Day 1, 23 October - Pak Chong
Uncertain....... It's finally time to get one of my longer distance trips underway and I'm looking for a tour of around 10 days. Hopefully, this will close out the remaining province I've yet to visit in the whole of Western, Northern. Northeastern and Eastern Thailand and add considerably to at least one more. However, as of yesterday morning the start time was in doubt as again I suffered a gout attack. This had immediate consequences as I had to cancel a football game in the evening. On the plus side I was able to get medication quickly and hope for the best.
Steam Special....... Today a steam train excursion is leaving Bangkok for Ayutthaya, and I don't want to miss taking a video of it for my YouTube channel. It would be cruel if I did, since on a trip to Thailand early this year I lost the opportunity because of gout. Fortunately, when I wake this morning while my foot is still sore, I'm at least mobile. That allows me to head off to a familiar railway station to cover the steam excursion train. We arrive at Rangsit in good time, and I wait patiently at the station for the 901 Special to pass though. The wait is worthwhile and gives me my first opportunity to see the pair of steam locomotives which operate this service, in action. From Rangsit the train heads directly to Ayutthaya. It was a long shot, but it might have been possible to chase it seeing it arrive in Ayutthaya but I'm happy with what I've seen here at Rangsit and decide to head back to base. Over lunch with the effects of gout receding I decide to get a tour underway but it's not until mid-afternoon that we depart. The idea is to again spot the excursion train; this time as it returns to Bangkok.
Full Steam Ahead....... One thing that hardly ever happens during my video recordings is to capture a train that is neither arriving nor departing a particular station. But where do I capture this excursion train in full steam? I check the map and seem to have come up with a station few trains stop at. The steam excursion train makes no stops after Rangsit on the way to Ayutthaya. Arriving at Nawa Nakhon Station seems to be the perfect location. Here there are only platforms with no buildings. It lies on a straight stretch of track where you can see trains coming from a long distance. My worry about going to Ayutthaya where the train departs is that there might be too many people and hard to find a good location to make my video. There are no such worries here at Nawa Nakhon. This location also shortens the detour we must make as we head off on our tour. One thing I'm unaware of is when the steam train will pass through this station.
I know when it's supposed to leave Ayutthaya, but the time isn't guaranteed. I also have no accurate way of calculating how long the train will take to reach here. However, I do get some information from a local who indicates that the train won't reach here until 5.30pm. That's 45 minutes after I arrive. It's now just a question of waiting. On the plus side I managed to capture two trains headed for Bangkok, one from Den Chai and the other from Ubon Ratchathani.
Some 10 minutes before I believe the steam train will arrive, I see a light in the distance indicating the arrival of an oncoming train. However, it doesn't move and appears to be stationary in the next station. Finally, I see smoke and know that the steam train is coming. But then a strange thing happens: The light which I saw before gets brighter. As the steam train gets closer, I now realise there are two trains, the steam train on the main line and a diesel train on the commuter line. They are keeping at the same speed and running parallel to each other. It's as if the diesel is holding position taking photographs and videos of the steam train. By now I know by the profile of the diesel it's an old General Electric and my fear is that it will pass directly in front of the steam train spoiling my view of it as it passes through. It's too late for me to change platform. Is this going to be a headache for me? It turns out that the diesel was the same one that I saw in Rangsit this morning. It is carrying just one oil truck behind it. It does pass directly in front of the steam train but does not materially affect the content of my video and in fact it could enhance it due to the unusual circumstances. To see two engines running like this must be special. It's now 5.30pm as was expected but this tour has hardly started.
Pak Chong it is....... This late we're not going to get very far, and we realise that the best we can do is to reach Pak Chong in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. This is where we were married just two weeks ago. Reaching the town at around 7:30pm we start looking for accommodation. The issue with this location is that while there is no shortage of accommodation it tends to be more expensive due to its location close to Khao Yai National Park. After a couple of inquiries, we settle at Setakitdeeresort1. The rooms here are a bit dated but spacious with no obvious inconvenience. After a visit to 7 Eleven we can settle in after a most fascinating day.
Next Page.
