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Steam in China - News

This page covers news from June 2002 to March 2004

Other news pages:

New Reports (Mar 14th 2004)

Yongcheng Coal Railway

Mr. T. Tsujimoto of Japan.discovered another steam worked railway; The Yongcheng Coal Railway uses well-maintained QJ operating over about 55km of existing lines plus a new line (to Xinqiao) under construction, where QJs haul the construction trains.

The newly discovered line joins the Qing-Fu line (Quail map 6, line 15G, from southwest of Xuzhou to Fuyang) of the National Railways at or near the station called Qingtuan on that map (but may be called Qingdin now). It heads about 25km nearly straight north from there to "Jipei", then has branches 10 km north to Chensilou (crossing highway 311), 10 km northeast to Chenji, and 10 km to Chengjiao in an unknown direction, plus the new line westwards to Xinqiao which looks to be about 12 km long.

5 QJ-powered trains were seen in a little over 7 hours. The QJs are in very bright condition.

Yongsheng Railway Map

JiTong Dieselisation (Mar 10th 2004)

According to mr. HeLiWen, it is planned to dieslise Daban-Haolukuthis this summer! (Hans Schäfer)

New Reports (Mar 10th 2004)

JiTong Dieselisation (Mar 9th 2004)

The (western) section Benhong - Baiqi recently was 100 % diesel on five subsequent days (Feb 28th - Mar 3rd) for all freights. Only the passenger was steam on four days (Feb 28th - Mar 2nd), but on March 3rd diesel! Steam was only seen as a second engine behind a DF4 on a freight this day.

info by Bernd Seiler

New Report (Mar 9th 2004)

New Reports (Mar 8th 2004)

JiTong Dieselisation Rumors (Mar 8th 2004)

Peter Patt: "JiTong`s "famous" Mr. He told us that he joined a meeting at the ministry of railways in Beijing a few days ago and the decision was made to dieselize all sections east of Daban by 1.4.2004! Jitong will buy 10 diesels in 2004, but no plannings so far in which sections they will be used. The training class will be started round about April. "

Jim Schweitzer: "A gricer at Chabuga said that the reason diesels turn at Chabuga is the lack of fuelling facilities at Daban. Once such facilities are built at Daban, diesels run through from Zhelimu to Daban. Dame Rumor, but plausible!"

Hans Schaefer: "According to Mr. HeLiWen (email Mar 7th 2004) Chabuga to Zhelimu will be fully dieselized as of March 15th 2004. Dieselisation between Daban and Haoluku will start in June 2004." I will phone him and check this out."

Qitaihe (Mar 8th 2004)

The passenger trains have been BJ hauled since December 2003, the last SY will be withdrawn in May 2004 when more diesels are due to arrive. The last non-electrified sections to some of the loading points have been equipped with overhead wires, new power supply stations are being built right now.

(Peter Patt)

New Report (Mar 2nd 2004)

Steam News (Mar 2nd 2004)

JiTong line diesel locos

Visit to Chabuga-Zhelimu on February 2nd and 3rd 2004: passengers trains were 100% steam haulage between Zhelimu and Chabuga. Regarding freight trains, two DF 4 were seen at Zhelimu shed, one on a freight train for Chabuga on Feb 2nd and another one on a freight on the same day hauling a Chabuga - Zhélimu freight train . Other freight trains were steam hauled, several of them with 2 machines - one working and the other one cold but, staffed, too.

Philippe Cieplik

Huaibei Coal Railway (Feb 26th 2004)

Huaibei Coal Railway was visited on Feb 16th 2004. Seven steam locos were said to be on the roster but the other three engines were not seen.

Takuhiro Ota

Steam News (Feb 24th 2004)

Notes of a 32-day-visit to China by Hsiang Tseng:

Lan Shan Local Railway, San Dong Province

This 30km local line is located in Ri Zhao City. Bureau is 40km from the city center. It has 2 QJs, QJ6290 and QJ7071. Usually, they are cold. But staff there said in case of their DF4D going overhaul, they will run again. This case may be expected from 20th Feb, over 15 days.

Huai Bei Mine Railway, An Hui Province

I saw 6 JSs at LieShan division of the company:
JS 6254(oou), 6294, 6539, 6540(oou), 8094, 8421(oou)
Dieselization of this line is expected in May or Jean.

There is another divison at XiaoHuJi, but I didn't visit it. Staffs said it is dieselized.

ZhengZhou Central Park

It is a train-subjected amusement park. They purchased 2 C2s from XinZheng Local Railway, to run the loop line in the park. They do not run steam-powered, but use a diesel engine in the trunk.
The park also collected some old steam engines from CNR, including RM, QJ, JF, JS, SY and so on. Don't go there until 1st May, because most locos haven't arrived there yet.

Chang Zhi Steelwork

Several JSs are still running here. The branch line from ChangZhi to LinCun has got light traffic, only one pair of trains a day.

Xu Pei Line

On the PeiTun to ShaTang main line, almost half trains are diesel hauled now.

Wu Xiang & Qing Xian

There are very few trains running along these 2 lines. Usually only one train in 2 or 3 days, and no timetables available.

New Reports (Feb 24th 2004)

Steam News (Feb 20th 2004)

Pingdingshan
GKD3B 0003 has been here around 1 month and is on trial. Steam overhauls continue as normal. JS 8068 is currently in shops.
Yanzhou Coal Railway
A recent post on "Changjiang Newsgroup" says that the Yanzhou Mining Bureau has 6-8 QJs. 3 QJs were seen at the depot of the Zouxian coal railway, which is south of Yanzhou on the Yanzhou - Xuzhou CNR line. The photo shows QJ 6812 at the head of the lineup.

JiTong Rumors (Feb 12th 2004)

According to a telephone call between CITS and JiTong a few days ago, there are actually NO plans to introduce diesels on the other parts of the JiTong line for the moment and steam on the section Daban- Haolokou may probably last until end of 2006!!

(info by Peter Patt)

Steam News (Feb 10th 2004)

Based on Chinese Rail Newsgroups Entries: List of Places with Chinese Steam Locmotives

Yanzhou Coal Railway

In contrast to information received some months ago, Chinese railfans report that the Yanzhou Mining Bureau has 6-8 QJs. Yanzhou is north of Xuhou on the JingHu (Beijing - Shanghai) line.

Chabuga Diesel Locos

In early February, the passenger trains between Chabuga and Zhelimu were still steam worked. Freight trains were 100% DF4 hauled however.

(observation by Dennis Rittson)

Zaozhuang Coal Mine

2 JS and 5 QJs are reported working there. JFs are no longer used. (Zaozhuang is N of Xuzhou not far from Peitun)

(info by CITS)

Zhungeer

Beside the known place two kms north and three kilometres south of Fuxingcheng there is another part of about 1,5 km unspoiled by electrification poles. This part is in the first gradient against empty trains just about 3 kms beyong the starting station. All bridges are still without poles, but the poles are already delivered and laying around in the locoshed. Locos are not very clean anymore. Staff is very kind as ever.

Fuxingcheng Photo Gallery by Futoshi Sawaguchi

Jalai Nur

17 locos in use in early February.

Dayan coal mine

Only two locos in use, very clean engines. Uphill operation was tender first (but locos are turned on the turntable on monthly basis).

