Thread by @AdonisMYLi

1/15 Thank you and hello! My thesis looks at the history of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR). This thread is about how an Australian-built diesel locomotive came to represent Tai Po, a town in HK. This is the loco here: #NTiHoR

https://twitter.com/RWLDproject/status/1306880623437639681

2/15 My idea for this came from seeing an empty shop in a mall boarded up like this. This was in Uptown Plaza in Tai Po. Why was this image chosen? We’ll go through a quick history of the locos on the KCR, then talk about Tai Po and the rail museum, and how they're linked.#NTiHoR

3/15 The KCR was completed in 1911 and was served by British locos. After WW2, it bought War Department ‘Austerity’ 2-8-0s. They were unsafe and expensive to run, so in the ‘50s, they were replaced by General Motors G12 diesel locos built by Australia’s Clyde Engineering. #NTiHoR

4/15 The first two G12s, named after governor Sir Alexander Grantham and his wife Lady Maurine, arrived in HK in 1955. Diesel locomotives were relegated to shunting and freight work when the line was electrified. By 1983, the entire line was served by EMUs. #NTiHoR

5/15 During electrification, new stations were built, and existing ones were moved, such as the unique Tai Po Market. Other stations were less colourful, and Kowloon terminus was a redbrick building. These motifs were meant to bring good luck and were used in houses. #NTiHoR

6/15 Headrick wrote “Nowhere did the British Empire exhibit its glory more ostentatiously than in its railway stations.” This was the case for Kowloon, but not Tai Po. This was a more low-key but still creative design, inspired by the local style. Pics: Tai Po vs Kowloon #NTiHoR

7/15 It was decided to keep the unique station building and make it a railway museum. When it reopened in 1985, it only had a Metro-Cammell EMU mock-up and a few old carriages. It was quite sparse. Pics: the station shortly after its closure; the museum’s early days. #NTiHoR

8/15 For Tai Po though, this was an exciting time. HK had a population boom and ‘new towns’ were built. Between 1980 and 1993, 16 housing estates were built in Tai Po, providing just over 40,000 apartments. The population in Tai Po almost tripled! Pic: Kwong Fuk Estate. #NTiHoR

9/15 Other districts also had population booms, but Tai Po was different in that it kept an almost suburban character. HK is famously a ‘concrete jungle’, but Tai Po is surrounded by country parks and a harbour to its east. An academic described the area as “graceful”. #NTiHoR

10/15 The Railway Museum came of age in its 19th year, when it received the KCR's donation of 'Sir Alexander', which finally retired after almost half a century of service. The 2nd pic, taken in 2020, is a mural in a public housing estate. #NTiHoR

11/15 As you saw in these pics, Tai Po is very green. The HK tourism board advertises its “green parks”. Its local council emblem is green. The football team wears green. I think this was one reason why images of the loco appeared in new places. It fit the colour scheme! #NTiHoR

12/15 But I think there are other reasons. There’s a lack of suitable landmarks. Buildings like the old Police Station or District Office are more “colonial” than “local” (the latter being a rare redbrick building). Many of the newer buildings are nondescript tower blocks.#NTiHoR

13/15 The post-handover govt tried to make the Tai Po Lookout Tower (“Return Tower” in Chinese) a landmark but made it v political. Former District Council chair Cheung asserts that Tai Po is “patriotic”. There was fighting in Tai Po, but the fighters came from elsewhere. #NTiHoR

14/15 (Pic is a plaque near the tower, no official Eng vers. exists despite HK being officially bilingual)

No.51 has less political baggage (though it is named after a governor). Though a remnant of the colonial era, it toiled for decades, like Hongkongers themselves. #NTiHoR

15/15 It helped the Museum come of age, when the new town itself was coming of age too.

In a place where representations of the past can stir up furious political debates, sometimes a simpler story is needed for people to engage with the past in a new way.

#NTiHoR

Thank you very much for reading! I want to thank the organisers again for setting up this conference. It’s great being able to talk to people from all over the world about railway history. Here are my sources (and hopefully using videos isn't cheating!): #NTiHoR