Home again....

Back from Vietnam earlier this week.

I tried to post while I was there but access to bloggs is a bit hit or miss when you're in Vietnam. The Government sometimes denies access (they say they don't) because of concerns about bloggs being too political.

First in my last blogg I suggested that a rail line had once existed as far as Can Tho. This of course is not correct, it only went as far as My Tho so "nothing to see here" when we got to Can Tho.

The city of course relies entirely on river traffic and road transport. There are a large number of coaches each day between Can Tho and Saigon and would you believe not all are 'sleeper' coaches, so the three and bit hours sitting up wasn't too onerous.

A rail line would be very useful I would think for both freight and passengers.

As always we travelled to Thap Cham by train. I was looking forward to sampling the refurbished coaches of SE7/8.

The new seats were quite comfortable but no tray table, so you had to balance your food tray on your knees. The actual ride quality doesn't seem to have changed, still a bit bumpy (probably as much to do with the narrow metre gauge as to anything else), and the nearest toilet was still of the 'squat' variety (I had imagined they would have been replaced by western style toilets as part of the upgrade). Some European tourist passengers (particularly the women) weren't impressed.

The old cloth curtains have been replaced with shutters, but the windows were just as dirty as always.

The new uniforms looked smart but the food available was exactly the same as before and some staff still hadn't quite grasped the concept of "good customer service" but there has been an improvement.

Another area that DSVN needs to address is the custom of local passengers using the passenger services as some sort of freight/parcels system. The number of large cardboard boxes, bags of fruit and vegetables etc manhandled into the carriages is far too many. These items should be stored in a baggage car.  The bus companies seem to have worked this out, but not the DSVN apparently.

The major event which occurred just before we returned was the destruction of the
Ghenh Bridge, a major river crossing just outside of Saigon on Sunday March 20. If you don't know, the rail/motorbike bridge was hit by a barge and several spans are now at the bottom of the river. Luckily no train was crossing at the time and no-one was hurt, but it has now caused a major problem. Trains are currently being terminated at Bien Hoa and passengers are being ferried to Saigon by bus. This not so bad because Bien Hoa is near Saigon, but with any sort of temporary crossing not being available for at least three months there is now the problem of the locomotives, passenger stock and freight vehicles being stuck on the southern side of the river both at Saigon itself and at the major workshops at Di An.

The bridge was built by the French sometime between 1902 and 1909 and had originally carried cars as well but these were diverted to another bridge in the past few years.

DSVN now has to decide whether to build a completely new bridge or try to repair/restore the current one.

The captain and crew of the barge have been arrested.

Until next time....

Well we're off to Vietnam next week for what has become our annual pilgrimage.

As usual I will try to get lots of photos while I'm there.

Apart from visiting the relatives, we plan to visit Can Tho in the Mekong Delta for a couple of days.

Unfortunately there is currently no rail connection to Can Tho so I'll have to put up with one of those sleeping buses which I love so much (see previous blogs). There used to be a connection with Saigon but for various reasons it was closed and taken up many years ago. I understand that the station building might still exist so maybe a photo of that. Plans have been announced to restore the line but I don't think any work has actually started yet. Such a large city (1 1/2 million people) with no rail connection to Saigon does seem problematic.

You may have noticed that the no 5 issue of Re-Unification Express is now available. I'm trying to catch up with No. 6 (December). My aim is to get it out before I leave, so that I can produce the March edition close to on time when I return. We shall see.

I've been doing a bit of work on the layout. My main project has been building a "Co-OpMart" supermarket. It's built out of card and signs printed from the internet, so cost me virtually nothing to make.This is now close to completion. It's not a copy of one particular building but more a 'composite' of several I have seen (see photo). The building still has to be 'planted' properly into the layout.

For those that don't know Co-OpMart is a large supermarket chain throughout Vietnam.  Sort of like Woolworths or Coles (Aussies will understand), and most of the buildings include other shops such as bookshops (Fahasa) and Korea's answer to MacDonalds 'Lotteria", which is all over Vietnam.

I had a bit of a problem whether to put the 'new' logo or the logo from several years ago and eventually went for the older logo. I still have to add more motor bikes and customers and hope to site a small street stall outside as well. The main round section is made from a toilet paper roll but if I ever do this again I think I'll cover the roll with paper to hide the 'spiral' marking.

Oh well I'd better get back to preparing for my trip.

I'll try to post while I'm in Vietnam.

