Java Sugar Steam 1997 - 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. For Semboro, stay in Jember which has hotels for all pockets, unfortunately there is nowhere to stay in Tanggul. Of course, Olean and Wringinanom have long been firmly in my top ten mills.

33. KEDAWUNG Mill Index

A brief visit on July 10^th found all locos in store in good condition as usual, the mill seemed quiet with several diesels out of use. 14 had recently worked a special for a visiting Japanese group. On August 5^th, the mill steamed both 14 and 16 for my group. 14 shunted fulls round the yard and 16 was given a short train of loaded mud skips. Both locos then took their trains out of the mill for a short run through the sugar cane. They repeated the performance for the second group 2 days later.

34. WONOLANGAN Mill Index

On July 12^th, 2 (ex 5) was in steam - is the number 2 lucky in Javanese? 3 was spare, all the other locos were stored, allegedly, not immediately serviceable. Just what the loco was expected to do was not apparent, so instead of having it sit under a tree all afternoon, the loco crew were persuaded (very easily) to do a few photographic run-pasts. The amount of work performed by the loco can be judged from the fact the '1991 Visit Indonesia Year' rhino painted on the tanks looks almost mint.... At 07.30 on 9^th August, 3 was in steam outside the shed. The crew were persuaded to perform some shunting movements including taking a short train load of empties out of the mill across the attractive bridge.

35. GENDING Mill Index

All 4 steam locos have spent most of the last 10 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 has put a stop to this. Latest news is that the unique small Mallet 4 has been 'given' to the German Government during the recent visit of Chancellor. Unfortunately for me and my preservation hopes there is only one British loco in Java and that is hard at work (at Trangkil) - in any case official relations with Britain are not good (this is not a political page so you'll have to look elsewhere for information on that one). I was told last year that 'Government to Government initiative' was the best way to get a loco and now I know it's true! On July 12^th it was literally 'under wraps' expected to leave at any time and in mid October it arrived at the Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum.

36. PAJARAKAN Mill Index

Of the then three remaining locos, only 1 still looked a potential runner when I visited a few years ago. It has now joined three of its erstwhile colleagues at Olean (the lucky ones) and two more are at Asembagus (the unlucky ones).

37. JATIROTO Mill Index

This mill has had the biggest collection of disused and dismantled locos in Java for many years. A brief visit on July 12^th showed no change from my previous visit 2 years ago. 10J is preserved on the road into the mill.

38. SEMBORO Mill Index

Last year I was told that two of Semboro's Mallets would go to Olean. Well they didn't make it for the 1997 season. However, the other half of the rumour which I didn't believe was that two of them would go to a Madiun mill. That was true and 26 and 27 were sent to Kanigoro (although they told me it was Pagottan) for the beginning of the season.

Meanwhile at Semboro, the working fleet is the same as last year, namely fireless locos 2 and 3, Jung 0-6-0T 29 and the OK Mallets 15, 17, 18, 19, 21 and 22. On the morning of July 12^th only 2 and three of the Mallets were actually at work. No wonder the mill is more than happy to lay on special trains for its visitors.

On August 6^th at 07.30, both firelesses were at work at the crusher and on the bagasse train. 15 was on boiler washout and 18 was spare. The other Mallets were out. 29 was used on our special train to Gunungsari as usual in the morning. After lunch with the dancing girls it was clear that no locos would return before dark, so we hired 19 to perform on a loaded train near the mill. On August 9^th, the second group found steam more active in the afternoon including a mud train working, although apparently this year it is usually diesel hauled.

39. DE MAAS Mill Index

On July 11^th, 4 was available for yard pilot work as usual but all the line work remained diesel.

For my group visit on 7^th August, 4 was in steam at 07.00 and performed shunting duties and ran a few cane cars through the nearby streets, a performance repeated on August 10th.

40. WRINGINANOM Mill Index

Olaf Güttler found both 6 and 7 working in June, a 100% improvement on 1996.

On July 10^th both locos were working the north lines, 6 arriving back at the mill at 17.00. According to mill staff the steam locos are working the scenic south lines too as required.

On August 5^th, both locos were north of the mill at 15.30. 6 (3km out) brought up its load at 16.30 behind 7 (2km) which was waiting for its load to be assembled. The weather now turned cloudy so we left for a swim and cold beer at Pasir Puteh. The trains would have headed for the mill at about 17.00.

On August 7^th, operation was similar but 6 had already left for the mill when we arrived at 16.00. 7 then left almost immediately. By the time we got to the mill at 16.15, 6 had just arrived and was shunting. 7 arrived 5 minutes later and shunted for the next 20 minutes. As usual, the small bridge just north of the weigh-bridge provided good photographic opportunities.

On August 8^th, only 7 was in the same position as before in the fields by 15.00 and it left at 16.00, passing 6 which was on its way out light engine. On August 10^th, the position was similar except that one loaded cane car had derailed across the points just north of the mill. After one of the diesels had hauled it around 180 degrees and then dragged it away from the main line, 7 came in at sunset to give the customary silhouette shot.

At 16.00 on August 12^th, 7 was 3 km north of the mill and proceeded to give the best clag from any cane train I have seen in Java. Unfortunately, most of it came from the first two cars and the rear half of the train which were on fire. After splitting the train into three to isolate the fires, 7 finally left for the mill at 16.30, only to have its way baulked by 6 which was not ready. The two set off in convoy just after 17.00, but the silhouette shots were frustrated by the condition of the points which had been damaged by the derailment 2 days earlier.

