From Damascus to Dunedin – in Search of Narrow Gauge Steam by James Waite – 19 February 2026
Our tour of narrow gauge lines starting as promised in Damascus, Syria where the most northern part of the network was officially for pilgrims travelling to Mecca but also used for military purposes. The first photograph showed the beautiful ornate interior in the most prestigious waiting room. This was followed by the interior of one of the workshops on the outskirts of Damascus in considerably less splendour. Following on was a great selection of photographs of steam hauled trains moving out into the rather arid countryside with herds in the foreground, a steaming locomotive in the middle distance and Mount Hebron away in the background. First class accommodation looked a little dusty and was described as not the most comfortable! There is some spectacular scenery with beautifully atmospheric sunsets; and historic buildings such as the back of the Roman Amphitheatre at Bosra with a French built railcar from the 1930s adjacent to the train in use. Tunnels, gorges and bridges featured and James pointed out a bridge that Lawrence of Arabia failed to blow up.
From here we moved on to Jordan and the capital Amman with both daytime and nighttime views, and the remarkable double arched viaduct with a Pacific locomotive converted to the local gauge. Out in the desert area there was further history with an old Ottoman fort in the foreground and charter train distantly visible mainly by the smoke from the locomotive. Another railway encountered was an isolated metre gauge railway in the southern area. The area close to the border between Pakistan and India is sensitive but there were some interesting photographs to illustrate what can be seen in this area. The polite description of the timetable was ‘confusing’. Part of the system has now been closed for some years making the photographs something of a historic record.
The first line in India was a relatively short 2ft gauge colliery railway in the far east of Assam with a rebuilt ex-Darjeeling locomotive using what was described as high quality coal by local standards. Smaller locomotives are required for crossing one of the bridges as it is too lightly constructed for heavier traffic. There was a lovely night time shot of locomotive ‘David’ with the light bouncing of the heavy rain and puddles for added atmosphere. The next railway at Bihar in northern India showed a Hudswell Clarke saddle tank servicing the local sugar cane factory with local growers bringing their crop to the railway by cart for processing and shipping. The whole community seemed to be involved.
Many have heard of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and we saw Siliguri engine shed with 4 saddle tanks awaiting attention. A very scenic railway passing through green areas and right along the streets with a beautiful old special carriage under cover in the workshops. There were two locomotives in steam during this visit but not available for visitors as the limited coal was being conserved for an official visit. Travel here was pretty cheap and there was a willingness to stop for photographic opportunities, not least the so called ‘half tunnel’, where the line passes under a rock overhang. A quite remarkable and special place.
The first narrow gauge railway illustrated in Burma (now Myanmar) was a mine railway showing a Kerr Stuart Huxley Class tank engine in working order but not great condition. This railway was built to serve the local silver mines although it is mostly operated by diesel traction today. As well as smiling locals, there was beautiful scenery and parts of the mine workings where the railway line serves to transport ore to the processing areas. Some photographs were taken from the standard gauge mainline close to Rangoon and there was a nice photograph of a steam locomotive being brought in where the diesel had failed.
Next came Cambodia with the line going down the middle of the street market in Phnom Penh. Unfortunately, at the time of the visit, the length of the line that can be used was limited by the risk of landmines further out. Moving on to Vietnam, the first photograph showed a loaded ox-cart waiting for the train to pass by hauled by a Japanese built tank engine. Colourful flags as the line wends its way through the countryside were a symbol of a local version of Confucianism. The engine shed on the outskirts of Hanoi was not in great order and appeared to be rather neglected.
The line in north Borneo, built by the British in the 1890s, stretches approximately 60 miles from Kota Kinabalu. It was dieselised in the 1970s but 2 wood fuelled steam locomotives have been retained for tourists to enjoy the journey through village, town and countryside.
Moving on, we arrived at the Philippines where only one of the locomotives was in operation at the time, shown hauling sugar cane for processing for the Carlota sugar factory. In the background was a not totally dormant volcano with low cloud over the top. The last photograph of this railway was a gorgeous coloured sunset – very atmospheric with the smoke rising gently from the locomotive.
