Pujiono, The Steam Locomotive Doctor
Filed under: DAOP 4 — admin @ 10:45
A 54-year-old man, wearing a yellow T-shirt on which oil spots scattered, greeted railfans who visited Ambarawa Steam Locomotive Depot—used to be an asset of NIS—in Central Java. He was Pudjiono, who was born in Ambarawa on 15th March 1955 and was about to retire from his position as Head of Ambarawa Steam Locomotive Depot—he was posted to this position in 2000. He was a leader who was willing to dirty his hands and shirt while maintaining and repairing steam locomotives. An example was he went to check the under parts of C12 18 when the steamer was in a preparation to be reactivated in March 2006.
He grew up in Tambak Boyo, Ambarawa, in a family of which members did not work for railway company. “My father was a soldier, and he never let me to become one,” he said. When he was a schoolboy, he played on both sides of Ambarawa-Tuntang railway tracks near his house, where his love of trains grew. When he studied at Sekolah Teknik Negeri 1 and sekolah teknik menengah (both were vocational schools), he had the opportunity to taste the work atmosphere in Ambarawa Locomotive depot in 1973. “At that time, there were many big steamers, such as CC50, and the Ambarawa-Tuntang-Kedungjati railway line was still active,” he said.
After graduating from the vocational school, he applied for a job in Perusahaan Jawatan Kereta Api in 1975. At first, he was given the responsibility to drive diesel-hydraulic shunters, i.e D300 and D301, on the line between Semarang Locomotive Depot, Semarang Poncol Station, and Semarang Tawang Station. After getting through processes in the railway company, he was permitted to operate bigger locomotives, such as BB300, BB200, BB301, BB304, BB203 and CC201, and diesel multiple units. “I could drive CC200 and BB201, but I don’t have the license,” he said. His duty was to control locomotives which hauled medium-to-long distance passenger cars and wagons. Suprapto, a former member of public relations division of PT Kereta Api, once said that Pujiono was a smart engineer of Semarang Poncol Locomotive Depot, therefore he was sent to Ambarawa to study and maintain steam locomotives.
In 1995, he was transferred to Ambarawa. Therefore, he never had the opportunity to drive the then newest class of diesel-electric locomotives in Indonesia, CC203. He maintained B25 02 and B25 03 in the locomotive depot. Then in 1997 a new kid from Regional Division II of West Sumatra, E10 60, arrived at Ambarawa. The steamer was broken and in a bad shape. “I remember the locomotive had to be transported by a container truck. The truck’s tyres burst all the way,” Sudono, former head of Ambarawa Train Museum, said in 2006. Pujiono and his team in Ambarawa Locomotive Depot repaired the locomotive so that it could be reactivated. In 2008, the locomotive returned home to West Sumatra.
In 2004, a C12 18 from Cepu, Central Java, was sent to Ambarawa. It was also broken. But, Pujiono and his team could revive it. The locomotive with high smokestack now hauled tourist cars on level surface. Approaching his retirement day, Pujiono was still active maintaining B25 02, B25 03, and C12 18. He also guided young engineers. He deserved for a decoration to honor his loyalty and dedication