A morning visit on August 13^th found 6 in light steam. After the diesels had removed virtually empty from the yard, the steam crew said that 6 would 'probably take out some empties about 11.00' when they became available. In the event, 6 finally made it out at 12.45. By this time 7 was being lit up, but Olean kept us too busy to get back later.

41. OLEAN Mill Index

Olean has almost completely written off its own fleet and relies on transferees from Pajarakan like 5 - named Bromo.

The rumoured Semboro Mallets have not arrived, but Pajarakan 1 has and will be put back into working order, maybe for use later in the season if it is needed.

On July 10^th all the working locos were already back at the mill by 15.30. It appears that 3 has been renumbered 2 to confuse the visitors (it has 4360 all over its motion)! On July 11^th, 5 was on the main road north of the mill by 12.30, while one of the mill's small diesels brought fulls off temporary track. Both them left together for the mill at 14.00. Meanwhile, 2, 4 and 7 appeared to have worked in from the western lines. Later 4 and 7, separately, went to the triangle north of Karang Malang village to bring two train loads of fulls. A classic Olean day, with operations complete by 16.00.

On August 5^th, one loco (assumed to be 4) was at the west end of the system at 13.30, while 7 was just outside the mill, both with trains ready to depart. 5 was found at the same time on the roadside north of the mill and made the usual spirited return. By 14.30, 2 was ready to leave from the far north-west, pausing to pick up the rest of 4's train. It was clear that any further movements would not be photogenic, so we went to Wringinanom.

By 13.30 on August 7^th, 5 was parked 2km west of the mill, 4 was working in from just west of the mill and 2 was already on its way back to the mill from the north-west via Karang Malang. 7 followed from the main road north of the mill at 14.30, by which time, 4 had arrived for the rest of the fulls. Since this would take some time, we transferred to Wringinanom.

On the afternoon of August 8^th, it seemed that an identical operation would be attempted as the day before. In the event, there was a (road) truck of cane overturned in the path of 2 which delayed it by an hour so that 7 and 2 went through Karang Malang in convoy. Further operation was again not observed.

At 14.30 on August 10^th, 5 was completing coupling up on the main north of the mill and set off in the usual spirited manner via Karang Malang at 15.00. Apparently this was the second train of the day, the first presumably working in off the north-west line. No other operations were noted although one loco was seen waiting with a train on the west line just outside the mill.

August 11^th was one of those afternoons when you don't know where to turn, when there are so many trains running that it is impossible to photograph them all. At 14.00, 2 set off from 1km north of Duwet on the west of the system, 4 was down the branch near the Wringinanom system. Meanwhile, 7 set off from north-west of Karang Malang. 2 paused to shunt some other fulls and at 14.30, 5 was found coming off the main road through Karang Malang. By 15.00, 7 was heading back to Gelung (far north-west) as 2 reached the mill. At 16.00, 7 made a spirited return, followed closely by 5 (plus diesel) on its second trip. Finally, 4 was found approaching the mill from the west as the sun set just after 17.00. I conclude that they knew I had just disposed of the last of my tour groups…..

August 12^th was my kind of day. My son and I spent the morning admiring the best live steam event in East Java, namely the sulphur springs and the crater lake at Kawah Ijen. After a lunch of spicy Nasi Padang washed down with fresh mangoes, Olean provided the usual feast. 2 was west of Duwet and arrived at the mill at 15.00 while 4 was 1km north of Duwet and arrived at the mill at 15.30. However, the best entertainment was provided by 7 which took a train load from north-west of Karang Malang at 14.00 followed by 5 which was again working from the main road north of the mill. In both cases more than 30 loaded cane cars were handled with ease by extremely competent and enthusiastic crews. I boarded 5 for the final run into the mill and boiler pressure was close to blowing off. After this we left for Wringinanom.

August 13^th appeared to be heading in the same direction. 2 and 4 were placed as the day before, but 7 and 5 had swapped duties, 5 heading for the mill around 14.00. 7 was at Trebungan on the main road waiting for the diesel to bring up the fulls. It spent so long messing around that 5 had arrived (for the other half of the fulls) before it was ready to go. As a result 5 and 7 (with a diesel dead behind them) jointly hauled a grand total of 61 fulls to the mill at 16.00, a spectacular way to finish my week or so in the area. Not to be outdone, 2 appeared (on its second trip) with another set of fulls from Gelung at 16.30 to finally ring down the curtain.

42. PANJI Mill Index

All the locos (except the Jung which is dumped) are stored in good condition. Unfortunately the management seems keen on keeping things that way.

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

On July 11^th, 3 and 15 were at work, with 5 under light repair. 16 and 17 appeared more or less complete. There were the usual heaps of junk from partly dismantled steam locos littering the shed. At 08.00 on August 8^th, 5 worked a special with box vans for my tour group to Jangkar and back. 3 and 15 were in steam, 3 had vanished on our return presumably on empties. According to mill staff, two locos work to the fields most afternoons, with one returning just before sunset. However, on August 10^th at 14.00, no orders for the afternoon had been received and mill staff did not expect any locos to set out until 16.00.

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