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vietnam
photo album
Dalat cog railway
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| This set of photos
was taken on 8 September 2005. In a Toyota Land Cruiser, John Haseman and
Jim Michener made the trip down the mountain. The cog railway, now
abandoned, is commonly known as the Dalat-Phan Rang Line. But the station at
Phan Rang is named Ga (station) Thap Cham. |
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| The three central roof gables of Ga Dalat symbolize the three mountain peaks -- all steeped in local lore -- of Dalat. | |||
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| Ga Trai Mat. This is not a restoration. It is a new station built on the site of the original (French) one. | |||
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| View of the rolling countryside just east of Dalat. Elevation here is above 4,000 feet. The railbed of the abandoned cog railway (the tracks have been torn up all the way to Phan Rang) is behind me (see next picture). | |||
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| The road to Dalat. View is westward. Railbed is high and to the right. | |||
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| Ga Da Tho. A flower bed graces the old railbed. The station has at least one fireplace. | |||
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| From left (north) to right (south), notice the abandoned railbed in the center of the picture. | |||
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| A railway tunnel that you can walk through. View is towards Dalat. The adjacent road is seen in the next picture. | |||
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| The mountain road that climbs to Dalat. In deep shadow, the railway tunnel is to the left. | |||
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| Tunnel and railbed above Cau Dat Station. | |||
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| Ga Cau Dat. Note the chimney. | |||
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| Railway tunnel (see center of photo) below Ga Cau Dat. View is down the Dalat-Phan Rang Line. | |||
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| Not much is left of abandoned Ga Don Duong. Squatters have taken over all the available space. | |||
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| Little remains of the railway bridge over the Song (river) Da Nhim. Just stone pylons. | |||
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| Here the railway bed descends to the Phan Rang coastal plain. The abandoned line can be seen above the loop of the road on the right. The line slowly descends as it moves leftward. | |||
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| In the distance, the railway bridge over the Song (river) Cai. | |||
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| Ga Thap Cham -- the yellow building halfway up on the left side of the photo. This station is active. All trains running from Saigon to Hanoi and Hanoi to Saigon pass through it. | |||
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