Shanghai No.5 Steelworks

"A colleague of mine has just reported on a visit to Shanghai no.5 steelworks made today. He had a local guide and permit. This did not stop him being ejected from the site and the guide receiving a severe dressing down. His camera was taken and the back broken as they attempted to remove the film.
Fortunately he had managed to remove the film himself prior to this. 3 SY were seen in action up to this point."

report by a recent visitor

Jinzhou

Riding a Nanpiao to Jinzhou passenger train on October 10th 2003, a JS was seen in steam waiting in an intermedia station closer to Jinzhou than to Nanpiao.

Guangxi Local Railway (Jinchengjiang, Sancha-Luocheng, Laibin-Heshan)

In November 2003 the management made the decision not to introduce diesels before the end of 2004. They will meet again in summer or autumn 2004 to decide when they'll change to diesel. The staff at the stations and depots of the three visited lines of the Guangxi Local Railway Ltd said they were told diesel will appear in 2005. So there might be a good chance to see steam until March 2005.

New Report (Feb 3rd 2004)

New Report (Jan 21st 2004)

Nenjiang-Heibaoshan (Jan 21st 2004)

The local railway Nenjiang-Heibaoshan is reported to be 100% diesel worked now.

New Report (Jan 13th 2004)

New Report (Jan 12th 2004)

Steam News (Jan 7th 2004)

Tongchuan

I visited Tongchuan with a small party from Dec 31 to Jan 2nd. 4 JF's still daily in steam with the Wangshiba line 100% steam.

(information by Alexandre Gillieron)

Pingdingshan

The Coal Railway got its first diesel loco in December: brandnew GKD3B 0003.

Jing

People at Daban are slowly learning diesel theory. The first they learn is the different brake valve at the DF4, it being a type JZ-7 insted of the ET-6 at the QJ.
But real training in diesel theory is only done to drivers who just now have no engine, for example because it is in the works. The DF4 in Chabuga are primarily used for crew training, i.e. for crews who already learnt the theory. Daban people report they know nothing of any immediate arrival of diesels. But all agree that steam has only two years left, and end of 2005 is end of steam.
Daban is now withdrawing engines with boilers more than 20 years old. 6125 was just withdrawn these days. 6110 is still working.
For visiting the shed: Mr Sao Hui (or Sahou Hui?) is replacing HeLiWen. Fee is 200 as ever. If you do not speak Chinese, Mr Sao Hui asks Mr XuBin for help. No problems to get into the shed. But (illegal) hard selling of stuff is going on. Buy stuff (number plates etc) from Sao Hui, and it will be legal at least.

(information by Hans Schäfer)

New Reports (Jan 7th 2004)

Dahuichang (Dec 11th 2003)

At Dahuichang, C2s are still working trains at approx half hour frequency, with operations in progress by 12.00, and probably earlier in the day. Bus 354 currently does not run from Guchenglu subway station due to new road construction. A taxi was 96 yuan on the meter. Coming back bus 354 operates to a point adjacent to a rail track, probably part of capital iron and steel. After crossing the tracks mini buses are available to guchenglu. Journey time from Guchenglu by either bus or taxi now about one and a half hours. (info by Ian Juden)

Jinxi-Yangjiazhangzi (Dec 11th 2003)

Four return trips are made with two JS working. I haven't seen JS work so hard since the good old days at Chengde! The light at the summit is excellent nearly all day, and there are many good photo spots in the hills. Definately worth a visit. (info by Steve Wasiura)

JiTong Diesel Policy (Dec 10th 2003)

Three diesel instructors are at Daban Jiwuduan (=depot) now. No diesels in the near future, but they have extra crews without much to do, so they are learning theory. At the end of 2005, it will be the end of steam.
On Dec 9th, coal was shoveled out of the tender of Daban`s QJ 6125 as it is being withdrawn. One of the workers told Hans that all locomotives with boilers older than 20 years are being withdrawn shortly. However, QJ 6110, the oldest currently left and one of the original 24, still hauled a freight to Haoloku in the morning of Dec 9th. The same worker also said that steam would finish in ALL of China by 2005 (rumors?)!
Rumors say, Daban will get the first diesels by end of 2004!

The diesels at Chabuga have arrived, including early DF4 0444, 0544 and 0549 (all seen on Dec 7th). They are working Zhelimu - Chabuga only. Chabuga to Daban all steam! Railway employees don't know much about the future of the diesels, but it is probably permanent. Rumors say, that Chabuga-Zhelimu-Tongliao might be all diesel from 1/1/04! Chabuga-Daban section is to follow soon (no date given).

(information by Ronald Olsen/ Duncan Cotterill)

Zhungeer Electrification (Dec 10th 2003)

Conflicting information about the status of electrification: "Beginning next week, the bridges will be equipped with mast, too. There are three construction units. Work is scheduled to finished by Jan 15th 2004. Not pole-spoiled yet are only the stations (due to design problems) and a 1000m-section between Xiyingzi and Haishi." (This contrasts to Ronald Olsen`s report, that Fuxingcheng area is free of poles, too! FM)

Shibanxi and Weiyuan (Dec 10th 2003)

Weiyuan, Sichuan Province: Local people say, that steam is still running.

Shibanxi: The line still has heavy traffic. Four passenger trains run as usual and also one or two freight trains everyday.
The railway company is planning to finish the line soon. The closing date has set up by the end of year 2003 at first. But since local people were against this idea, the company rescheduled the closing date by March 2004.

JiTong Diesel Policy (Dec 5th 2003)

JiTong has got an intention to buy some diesel locomotives older than 1981. But no decision yet! It is not true that Jitong will stop steam in 2004! They say they will use steams at least till 2005!
Zhelimu/Chabuga Section: 5 diesels so far, for test runs! Passenger Trains are still pulled by steam locos.

New Reports (Dec 2003)

Pindingshan (Dec 3rd 2003)

All Pinddingshan`s QJ are dekectorless now. QJ 2024(??, probably 2035! FM) with 8 wheel tender in steam & on standby only. 1 JS the same and 1 set aside at side of shed. 2 deflectored QJ's were being serviced from another mine (probaly from Yuzhou Mine. FM).
Next day (Thursday 19/11) there was a JS double-headed oil train to Baofeng amongst the early morning procession.

Management at Pingdingshan say that steam is to finish by 2005. No diesels seen.

To get to Beijing by train is a hazzle, buses run a regular service to Zhengzhou and cost only 33Y. It gives a better option to catch a wider range of trains.
Stayed at the new Pingdingshan Binguan for 260Y in triple room. The bath house is another story...

(info by Colin Huessey)

New Report (Nov 25th 2003)

Diesels for JiTong Line (Nov 21st 2003)

5 diesel locos, rented from Tongliao Railway Bureau (CNR), will be used between Chabuga and Zhelimu, part of the Jitong Line. Operation will commence on Dec 01, 2003! Operation will be steam-diesel mixture then. (information by CITS)

Steam News (Nov 21st 2003)

Pingdingshan-Wuyang

Industrial Bo-Bo diesel-electric GKD1 0021 is working the Wuyang-Pingdingshan passenger on the steelworks line south of Pingdingshan. This diesel appears to be new. During a late-2002 visit to the line, visitors were told the only diesels were the 2 DF12s.
The depot area contained 4 SYs and one of the DF12s.

