Java Sugar Steam 1997 - Madiun Area Mills

The Madiun mills are operated by PTP Nusantara XI. This was formed in 1996 by the amalgamation of PTP XX with PTP XXIV/XXV. Earlier PTP XX was known as PNP XX. Although only the ghosts of the classic B50 2-4-0s ride the Ponorogo branch, steam still survives in quantity in the mills. In recent years, the amount of steam field working has been minimal, only Rejosari still sends out steam (and that usually at night), but some field lines remain in use with diesel power at nearly all the mills. The mills are late starters, the good morning light is of minimal use as activity rarely starts before 08.00. These days it seems you can paint the locos any colour you like 'as long as it is blue'. There is clearly room for rationalisation in this area, already Purwodadi and Rejosari are under joint administration and local staff say that Kanigoro has problems with a shrinking cane area. There are good facilities in Madiun, which is something of a boom town. The Hotel Kartika Adabi is better value then the overpriced Hotel Merdeka at the top end of the market. If you are on a tight budget, try the Hotel Daya Sakti or the newer Hotel Pondok Indah down the side lane (Jalan Merapi) between the other two - friendly places but you may find here and elsewhere in Madiun that you get one mosquito for every Rp you pay.

19. SOEDHONO Mill Index

At 07.00 on July 31^st, the active locos had been repainted yellow. 3, 6 and 10 were shunting road deliveries, 2 was cold in the yard and 9 was cold in the shed. In the next couple of hours, each loco trundled about 10 fulls across the main mill access road and on to the weigh bridge and around to the far side of the factory. As usual, bullocks were being used to move the empties back to the yard. During a flying visit at 07.00 on August 19^th, 3 and 6 were cold outside the shed, one loco was in the shed and presumably the other two were in the mill area. However, little if any cane was being unloaded and it would have been some time before there was any action. 600mm gauge Engerths must be another endangered species...

20. PURWODADI Mill Index

On July 14th, at 07.45, 5 was in the road delivery yard. It was joined shortly after by 15 bringing empties across the bridge from the mill and 11 light engine. There was no further activity until 09.00 when the first loaded train went into the mill. All locos seen were in blue livery and staff said that none were still in black.

At 09.00 on July 31^st, 10 and 15 were working the road deliveries together with one diesel. Another steam loco was in use in the main mill yard.

By 07.30 on August 19^th, 5 and 10 had run some empties to the road yard and 10 had returned to the mill. At 08.00 15 brought out more empties, it seemed likely that it would again be 09.00 before the first full train would be ready.

21. REJOSARI Mill Index

The mill had not started its season when Olaf Güttler was here on June 16^th. On July 14^th, at 10.00, all the active locos were at the road delivery yard. 6 was on the mud train, 7, 10, 11 and 12 were waiting to work fulls the 1km to the mill. Once again, the livery has changed - locos are now painted blue with two black stripes. At 14.00 on July 31^st, 11 was cold on shed and 6, 7, 10 and 12 were heading for the road delivery yard. Compared to recent years, this was a quiet afternoon, (and a cloudier than average one). 10 and 6 worked to the mill at about 15.00 and there was no further action until 7 and 12 took the next sets of fulls in at about 16.30. The afternoon mud train was diesel hauled.

The afternoon of August 18^th was much busier, 10 was on boiler wash-out, 6 worked empties to the road yard, while 7, 11 and 12 worked in the fulls. Five trains ran between 14.30 and 16.30 when the shadows became too long and three more before 18.00.

22. KANIGORO Mill Index

DB Mallets 26 and 27 have arrived here from Semboro and have been repainted in blue livery. On July 13^th, the mill was very quiet. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 11 were in steam but doing much less than normal, even the mud skips were diesel. 5 and 8 were under repair, 7 and 9 being stored out of use. The Mallets were not being used because Kanigoro's damp bagasse is unsuitable and they will have to burn wood. The afternoon was slightly busier, with 2 resuming its normal position on the mud skips.

At 07.00 on August 1^st, 1, 2, 4, 6 and 11 were in steam as before. By 08.00, 2 was setting off with the mud train to the south and a co-operative crew ensured some nice photos. By now, the road deliveries were in full swing and for the next hour or two there were regular shunting movements. 26 and 27 were outside the shed but obviously still not in regular use, although 27 was in the process of being lit up. 2 worked the afternoon mud train and the other locos continued shunting the road deliveries.

At 07.00 on August 18^th, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 11 were all in steam but there was little activity. The mud train was diesel and by the time I left at 08.00, the only steam movement had been 5 on the bags of sugar which are brought round on ordinary cane cars from the back of the factory to the warehouse near the engine shed.

23. PAGOTTAN Mill Index

The mill had not started its season when Olaf Güttler was here on June 16^th. By July 13^th, most of the work was being done by diesels with just 7 in steam, although the other locos were serviceable. According to shed staff, there was insufficient bagasse for the steam locos and they would be used later in the season.

At 09.00 on August 1^st, a brief visit found 1, 7 and 3 diesels working the road deliveries. 8 was in steam inside the mill. At 14.00, the position was the same, a shed visit showed that all the other locos (2, 3, 5 and 6) were more or less available for service. It seemed that only the new mill was being used and that the original mill was not in use this year. This was a similar pattern to 1996 in that steam was used increasingly during the season as more bagasse became available.

However, on the evening of August 17^th, only 3 and 6 were in steam. It was the same the following morning when a slow start to road operations meant that the first steam hauled train across the road was not until after 09.00.

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