Thailand. Nr 232 at Thung Song, August 1973

[Steve Appleton]

Posted for the photographer Dennis Mitchell:

This locomotive was a surprise at Thung Song in August 1973. It is a Baldwin 3-cylinder pacific of 1929 vintage. They had been specifically kept because they were the largest locos that could turn on the Kan Tang turntable. We heard that the turntable was broken in March and, at the time of our visit, 900 series were working all Kan Tang traffic returning tender first. So to see one of these in steam was a great surprise! We tried to find out where it was going but the language barrier was too great. There were reportedly 6 of the 26 Baldwins left, but we only saw this one (232) and 229 in shops at Thung Song. These were the only pre-WW2 locos we saw in Thailand.