Luohe-Fuyang

A BJ diesel-hydraulic was seen with what appear to be Zhoukou depot characters on a passenger train from Luohe to Fuyang. Another picture is of a DF4 at Zhoukou. The most interesting photograph in this series, however, shows QJ 504 in steam and looking in reasonable condition at Zhoukou. If the QJ number is correct then this must be one of the oldest members of this class still at work in China. (Sightings reported on "HASEA.com")

New Trip Reports (Nov 18th 2003)

Steam News (Nov 18th 2003)

Tongchuan

Arrived here Saturday 14th at 12:10. JF 2368 & 2369 were in steam at steam at Tongchuan Nan station, but they did not not turn a wheel untill 16:00 when they were sent back to the main stabling point.
JF 2113 and 2182 (in steam) no longer seem to be classed as running engines, strictly spares. In 3 days they never moved with one person keeping steam as back up.

On Monday 16th, there was one uphill train at around 06:00, next at 15:30.

6 DF7's are in use. Crews indicated that steam will completely finish in 2004. I think it will be early 2004, if they last till then.

Colin Hussey

Pei Tun Railway

One day visit on Nov 13th revealed the followwing engines on company roster:

QJ 7077 & 7176 were fully coaled, but out of use. Works staff in office indicated they were waiting to go to workshops for overhauls.

SY 2024 is used for transfer work between the various mines radiating from Pei-tun. It came in L/E from line 2 & took out a load of empties to line 1. It is not unusual for the empties to be worked out & the engine return to Pei-Tun for other work, as was the case with DF4 7693.

DF7694 worked in with a loaded coal train from line 1, then retutrned to the depot. This loaded train was not left in the yard, so I can only presume that QJ7077 worked it out as it was the only engine not seen.

Colin Hussey

Photo Competiton Results (Nov 13th 2003)atar

Long time ago, Photo Competition II was started. Here are the results:

PHOTO COMPETITION II - RESULTS (files lost)

Thank you to all participants!

Steam News (Nov 12th 2003)

Jinchengjiang

As a reaction to the message a couple of days ago, the Guangxi Local Railway Company Headquarter was contacted. They claim "no dieselisation in progress!". Currently, they railway itself has insufficient money for diesels and Guangxi`s government does not sponsor them new locos!

(This info is 100% contrast to the last info about Jinchengjiang`s diesel plans!)

Weihe

Confirmed as being closed for log traffic permanently!

Lucheng Fertilizer Works (near Liuzhou)

Rail operation is dieselised now.

(info by Peter Patt/ CITS)

New Reports (Nov 9th 2003)

Steam News (Nov 8th 2003)

Zhungeer

According to CITS, the process of setting up poles along the line will be finished within the next week. (information by Peter Patt/CITS)

Changzhi Steelworks

Some 10 or 11 steam locos are present. Two lines outside of the steelworks exist:

Jinchengjiang

First DF4s are expected in December 2003 now.

Tangyin-Puyang

This freight only local line (passenger service was withdrawn recently) with 1 DF4B, 4 QJs and 6 pairs of freight trains per day will receive additional diesel locos in Dec 2003/ Jan 2004.

Steam News (Nov 6th 2003)

(information by Peter Patt/ CITS)

New Reports (Nov 6th 2003)

Tongliao Power Plant (Nov 4th 2003)

It can be confirmed that there are 3 SY's there - 1338, 1343 and 1647. Currently none are in use and all work is being done by DF5D 0017 which the plant bought new last year. 1338 is the second loco and may be steamed this winter if the diesel needs maintenance or demand is high. However the intention is to purchase a second DF5 next year and this will eliminate steam permanently. The plant were happy with the SY's and the only reason they are being replaced is the difficulty in getting them out over CNR to a suitable maintenance facility.

(information by Derek Jenkins)

Photo Competition Gallery - Part II added (Oct 22nd 2003)

New Report (Oct 16th 2003)

Zhungeer Electrification (Oct 16th 2003)

Poles already have been erected at the twin bridges 3km east of Haizida.

Nanpiao Coal Railway (Oct 16th 2003)

A local who works for the coalplant at ZaoJiaTun said, the powerplant under construction out of Nanpiao on the Sanjiazi (west) Line will be fueled with coal from the Datong coalfield in Shanxi-province as the coal-reserves in the Nanpiao-area are close to exhaustion Coal is mined there since 100 years.

From that, it can be assumed that this area might not get more diesels as long as the 6 SY engines presently in use do fine. Maybe they dont get any substitute-SY but old Diesels instead

information by Heinrich Hubbert

New Report (Oct 13th 2003)

Zhungeer Electrification Works (Oct 13th 2003)

Work apparently started on electrification on September 18 and is proceeding fast. All bar a section of 30kms are affected currently.

In early October, Japanese enthusiasts visited Zhungeer: the first three kilometres are already spoiled by poles.

New Reports (Oct 09th 2003)

New Report (Sept 29th 2003)

New Report (Sept 25th 2003)

Photo Competition Gallery II, Part I (Sept 24th 2003)

Using a new evaluation system this time.

Chabuga Diesel Test (Sept 22nd 2003)

Sept 23rd - Sept 27th 2003 : Some trains Chabuga to Zhelimu will have diesel engines (3500t-trains), opposite direction (Zhelimu to Chabuga) 2800t. However, JiTong Daban Depot currently does not know yet, when diesel engines will be used there regulary.

(Dark clowds appear! FM)

PeiTun Railway (Sept 19th 2003)

Yesterday (Sep, 18th) I had a short visit to this railway system. Unfortunately the weather was really not optimal. Dark grey sky, misty and later heavily raining. So I didn't made anything for finding special places for taking pics. I stayed only at the freight yard near Peitun station and later I visited the depot.

Following engines under steam and in use:
QJ6309, 7022, 7031, 7077, 7125, 7176
in low steam:SY2024 (supershine)
cold: QJ7032, 7150 (looked a little derelict)

The two new DF4's are situated lonely on a side track, but staff confirmed they will put into service from Oct, 1st.

All staff were very kind and friedly. Freely access given to the depot and facilities.

Going to this railway is very easy. Need to take a bus from Xuzhou to PeiXian (CNY 13/about 75min ride). There change to local bus number 2 (CNY 1,5/about 20min ride). A stop is pretty near to the freight yard.

Alexander Rettig

New Reports (Sept 19th 2003)

Steam News (Sept 15th 2003)

Bejing, February 7th Locomotive Works: The JF does NOT work at the moment. The factory owns 2 SY plus JF 2446 but the JF is put aside cold at the moment!

Xuzhou: 2 brand-new DF4 (7693 + 7694) arrived last month, staff-training has been successfully completed and the two engines will be put into service on 01.10.2003 - further DF4s will phase out steam within the next 6 months!

Tangxian: Closed. Track has been lifted, or is covered with rubbish and waste or simply stolen by locals to sell it on the scrap-market! The new diesels are locked away in the shed and the management is not willing to run any steam special train.
In contrast to this, another source suggest, that steam charters are still possible...

Dahuichang: SY0251 is dead and a new, small diesel has arrived.

JiTong Passenger Train Timetable (Sept 11th 2003)

As of Sept 10th 2003, the following new timings for JiTong passenger trains apply:

6057 03:22 Daban - Tongliao 10:45
6052 11:35 Tongliao - Jining Nan 13:56
6051 14:56 Jining Nan - Tongliao 17:30
6058 18:18 Tongliao - Daban 02:16
A263 11:00 Huhehaote - Tongliao 06:35 (departure Huhehaote : even dates)
A264 13:55 Tongliao - Huhehaote 09:05 (departure Tongliao : odd dates).

