I’m temporarily shelving the topic of Japanese trains to share some pictures from Indonesia today. I recently received news from an Indonesian railfan. Indonesia has just celebrated the 100th anniversary of its electric railways. My thanks go to Faris Fadhli, who kindly sent me the recent photo.
To start, let me quickly review the history of Indonesian railways. The country’s first railway opened in 1867 under a Dutch railway company. Fifty-eight years later, in 1925, the first electric railway was completed in Jakarta. This year marks its 100th anniversary. I was stationed in Jakarta from 2007 to 2011 as an exploration geologist for a petroleum and natural gas company. Back then, nothing made me happier than enjoying the railways with local railfans on weekends.
Now to the main topic. On April 22, a centennial celebration was held in Jakarta, and many special trains were operated. Among the historical rolling stock was electric locomotive (EL) Unit 3201 of Class ESS 3200 (see the top photo). The ESS 3200 is a '(1B)(B1)' type EL (UIC notation) for 1,500 V DC tracks. Locally, it is nicknamed “Bonbon.” A total of six units were built by Werkspoor from 1925 to 1927, but only Unit 3201 has been preserved.
I still remember coming across Unit 3201 in April 2009 (see the photo below). It was shortly after the reopening of Tanjung Priok Station. I was fascinated by this elegant EL. With its white-colored body, it matched beautifully with the gleaming white platform. Congratulations to Indonesian electric railways—and to Bonbon—on their 100th birthday!
