Mountain Steam Locomotives in Indonesia

The Mallet type steam locomotive was originally a light locomotive, but became the Staatsspoorwegen's strongest steam locomotive.

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The front page of the book is entitled De Bergkoningin: Giant Steam Locomotive in the Indonesian Mountains

The presence of railway transportation in Indonesia was driven by the implementation of economic policies by the Dutch East Indies in 1830, namely forced crops in the form of export commodities such as tea, coffee, and cocoa. The rapid development of the plantation industry created the need for transportation to distribute plantation products from rural areas to coastal areas for further transportation by ship. The Dutch colonial government chose trains as the fastest and most efficient mode of transportation for transporting plantation products.

Through a company called Nederlandsch Indische Spoorwegmaatschappij (NIS), the first railway line in Indonesia began construction on June 17, 1864, and was completed in 1867. This railway track connected the city of Semarang with the small village of Tanggung along a 25-kilometer route. Furthermore, NIS was focused on building railway lines to transport sugar products from the Solo and Yogyakarta areas as a leading export product through the port of Semarang.

Widoyoko explained the challenges faced by the Dutch East Indies government in building railway lines, especially in mountainous areas in Indonesia and how steam locomotives worked. This can be seen in the publication entitled De Bergkoningin: Giant Steam Locomotive in the Indonesian Mountains (Kompas Book Publishers, 2024). Widoyoko explained the history of the development of steam locomotives in general in Indonesia, the technical aspects of each locomotive, and the generation series of locomotives in each era. As explained in the book, mountain steam locomotives survived three eras, namely the Dutch East Indies era, the Japanese occupation era, the war of independence era, and the Indonesian independent era.

Challenges on mountain trails

Seeing the effectiveness of the Yogyakarta-Semarang railway line, the Dutch East Indies government wanted to get involved in the railway business. So, on April 6 1875 the Staatsspoorwegen Nederlandsch-Indië (SS) was founded. The first project is working on the Surabaya-Pasuruan-Malang railway pilot route. The line built by this country applies a track width of 1,067 mm.

Not only interested in investing in the eastern region of Java, SS is also interested in building a route in the western region of Java. This route continues the Jakarta-Bogor train route that was previously built by NIS in 1873. Moreover, at that time West Java was known as the largest tea plantation center in Indonesia. SS built a railway line from Bogor-Cicurug-Sukabumi-Cianjur-Bandung-Cicalengka which was completed on September 10, 1884.

The challenge of building a railway in West Java is not only on the track that passes through high mountains. The type of locomotive used is also a challenge because it must have special criteria to be able to pass through mountainous terrain. Staatsspoorwegen ordered several mountain track steam locomotives to be placed on the Bogor-Cicalengka line.

The locomotives operating in the Indonesian mountains, both in Java and Sumatra, are a type of articulated steam locomotive called Mallet. It's called the Mallet locomotive because this type of locomotive was created by a Swiss-born engineer, Jules Anatole Mallet (1837-1919).

According to Widoyoko, the pronounced difference between mountain track locomotives and straight track locomotives lies in the diameter of their driving wheels, where straight track locomotives have larger driving wheels, around 1.5 meters or more. Meanwhile, mountain steam locomotives have smaller wheel diameters but have greater power to climb hills.

The largest steam locomotive in Indonesia

In this 248 page book, Widoyoko explains that Staatsspoorwegen ordered 8 Mallet locomotives in 1916 for the Purwakarta-Cicalengka route which had a high and steep elevation. Staatsspoorwegen ordered Mallets directly from the American Locomotive Co factory. (ALCO) in Schenectady-New York. The ALCO factory has experience making Mallet type locomotives since 1904. This Mallet locomotive has a 1D+D wheel arrangement and is the largest and most powerful steam locomotive in the world with a track width of 1067 mm.

Entering 1930, the first generation 1D+D locomotive (SS1201–1208) was decommissioned and stored at Balai Yasa Bandung. Furthermore, the Mallet locomotive service on the Purwakarta–Padalarang line relied entirely on the second batch of Mallet locomotives (SS 1209–12200).

The development of steam locomotive generations is not only based on American manufacturers, but also on Europe. This European-made steam locomotive is not only used in West Java, but also in Sumatra, such as Aceh and West Sumatra.

After World War II ended, the era of steam locomotives began to fade as global railway modernization moved towards diesel and electric locomotives. However, the Indonesian government did not immediately modernize all of its train fleets. This is evident from the fact that steam locomotives were still ordered from the Japanese company Nippon Sharyo for the D52 and E10 series locomotives, which are specifically intended to rejuvenate Aceh's railway.

The era of mountain steam locomotives truly ended in 1981, when the Balai Yasa locomotive maintenance facility in Madiun, which specifically maintained steam locomotives, was closed. The area of Balai Yasa Madiun was then transferred to PT Industri Kereta Api (PT INKA).

Uniquely, until 1984 the existence of mountain steam locomotives could still be found on the local active route from Cibatu station to Garut station. To the point that many steam locomotive lovers from abroad come to Cibatu to witness the giant locomotive in operation, giving Cibatu the nickname "Mecca of the Mallet". (Compass R&D)

Book Data:

Title: De Bergkoningin: Giant Steam Locomotive in the Mountains of Indonesia

Author: Widoyoko

Publisher: Kompas Book Publishers

Publication Year: 2024

ISBN: 978-623-3468-992

Pages: xiv + 248 pages