Mr Sprocket!

Introducing Awang Marcus Teddy. Awang ni, mamanya Brunai, bapanya urang French Ceylonese. We grew up in the railway quarters and he was the leader of the pack. Very skillful at boatmaking and machine works.

Where Are You?

This is cumi, my little kitten that went missing for two days now.

Well, I am editing this post today just to put on record that my neighbour had informed me last Friday 2nd May how he met it at his gate, dead with very little sign hoe it met its death. He had it buried.

I'll miss you Cumi... 

As I was looking for some articles, I opened this. Lo its Benny Wang still the GM giving his welcoming remarks. Benny was with us as the project head at the the PMC Team.


http://www.sabah.gov.my/railway/index.html


MESSAGE FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER
It gives me great pleasure to announce that Jabatan Keretapi Negeri Sabah or Sabah State Railway Department has its own web site. The web site provides useful and interesting information about the department including its history.
The web site also provides examples of the scenic views along the railway line from Tanjung Aru (Kota Kinabalu) to Tenom, the last station 134 Km away in the heartland of the Murut Community.
Between Beaufort and Tenom lies the Padas Gorge where white water rafting is a popular sport. This stretch of the Padas River is particularly breath taking.
Presently the emphasis of the department is on tourism. However the railway also provides an important means of transportation for the rural people and their produce from the interior to the coastal towns.
Steam locomotive enthusiasts should include Sabah Railway in their list of prime destinations because Sabah, besides being known as "The Land Below The Wind" should also be rightfully called "The Land of The Last Vulcans". "Why?" you ask. Come and visit us to find out!

2 cents Stamps. This one gets your mails anywhere around North Borneo in its time....

This house must one of the oldest in Tanjung Aru that remains unperturbed by the passage of time. The architecture is one of those typical in its time. I reckon the roof was atap kajang before the present zinc replaced it due to maintenance problems. Yes, the kitchen is separated from the main house by a kaki lima, a safety feature that could give the dwellers time to douse any fire from the kitchen from spreading to the main house. Dulu-dulu the folks use firewood to cook so the risks of fire hazard is high. Anyone knows whose house is this? I don't.

Someone sent me this. His face looks sad and familiar. I think he looks mre like Thierry. What about you, who can he be?

Another Antique doing service

Our Ancient Train Service

My Friend, Samat, commented about the condition ouf our trains. Here are some I want to share with you. These may look obscene and parental guide is necessary.


The inside story.


Despite its ancient age, we are having ardent patrons for the choo choo sounds, the took-took tak-tak rythmn and the white water rafting at the Padas Gorge
And here's one Ancient Railcar under refurbishment. When we were children, we called this "Kutak Machis" for its size and mobility. They were used to ferry the Orang Putih tuans to visit their orchards.

Rhinoceros Beetle

Nothing Much to write today. This is just an ordinary rhinoceros bettle picture I took way down Bundu Tuhan at Kamborongoh with my handphone camera. Somewhere I read, the Japanese are now taking fancy of this animal for some medicinal value. Anyone fancy doing something about this.

The Ghost Train

Sometime back I downloaded this picture from a picasa album created by a tourist who obviouly had been in Sabah.
I think the train in this picture is the one that went down the Padas River as this was the only loco that was in service in this Beaufort to Tenom Gorge Line. Very eerie.

Burung apa nih?

While I was walking around the railway quarters, I met some elderly familiar folks setting up a cassette player playing sounds of bird chirpping inside some bushes at the foot of Kepayan Ridge. Upon enquiry they told me they are setting up trap to catch this bird. Any one knows what specie is this? Looks pretty and chirps lovely sounds.

This morning I took a visit around the Railway Quarters at Tanjung Aru to walk down memory lane. It was indeed very quiet in this place. Eerie quiet. It seems this place knows it will soon turn out to become the next bustling place in the city of Kota Kinabalu when the Government develop it as the Transportation Centre like KL Sentral.

This row of quarters facing the Kepayan Road, all too quiet...

The Railway Clubhouse, where the workers used to gather for billiard games and social activities during the colonial days...