A263 and A264 probably are DMU. A201 & A202 no longer run!

Further timetable deatils on Hans Schaefer`s homepage:
JiTong Timetable: home.c2i.net/schaefer/jitongtielu/jitongtimes.html

Jinchengjiang(Hechi)- Pingzhai (Sept 8th 2003)

Chinese contacts at Liuzhou confirmed that the local railway at Jinchengjiang has got no immediate plans to introduce diesels: "Steam locomotives will remain in use in Hechi for another two years at least. Diesels will be introduced in two or five years, exact time isn`t known yet."

(info via Bernd Seiler)

New JiTong Timetable (Sept 8th 2003)

JiTong Railway introduces a new timetable as of Sept 10th 2003.

Major changes:

Full timetable: http://home.c2i.net/schaefer/jitongtielu/jitongtimes.html

Zhungeer Photo Gallery (Sep 5th 2003)

JiTong Railway (Sep 4th 2003)

JiTong railway has received two additional QJs: QJ 6808 and 7030. Both were previously used on the Shuangyashan Mining Railway near Jiamusi. They arrived at Daban in mid July 2003 after overhaul at Mudanjiang (!) Repair Shop. Parts of JiTong`s QJs 6230 and 6274 were used in order to get 6808 and 7030 workable. Both engines are already in use at Daban depot.

(info by Hans Schaefer/ Duncan Cotterill)

Anshuan (Aug 31st 2003)

At Anshuan (Guizhou Province), situated between Guizyang and Kunming, a unidentified steam loco was seen last week. It hauled a full rake of mineral wagons. No further details known.

New Report (Aug 30th 2003)

Photo Competition "Chinese Steam II" (Aug 29th 2003)

The second Photo Contest "Chinese Steam" is to start now! Basically, it will be similar to the photo contest, held in June/July 2003.

Conditions:

1) Any picture related with Chinese steam locomotives can take part.

2) The picture should be taken between the mid 90s and today.

3) Please send in jpg-files. Latest date for sending pictures is Sept 15th 2003. Pictures will be shown in a gallery and may be evaluated by the public.

4) Picture size should be about 600x400 pixel.

5) Partizipation is anonymus. After the evalution, the names of the photographers from rank 1 to 10 will be announced.

Therefore, you have two options to file your pic:

a) Upload your pic to the folder "Photo Competition 2" on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Steam_in_China/files (possible only for members of the Steam_in_China Newsgroup). As the person who uloaded the pic, will be shown in this folder, I will remove the pics und re-upload them on behalf of the photographer under my name (anonymization).

b) Send me your pic as e-mail attachment to webmaster@qj-country.de . I`ll note the fotographers name and upload the anonymized pic to the folder then.

Including the a name and/or copyright-mark in the picture is allowed, of course.

Florian Menius

JiTong Passenger Trains (Aug 23rd 2003)

>From September 1, the plan is to run the following express trains:

Trains 997 / 998 (diesel motor units) Huhehaote - Tongliao - Huhehaote.

Trains A 201/202 every second day, starting from their respective end stations on ODD dates.

(Info from Daban, via Hans Schaefer)

Nenjiang-Heibaoshan Local Railway (Aug 23rd 2003)

Rumors say, that this line is no longer 100% JS powered but has got some diesels now.

New Report (Aug 20th 2003)

Earthquake between LIndong and Chabuga (Aug 20th 2003)

"All hotels in Lindong, Chabuga, Daban, Reshui as well as JiTong railway confirmed today: JiTong railway operation was not affected by earthquake. Road situation is normal, too. The Epicenter was at rural area: some of the mud house were destroyed! Cities and hotels are not affected at all!"

(information by CITS/P.Patt)

PeiTun Railway & Pingdingshan (Aug 18th 2003)

F.Sawaguchi has visited the recently discovered PeiTun Railway (near Xuzhou) and Pingdingshan:

Earthquake between Lindong and Chabuga (Aug 18th 2003)

BBC reports the earthquake was 5.9 on richter scale. The epicentre was at 43.9N 119.7E, i.e. right by the Jitong line a few km west of Diaojiaduan (between Lindong and Chabuga). There are also reports of damage at Daban.

The worst affected towns are said to be Bairin Zuoqi (Lindong) and Ar Horqin Qi (Tianshan/Chabuga). It is stated that 2 persons are dead and 43 injured. 2700 homes destroyed and 24000 damaged.
Xinhua news agency claims it is the worst earthquake in the area for 700 years (I wonder how they know?).
Unless several bridges are damaged the effect on the railway will probably be short term.

Steam News (Aug 11th 2003)

Zhundong railway

The railway line will be electrified by May 2004 because of high demand of freight trains. It is planned to start to start this investment this or next month (Aug or Sept 2003). The money will be supplied by Datong branch of the national railway (!).

Datun coal power plant railway

This line was recently reported by Chinese rail fun on their web site. It starts at Peitun station on the Xupei railway, which is near Xuzhou city. Location is very flat.
At least 6 QJs are working. Numbers are: QJ7022, 7031, 7032, 7075, 7077 and 7125. They all have "small" (German type) deflectors.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/QJSYJ/photo/top31.jpg

Pingdingshan coal railway

This line is planning to buy diesels. Steam drivers are already being trained how to drive diesel engines...

(information supplied by Mr.Sawaguchi

New Report (Aug 11th 2003)

Ji Tong Passenger Trains (Aug 8th 2003)

JiTong has cancelled all K995-998 trains (the diesel express) due to low patronage (what a surprise...). Remaining trains are the stopping trains 6051-6054, 6057-6060 and A201/202. The 2003 schedule of trains A201/202 (Baotou-Tongliao) initially said they only ran from 17 January to 31 March in 2003. But apparently they did run even in summer and on a daily basis. Now, they use the well know scheme to run A201/A202 alternating on odd/even days!

JiTong also confirmed again, that there are currently no funds available to buy new diesel locomotives and that the general policy will be to continue using steam traction.

(information by P.Patt/ L.Cerny)

DaGu line

The power plant at the Daba, destination for most trains along DGu line, has been taken out of service for a general overhaul and will come back into service mid-September earliest. Thus virtually no trains will run in the meantime!

(information by P.Patt)

New Report (Aug 1st 2003)

Historic Pictures (Aug 11th 2003)

Some pics from 1985 and 1999, taken by Alex Schnellbgel:

http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/RRZ/B.Kuhlmann/BKuhlmann/Eb/Start.html Don`t be surprised to see some pics from Germany initially! Only pics 6 to 11 are from China!

Mixed Steam News (Aug 1st 2003)


Wangdu ng line
has been reopened recently but uses diesels now. Steam locomotives will not be kept for much longer. The management still offers steam hauled specials to paying enthusiasts. Last chance for all who didn't visit this line before ...

Beitai Steelworks
has issued a new order saying that all employees who do not report visitors, will be fired. Obviously the management does not issue any invitations for visitors, too. According to the General Manager this new order is due to "too many unofficial visitors" ...

Jiyuan ng line
is confirmed as working with diesel "occasionally". Steam is out of use. This means, about one to four trains per week as before, and every year there are several weeks without traffic. So the only real new is they're using diesel now.

Yinta
Diesel since May. All 3 QJs have been scrapped already, manangement is blaming SARS for the change (which makes sense because either they had not enough people to staff the QJs or got enough money from the government to fight SARS that they could afford to get rid of steam).

