The FarRail Tours Summer Newsletter According to the date the summer newsletter is a bit too early, but in Berlin the summer has arrived already. There are some questions I receive on a regular basis, so I’m listing the answers here right now. Over the last few years the phrase “the last time” or “the very last time” has been used far too often when talking about the use of steam locomotives. But now these phrases have changed to becoming facts. The hard, dirty, daily use of steam is close to becoming extinct. Indonesia dumped almost all its steam locomotives last year and China is following right now. The suggestion that Fuxin might be the last hotspot of steam will prove wrong. It probably won’t be Sandaoling either, where we’ll run a farewell tour in December, either. Maybe it’ll be in Africa, namely Botswana … who knows? For sure, Sandaoling alone seems to remain a photographically satisfying location, and this for less than a year if rumours can be banked on. Then it’ll become dark for the enthusiasts of steam and only the preserved lines and charter trains might brighten up the darkness a bit. However, as I was compiling a presentation for the Tehran authorities, I realised that there are still more than 1,000 serviceable steam locomotives around the globe. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, but there is at least some light within the tunnel ... I wish you a bright summer, Bernd Seiler Contents Romania China Argentina Burma/Myanmar Iran

Viseu de Sus, Faina Summer 1989

Romania Almost exactly ten years ago I first organised steam charter trains in Viseu de Sus. Since then there have followed many, and Viseu de Sus has always been included in the programme. Since 2007 however, I have regretted that there is no wooden four wheel tender any more in Viseu, the standard tenders used for decades. There was also no domestic locomotive available, but at least the same type of locomotive they had. In response to my nagging questions about four wheel tenders I always got the same answer, “they derail frequently so we don’t want to use them”. This despite that Michael Schneeberger organised the restoration of one of these tenders to working order. If one of the decision makers had been close by any of the following tours, I couldn’t have held back at least a deep sigh about the lack of authentic rolling stock. But the last few remaining tenders were “privatised” and scrapped one after the other. The great flood finally finished off the only complete and overhauled four wheel tender. The remains, minus its wooden wagon body, was salvaged from the river bed later, but then they lost the scent of where the frame was. But always when I was talking about the two axle wooden tenders, there came up rumours that there could still be one next to the

line being used as a shelter for the forestry workers. Despite this, we couldn’t find it on our tours. Only at the end of the loading track in Novicior did there seem to be a slim chance of finding one of these tenders or at least its remains. But no-one ever found time to have a close look for it. I discussed the issue with Georg Hocevar, the saviour of the Moldovita line. And it was he who found, under a pile of planks, the remains of the

frame of probably the last surviving four wheel tender of Viseu de Sus, in the Spring of 2016! It was the frame of the once refurbished tender which was washed away with the flood. I asked for permission to use a four wheeler once it was overhauled, and got the answer, “we’ll try again”. I promised them that I didn’t care how often we had to re-rail the wagon if we only could form an authentic train composition. Then I agreed to pay a substantial part of the overhauling costs of the four wheel tender. And despite this, I didn’t ask for any exclusive rights, that only I could use the tender after its overhaul. So other photo charters can use it as well, as with other vehicles I’ve paid overhauling costs for; such as locomotive no.13 in Burma (Namtu), and freight wagons in Gryfice (Poland), Eritrea and Sri Lanka etc. But a small special chance should be allowed: I’ll use the four wheel tender for its very first time on the tour in October 2016. We’ll have a fully authentic train then, because a real Viseu locomotive will be back in service in October as well: 764 469!

The picture of 764 469 in the workshop of Criscior was taken by Andreas Karlstetter just recently and shows the locomotive completed with its freshly overhauled boiler. The rest will be finished by September. As if that weren’t enough, we have more on offer which hasn’t been photographed for two decades. Every Monday, Viseu de Sus used to run a purely passenger train, consisting of four to six Unio Satu Mare carriages, taking the forestry workers and the border police up to the mountains. And now we have once more as many passenger coaches of this type so we can form an authentic train! We’ll use the occasion to find some volunteers who will masquerade as the border army of Nicolae Ceausescu in the final years of communism. They will pose for some pictures for us. Additionally, we have other new highlights such as the railway of Baile Sovata with one of the Polish Px48s which were originally delivered to Romania and the plank train in Comandau. All this plus Viseu back to real authentic trains on our Autumn tour in 2016! China Probably most of you have read it already on my blog (http://www.farrail-blog.com/) - Fuxin is no hotspot for steam any more. They received some diesels from a closed mine company and replaced most of their steam loco fleet. In a recent meeting it was decided to continue to use four steam locos in order to avoid an abrupt increase in unemployment, this being a big problem in China at the moment. The price for coal has been declining for a long time, workers get no salary for months and social tensions are feared. Because Fuxin used to have one or two spare locomotive in steam, it is very likely that only two SYs will remain in active service while the other two will be stand-by locomotives. The line towards and on the dump is being prepared to withstand the higher axle load of the diesel right now. Hence, Fuxin has disappeared from the map of worthwhile locations. The January visit had to be skipped and the extension of our tour to North Korea has now changed from Fuxin to Sandaoling. Sandaoling offers the last real steam show which is a highlight for photography as much as it is acoustically. But the future for Sandaoling is soon to be free of steam as well. Shortly before Chinese New Year they may well reduce the operation a little. That’s why it seemed much better to use the December tour to visit Sandaoling again. This time it really seems likely it will be our final tour to China for genuine steam. And this will also be the final tour to see real winter steam, because there is nothing else left in the world which can compete. There is only an unappealing shunting operation in Bosnia.

