Java Sugar Steam 2001 - Far Eastern Mills

These mills are run by PTP Nusantara XI, formed in 1996 by the amalgamation of PTP XX and PTP XXIV/XXV. These mills were previously PNP XXIV/XXV and before that PNP XXIV and PNP XXV. The Situbondo area is definitely 'unspoiled Java', with facilities at the beach 'resort' of Pasir Puteh to match - in other words, gricers' heaven. If you want luxury, then try the new Hotel Rosali in Situbondo itself. For Semboro, stay in Jember which has hotels for all pockets, unfortunately there is nowhere to stay in Tanggul. Of course, Olean has long been firmly in my top few mills.

I think Panji, Wringinanom and Asembagus have the best medium term prospects of survival.  In 1999/2000, even around Olean I could see much less new cane, although 2001 saw some recovery. All of which amounts to bad news for the steam locos. One final small word of warning, many of the working girls at Pasir Puteh are more 'working' than 'girl'....

33. KEDAWUNG Mill Index

I ran special trains here in 2000, but these (and a couple of other steamings for Japanese parties) will probably have been the only steam activity. 14 and 16 (and their drivers) are happy to do authentic shunting around the mill and just outside it, but on the second occasion 16 was failed with a leaky tube. On June 19th, the mill was so busy that both sets of crushers were in use - the first time for several years I have seen this. Staff said they would repair 16 for me, but it has clearly not been touched since last year's fiasco.... I gave the management a lecture on ploughing part of the profits back into the business on June 23rd but I doubted they would take any notice. I was right, although 16 had been cleaned it was still not serviceable. 14 was in steam but before we could use it to do anything meaningful, it expired in a cloud of steam with a burst tube. By 21st July, the loco was again workable but shunting resulted in multiple derailments, which mattered little as the weather was dire. I guess I will not be bringing my groups back here, a great shame after some very successful visits.

34. WONOLANGAN Mill Index

The field lines were in use on June 20th, by its own lamentably low standards the mill appeared quite busy, but steam could best be described as 'long out of use'. One locomotive is allegedly serviceable but there is a huge hole in its spark arrestor chimney and no doubt several others in more critical areas. 

35. GENDING Mill Index

The four steam locos here spent most of the last ten years in store although in the early 90s a couple were used occasionally as some kind of job creation scheme. The cost of annual boiler inspections put a stop to this.  OK Mallet 4 is now at the Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum, the other three are still stored in the shed. 

36. PAJARAKAN Mill Index

There is no possibility of the two remaining steam locos being put back into action.

37. JATIROTO Mill Index

This mill has had the biggest collection of disused and dismantled locos in Java for many years.

38. SEMBORO Mill Index

Firelesses 2 and 3 were working as usual behind the mill. Last year the mill tried to steam the only Mallet with a current boiler certificate, 21, but it had caught the Kedawung disease and sprung a leaky tube, so Jung 0-6-0T 29 will have been the only other serviceable steam locomotive in 2000. This year they have got a certificate for 15 instead of 21, and on 17th July it was turned out for the first of my special trains. 29 was steamed as reserve but was not needed as 15 was in good shape on 2 coaches plus bagasse carrier plus water carrier plus service vehicle. A great little train to which we did full justice in the afternoon sunshine. On 22nd July, 15 was again turned out. This time the motion fell apart after 5km and only after 40 minutes were we able to proceed again. Unfortunately the weather was less than kind and it rained - a rare event at Semboro in the season. OK 0-4-2T 6 is being prepared for mounting as a monument at the east entrance to the mill, another preserved OK for Martin Murray's list.

39. DE MAAS Mill Index

This mill did not work in 2000 and will remain closed. I am told that all the locos are still here in the shed. The branch line along the Bondowoso road has been lifted.

40. WRINGINANOM Mill Index

Started milling around 17th June, but on 20th June was broken down with cane everywhere. One steam locomotive (6) was serviceable with the outside possibility of it being joined by 7. Staff said initially they would only use diesels but 6 would be needed during the season. The mill has taken a number of the small diesels from De Maas. By the time of my group visit on July 16th, 6 had clearly seen no use at all. However, it had been repainted black, an effect unfortunately undone by the addition of a Micky Mouse figure on either side of the dome... At 14.00 it had just been lit up. By 15.30, smoke was scarcely coming out of the stack despite liberal use of diesel and kerosene to encourage the wood/bagasse to burn. Further wood supplies arrived by becak to no avail. Eventually at 16.00, it was left to us to clean out the tubes, half of which were blocked from damp ash left from the previous season which did the trick. By the time the light was about to die, we had to use a diesel to pose the locomotive outside the yard, so eventually at 17.00 it could move itself but only the videots were able to record it. The staff solemnly promised to do better for the visit of the second group, which they certainly did. 6 was ready by 14.30 and we made our way out gingerly across the main line where we waited for a diesel hauled train to appear. After a quick switch we headed back towards the mill, the relatively late hour meant we could do silhouettes against the mountains and so hopefully conceal some of the paintwork! This shows that you can avoid MM if you try hard!. 

