Maintenance trains on the MTR East Rail Line

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Marcus

Every railway needs a fleet of equipment to keep trains running smoothly, usually emerging at night-time after the normal revenue services have finished running. The MTR East Rail line is no different, but unlike the trains seen on the maintenance trains used on the MTR underground lines, the works trains for the East Rail line are a little bit more visible to railfans between jobs.

Ballast wagons at Fo Tan Depot

Fo Tan Depot is the main workshops for the trains that operate on the East Rail line, and also serves as the base of operations for the maintenance trains. The most visible section of the depot is at the south end, where the main storage area for new rail, points and crossings is located, along with sidings used to stable diesel locomotives and various wagons. Thankfully for railfans a footbridge passes over the top, located only a short walk from the southern exit of Fo Tan Station.

Loco 59 at Fo Tan Depot

The rest of the depot is hidden beneath the concrete deck that supports a large housing development, so the contents of the sidings are difficult to photograph, the only access being the platform at Racecourse Station. When speeding past by train a number of maintenance trains can be seen stabled in the labyrinth of tracks, but the more common EMU fleet fills the majority of the yard.

Train depot under apartment towers

Another location that maintenance trains once called home was the goods yard at Sha Tin Station, which was used in the late 2000s during the reconstruction of Fo Tan Depot. During this period it was normal to see a large collection of track machines and way and works wagons stabled during the day (photo via
Wikipedia).

Platform No.1 of Sha Tin Station, maintenance trains in the foreground

The final location to find maintenance trains on the East Rail line is the yard at Hung Hom, where further track machines are stabled in the former livestock siding.

Miscellaneous track machines at Hung Hom yard

A number of other sidings around the area are also used to stable non-revenue wagons such as rail flatcars.

Rail flat wagons at Hung Hom yard

Among the maintenance trains I was unable to photograph was the set of wagons used to maintain the overhead wires along the railway. Made up of 7 vehicles and usually hidden in the dark at Fo Tan Depot, at one end of the train is an flat wagon loaded with drums of cable, with the rest of the train being box vans with a rooftop catwalk for the use of the workers stringing up the wires. This video from YouTube shows the consist being shunted around the yard at Hong Hom.

Track machines were something else I missed out on, which this YouTube video makes up for, showing a number of different types being shunted into the goods yard at Sha Tin, including one labelled “Plasser Australia”.

However the most interesting piece of gear is the Kirow KCR 250 railway crane: it can lift up to 25 tonnes with a 16 metre working radius, and head solo along the tracks at 30 km/h.

Posted in Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Underground Iron – Building the Hong Kong MTR

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Marcus

I’ve previously written a great deal about the MTR network of Hong Kong, but how was it built and constructed? The 1986 documentary titled Underground Iron – The Building of a Railway tells the entire story – originally produced by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, you can find the complete 30 minute film on YouTube divided up into five sections. Thankfully for us the narration is in English!

The first segment covers the history of Hong Kong and how people got around before the MTR:

  • 1:00 Hong Kong Tramways
  • 1:40 Star Ferry
  • 2:30 Introduction to the MTR, including train and station footage
  • 6:00 Hong Kong population growth
  • 7:00 History of Chinese refugees entering Hong Kong

Part two covers the early planning for the MTR, up until the opening of the Modified Initial System.

  • 0:00 1960s growth in Hong Kong, dragon boat racing and the motion picture industry
  • 0:30 Housing and land reclamation
  • 1:00 Typhoon season
  • 2:15 Road network issues, and no available land for expansion
  • 3:00 1970s planning for a mass transit system
  • 4:30 Clichéd spinning newspapers
  • 4:50 Original plans for the Initial System built by a Japanese consortium
  • 5:20 Construction work starts in 1975
  • 6:00 MTR Corporation to build residential and commercial developments on their land
  • 6:35 Construction at ground level
  • 7:10 Down in the tunnels
  • 7:20 Building stations under Nathan Road in Kowloon
  • 7:30 Floating out the immersed tubes for the tunnel under Victoria Harbour
  • 7:20 Track testing inside the tunnels
  • 8:40 Opening ceremony in 1979

Next up and we see Hong Kong enter a boom period during the 1980s, and the work start on stage 3 of the MTR network – the Island Line.