Argentina It looks not good for the tour to Argentina. For political reasons the line has been interrupted between Esquel and El Maitén, but the problem seems this might be solvable. More importantly for us, there is still a large number of confirmed bookings missing in order for me to pay for all the charter trains. Regarding interested people, I have sufficient on the list to run the tour, but what I need are confirmed registrations. Almost a quarter of a century after the service by Ferrocarriles Argentinos was originally given up and another similar time of the line producing a loss, it’s really a wonder that it is still there and able to provide steam trains over major sections. With the new government and its new politics, I fear that donations from the government will run dry and the railway might disappear from the map totally. This has been the fear for some decades already, but now there seems to be a real challenge to survival. Despite the enormous price, it seems this may well be the last serious charter train event for dedicated photographers here. It’s hard to imagine that someone can convince me to cover the risk of such a tour under the current situation ever again. So in the foreseeable future I’ll be bowing out of it. In the past, we’ve had a fantastic time there and may well have another go, but then it’s over. What I’m planning now is to confront the Argentineans in a few days with the number of participants I’ll have and let them decide if they want to earn a small amount of money or nothing at all. It’s very unlikely that we could fulfil all the financial wishes of the Argentineans with the current number of bookings. It’s worth trying, but they may realise that not every price can be achieved. Burma/Myanmar The dust of a cabinet reshuffle had barely settled as I sent our well known Burma steam train guide from Germany to Naypyitaw and Yangon to try to bulldoze through the steam charter tour on the state railway that we have been discussing for a long time. Lo and behold – despite many hurdles, such as she wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the freight wagons we wanted but instead had to note the wagon numbers, we got a tour together which met our targets! Almost a decade after the last fire in a Burmese metre gauge locomotive was extinguished, we can return two different locomotives to one of the most untouched metre gauge railways on the planet. The efforts to achieve this were huge: nine years of negotiations, three flights to Burma, two turntables to re-activate, one triangle to be worked through, watering facilities to be checked and

repaired, two passenger coaches to be re-painted in the traditional colour scheme and so on. All this will appear on the bill for this tour. Even if you’re among the lucky few who saw steam in Burma in its genuine days and even if you are not, this will be a superb chance to experience one of the finest metre gauge steam trains in the world. No-one knows how the price of such trains will increase after this first tour, when the authorities realise the logistics necessary to carry out such a tour. At the moment, the state railway employees

are still having to cope with the messed up start of steam charter trains designed for wealthy tourists (which never appeared) and have been willing to make some compromises to their hard negotiating position over the past nine years. They even listened to me when I asked them to re-convert the YC from a coal burner to an oil burner. And they also said they wanted to consider the overhaul of one of the classic Pacifics of the YB class. Burma Railways used to have 50 of this class, but I have a gut feeling that this tour will just open a timeframe of a few years or months for this, as was the case with Eritrea, standard gauge steam in Romania or metre gauge steam in Cambodia. Last but not least, a problem in Namtu, the scenic narrow gauge line in the mountains of Burma’s Shan state. Namtu are asking prices which I think are ridiculous. They now want 100 Dollars per person per night for accommodation in the lovely wooden shack in Namtu, called guesthouse no.2! The prices for chartering an empty freight wagon are several times what the German Railways would ask for! I’m very sorry, but for these prices I can’t fill a tour with participants. That’s why in 2017, after the metre gauge tour, I’ll offer a full package of culture instead of Namtu. We had a superb time in Namtu, but I’ll not do it at any price. Iran Iran, Iran – how was it in Iran? I’m asked quite frequently. In the blog (http://www.farrail-blog.com/) and on fotocommunity (http://www.fotocommunity.de/user_photos/422408) I’ve published a few pictures from the tour. So how do you think it was? No matter what I tell you, you won’t believe me because of the constant fire of all media canons against the country. Only those who took part in the tour will believe me when I say that Iran is a fantastic country with lovely people. There is no need to say anything about the Trans-Iranian Railway. It’s just a masterpiece of engineering with ultra-fantastic scenery. Will there be another tour to Iran. Yes, a little different from the recent one in Spring 2017, but I have to wait for the Bulgarians - the planned tour to Bulgaria should run around the same time - just in case I have to alter the plans for Bulgaria slightly. It’s inevitable that Iran will change in the future. Especially the railways will see a push in modernisation – not to the joy of railway photographers. Steam in Iran? As I’ve said before, I’m working on it. When time permits I’ll publish something on my website. A question for you: has anyone a Friedmann injector 180/250 litres in his cellar? This answers the question already ...