Today we went to the Changhua Fan-Shaped Roundhouse in the morning. This is R153, an EMD G22CU locomotive in one of the outdoor sidings.
Next to it was R40, an EMD G12 in the old blue paint scheme.
This is a shot of R40. Or at least part of it, anyway.
R22 was coupled up to R153. Because of the length, the locomotives stuck out onto the walkways.
This is R34 and CK124. R34 is a G12 and CK124 is one of three resident steam locomotives. It has a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement, and while it was originally a tank engine it runs with a small tender.
This is DT668, the largest steam locomotive there. It has a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement and was built as a tender locomotive.
This is R156, an EMD G22CU in a stall.
R38 and R46 are both EMD G12s, except one of them is showing us the short hood.
The deadline of G12s is still there.
S318 seems to have a new coat of paint, although it has been in the same place for the past two years.
This is R24, one of the G12s.
And this is my "Dramatic-Shot-of-the-Day!!"
I'm pretty sure that DH111 has been there since February.
Since we visited on a Sunday, there were many, many people around.
From the railfan platform, you can watch the TRA mainline. Since there isn't really a special Sunday timetable for TRA, trains still came once every 10 minutes.
These idiots nearly made it halfway around the turntable before they were caught. Last time, in February, some kid just ran all the way across the turntable, even with the old security guy blowing his whistle at the top of his lungs. [CENSORED] idiots.
After our stint in Changhua, we headed over to Xihu to meet up with some relatives and also to ride on the Xihu Tangtie. This is the diesel locomotive that pulled our train.
Since this was a former sugar plantation, they made a museum of the old millhouse. These are the absolutely gigantic gears that used to run the machinery.
These are some pictures of the inside.
Naturally this place had a very tall smokestack.
Since we arrived far too early, we took the opportunity to visit the railway cultural park. This is one of the many diesel switchers that resided in that park.
These are some old sugar cane cars that were laid to rest here.
This is a gasoline railcar that was also placed there.
Did you know, Taiwan Sugar Corp used to own so many rail lines, they made it possible to travel from Taichung to Kaohsiung by gasoline railcar! Now the only remnant of their empire is the Huwei Tangtie, which we visited in February.
This is another one of those gasoline railcars. Dunno why there is frosted glass there.
Naturally bringing up the rear of the "train" was the guard's van.
This is another diesel switcher.
In the foreground, we have the railway's crown jewel, an 0-6-0 steam locomotive built in Belgium. In the background, we have a switcher with some covered cars, which are probably used in inclement weather.
From the train, we saw many things. For example, I'm pretty sure that this...gazebo...was created by mashing two railcars together.
This train had twenty cars, and we were situated in the last car. So, naturally, I took the picture on the curve.
At the last station there is some street running, where I was able to photograph the wheels. The gauge looks like 2ft, but it could be 2ft 6in.
Our locomotive was coupled back up and we were on our way back.
Yes. This is a goose. No, I don't know what it was doing there.
The shed inside was open to the public. As you can see, the management placed 346 on the siding that led into the shed.
Inside the shed, they kept their steam locomotives and their other diesels. This is #604, a 0-6-0.
What kind of a place needs a "no fire" sign in front of cardboard? Are people really that stupid?
This is the inside of Xinzuoying MRT station.
Aside from Taipei's MRT, the Kaohsiung MRT is one of the cleanest I know of.
They use the same stock as the Taipei MRT, except they are painted differently. I wasn't able to get any better shots. :(
Well, the sign told me to take a picture, so...
Our first stop in Kaohsiung was the Takao Railway Museum/Kaohsiungkang Railway Cultural Park.
Once you leave the museum and the comfort of the AC (this is the hottest part of Taiwan!), you are greeted by DT609, a steam locomotive.
This is an old switcher in the collection. I didn't take any pictures of the placards, and nothing is online, so it will remain a mystery forever.
This is second-class passenger car 35SP32426.
This is CT259, a CT250 class steam locomotive.
This is baggage-generator car 35SP32426.
This is a Schoma switcher that, interestingly enough, was actually articulated.
Which means that it is connected to a second section. This format is also known as "cow and calf."
This is an upside-down house. No, I don't know why there is an upside-down house.
HOW?!
There was also an old CK58 on display there, too.
The Kaohsiung Hamasen is a railway museum...that rips off Harry Potter. Points for trying, though!
The Kaohsiung Hamasen is also home to a small miniature railway.
This is the entire train ride.
We got to ride on this little train, a model of the Kaohsiung Light Rail Transit, which we got to ride.
The day we went there was July 2. Unauspicious, right? Wrong. July 3 was when the Kaohsiung Hamasen actually opened its model railway museum along with the train ride, but they still charged us full admission for both the train ride and the museum entry. Yet they still didn't allow us in. Way to go!
This is the former British Consulate.
This was the hotel that we stayed in five years ago...
Just kidding, this is the back of the hotel. The front is still relatively intact.
After that we went along to the new Light Rail Transit. The LRT uses grassed track and some very interesting battery charging technologies.
Another nice feature is the gigantic windows that show the driver's cab.
This is another one of the LRT sets at a different station. They were manufactured by CAF, a Spanish company.
This is the set that we rode, one of three. This picture shows it at the terminus at Kaohsiung Exhibition Center.
This light rail uses quick-charge technology, meaning that it mainly operates off of a battery, but at stations raises the pantograph up to charge the battery.
These are videos that I compiled of our trips on both the subway and the light rail.
After the LRT ride, we headed over to Xiaogang Airport to watch some planes in the AC. This is a ATR 72-600 taxiing into the Domestic terminal.
This is a Dragonair Airbus A320 being pushbacked into the runway.
This is a Tigerair A320 taking off on the runway.
Away it goes...
This is a Vanilla Air Airbus A320-200 taking off, heading for points unknown.
And this is a Daily Air Dornier Do 228 landing at Siaogang Airport.
This is a China Airlines plane taking off. At that height, God knows what type of plane that is!
Shouldn't that be "FEAT?"
Because that isn't very complimentary towards their flight attendants.
On the THSR, I shot this video of the passing countryside.
This is our EMU500 coming in to Xinwuri Station
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Next post will be about the Changhua Fan-Shaped Roundhouse and the Xihu Tangtie.