  • 0.00 Introduction to Hong Kong commerce
  • 0.50 MTR Island Line and the 1980s boom
  • 1.40 Telford Gardens development in Kowloon Bay
  • 2.10 MTR head office and workshops at Kowloon Bay
  • 3.00 Tsuen Wan housing and line extensions
  • 3.20 MTR Island Line planning
  • 3.55 Preparation works along the Island Line
  • 4.10 Tunnelling beneath Hong Kong Island
  • 5.30 Draughtsmen and computers working on the design
  • 6.25 A look at the different station and concourse construction methods used on the Island Line

Part four focuses on the MTR Island Line construction:

  • 0.00 Tunnelling shields for the Island Line
  • 2.00 Use of lasers for tunnel alignment
  • 2.15 Compressed air tunnelling with airlocks, segmental linings and spoil removal
  • 2.35 Removal of spoil on barges
  • 3.00 Concourse works, breaking up granite with explosives to form caverns
  • 3.45 Breakthrough at Causeway Bay between the concourse and platform tunnels
  • 4.55 Tunnelling in firm soil using the New Austrian Tunnelling method
  • 5.45 Airlocks for workers

Part five ends at 1985 and rounds out the documentary, marking the completion of the MTR network as originally planned: after 10 years of construction and a total spend of HK$250 billion.

  • 0.00 Station completed and scrapping of tunnelling shields
  • 0.15 Station platforms and the completion of civil works
  • 0.30 Tunnel incidents, subsidence and water leaks
  • 1.10 Removing a hill for the Tai Koo housing development
  • 1.45 Tai Koo Station, the largest man made cavern in Asia at 250 metres long and 25 metres wide
  • 2.25 1983, and work winds down on tunnelling
  • 2.55 Fit out of stations, electrical works and track took 18 months
  • 3.20 Escalator being inserted into an adit
  • 3.25 Diesel locomotive in tunnel, as well as a rail grinder
  • 3.45 Opening of Island Line, marking the end of work on the MTR
  • 4.20 MTR train footage
  • 4.40 End credits
  • 5.15 Companies that assisted in the production
  • 5.30 List of companies involved with MTR construction
  • 7.50 Random historical footage of Hong Hong

The soundtrack for the documentary is in two parts – the first half covering the history elements features the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Op. 84, while the second portion with the constructions footage uses the tracks Horizons and Logos by German electronic music group Tangerine Dream.

Cantonese version

There is also a Cantonese version of Underground Iron – The Building of a Railway: on YouTube it is divided up into three 9 minute segments:

Posted in Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Public safety advertisements and the KCR Light Rail

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Marcus

Hong Kong’s MTR Light Rail system is something I have written about previously, due to it being one of the more interesting places for a railfan to explore. Located in the north-western portion of the New Territories, the Light Rail forms an important part of the local transport network, running through the New Towns of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long to the ferry pier and railway stations that connect them to the rest of Hong Kong.

Phase 1 LRV 1019 passing 'village houses' at San Hui

A unique feature of the Light Rail is the numerous level crossings, which unlike the slower moving Hong Kong Tramways, require motorists and pedestrians to share the road with fast moving light rail vehicles. For these reasons when the Light Rail system commenced operations in 1988, a series of public safety advertisements aired on Hong Kong television to raise awareness of the safe way to behave around the new mode of transport.

First up is this advertisement featuring stop-motion animation, depicting the traffic signals that face motorists and Light Rail Vehicles, and illustrating how to behave around the intersections.

If the Cantonese voiceover in the last video was unintelligible to you, then this advertisement should be of some use. As well the synthesiser backing track, this clip also features plenty of footage of the original orange and white LRV livery.

The final two commercials take on a more instructional note: the first one is aimed at motorists, while the second one is for pedestrians.

Posted in Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hong Kong railways *do* have level crossings

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Marcus

With the majority of Hong Kong’s railway network running either underground in tunnels or aboveground on viaducts, you might be forgiven for thinking that it is a system without level crossings.
However, as with anything in life there is always an exception, so lets take a look at them.