Sunjiatun Loco Workshop
The repairwork does not allow visitors to enter the shop itself anymore. Apparently the permission to visit the shop was always linked to the museum. As the museum is gone ...

Hechi (Jinchengjiang)
The decision about future motive power will be taken at the end of the year: if diesel will be purchased, Guangxi plans to replace all JS at once. If no new diesel will be introduced, the Hechi lines seem to be safe for another year.

Shibanxi
The line had been closed but reopened due to SARS and will continue to operate for a few months until the local government has sorted out funds to continue with the construction of the road.

Pingdingshan
A confirmation about some news that popped up a few months ago: Pingdingshan will be dieselized by the end of 2003 - at least for "main line" services!

JS for MS Train Simulator

The Train Sim China site has a JS for download in addition their excellent QJ now.

New Steam Line (July 11th 2003)

A new steam opearated line was discovered by Chinese enthusiast. It is the Xuzhou-Peitun line (Quails p.6, line 24A. QJs are used.

Chinese Report

Photo Gallery (July 5th 2003)

Attention! No steam photos!

Chengde Steelworks Branch (Juy 2nd 2003)

4 additional DF4 will enter service on the Chende steelworks branch around July 15th 2003. With 7 DF4s present then, all line work will be diesel. Only a couple of SYs will for shunting duties inside the steelworks complex, but most will be cut up.

Photo Contest Results (July 1st 2003)

New Reports (June 26th 2003)

Wuhai Xi-Jilantai (June 23rd 2003)

The line was dieselised on June 20th 2003.

Photo Competition Gallery (May 31st 2003)

New Report (May 4th 2003)

New Report (Apr 27th 2003)

CNR Steam Policy (Apr 22nd 2003)

CNR has announced that with effect from May 1st 2003, their depots and locomotive works will no longer carry out any inspection or overhauls of QJs. This is valid for locos of private railways, too which used to send their locos to CNR depots for overhauls, e.g. JiTong Tielu. It is not clear which effect this will have on JiTong`s steam roster, maintenance and replacement/ dieselisation policy.

New Report (Apr 21st 2003)

Chengde Steelworks Branch (Apr 21st 2003)

"The Chengde steelworks will receive 4 additional new diesels in June 2003. So after July, steam locos will be used only for shunnting duties inside the steelworks with all line work being diesel.."

(information by J.Shirakawa)

New Report (Apr 12th 2003)

Steam in Shanghai Area (Apr 9th 2003)

Ulrik T.Jensen reports:

"There is still some steam activity in Shanghai, the same city investing in the Maglev to the airport. Today (Mar 31st 2003) I have seen SY 1755 shunting at the freight line north of the city towards Baoshan Steel Works. I assume that they are operating some more SY's, at least as replacement during maintenance."

New Reports (Apr 4th 2003)

JiTong Chabuga Depot (Mar 19th 2003)

Michael Rhodes reports :

"We tried sunset on Chabuga shed - the light was great and it really is a most photogenic shed. Just watch out for the fee collectors. Apparently the shed master allows whoever gets to visitors first to collect money and they are supposed to put it into a communal pot. This leads to a feeding frenzy when one enters the depot and the only way of making sure you get out (we were locked in and our driver got into a fight with the sentry on the gate!) is for your guide to talk to the shedmaster himself."

New Report (Mar 19th 2003)

New Report (Mar 16th 2003)

Shibanxi Railway - Tips for Individual Travellers (Mar 16th 2003)

by Heinrich Hubbert:

"In Chengdu, you take a taxi to the bus-station for Leshan.There, you book a bus to Leshan. In Leshan, you change by taxi toanother bus-station for Qianwei. It is byond Shibanxi butthis is on the other side of the river and the only bridge is here.In Qianwei, you take a small-bus to Shibanxi. Communication is good and the entire journey take less then 4 hours so you can easily reach the 2 pm train up into the mountains and even can have a lunch near the bus-stand in Qianwei.

In Bagou you go down the steps at the plattform. The guesthouse is about only 30 m on the left side.
It is run by a friendly old couple. They did not ask for my passport!It is VERY primitve. No shower. You can have a bucket with hot water.The toilet is the public one next to the guesthouse.My room had 5 beds and I paid only 20 yuan per night.

The couple also serves food. It is quite delicious if you can stop them putting to much glutamate into it. They tend to overprice (like many others in the area) so ask for the price of each meal first.

I did NOT stroll around in the village and don't recommend to do (DO NOT rise unnessesary attention) as I was happy to get on the line so easily and came back in the evening straight back into my room.

In Jiaoba, you can find a very small restaurant."

New Reports (Mar 4th 2003)

New Report (Feb 26th 2003)

New Maps

New Report (Feb 25th 2003)

New Report (Feb 22nd 2003)

JiTong Railway (Feb 14th 2002)

3 new diesels arrived at JiTong railway`s Zhengxiangbaiqi depot (DF4 9516-9518). Altogether, JiTong has got 11 diesels now (3x DF4, 8x DF4D).
The new locos are used between Baiqi and Benhong.

(information by Hans Schaefer)

New Report (Feb 11th 2003)

New Maps

New Report (Feb 8th 2003)

New Report (Feb 7th 2003)

New Gallery

Steam around Nanjing (Feb 7th 2003)

Ulrik Jensen reports:

"On Feb 3rd, I have been around Nanjing North railway station in the Pukou area north of Yangze River. At the loco depot there were at least 6 JS stored in running condition (but out of service). Two of them were 6520 and 6533, but I was not able to see numbers of other locomotives. There are stored inside the depot and photographing was not allowed, but they told me that they had 10+ stored, all of them JS. I guess that most of them are locos previously used in that area and probably two of them could be 6535 and 6537, but that is not sure.
All shunting activities are now done with DF5 as at other stations in the Nanjing area.

The railway station has almost lost all its passenger service as only one train to Bengbu departs from the station every day. But the surroundings are well preserved as a reminder of how the traffic was arranged before the Yangze brigde was built in 1967. There is also what seems to be a very old engine shed at the depot."

New Reports (Jan 31st 2003)

Picture Galleries

New Maps

China News (Jan 31st 2003)

Pinggu Local Railway

This line near Beijing was dieselised in September 2002.

Tiefa

New passenger timetable:

Daming line
ex Daming : 05.47, 07.50, 12.58, 17.00
ex Tiefa : 07.37, 10.37, 15.25, 19.06

Wangqian line
ex Wangqian 06.16, 8.02, 12.54 via Xiaonan, 16.44 via Xiaonan,
ex Tiefa 06.28 via Xiaonan, 09.40, 14.51 via Xiaonan, 18.32 via Xiaonan.

Daqing line
ex Tiefa 07.16, 09.14, 14.26, 17.31, 18.43
ex Daqing 05.54, 09.02, 13.03, 14.53, 18.40

The CNR trains from Shenyang terminate at Daqing now with connectin steam passenger trains Daqing-Tiefa.

Dongguangtun line
ex Tiefa 06.40, 14.06, 21.20
ex Donguangtun 1.00, 8.29, 16.17

Shilong Steelworks (Guangzhou)

Use of SYs has finished here.

Taiyuan Steelworks

Some 6 to 8 SYs are still used here together with many diesels. Locos seen recently were SY 1605, 1668, 1692 and 2005.