Thailand followed where working steam ended in the 1970s, but the king was a railway enthusiast so some was preserved. This has also proved a great part of tourism in the area with ‘Son et Lumière’ at the ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’. The following morning covered a visit to the engine shed just over the river from the tourist site with two nice looking 2-8-2s on view. There were further photographs with high rise buildings in the background and a mix of old and new traction in Bangkok. James enjoyed a cab ride which took 1 ½ hours for a short journey described as ‘sheer joy’. There was a definite juxtaposition of old and new with old locomotives trapped in the shed by later added concrete construction. They cannot now be removed as that would mean demolishing part of the building. Other interesting vehicles included a brightly painted rail crane and a sad looking pair of 0-4-0s at another sugar plantation.
The first photograph from Sri Lanka showed steam locomotive number 221 in the engine shed at Colombo. Although steam was withdrawn some years ago, some locomotives were preserved because the shed master was fond of them. Sadly, since he retired, the old locomotives have been ‘dumped’ outside so they are now deteriorating. China has a huge number of narrow gauge railways with the first photograph illustrating a colliery railway with a quite spectacular viaduct. Here too, the railway passes through the local main street. Taiwan has 3’6” railways that were dieselised so there is no steam to speak of. However, the railway has preserved three working examples that are well cared for and steamed up occasionally. Visitors were not allowed inside the sheds but the locos were brought out for photographs.
Japan was our last stop before the break showing 3’ 6” narrow gauge. The first locomotive shown was a 2-8-2 built around the 1930s/1940s that is used for tourist specials. There is some spectacular scenery and the Kyoto Railway Museum is also worth a visit.
After the break it was on to Indonesia with early photographs from a holiday there in 1978. James outlined some of the history using photographs as illustration. A number of what must now be historic shots, showed a variety of settings both inside engine sheds and out and about with a manually operated turntable. The line passes through rising countryside, with more of the ubiquitous paddy fields, and sugar plantations that still use the railway line now using diesel traction. Here we saw more wood fuelled steam too including an unusual little steam locomotive originally used on a steam tramway.. A couple of very bright yellow locomotives were shown off by the manager at another local sugar plantation. There was quite a collection of steam locomotives, some still working and clearly well cared for but others looking rather grubby and neglected.
Moving further eastwards we reached Australia with the first stop in a tidy workshop in Western Australia belonging to a timber concern south of Perth. Sadly, it was destroyed by fire a few months after the visit so the photographs are something of a historic record. Moving on to Queensland, was a nice example of an 1865 0-4-2 which was sold to a sugar railway before moving into preservation in 2015 where it used to run regularly. Brisbane had some interesting heritage carriages and Tasmania’s wilderness railway passed through more amazing scenery with steep hillsides and white water rivers. Lovely picture of a gleaming old Morris Minor waiting for the steam hauled service to pass by. This was followed by a neat shot through the porthole window from the footplate with a later photograph from the pit in the engine shed showing the rack mechanism. The workshops in Melbourne were neat and tidy with a bright green saddle tank undergoing maintenance and a boiler from a South African Garratt in the background. From here the scene moved to South Australia and a rather weird looking loco come railcar with what looked more like half a loco on the front – in preservation for quite a long time, it is certainly something different, although they do have more regular type locomotives too.
Finally, nearing the end of our journey, we reached Dunedin Station with its beautiful mosaic floor in the booking hall. James took a two day journey hauled by a New Zealand built steam loco which took over traction as soon as they were clear of the city area. The Railway Museum in Dunedin is worth a visit with a number of interesting locos photographed and described.
This was an amazing and spectacular journey exactly as promised, visiting many places and countries along the way with many photographs of historic interest as they could not be taken now. James knows his subject and presented very well and eloquently without any recourse to notes. Questions and answers were necessarily short as there was little time left but covered subjects like how the trips were organised; quality of coal; engine cleaning – not a priority in some places; what kind of camera was used – answer Kodachrome Rolleiflex although he now uses digital.
This was a great presentation with wonderful photographs.