Running along a viaduct, a northbound train arrives into Kwai Fong station

The most obvious example is the MTR Light Rail network in the New Territories. Here the majority of tracks are at grade, with standard traffic lights preventing road vehicles from entering the intersection when Light Rail Vehicles are passing through. On the rail front it appears either track circuits or induction loops are used to detect approaching LRVs, and activate the rail signals and road traffic signals.

Level crossing on the Light Rail near the On Ting stop

Now clutching at straws, my next example of a level crossing is at Hong Kong Disneyland. Here the narrow gauge Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad forms a 1500 meter circuit around the edge of the theme park, serving two stations along the way. Much of the railway runs above the ground on an embankment, allow visitors to enter and exit the park on walkways the pass underneath, but to permit overheight vehicle access a level crossing is provided across the tracks in the back of house area. Equipped with off-the-shelf level crossing warning equipment, the only difference to a mainline level crossing is green paint to make it blend in with the background.

Railroad level crossing on the Hong Kong Disneyland backlot

As for the final and most obscure level crossing, we take a trip to the far end of the MTR East Rail Line. Located just before the border crossing with China, this level crossing provides employees with access to the marshalling yards at Lo Wu. I didn’t visit the crossing myself during my Hong Kong visit, but stumbled across a photo of it taken by local railfan Rick W – luckily Google Streetview also decided to pay a visit to the area, driving down Fu Tei Au Road in Sheung Shui until they came to a halt at the locked gate.

Level crossing on KCR East Rail

Unfortunately you won’t be able to find other museum pieces like semaphore signals and Electric Staff safeworking in Hong Kong, for those you just need to come back to Australia and ride the Melbourne suburban network!

Posted in Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Decoding 萬 in Hong Kong real estate adverts

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Marcus

Real estate agents are something you find everywhere in the world – and Hong Kong is no different. However the way they go about business is different, as these photos show.

Can you find which agent to call about leasing this empty shop in Tsim Sha Tsui? There is at least half a dozen different phone numbers on these posters.

Who do I call to lease this place?

As for the windows of the real estate agents, this one at Stanley on Hong Kong Island doesn’t look any different to those in Australia: presumably aimed at the expatriate market all of the advertisements are in English only.

Real estate window in Stanley, Hong Kong

As for the prices…

  • Cheapest place? How about a 1,052 sq ft three bedroom apartment for HK$14.9 million (US$1.9 million)
  • Most expensive? Something a bit fancier: a 3,980 sq ft four bedroom house for HK$130 million (US$16.6 million)

Given that this agency was in the main shopping area of Stanley I am assuming these properties are middle of the road for the area, and there are still some even more expensive properties in the area but are only advertised to those in the know.

In the suburb of Kennedy Town on the other side of Hong Kong Island I photographed another real estate agency window. This time the adverts are aimed at the locals, with the only English being the name of the building each apartment is located in.

Real estate window in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

As for the number in each ad – first number is the size of the apartment in square feet, while the second number is the sale price – with a twist.

Real estate adverts in Hong Kong

On seeing the price – “560萬” in the top left advert – I was at first very confused. HK$560,000 (US$71,000) would be very cheap for any Hong Kong apartment, while a figure of HK560,000,000 (US$71 million) comes across as an unachievable purchase for a normal person!

However when one looks up the meaning of 萬 everything comes clear. The Chinese character for myriad, 萬 represents 10,000 – nothing to do with the customary 1,000 grouping of digits used in the western world. When the 萬 is applied to my 666 sq ft example apartment, you can see that it is selling for the much more reasonable HK$5,600,000 (US$718,000).

The use of 萬 also appears in this real estate agency in the working class suburb of Hong Kong. Here you can buy a 1,335 sq ft apartment for HK$12.7 million (US$1.6 million)

Real estate window in San Po Kong, Hong Kong

Now that you can read property advertisements in Hong Kong and can buy an apartment, I could go on to confuse you all over again by describing the local system of land tenure – but that is a story for another time!

Further reading

Posted in Everyday Life | Tagged , | 3 Comments