SJS (Samarang-Joana Stoomtram Maatschappij) Company Starting Point

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"The first SJS tram line to operate was the Semarang Centraal to Djomblang line. The line officially opened on 1 December 1882, and became the first steam tram line in the Dutch East Indies."

"Locomotievenremise" or Depot of the SJS near Station Centraaal Jurnatan (remains within the Museum Kota Lama). Source: KITLV circa 1900

The remains of brick and concrete structure within the Kota Lama Museum is part of the locomotive depo which is also a support facility at the Jurnatan Station. The station (Centraal Jurnatan) can be said as the first SJS (Samarang-Joana Stoomtram Maatschappij) company station in Semarang City. The first SJS tram line to operate was the Semarang Centraal to Djomblang line. The line officially opened on 1 December 1882 and became the first steam tram line in the Dutch East Indies. The Resident of Semarang at that time, Mr. Wegener outlined the great benefit of the tram as a means of public transportation that facilitated human mobility within the urban area of Semarang and could gradually replace cart transportation that was considered damaging to the roads.

Given the SJS’s principle of austerity, the architecture of the Bubakan depot is pragmatic and lacks in ornate decoration. The walls of the depot are made of wood. The windows are made of iron jalousies while the roof is made of iron sheets. According to the plan which dated in 1882, apart from the repair room and carriage parking space at the front, there is also a workshop for repairing spare parts, and equipment, an office, and a restroom at the rear side of the building. The depot building had a 0,9 m - deep pit which was used as a place to repair the underside of the steam locomotives and the wagons. This pit part of the depot is intentionally made with lower as the wagons and locomotives will be jacked up, creating a space that is suitable for the mechanic to enter.

"The red rectangular shape indicates the remains of structures that made with red bricks and concrete inside the Museum Kota Lama." Source: Samarang-Joana Stoomtram-Maatschappij N.V: gevestigd te s-gravenhage : Verslag 1940-1953