Uncertain....... It's finally time to get one of my longer distance trips underway and I'm looking for a tour of around 10 days. Hopefully, this will close out the remaining province I've yet to visit in the whole of Western, Northern. Northeastern and Eastern Thailand and add considerably to at least one more. However, as of yesterday morning the start time was in doubt as again I suffered a gout attack. This had immediate consequences as I had to cancel a football game in the evening. On the plus side I was able to get medication quickly and hope for the best.
Steam Special....... Today a steam train excursion is leaving Bangkok for Ayutthaya, and I don't want to miss taking a video of it for my YouTube channel. It would be cruel if I did, since on a trip to Thailand early this year I lost the opportunity because of gout. Fortunately, when I wake this morning while my foot is still sore, I'm at least mobile. That allows me to head off to a familiar railway station to cover the steam excursion train. We arrive at Rangsit in good time, and I wait patiently at the station for the 901 Special to pass though. The wait is worthwhile and gives me my first opportunity to see the pair of steam locomotives which operate this service, in action. From Rangsit the train heads directly to Ayutthaya. It was a long shot, but it might have been possible to chase it seeing it arrive in Ayutthaya but I'm happy with what I've seen here at Rangsit and decide to head back to base. Over lunch with the effects of gout receding I decide to get a tour underway but it's not until mid-afternoon that we depart. The idea is to again spot the excursion train; this time as it returns to Bangkok.
Full Steam Ahead....... One thing that hardly ever happens during my video recordings is to capture a train that is neither arriving nor departing a particular station. But where do I capture this excursion train in full steam? I check the map and seem to have come up with a station few trains stop at. The steam excursion train makes no stops after Rangsit on the way to Ayutthaya. Arriving at Nawa Nakhon Station seems to be the perfect location. Here there are only platforms with no buildings. It lies on a straight stretch of track where you can see trains coming from a long distance. My worry about going to Ayutthaya where the train departs is that there might be too many people and hard to find a good location to make my video. There are no such worries here at Nawa Nakhon. This location also shortens the detour we must make as we head off on our tour. One thing I'm unaware of is when the steam train will pass through this station.
I know when it's supposed to leave Ayutthaya, but the time isn't guaranteed. I also have no accurate way of calculating how long the train will take to reach here. However, I do get some information from a local who indicates that the train won't reach here until 5.30pm. That's 45 minutes after I arrive. It's now just a question of waiting. On the plus side I managed to capture two trains headed for Bangkok, one from Den Chai and the other from Ubon Ratchathani.
Some 10 minutes before I believe the steam train will arrive, I see a light in the distance indicating the arrival of an oncoming train. However, it doesn't move and appears to be stationary in the next station. Finally, I see smoke and know that the steam train is coming. But then a strange thing happens: The light which I saw before gets brighter. As the steam train gets closer, I now realise there are two trains, the steam train on the main line and a diesel train on the commuter line. They are keeping at the same speed and running parallel to each other. It's as if the diesel is holding position taking photographs and videos of the steam train. By now I know by the profile of the diesel it's an old General Electric and my fear is that it will pass directly in front of the steam train spoiling my view of it as it passes through. It's too late for me to change platform. Is this going to be a headache for me? It turns out that the diesel was the same one that I saw in Rangsit this morning. It is carrying just one oil truck behind it. It does pass directly in front of the steam train but does not materially affect the content of my video and in fact it could enhance it due to the unusual circumstances. To see two engines running like this must be special. It's now 5.30pm as was expected but this tour has hardly started.
Pak Chong it is....... This late we're not going to get very far, and we realise that the best we can do is to reach Pak Chong in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. This is where we were married just two weeks ago. Reaching the town at around 7:30pm we start looking for accommodation. The issue with this location is that while there is no shortage of accommodation it tends to be more expensive due to its location close to Khao Yai National Park. After a couple of inquiries, we settle at Setakitdeeresort1. The rooms here are a bit dated but spacious with no obvious inconvenience. After a visit to 7 Eleven we can settle in after a most fascinating day.
Next Page.
Pathum Thani Province
Rangsit Railway Station, Prachathipat, Thanyaburi District
Nawa Nakhon Railway Station, Khlong Nueng, Khlong Luang District