New Page

Ores had been discovered in the Bukit Besi area as early as 1908 and some freelance mining attempts took place from about 1916 but nothing official happened until 1927.

This company started life in 1927 as the Kuhara Mining Company and they commenced the building of the Railway in 1929, the same year that the name was changed to Nippon Kogyo Kaisha (Nippon Mining Company) in Kuala Dungun, Trengganu, Malaya, with an 18 mile line of 2’ 6” gauge to the iron mines at Bukit Besi and a fleet of 12 Hitachi 13 ton 0-4-0T locomotives which increased to 17 over the next couple of years and were numbered 1-17. In 1935 a further 12 Hitachi 26 ton 2-6-2T locomotives arrived, followed by 3 more batches in the next 4 years making a total of 20, confusingly also numbered 1-20.

In 1945 the railway and mines were taken by the Enemy Property Custodian and sold to EMMCo in 1949. The locomotives were found to be in poor condition and several were cannibalised or scrapped. By 1960 all the 0-4-0 Tanks had gone. There were 6 Hitachi diesels numbered 1-6 and 2 batches of Orenstein & Koppel diesels numbered in a B and C series.It is not clear whether the O&K locomotives carried any numbers as around 26 were delivered in the 1930s but by 1949 this number had reduced to just 13 plus two known replacements in the 1950s. The records show 19 x RL2b (B series) and 7 x RL3 (C series). There were 15 miles of sidings at Bukit Besi. Prior to the railway the ore was taken to the river at Kampong Dendung by cart and went by river to the Dungun Estuary. Initially the rails only went as far as Kampong Che Lijah until the tunnel through Bukit Tebuk was opened in 1936 allowing the loading point to be made in deeper water at Nibong. The line was extended to Sura Jetties later, date not yet known.

Above: 5 Hitachi 0-4-0T locomotives of the Nippon Mining Company, 3 & 5 nearest, these were built in 1929/30 and photographed soon after delivery. Photo by CW
Can anyone translate the text at the bottom?

Below: Bukit Besi mining area map. The old station and workshops were off the map to the right.

Below are several pictures of the last 4 "active" steam locomotives, being 5, 6, 13 & 15. These are all from the Peter Hodge collection held by Rob Dickinson. He has the colour photos on his own website at International Steam.

The following pictures start with the B and C series of Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0D used for shunting in the yards and the larger Hitachi diesels for main line use which are numbered 1-8.

The following pictures are of the Hitachi 0-6-0D locomotives supplied from 1961.

Number	Maker	Works #	Month/Year	Wheels	Weight	Gauge
	O&K	11879	1929	0-4-0T
	O&K	11880	1929	0-4-0T
1	Hitachi	374	12/1929	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
2	Hitachi	375	12/1929	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
3	Hitachi	376	12/1929	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
4	Hitachi	377	12/1929	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
5	Hitachi	378	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
6	Hitachi	379	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
7	Hitachi	380	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
8	Hitachi	381	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
9	Hitachi	382	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
10	Hitachi	383	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
11	Hitachi	384	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
12	Hitachi	385	2/1930	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
13	Hitachi	438	5/1931	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
14	Hitachi	439	5/1931	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
B1	Hitachi	461	1932	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B2	Hitachi	479	1933	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B3	Hitachi	480	1933	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B4	Hitachi	481	1933	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
15	Hitachi	492	5/1933	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
16	Hitachi	493	5/1933	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
17	Hitachi	494	5/1933	0-4-0T	13 tons	2’ 6”
B5	Hitachi	563	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B6	Hitachi	564	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B7	Hitachi	565	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B8	Hitachi	566	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
C9	Hitachi	594	1935	Die-Elec	7 tons	Metre
C10	Hitachi	595	1935	Die-Elec	7 tons	Metre
C11	Hitachi	596	1935	Die-Elec	7 tons	Metre
C12	Hitachi	597	1935	Die-Elec	7 tons	Metre
1	Hitachi	598	5/1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
2	Hitachi	599	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
3	Hitachi	600	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
4	Hitachi	601	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
5	Hitachi	602	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
6	Hitachi	603	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
7	Hitachi	604	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
8	Hitachi	605	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
9	Hitachi	606	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
10	Hitachi	607	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
11	Hitachi	608	1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
12	Hitachi	609	8/1935	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
B9	Hitachi	611	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B10	Hitachi	612	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B11	Hitachi	613	1934	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B12	Hitachi	704	1935	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B13	Hitachi	705	1935	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B14	Hitachi	858	1937	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B15	Hitachi	859	1937	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B16	Hitachi	860	1937	Bo P-E	1½ tons	2’ 6”
13	Hitachi	874	1/1937	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
14	Hitachi	875	8/1937	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
15	Hitachi	888	7/1937	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
16	Hitachi	889	7/1937	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
17	Hitachi	1011	8/1939	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
18	Hitachi	1012	8/1939	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
19	Hitachi	1013	8/1939	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
20	Hitachi	1014	8/1939	2-6-2T	26 tons	2’ 6”
B17	Hitachi	1015	1938	Pet-Elec	1½ tons	2’ 6”
B18	Hitachi	1016	1938	Pet-Elec	1½ tons	2’ 6”
1	Hitachi	12583	1961	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
2	Hitachi	12611	1961	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
3	Hitachi	12612	1962	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
4	Hitachi	12613	1962	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
5	Hitachi	12618	1962	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
6	Hitachi	12619	1962	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
7	Hitachi	12620	1962	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
8	Hitachi	12621	1962	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
9	Hitachi	12646	Cancelled	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
10	Hitachi	12647	Cancelled	6WDH	25 tons	2’ 6”
B1	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B2	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B3	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B4	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B5	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B6	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B7	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B8	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B9	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
C10	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
C11	O&K		C1937	0-4-0D		2’ 6”
C12	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
C13	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B14	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”
B15	O&K			0-4-0D		2’ 6”

The details in green cannot be confirmed and for the details in yellow the relevant page is missing on the copy held by the SLS library. Hitachi records show the order for 0-6-0D 9 & 10 cancelled but Peter Hodge has Photographs of No 9 in the shed and No 10 at work in 1969. The 4 metre gauge locos are a complete mystery while the Pet-Elec locos were likely for use within the mining area and perhaps underground. The Mining area was out of bounds to all visitors, the B and C I have in green were a guess before I found the O&K information.