Myanmar paddle vessels

[Hankwilliams]

Hello, Roderick,

really diappointing news about the Myat Yadana.

When we see the whole situation in Myanmar, it seems rather uncertain, whether the last paddlesteamer on great Irrawaddy will not only wait for better times.

It's the same problem like the steamers on African Rivers and lakes - within very few exceptions like the "Liemba", the "Karim" and the "Sudan".
Did you got any further information about steamships in southeast Asia?

Thank you for the information.

Thomas

[Roderick Smith]

I have made very little progress on south-east Asian steamships, and what I have found is mainly screw, not paddle.

Vietnam has its own thread in this forum.
Thailand has its own thread in this forum.
To avoid confusion, I will commence Malaysia under its own heading.

My friend is running his own river itinerary at the end of the Nov.-Dec. Farrail tour: train from Yingon to Mandalay, the one-day tourist boat to Bagan, 2 days there (with inspection of Myat Yadana a priority), fly to Yingon and home.  I should be able to post a report in December.

Bagan is not in the Farrail 2008 itinerary, and was not mentioned in the report of the 2007 tour (which was covering themes, not a daily diary).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Roderick Smith]

Germany-based Farrail tours has just completed a Myanmar tour.
Go to www.farrail.net and look through the tour reports.
It seems that only one of the three parts of the Nov.-Dec. tour has been printed so far.
After the trip was planned, the remaining few steam locos on the main system were withdrawn.
The tour concentrated on steam on a forestry railway; inspecting stored and plinthed locos; and visiting steam-powered mills.

My long-standing railway-enthusiast friend Lindsay Rickard (from Australia) was a participant.  He made a point of inspecting and photographing Myat Yadana for me (and for Paddleducks).
His report: 'I did locate PS Myat Yadana. I was very lucky because my car driver that I had hired to visit Mt Popa knew about the steam boat! It is tied up at Old Bagan (not Nyuang U). I was shown over the vessel by an old man who said he was the engineer.  He certainly knew a lot about the technical side of the 3 cylinder triple expansion engine used to drive the vessel and the many auxiliary steam engines used to drive pumps, assist steering, electricity generation and for raising the anchor. There was no sign of a diesel engine and he said there was no plan to install one. The superstructure of the vessel is generally in the same stripped down condition as recorded a year ago.  Some people seem to live aboard. They appear to be for security as little or no restoration work is evident. Mechanically, the vessel appears in good condition and that all it needs is some water in the boiler and a fire to make it operational. Dates on the vessel are difficult to find but the plate on the Mawdsley's Generator showed it to be 110 volts, 72.7 amps, 8 kW running at 700 rpm and built in 1946'.

In his young working days, Lindsay went for his steam ticket so that he could work on a steam tourist railway as a hobby. He was surprised that the theory course (mainly men), and two nuns.  They needed a ticket to run the steam boiler (hot water) in a convent.

The eight enclosed photos were taken by Lindsay in Dec.08, during a private extension after the Farrail tour.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Hankwilliams]

Hello Roderick,

thanks for the impressible photos made by your friend.
The impression of the boat seems not as bad as suspectet. Perhaps there will be a possibility to bring the last pddlesteamer on Irrawaddy again to make voyages up and down the great river.

But this will depend on the situation of touristic interest about Myanmar and last not least on the political and economocal conditions of the fascinating land.

regards Tom