Old Steam Loco Ride

A tourist train ride to Tuntang station operates three trips on Sundays and national holidays and runs along approximately six kilometres of track alongside the picturesque Danau Rawa Pening. Trips generally operate at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00, but times occasionally change. Tickets cost 50,000 rupiah and are only available on a first come, first served basis on the day from the ticket booth which opens at 08:00. A maximum of four tickets are sold per person. It’s a popular trip, so if you’re keen, arrive early. The Tourist Information Centre in Semarang “secured” us a place for an additional 25,000 rupiah, but we could have easily just turned up.
The trip is a delight and lasts about one hour. The wooden third-class carriages were first operational in 1909 on the cog railway line, but are today pulled by diesel engine D30124. Narrow, hard wooden double benches face each other on either side of the carriage, comfortable enough for the short journey. Choose a seat on the righthand side for the best views out the open windows or convince other passengers to swap places for the return journey, as the carriages don’t turn around at Tuntang, instead the engine moves to the opposite end of the train.
The cost to hire the steam train starts at 10,000,000 rupiah for one carriage with a capacity of 40 passages. Add 2,500,000 rupiah each for additional carriage (up to three). The diesel locomotive can also be hired for private trips at a lower cost. Combine with a trip to nearby Candi Gedong Songo, one of Central Java’s oldest antiquities. ( source: travelfish.org )