The First Railway of Laos

Lone Rider

Lone Rider

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While working on a post on Champasack Province for the "Laos - Things to See and Do" thread I was looking for info on the old railway track on the islands of Don Khon and Don Det (part of the 4000 Islands). This was the first railway ever built in Laos and it was abandoned in the 1940's. At present only the railway bridge between the islands, a few short pieces of the railway track, an old rusty locomotive built by Orenstein & Koppel with the name "Eloise" and some concrete piers on each end remain. Pictures of the old locomotive can be found everywhere but very little else appears to be available. I was really surprised to find on the web some pictures of the time the train was still in use transporting the ships from one end to the other end so the ships could continue their journey.

The Ham Luong and the Massie being moved over the railway.png
The "Ham Muong" and the "Massie" being transported from one end of the railway to the other end

Transport of rear part of the Ham Luong.png
Part of the "Ham Muong" ship on the train

More info on the railway can be found here: Don Det and Don Khon narrow gauge railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
555 if there is any space left to build a railway. Found some time ago that work has started on the Xe-Pian - Xe Namnoy Hydropower project on the Bolaven plateau in the south of Laos between Paksong and Attapeu.
 
Love the story and photos Lone Rider, where could I find a pic of the rusty old loco ? I googled O & K 'Eloise' only to find a narrow gauge railway in the Uk has an O & K loco 'eloise' in service. Why would there be 2 locos by the same company both called Eloise ? Oh I have a couple of pics of a O & K loco I took in '59.
 
steaminjungle said:
Love the story and photos Lone Rider, where could I find a pic of the rusty old loco ? I googled O & K 'Eloise' only to find a narrow gauge railway in the Uk has an O & K loco 'eloise' in service. Why would there be 2 locos by the same company both called Eloise ? Oh I have a couple of pics of a O & K loco I took in '59.
Click to expand...

Go to 4000 Islands. Si Phan Don. Photo Gallery by Peter Wolledge at pbase.com where you will see some stunning pictures of the 4000 Islands and the loco on the 9th row from the top.

Another pictures in this story: Laos' first railway: 14 km of rust | CNN Travel
 
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