Kayden's Rambles

A Brief Overview On the 17th of May 2024, I had the honour of attending Rail Solutions Asia 2024 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. This is an annual exhibition organised by TDHRAIL, the leading Asian railway magazine, showcasing the latest in railway developments in not just Asia, but other parts of the world as well. There were over 50 companies in attendance this year from all corners of the globe, each with different areas of specialisation. Thus, there are plenty of networking and learning oppurtunities for anyone and everyone in the railway industry. KLCC is an excellent choice of venue for the event, as it is easily reachable by public transport via the nearby station on the Kelana Jaya LRT line. he nearby Suria Mall offers a wide range of eatery choices as well. Plenty of accommodation choices for international guests and visitors is available nearby as well.  Upon entry to the venue, I was greeted by the largest exhibit at the event,  China Railway Rolling Stock C...

  D3 639's First Mainline Run in Nearly 4 Years! | Steamrail Victoria's D3 639 Test Runs A Brief History The land Down Under has a rich and varied railway history that's often overlooked. Each state certainly has unique stories throughout their history. Today, the topic of discussion is one of a locomotive from the proud state of Victoria.  Victoria has the honour of being the first state in Australia to open a steam-powered railway, It ran from Melbourne's Flinders Street to the gold mines of Sandridge, a distance of about 4 km. This literally laid the foundation for railways in the entire state and beyond, as the 'standard' rail gauge of the Victorian Railways, 5 ft 3 inches or 'Irish Gauge', was derived from this railway. It soon extended across the entire state, eventually reaching the bordering states of South Australia and New South Wales. At the turn of the century, nearly 3000 km of track had been laid across the entire state.  Around this time, ...

Prologue: Here's a story I've just randomly thought of about two preserved sister engines I'm quite fond of and what I hope can happen to them in the near future. I trust that  if you're reading this, you know what engines I'm talking about. If not, well, I hope you find it a sweet story that cheers you up ;D. A Tale of Two German Ladies Minett is a beautiful tank engine from Germany. While she might be old and rather diminutive by modern standards, she's still beloved amongst enthusiasts and the travelling public of Luxembourg alike as a symbol of her country's engineering excellence. Her crews love her too, keeping her spotless after every run and servicing her after the day's work to keep her in tip top shape. But although she was surrounded by tourists who came to marvel her and other engines who provided their company in the shed, she felt rather lonely, as if there was something out there that she ought to have. All the other engines on the little ...

蒸気機関車【Ｃ６２】 A Brief History After the end of the Second World War, the land of the rising sun was in a bad state to say the least. Two of their major cities had been destroyed by the atomic bombs, their emperor had became but a puppet to the US military and several locomotives and miles of railway track had been destroyed. The war had certainly taken a toll on the pride and spirit of her people. But there were still rays of hope, one of which was a proud class of locomotives from the Japanese National Railways and arguably Japan's finest chapter in locomotive development: the C62 Class. The story of the C62 actually begins with another iconic Japanese steam locomotive, the D51 'Mikado' (locomotives with a 2-8-2 wheel configuration) class. They were robust and reliable locomotives, often seen pulling long lines of freight serving Japan's major industries, but were required to double or even triple head on the steeper gradients that the network had.  Thus, Hideo Shima (190...

  Savannah & Atlanta 750: Steam Excursion in NC July 1983 A Brief Summary The United States has a great history of railroading that still continues to fascinate me to this day. The nation was literally built by the railroad and it certainly would not be where it is today without it. Although most foreign enthusiasts tend to brush American railroads aside, claiming them to be 'soulless', the stories of their preserved locomotives, especially the more obscure ones, go some way to disprove that. One such example is the topic of discussion today. In 1910, during World War One, the United States Railroad Administration was formed to oversee all major railroad operations during the First World War. With these came standard locomotive designs for all sorts of work, including the 'Light Pacifics' for light passenger work, although a weight of 120 tons and a tractive effort of well over 40,000 lbs would certainly make them anything but 'light' anywhere outside of Nor...

Welcome to Writer's Block A place where I give random ideas I come up with, but don't have the time, motivation or knowledge to develop it further, so it basically becomes free domain for anyone to use and make it a reality. Feel free to make changes where you see fit to suit whatever story you want to tell. All I ask is for some basic credit!  Format:  Idea by Kayden's Railway (IG: @kaydens_railway, Discord: Kayden's Railway#8832) Idea Type: Series Title: I Woke Up As A Steam Girl! Sebastian is a steam locomotive engineer who intends to preserve knowledge about them and has ideas on how they can be improved, but everyone usually brushes him aside, some even calling him crazy. He has a best friend, Caroline, who runs the social media page for a shop and tells him it can be an effective tool to spread his ideas and beliefs, but he consistently brushes it aside, as he thinks it's silly.  One day however, he wakes up as a cute girl! He checks all over, no sign of his ...