Wow!

Have you seen the latest news snippets about the long awaited upgrading of the main SE services on the good old DSVN.

They've been talking about this for some time and now it's here.

Some 57 freshly painted coaches inside and out, all with modern toilets, upgraded seating, upgraded catering, new uniforms for the train crew and a small increase in speed.

Very nice.

SE1 & 2, SE5 &6,  and SE7 and 8. For those who don't know these are the main passenger services between Hanoi and Saigon sometimes (but not officially) referred to as "Re-Unification Express".

SE3& 4 of course was upgraded at the beginning of 2015, so it's good to see the rest completed as well.

Interesting that the new uniforms are similar to the SE3/4 ones but appear to be grey rather than blue.

With a total expenditure in the millions of dollars this is a major upgrade and despite this no increase in fares, in fact a slight reduction.

Can't wait to travel on SE7 in March!

The only concern is that passengers and crew look after the new trains. This hasn't always been the case in the past. No more water sloshing around in the toilets, and plenty of toilet paper and everyone will be happy.

New Year Resolutions

The tradition at the beginning of a new year is to make a number of resolutions, things you intend to accomplish over the next 12 months.

The usual ones include losing weight, being more careful with money, learn a new skill, get a better job and many more.

Then there are the resolutions special to each person.

For me they include getting my business off the ground, keeping my website up to date, making sure "Re-Unification Express"  comes out on time, and launching a new e-magazine focussed on Australian N scale  model railways.

What about Vietnam Railways?

Over the past couple of years DSVN has promised a lot. Some of the promises, such as replacing and upgrading infrastructure are well on the way to being achieved.

Others such as the line to Vung Tau and the line to Canh To don't seem to have even got off the ground.

And the dream of a high speed rail between Hanoi and Saigon is still just that,  a dream.

Of course Vietnam is not a rich country, so these projects rely often on help from friendly countries such as Japan, Australia, South Korea and France.

And of course in the past we have seen the problem of some of that money not necessarily ending up where it supposed to.

Aĺl we can hope is that our favourite railway system has all the success that it deserves and that those D19Es D9Es and all their sisters keep operating for our pleasure.

BTW Looks like I'll be back in May. Something about a house.

Until next time.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Well Christmas is over for another year and New Year as well. Now for 2016!

I  have made a big decision and decided to retire.

So hopefully I will actually have time to get the 'Re-Unification Express' out on time. I intend to put it on a more commercial footing (no, it will always be free) by adding a few ads and by finally getting my New Era Hobbies business off the ground.

This will be better for everyone I think.

It will hopefully give me more time to answer my email and update the website as well!

More about this in the next blog.

On another matter, the excellent Vietnamese forum daumaytoaxe seems to have disappeared. There one day and gone the next! I don't know if it has moved or if there is some technical problem.

If anyone knows where it has gone please let me know.

Until next time.

Spring Has Sprung.....

It's October and in Australia we're well into spring.

We've already had a few hot days (35 celcius hot enough  for you?) and it's not even summer!

Spring is also a time of renewal and growth and the time for the DSVN to make another announcement about it's future.

It's almost become an annual event! Sort of like Tet.

There have been quite a few announcements in recent years. The construction of a new line to Vung Tau, another to the Mekong for example.

Worthy projects you might suggest. And they are. If they are ever built!

The latest plan calls for a number of new locomotives, designated passenger and freight.

Up to now most VNR engines have been mixed traffic, so this is new.

The other interesting item is that the Hanoi - Saigon very fast train seems to be still on the menu, despite National Assembly concerns about it's cost and whether  Vietnam can build it.

It's still a long way off but it is still on the table.

See ya later!

Riding the Rails

This is a bit of an experiment.

I'm writing this as I travel home on the train.  On my mobile. Ah the wonders of technology!

I'm currently doing quite a lot of work on my Ga Hong Ha layout, especially finishing off the backscene and planting lots of trees.

I also have about four boxes of people on motor bikes to add. Never too many motor bikes on a Vietnam model railway.

I also have some cars from China which I intend to repaint into various VN cars such as taxis, police cars etc.

Unfortunately these tasks all take time as you know. No wonder so many people involved in the hobby are retired!

I came across sn interesting story about VNR. Apparently they intend to spend quite a lot of money on the system over the next few years including 24 new locomotives. Can't wait to see that!

My train is arriving at my destination shortly, so until next time.

See ya.