Huanan ng railway

Huanan narrow gauge railway will stop service from January 31st until ?? Last year, the holidays lasts 72 days, this year they expect at least two weeks. At the moment traffic is as usual with C2s 011, 041 and 044 in service. About six pairs of coal trains per day. Logging season will opened up soon, at least three logging trains will run. Logs are in Li Xin.

Shanhetun Forestry Railway

Unexpectedly, there is still some timber traffic at Shanhetun :

"Due to the limited amount of timber, road transportation is enough!At the moment, only 1 or 2 locos running on the eastern section ofthe line, but timings are absolutely uncertain! Sometimes, no train at daytime!
Local Government plans to close the whole lines replaced by buildingthe reservoir for Haerbin city, but so far not enough money to support the project!"

Steam Preservation (Jan 31st 2003)

SY plinthed at Beijing Mall

It is apparently an SY from Capital Iron and Steel ("Shougang") built in 1973, and cost the mall RMB110,000. Themall is situated on the south fourth ring road. This is the road that parallels in part the line from Fentai Xi to Beijing Dong.

http://www.hasea.com/cgi-bin/lb5000/topic.cgi?forum=10&topic=4154&show=0

Huanan Limestone Railway (Dec 25th 2002)

The line was dieselised yesterday (Dec 24th 2002).

New Report (Dec 25th 2002)

ChenJia Railway (Dec 25th 2002)

This narrow gauge railway in Guangdong province has closed down following serious damages by a recent flooding.

Shijiazhuang Local Railway Map (Dec 22rd 2002)

Added:

New Reports (Dec 19th 2002)

Weihe Forestry Railway (Dec 14th 2002)

The season started on November 20th. Sadly, the passenger trains are no longer hauled by C2s. I am not sure whether passenger services has suspended completely, partly withdrawn (=daylight passenger cancelled) or whether it is railcar worked now througout the whole year.

Log traffic as usual : empties out during daylight, loads return during the night or early morning.

New Reports (Dec 13th 2002)

China News (Dec 13th 2002)

Peter Patt reports:

Huanan standard gauge

does not plan to use its QJ longer than31.12.02! That's the plan - let's see whether they stick to it!

Chongqing

currently the steelmill does not allow any groups to enter- even not for the fake railshow they sometime produce in lining upsome engines far outside the core steelwork's complex.

New Reports (Dec 5th 2002)

New Report (Dec 3rd 2002)

Branch Lines in Inner Mogolia (Nov 30th 2002)

The two maps below show three branch lines which recently appeared on Chinese Maps. Two of them branch off the Baotou-BayanObo line, the third one goes from Salaqi, which is situated between Baotou and Huhehaote, into the mountains (towards Shiguai). Additionally, there is a narrow gauge line at BayanObo. It seems possible, that there might be steam locos in use. If someone can give comments, please contact me (webmaster@qj-country.de).

New Report (Nov 26th 2002)

New Report (Nov 21st 2002)

Zhundong Railway Summary (Nov 20th 2002)

Wuhai-Jilantai (Nov 20th 2002)

JS locomotives were still shunting at WuhaiXi in October 2002.

New Report (Nov 19th 2002)

New Report (Nov 18th 2002)

Chenjia Railway (Nov 18th 2002)

Brian Rumary reports:

"I was at the Chenjia line on Friday, and this line is very run down. The passenger service has finished and the freight service only runs as far as the colliery below Guiyang. The only working loco was 20 and this made just one run up the line in the morning. It was then delayed by trouble with the colliery loading mechanism and we were told it would not return until "6 o'clock at the earliest" (after dark) so we gave up as we had a train to catch.

According to the boss in the workshops at Chenzhu they asked permission to close the line last year, but higher authority said no. However another official report on the line is being prepared and closure next year looks likely. The whole operation is very tatty, with the yard full of rotting rolling stock; rather like the Festiniog in 1946! They also have a JS for interchange traffic with CR, but this doesn't seem to do anything except sit around wasting coal!"

Jinchengjiang-Pingzhai (Nov 18th 2002)

Peter Semmelroch reports:

"I Just returned from eight days in Hechi today, and there were only the mixedplus 2 (two times) or 3 (six times) freight trains during daylight (about7.30 to 17.30).
The info about the maintenance hall is correct, althogh I cannot confirmwhether it is intended for diesels.

Zhungeer Local Rlwy (Nov 18th 2002)

Japanese fans report about their trip to Zhungeer:

They said that;

Xinyang (Nov 13th 2002)

Jim Hutzler reports:

"A new line is presently being built westward from Xinyang, Henan Province (200 km south of Zhengzhou), toward Nanyang, reports are that around a dozen QJs are in use on construction trains. This is a section of the planned Nanjing - Xian line. I don't know how much of this lengthy route has been built, or is presently under construction.

There is a narrow gauge railway based at Mingang, 40 km north of Xinyang, but it appears to be diesel worked.

The last section to be built of the Beijing - Guangzhou super highway is through this area, and I understand that it will be completed within the next year or so."

New Reports (Nov 12th 2002)

JiTong Railway (Nov 8th 2002)

Two additional DF4D (DF4D 4090 and DF4D 4058) have been purchased by JiTong Railway. They arrived in early November and are allocated to Baiqi depot. Baiqi`s diesel fleet consists of 8 DF4Ds now.

Yangquan-Shexian Line (Nov 8th 2002)

Bruce Evans reports :

A photo on a Chinese website shows a brand new DF12 at Ziyang works for this line. Although I do not have full confirmation this seems to indicate that the line is now officially open and that it is diesel or at least partly diesel.

New Report (Nov 5th 2002)

Xuanhua (Nov 5th 2002)

In September, 3 SYs under steam were observed at Xuanhua, which is situated between Shacheng and Zhangjiakou (Beijing-Datong line)
One was north of main line about a mile east of the station, two more immediately south of station platform shunting small (steel?) works to the south west. Numbers were SY 0782 and 1599. No obvious sign of a stabling point/shed.

New Maps (Nov 2nd 2002)

New Reports (Nov 2nd 2002)

New Reports and Maps (Nov 1st 2002)

Shanhetun Forestry Railway (Nov 1st 2002)

Jim Hutzler reports:

"Reliable sources state that Shanhetun forestry railway steam is finished, and will not be used this Winter. It is unclear if the railway itself will continue with any operation."

JiTong Railway (Nov 1st 2002)

Hans Schaefer reports:

"I just got a message from Daban that they have another one of the "Hanlu"type diesel express sets now. But no info about how they run it. Probablyeither the Huhehaote to Xilinhot ot to Daban service will be daily."

Wuhai-Jilantai (Oct 29 th 2002)

Jim Hutzler reports :

"When we visited Wuhai - Jilantai back in May 2001 we were told that this line was indeed a local railway, not part of the national railway system. The fact that the line used Linhe coded locomotives, and that other Linhe steam was working shunts and transfers around Wuhai Xi as well as work trains on the main line, made the situation a bit hazy so far as ownership is concerned."

Jun Shirakawa adds:

Jilantai line is still having steams for the main line.The line was supposed to finish for using steam by June 2002, but steam was still active there on October 19, 2002.Photos and reports are following web site http://homepage2.nifty.com/QJSYJ/LTED52.htm"

Peter Patt adds:

"Timings of the mixed train: last year they had 5 or 6 trains scheduled to go to Jilantai - all on demand only and all could be the mixed.Apparently they prefer to run the mixed around 09.00 - but it could also depart from Wuhai Xi around 06.00 or noon. I don't know how theycommunicate the changed timings but passengers always showed up on time - even if the trains ran at 06.00 for 1 day only!"