41. OLEAN Mill Index

There is a mill system map on the Olean Heritage Page. It started milling around 17th June, but on 20th June like Wringinanom was broken down with cane everywhere. 2, 4, 5 and 7 were sitting on shed looking very smart as they had been painted for the first time in a couple of years. On 21st June, the locomotives were busy shunting the yard to clear the backlog but there was no field work. 

Having achieved very little which would be of interest to readers of these pages in the previous two days and being reduced to taking Indonesian lessons, I was delighted to spot one loco heading out beyond Duwet at 13.20 on 22nd June. I immediately parked the car and walked down the line, this being the only time when I can actually ride the trains here. I found 7, 4 and 5 in turn near Gelung. 5's normal driver had been restored after a year on a yard diesel and it was a sign of the times that his son was driving one of the cane trucks and the mill's shade trees had been sacrificed as loco fuel, there being no bagasse and presumably no money to get wood from elsewhere. Inevitably it was 'green', so there were alternate thrashes and blow-ups after the 15.00 departure till I left the train near the mill at 16.00. By the time I had picked my car up, 4 was on its way and I managed just one shot before it stopped shy of steam and the light failed. However, compared to the gloomy atmosphere here in 2000, things are definitely better this year with much more cane in evidence and of apparently good quality with the extended rains.

On 15th July, 4 and 7 were west of the mill. We missed 5 at Semiring on the north line because it left the cane field about 13.00! A surprise sight in the mill yard was ex-Pajarakan 1 in steam (with 2's tender), previously it had been stored since its arrival some years ago. The next day it was used on an empties train just west of the mill in the morning - we spent the afternoon on a wild goose chase at Wringinanom. John Raby and Dave Thornhill were here on July 17th while I was at Semboro, the pattern seemed to be similar to July 15th with trains running a little later. General impressions are definitely that Olean is back to a top quality performance, 5 in particular between Semering and Tribungan putting in a storming performance.

18th July was very similar, 5 putting in another stirring performance from Semiring to arrive just after 15.00. It was followed by 7 from Duwet  which was chased by a mini-bus load of Japanese who proved that lots of money cannot always buy you results as they and their incompetent local guide completely missed the far more photogenic 5. I had left my group to ride 5's train in Karangmalang and badly needed a lift to Duwet to rejoin them, but my reward from these shits for saving them a wasted journey to Semiring was to be left in a cloud of dust. I had the last laugh when they shot off down the dirt to Gelung in the far north-west when the train was actually west of Duwet. Unfortunately, they got back before 4 and 1 double-headed back home. 1 was on a trial run as the train was the normal length and 4 was there to provide assistance which was not actually needed. If you are Japanese and heading for Java then don't ask me for help in the next year or three. On a positive note, apart from the re-appearance of 1, the locals did give me the necessary lifts and all the locomotives were now burning 100% bagasse, a sure sign of a good season, after three poor years. I was more than a bit disappointed that two of my group (professional confidentiality ensures their anonymity) decided that the Novotel in Surabaya with its burgers and donuts was a greater attraction than an afternoon in Olean on their final full day in Java.

David Thornhill and John Raby visted Olean on 22nd July, most notably finding 4 and 5 double heading from Semering on 39 loris. On 23rd July, 4 and 7 were busy on the west line, including just north of Duwet. 5 was at Semering as usual and 1 was sent out to Karangmalang to meet it for a flying double header. My new tour group were most impressed all round (as they should have been!). On 25th July 5 was at Semering again, it was the number two crew and they needed a brew up just after Karangmalang which allowed us extra shots including a run past by a flock of ducks. The west lines ran late owing to a series of derailments on the temporary track. This was the first time for many years that I will not have been to Olean in August, hopefully there will be a few other visitors who will enjoy what I miss.

42. PANJI Mill Index

I dropped by in August 1999 and it was quite clear that there is now no prospect of any of the steam locos here running again. I had previously described the locos here as 'stored' and although superficially they look OK, most of the non-ferrous fittings have been removed for the other mills in the area. For those who like that kind of thing (I would use the word 'pervert' but that is what my ex-wife calls me) then the little diesels look quite nice on the road side field trains. 

43. PRAJEKAN Mill Index

The serviceable smaller locos were reallocated to De Maas and Asembagus some years ago. The other locos remain in store, a tragic end for the magnificent Luttermöllers.

44. ASEMBAGUS Mill Index

I expect there to be some steam activity in 2001 and I ran my annual box van specials on July 18th and 25th. The mill was quite busy on June 21st, but there was not yet enough bagasse to consider using either of the two serviceable steam locomotives. On 18th July, there was a mountain of bagasse in the yard but 5 used mainly wood, maybe it was not yet dry enough. The mill engineer said they were using steam regularly because of the increase in diesel prices, but the other working locomotive 3 was cold. Indeed on 19th July, John Raby and David Thornhill saw 5 going out to the north fields at 15.30.

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