Ban Maenam Khwae Yai Railway Station

Ban Maenam Khwae Yai Railway Station.

Japanese-built steam locomotive No 719 for the Thai-Burma Railway, preserved at the Khwae Yai Bridge. The locomotive was abandoned, concealed in a bomb-proof railway siding in a cave near Sangkhlaburi. It was discovered by a group of Australians in 1970 using an old Japanese map.

RFT 804 - Class P: One of two possible survivors of the FMSR P class, RFT 804 (previously RSR 810, ex-FMSR 190) is preserved at the station. The Loc was part of a series of twentysix 4-6-2 locomotives built in several batches by Kitson and North British. They had 8-wheel bogie tenders. In 1942 the whole class were taken by the Japanese to the Siam-Burma line where two were destroyed.

Japanese Truck Trains could run on railways as well as roads. This was achieved by fitting flange and running surface on the rear wheel brake drums and being able to replace the front axle with a small pivoting bogie. When the truck arrived at a railway the road wheels were removed and it was lowered onto the rails. Some of these Truck Trains were camouflaged to look like bamboo and attap huts and nicknamed by the POWs as "Flying Kampongs".

Ayutthaya Historical Research