New Maps (Oct 29th 2002)

Bernd Seiler has provided some useful maps:

Narrow Gauge Railways in Central/Southern China (October 29th 2002)

Bernd Seiler reports:

Huangjinggou narrow gauge (Sichuan province near Zigong)

despite information about closure this line is still active. One or two trains a day in the early morning (first departure about 6.30 - 7.00 am). Foreign visitors are not welcome, keep out of the shed or be faster than the police can catch you. At the free line no problems. (gallery of this line on my site)

Jiyuan narrow gauge (west of Zhengzhou)

Although rumours of closure, this railway is still open too! One daily train, departure Jiyuan around 7.00 am. Fantastic drive through the city.

Tang Xian narrow gauge (Wangdu, about 200 km south of Beijing)

Still open, but on its last leg. Only two serviceable steam locos remain. Two to three trains per day. Schedule is rubbish. You've to ask in Tang Xian.

Pengzhou narrow gauge (50 km north-east of Chengdu)

Still a mixture of diesel and steam.

Narrow gauge line in Shanxi (Oct 27th 2002)

Information by Bernd Seiler :

"The ng railway is located between Wuzhai and Sanjing which are stations/townsalong the Ningwu-Shenchi-Zhuangershang-Kelan branch line in Shanxi. Sanjing is very close to the "high priority restricted area"of Kelan and has got a short standard gauge system, too (no further details, too...).The ng line goes eastwards in direction of the 2776m-high "Luya Shan" mountain.So, it is quite likely that it offers outstandind photospots.
It is unsure whether steam or diesels are used but steam is not unlikely.
Please note that Kelan is a high priority "closed area". Even Chinese withoutpermit can get troubles, foreigners are not allowed at all. It is unclear where the "closed area" begins but it was claimed thateven for Wuzhai, an ATP is requested. Yinta - by the way - requires an ATP, too. (officially at least, FM, BS)"

Map : Sanjing-Kelan Area Map (Chinese)

New Reports (Oct 24th 2002)

Bernd Seiler`s latest explorations :

Latest galleries :

Linshengpu Coal Mines (Oct 24th 2002)

Derek Jenkins adds:

"I can confirm that this line is now dieselised with ex CNR DFH3's. The mine itself has a 600mm Electric system."

Beitai Steel Mill

Ronald Olsen reports :"The steel works appear to be much more extensive than previously reported. We got a tour of the fabrication plant, which appears to have it's own industrial railway. We were not allowed to take pictures but saw at least 5SY's within the plant. This is to the northeast of Louis map. A manager inside said that there were 40-60 steam locomotives here, we will try to confirm tomorrow. A crewman on an SY at the water plug under the road bridge said that his railway had 18 SY locos. We saw the following; 0322supershine, 0448, 1005, 1514, 1560, 1561, 1567, 1577, and 2019. All are very well maintained.

We are staying in the Ben Gang Zao Dai Suo Binguan, which overlooks the shed. As you cross the bridge from the south, turn right and go 150 m up the hill, take right turn into parking area. On the third floor and above you can look down onto the jiwuduan. This internet cafe is halfway from the bridge to the hotel on the same side, it is in a side alley down a long ramp."

David Thornhill adds:

"Bill Alborough was here 02 Oct and states total fleet is just 19 x SY, 100%steam::

0322/0448/0792/0825/0864/0930
1005/1054/1077/1114/1131
1514/1560/1561/1567/1577/1648/1684
2019

I do wonder if the '19' is correct as other than 1648 at Anshan for overhaul, every loco was seen at work. Seems an unusually high level of availability?"

Yinta-Hequ (Oct 18th 2002)

Bernd Seiler has added a great photo gallery about this railway line :

Yinta Photo Gallery (by Bernd Seiler)

After having seen these pictures, I think you can imagine, why I was such fascinated by this railway! FM

Bernd`s full report will be available within the next days.

China News (Oct 17th 2002)

Bruce Evans reports :

Kaiyuan - Qinghe Power Plant

I do not think this line actually starts from Kaiyuan yard. From what I have seen the main connections are to and from the south on the Shenyang-Siping line a kilometre or two south of Kaiyuan yard. I seem to recall that the northbound connection from the south crosses over the mainline on a flyover in an area where the mainne is in a shallow cutting. I have never seen the exchange yard (because of the cutting) but it seems likely to be orientated east-west a short distance east of the mainline. The coal trains would then be worked eastwards towards the power station by power station locos. I was told this line work was by QJ with SYs being used at the power station.

I deduced that much of the coal for the power station comes from the Tiefa mines with Shenyangxi allocated DF4B diesels working the trains between the Tiefa system and the power station system. The exchange yards on both systems are not yet electrified.

Yangquan-Shexian near Shijiazhuang

This is a joint-venture railway reported in Chinese publications as being designed for DF4 operation. For quite a few years the northern and southern sections were completed but for some reason the middle section was not completed - perhaps very difficult terrain. More recent reports indicated work was underway again with the whole line expected to be open sometime around now. I have not seen any confirmation yet though that the line has actually been opened to commercial traffic. I suspect the JSs seen on this line some time ago were construction locos.
When the line is opened it would be worth checking what locos are being used just in case steam features initially. Yangquan by the way appears to be quite an important coal mining area and could be worth exploring for coal mine steam as it is quite a mountainous area.

Liaoyang

Then, another coal mine system in the Kaiyuan / Siping area of the northeast that may be worth exploring is that at Liaoyuan on the Siping - Meihekou line. I have been told by a reliable source that it has steam, the source indicating that the mines there have two or three QJs.

China News (Oct 17th 2002)

Peter Patt reports :

Qiqihar steelworks

According to my information from mid 2001 the steelworks still uses 7-10 SY. I think that some British groups have been there last year so somebody may know more.

Tianjin Local Railway

is dieselised

Wuhai-Jilantai

Nobody knows what happened there exactly: the bureau says that all QJs have been replaced though local sources report that some steams trains still operate. I would guess that the CNR does not operate a mixed.
When I was there in May 2002 the rumours were that the line would beclosed soon due to road improvements...

Hainan island

"Should" have been dieselized end 2001.

Linshengpu Coal Mines (Oct 17th 2002)

Louis Cerny reports :

My information from a member of Sun Xiaolan's staff is that this was dieselized late in 2001. I saw a short diesel-powered local on the track parallel to the Senyang-Anshan-Dalian Motorway in May 2002.

San Mao Railway (Oct 17th 2002)

Charles Towler reports :

Mark Dean visited this line looking for DFs during September this year. He travelled the whole length of the line and observed only one QJ parked out of use, apparently for some time.

Sunday 15th September 2002 the following was noted with a single coach:
DF 2201 17.05 YangChun - Chunwan
DF 2201 18.50 ChunWan - YangChun (I don't know if these spellings are correct)

All other locos seen were also diesel.

China News (Oct 17th 2002)

Bernd Seiler reports :

XiaoYi-Zhongyang-Lishi-Mucun

The line is fully diselised now!

Zhanhe forestry railway

They already started to lift the tracks. They are not using a train for lifting the tracks, the work will be done from the road side. Definitely no chance for a further season.

Huanan Standard Gauge (Oct 17th 2002)

Derek Jenkins reports :

"The standard gauge OJ operated line at Huanan serves a cement factory. According to my local contact from Harbin, it is planned to dieselise the line in January 2003."