This is the local grocery store...

Hardly any activities

This is the quarters where I was born 56 years ago.

I took time to drive around this area. I drove behind the workshop area and lo... interesting pictures. Look at these trains. There are just like what they were when we left this place in 1965. To think that we have been independent for 44 years and these things remained as if time stood still...

Train Plunged in Padas River

Hi, at this instance, I am trying to upload the video I took at the aacident site for you to see.
But this seems very slow and I got frustrated waiting for the upload to finish,. So I cancel that and upload a few more pictures to share with you.
This one depicts the Bomba team that had been stationed to look for more possible bodies.


This is a close up of one carriage that remained dangling at the slope












This one shows the wheels came off and embeded in the mud












This is the culprit.













Caption from the local Daily Express:
Thursday, 10 April, 2008
DAILY EXPRESS NEWS

2 die in train plunge Tenom: A train with 41 passengers derailed and plunged into the Sungai Padas shortly after it left the station here for Beaufort, Wednesday, killing a man and a woman. The tragedy occurred about five km from the station and opposite the Pangi hydro power plant at about 3.25pm. The ground where the track was laid caved in, derailing the train, which left the station at about 2.50pm. The two deceased were believed to be locals in their 40s. Their identities were unavailable at press time.
District Police Chief, DSP Mazlan Hj Lazim said 16 passengers sustained injuries and were admitted to the district hospital while the rest received only outpatient treatment. A passenger, Ambutung Simbalui, said he sensed something wrong with the way the train was travelling. "I felt as if the train skipped a few tracks and jolted É then suddenly the front coach nosedived into the water," said the 50-year-old. Another passenger, Marius Sariu, 36, said he sustained injuries after the train plunged into the murky water. "Everyone panicked and was scrambling to find their way out," he said. The Tenom rail track had encountered several mishaps within the last decade that also incurred the loss of lives.

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS 11th April 2008
Driver recounts ordeal:

Assistant train driver Awang Jamak was thankful that he was still alive after being trapped under water, in one of two coaches of the train which derailed and plunged into the Padas River following a landslide on Wednesday. Speaking from his bed at the district hospital here where he is being treated for a broken left leg, he said the incident happened suddenly. Having found himself under water, he said he tried to feel his way out. "I thought I was going to die. Luckily, I managed to feel an open window through which I managed to get out, with a lot of people on the river bank helping me up," he said, with a tinge of sadness. Awang, who has 15 years' experience, acknowledged that he encountered similar incidents before but "not this serious". He said derailment was quite common. Twenty-four-year-old Indonesian Rina Pandi, of Kampung Masak, who was in a serious condition, having suffered internal injuries, was unable to talk to relate her experience. The derailment occurred at Kampung Tenom, some 4km from the Tenom railway station, after the two-coach train left carrying 41 passengers on a routine journey for Beaufort. Two of the passengers died in the mishap, presumably drowned. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman, accompanied by Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Radin Malleh, Tenom MP Raimi Unggi and Health Department representatives Dr Heric Cooray and Dr William Gotulis visited the victims at the hospital. On Wednesday evening, Musa ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.photo

Hi, on the 10th April I took a trip to Tenom to observe the incident whereby the a train with its two carriage took a dive into the Padas River the day before. Two of its passengers died. It is also a sad day for me as this train is so nostalgic as I was born as a son of a Railwayman. This trains are the remnants of those that was in service for more than thirty years. I felt so endeared to it even though my father's family and I had left our "kampong" Tg Aru Railway since 1965. The carriages are still the ones that were there where we left them as if time stood still. Sigh! I'll write more about it later as I have to rush to a site where a new installation of a Gatehut is under complain. I'll get more on this..

My first comment

Assalamualaikum, Salam Sejahtera.
I am glad finally after browsing many of other people's blog, I finally have the courage to start this. I am not much of a writer for any topics but perhaps by starting this one I would finally find end up writing some particular topics that would interest the readers.
Maybe you should read my profile first and ask me a question about things that I had experienced in life, about my views etc etc.
I would be pleased to be of any service and share my views.
Ready?