Malaysia 2013 - 1
A journey by car to visit some of the preserved locomotives scattered around the country.
We drove via Port Dickson to Malacca where we would spend 3 nights. At Port Dickson we visited the Army Museum to see the Pacific 564.21 which had been displayed there for some years. This same locomotive I had seen at Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s when the locomotive still had its plates showing 564.21. After withdrawal it was moved to Gemas for display on the platform with some other artefacts. When I next saw it the paint was flaking off the tender and the number underneath looked like 564.12 so I checked the makers plate on the tender buffer beam which confirmed it was from 564.12 originally. The rest of the locomotive was still 564.21, though it had been stripped of all its number plates, works plates, nameplates and many other parts and had the name "Gemas" crudely painted on the cab-sides. Since it is common practice to follow the number stamped on the frames when all other parts have been changed (boiler, cab, tender, etc.) as happens often during overhauls a close examination of the frames would be required to determine the real locomotive number. Suffice to say, it is a kit of parts from several different locomotives.
Note the Armoured Wickham railcar in front of the locomotive, again without identification.
After leaving Port Dickson we continued to Malacca where we checked into our hotel then headed for the site of the old station where a class 21 is preserved nearby, along with some other artefacts previously at the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur.
The following day we made a trip to Muar to check out a "locomotive" in a local park. Rumours varied, some claiming it used to work on the Muar State Railway, and certainly it does resemble one of their locomotives, However, it is nothing more than a mock-up of blank plates welded or bolted together, the only part which may be real being a coupling! For a picture of the real locomotive see here.
After a couple more days in Malacca we headed for Kuantan and deviated via Pekan to photograph the real locomotive at the Sultan's Polo Ground.
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