West Sumatra has had a railway in operation since 1891 to connect the state owned coal mines of Sawahlunto to the port near Padang. About three quarters of the locomotives are rack and adhesion.

The first shot is of the ungainly 2-6-0T C33 class which work the area around Padang docks and the coastal plain to Kayutanam and around Solok in the highlands. There are reputed to be 18 of these Esslingen built locomotives from 1891 to 1904 still in service from the original 23 – this seems to be an overestimate.

The three D18 four cylinder rack and adhesion locomotives have all been withdrawn from service – the best I can do is offer a line drawing as a substitute.

There are two types of E10 0-10-0T locomotive in service. The first and older type are from the Esslingen and Schweizerische Lokomotiv und Maschinenfabrik stables. Originally, there were 22 of these locomotives brought into service – it is believed that only two or three remain operational.

A modernized version of the E10 with Giesl ejectors are in regular use on the rack sections from Kajutanam to Pajakumbuh and Batutabal via Padang Pandjang. Ten were built by Esslingen between 1964 and 1966. A further seven were built by Nippon Sharyo in 1967, as part of war reparations – these are believed to have not been brought into service until about 1970.

Other locomotives to be found in West Sumatra include locomotives to be found in Java and South Sumatra and include C11s, C19s, C30s and F10s. The latter are reputed to be in use hauling coal in the vicinity of the mines at Sawahlunto.