(rshsdepot) Da Lat, Vietnam

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From Thanh Nien.
 
Photos of station: 
_http://2bangkok.com/07/dalat1.jpg_ (http://2bangkok.com/07/dalat1.jpg) 
_http://2bangkok.com/07/dalat2.jpg_ (http://2bangkok.com/07/dalat2.jpg) 
_http://2bangkok.com/07/dalat3.jpg_ (http://2bangkok.com/07/dalat3.jpg) 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
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Century-old cogwheel railroad and antique station in Da  Lat 

It is among the few remnants of the original rolling  stock left over from 
the Cham Tower – Da Lat route, one of the world’s oldest  cogwheel railroads.  
Once restored, the Cham Tower – Da Lat route in  the central highlands will 
be one of the world’s two oldest cogwheel railroad  lines along with a Swiss 
counterpart.
 
A cogwheel system is designed for steep slopes and has a locomotive with a  
center cogwheel that engages with a cogged center rail.
 
The Da Lat line is only 84 km long but since it was set up in a dangerous  
area of high mountains and tortuous slopes, it took French and Swiss designers  
years to design and build it.
 
It was mooted in 1900 and construction began eight years later.
 
The segment which includes the Dran iron bridge, located in Lam Dong  Province
’s Don Duong District, was completed in 1925.
 
Three years later, the Cham Tower – Da Lat routeopened to traffic.
 
The most expensive part of the project was the 14-km stretch of cogged  
central line.
 
The operation of trains came to a halt in 1968 because of the war, resumed  
in 1975 after the country’s reunification, but, due to its low profitability 
was  finally stopped.
 
Sold as scrap
 
Once operations on the route were halted, most of the cogwheel system and  
the Dran iron bridge were dismantled and sold as scrap.
 
The Cham Tower – Da Lat route passed into legend.
 
After the Vietnamese Railway Union sold two Swiss-made Puka steam  
locomotives in 1988 to a Swiss partner, just one Japanese engine is left from  the 
original system.
 
It is now in Da Lat station.
 
Made in 1936, it runs on firewood.
 
The station also has a toothed-wheel cargo car made in Germany in  1930.
 
Designed by French architects Moncet and Reveron and built in 1936, the  
station has three roofs representing the top of Langbiang mountain, the symbol  of 
Da Lat.
 
In 2006 it was recognized as a national historical monument.
 
Many historical documents describe Da Lat station as the oldest and most  
beautiful in Indochina.
 
The Transport Ministry recently asked the government to restore the Cham  
Tower – Da Lat railroad route.
 
Once approved, the project, to cost some VND5 trillion (US$312 million),  
will be completed in 2015.
 
Those who adore Da Lat’s grace and charm will surely long to see one of the  
world’s oldest and most quaint railroads resume service.
 
Reported by Le Han.



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