Japanese Occupation locomotives
During the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1942 to 1945 a number of locomotives from other countries in the area were taken to Malaya, perhaps to replace those which had been taken to Thailand. Many of these were 3' 6" gauge and would have had to be converted to metre gauge. These included 15 class C30 2-6-2T and 10 class C52 4-6-0 from Sumatra, up to 17 class C58 2-6-2 from Japan and 2 class F 0-6-0, 2 class J 4-6-0, 2 class K 4-6-0 and 1 class Ks 4-6-0 from Burma. This information was extracted from the Mike Page lists - his entry for C58 is followed by "(17)" - I have taken this as a quantity but I could be wrong. Alan Elyard Brown tells me there were 12 C58s on the official list and he recorded a further 4, making 16 in all. He is trying to find details to pass on to me, along with details of the 7 Burma locos. He also saw 7 of these locomotives stored in a siding near Bukit Panjang, Singapore, in 1947, shortly before they were scrapped. Unfortunately he did not have a camera but he did record the details, he will try to find them. The C58s could be the 2-6-2 originally allocated class N, but this is only my theory. Lt/Col Lennox McEwan tells me he saw many unusual locomotives in Malaya during the war and he may have a few photographs. In the table below I have listed details known to me. For the Burmese locomotives I have listed the various manufacturers for the classes but I have no details of the actual locomotives at present. Most of these locomotives simply vanished after the war but a couple of C30s turned up in Cambodia although I do not know their original identities.
As a 2008 update I now have identities for 17 C58 class, 6 of the Burma locomotives, 18 Indonesian class C30 and 11 Indonesian class C52 from data supplied mainly by Alan Rough and Alan Pike who were with the Royal Engineers railway operating unit immediately after the British return. This data was in documents held by the Stephenson Locomotive Society library and I have to thank Patrick Smith for correlating the details. The majority of the Indonesian and Burmese locomotives were taken to Bukit Panjang and scrapped there in 1947, but the C52s were all returned to Java in 1949.
Manufacturer | Works | Year | Number | Notes |
Hohenzollern | 4684 | 1929 | C301 | |
4686 | C303 | |||
4687 | C304 | at Bukit Panjang | ||
4692 | C306 | |||
4693 | C307 | derelict | ||
4694 | C308 | photo exists | ||
4695 | C309 | at Bukit Panjang | ||
4696 | C3010 | |||
4697 | C3011 | derelict | ||
4698 | C3012 | at Bukit Panjang | ||
Borsig | 13953 | 1930 | C3013 | |
13954 | C3014 | |||
13955 | C3015 | |||
13956 | C3016 | derelict in Singapore; photo exists | ||
13957 | C3017 | at Bukit Panjang | ||
13958 | C3018 | derelict in Singapore | ||
13959 | C3019 | |||
13961 | C3021 | |||
434 | 1918 | C521 | at Bukit Panjang, to Vietnam, later Cambodia as 230-001 | |
Werkspoor | 437 | 1918 | C524 | in steam at Prai, photo exists, to Java 1949 |
438 | C525 | to Java 1949 | ||
Henschel | 14851 | 1921 | C527 | at Bukit Panjang, to Java 1949 |
14852 | C528 | derelict, to Java 1949 | ||
14853 | C529 | derelict, being cannibalised, photo exists, to Java 1949 | ||
Werkspoor | 511 | 1923 | C5211 | to Java 1949 |
513 | C5213 | tender from C5214, to Java 1949 | ||
514 | C5214 | at Bukit Panjang, to Java 1949 | ||
Beyer Peacock | 6116 | C5218 | derelict at Prai, to Java 1949 | |
6118 | C5220 | derelict at Prai, to Java 1949 | ||
Kawasaki | C5814 | 17 locomotives recorded | ||
2001 | C5840 | |||
C5842 | ||||
C5844 | ||||
C5846 | ||||
C5851 | ||||
C5852 | became RSR 761 | |||
C5854 | became RSR 762 | |||
C5855 | photo exists | |||
C5873 | ||||
2041 | C5891 | at Sentul under repair, later active around KL in 1946 | ||
C58113 | ||||
C58130 | became RSR 763 | |||
C58131 | at KL severely damaged | |||
C58133 | destroyed by allied bombing at Sentul | |||
C58136 | became RSR 764 | |||
C58145 | active around KL in 1946 | |||
Neilson | 5854 | 1901 | 189 | Burma F class 0-6-0 |
Dubs | 4297 | 1902 | 231 | Burma F class 0-6-0 |
NB | 16829 | 1905 | 262 | Burma J class 4-6-0 |
NB | 16832 | 1905 | 265 | Burma J class 4-6-0 Photograph exists |
NW | 768 | 1906 | 268 | Burma K class 4-6-0 |
NB/NW/RS | 2 locomotives | |||
NW | 1336 | 1921 | 399 | Burma Ks class 4-6-0 |
Above: Indonesian C307 at Bukit Panjang, Singapore, c1947. It was formerly SS 1707.
Below: Indonesian C524 at Bukit Panjang, Singapore, c1947. It was formerly NIS 384.
Above: 265 NBL 16832/1905 Burma Railways Class J 4-6-0 reputedly at Bukit Panjang in 1945 with what looks like an Indonesian C30 and another Burmese loco behind it, out of use and awaiting scrapping.
A & B classes | |||
Burma E and O | C² class | ||
H class | |||
L class | |||
M class | O class | P class | Mallet |
Q class | |||
WWII | Sentinel | WD class |
Page created 4th November 2006.
Updated 9th May 2021.
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