rain stops. Eventually it stopped raining, but the time wasn’t sufficient to repair all the broken sections. But they managed it, at least, to the second reversal and the pagoda. From there we had to take a railcar. The light railcar was able to go up to E.R. Valley. As the railcar in Bawdwin is broken and couldn’t take us we had to walk from here. At the first possible point a road truck took us to the mine and the concentrator plant.

Since our last visit, the situation of the railway had become depressing. Although the new investor let them work the track through to Walla Gorge, he’d decided to use trucks for the lead and zinc transport from Bawdwin to Namtu.

At the end of trip the steam roller was switched on for our most great pleasure.
Then we traveled some kilometers up to the old foundry of Mill on the branch of junction towards Namyao.

Burma Mines Railway 2013 Part 1 of 4

Namtu, in the far north east of Myanmar in Shane State, is the headquarters of Burma Mines Railways. This 2' gauge line used to run from Namyao via Namtu to Bawdwin. Silver and lead ore was carried to the smelter at Namtu. Two steam locomotives remain in working order but are not in regular use. One is a Bagnall 2-6-2 No.42 built 1928, the other, a Kerr Stewart 0-4-2T No.13 built 1914. The railway also has a rail vehicle converted from a Japanese Hino lorry. The line has some steep gradients and a spectacular 540 degree spiral curve just before Wallah Gorge.
Ore used to be taken by a NG electric railway from Bawdwin mines to the wooden ore loading point at Tiger Camp via a tunnel. Currently this line is not operational.