New Reports (Oct 14th 2002)

Beijing Railway Museum (Oct 14th 2002)

Hans Schaefer reports :

A railway museum will be opened in Beijing on November 1, exhibiting many steam locomotives. A 300 meter long hall is being constructed with 8 tracks at the Chaoyang district China Railways test loop.

Nankou depot had 4 engines under repair (external shine up) : 1 PL9, 1 KD6 in original state, 1 1-C-1 tank engine, 1 2-D-2 engine as the one in the railway museum in York.
Seven already finished engines are stored in 101 depot in West Beijing, amongst them QJ 0001 and 0004, JF Maozedong, the prototype of JS, an SL12 and several different JF. Some 15 more engines were there waiting to be shined up.

Officials said the collections at other places (maybe Sujiatun) are also to be moved to Beijing. The Museum will be opened on November 1.

Huanan-Xiangyang (Oct 7th 2002)

Bernd Seiler discovered this QJ worked branch line extending southwards from Huanan (Jiamusi-Mudanjiang main line). 2 QJ haul 2 pairs of freight trains every day.Transported goods is limestone.

Pingdingshan Update (Sept 30th 2002)

Duncan Cotterill reports :

"Passenger services as reported previously. The yard reported at Tianzhuang is actually 2 stations further west between the power station branch and industrial spurs on Peter Odell's map. Industrial spurs serve at least 4 mines so the west end of the yard is very busy.

Three new JS have arrived: JS 8030, 8031, 8338.

A difficult system to photograph. The central area is busy but built up and polluted with few potential positions. Further out is better but there are few trains."

Ji Tong Update (September 30th 2002)

Hans Schaefer reports : "Here is the list of Daban engines today
6301,6891,6630,6876,6388,7037
6878,6274,6638,7112,7137,7007
6828,6998,6981,6760,6735,6356,
7009,7012,7143,6882,6110,7040,6905
6517,6639,6577,6230,7041,6763,6936,
6992,7010,6389,6840 passenger,6911 passenger,6884,6984
6631,6978,6925,6576,7081,6778,7119"Means : New QJs ex Da`anBei: 6882, 6891, 7081, 7119; FM
There is lower traffic at Jitong than last year, Daban runs 35 engines instead of 42.
Engines from Daban still go to MUDANJIANG (many), Sujiatun and Changchun for repair.Motion repair (jia iu) every 80.000 km are done in Tonghua, Fuxin, Dahushan and Zhangwu depots.

Another news is that the Dasban entrance fee of 200 Yuan does not necessarily give permission to Chabuga depot. In Chabuga you have to pay 200 ahaom, or ask in Daban for a special note. The depot car driver in Chabuga is running his own business collecting money from foreigners without giving a receipt and no entrance is then permitted. Be careful!

Xilinhaote Line
Line to Xilinhot only diesel worked. Steam depot at Sangendalai not yet open, but finished. Every second day the diesel express from Huhehaote goes to Daban, the other day to Xilinhot. Arrival Daban on odd days, Xilinhot on even. Back next day. Departure from Xilinhot 21.09.

China Rail operates another passenger train on the other days to Xilihot, but stopping everywhere.

There is a daily mixed from Baiqi to Xilinhot and back with DF4D. Times are about 6.00 from Baiqi, back to Baiqi about 22.00

I have the timetable and will post it after 10 October when I have a better computer.

New Report (Sept 29th 2002)

New Discoveries (Sept 29th 2002)

Japanese enthusiasts have discovered two new steam worked lines (thanks to Jun Shirakawa for the hint!)

Futoshi Sawaguchi & Sen Chok To report :

Shacheng-Weixian line

Shacheng station is a major junction of Beijing-Datong main line. There are 5 QJs from Baotou. Numbers are QJ 6153, 6167, 7152, 7153, 7155
Dumped locos : JS 6302, 8185, QJ 6530, 6820, 6872

They are used for permanent way trains on the new Shawei line (117.8Km long) which will connect Shacheng and Weixian.
The trains are hauled by one QJ or a diesel. There are about 4 to 6 trains every day but mostly in nighttime.

Bad news is that the line will stop to use these engines by the end of this year. Photos are on following web site : Edition 47

Zhungeer Line

If names of places in English are wrong, I would appreciate anybody`s corrections.Anyway latest information about Chinese new steam line is as follows :

Location

The line is laoted at "Zhun Ge Er", Inner Mongolia Province about 200km south of the capital, Hohhot. The railway`s name is Zhun Dong Railway. Zhun Dong Railway is a subsidary company of Yi Tai Coal Co, Ltd (Yi Tai Coal Co, Ltd, there is a photo of a steam loco, too. Probably it was taken on the line opening day Photo)
Line distance: 72.6Km
Stations:
Line connection: Da Zhun line from Datong at Zhou Jia Wan station

It is uncertain when operation started. My friend said that the line just opened in the end of August but I doubt it. The line construction started in 1998 and finished in late 2000. So it would be too much time in between for starting regular use.
My idea at this point is that the line was extended year by year. So ZhouJiaWan - HuShi section opened last year and up to XiYingZi this year. I hope someone check it!

According to the following web site the line construction finished on December 16, 2000 : Newspaper Report

Operation

Currently, traffic is limited. There are between 2 and 4 trains in daytime, but sometimes even none.
All the trains are powered by steam. The line is using 10 of its 14 QJs. All engines came from the Baotou-Dongsheng-Shenmu line.

Line future

The line will be extended to westward up to Batuta station (145Km), where there will be a junction with the Baotou-Dongsheng-Shenmu line.
Inner Mongolia government plans to electrify this line, Jitong line and so on within 15 years from the year 2000 on. Future of steam is uncertain.Link : Edition 51

JiTong Railway Update (Sept 29th 2002)

Hans Schaefer reports :

New QJs : There are about 10 nice new QJs here, not all on use yet. They are ex Da`an Bei coming through Changchun Works. Some of them are supershine machines. Two more came today (not sure if part of the 10 or extra).

DMU operates Huhuhaote-Daban and Huhehaote-Xilinhoate on alternate days. The daily mixed to Xilinhaote consists of DF4, 3 coaches plus freight cars.

Louis Cerny reports:

Word has just been received from Sun Xiaolan that the Ji-tong line to Xilinhot was found by a member of her organization to be 100% diesel operated as of last week (8-14 September, 2002). While this does not preclude future steam operation (the infrastructure for steam was part of the construction), it certainly makes it appear less likely.

Railway Museums (Sept 29th 2002)

Roy Bowden reports :

"There is a note on Robin Gibbons' website that the new Beijing Railway Museum is due to open on November 1st: does anybody know the exact address? (I believe it is located in norh-east Beijing, close to the circular test track)."

Bruce Evans reports :

This July press release seems to point to what is happening with the Sujiatun collection. A new museum at a tourist area near Shenyang is due to open in November according to the article. (This is a China.org.cn story; Steam Locomotive Museum Set for NE China, to learn more, visit Newspaper Report)

Chinese Forestry Railways - Sason 2002/03 (Sept 11th 2002)

Derek Jenkins reports :

"I have heard from my contact in Harbin who tells me that he has been in touch with the operators at Ganhe, Zhanhe, Weihe and Shanhetun.

As expected the first has closed but more surprisingly the Zhanhe authorities say they are not operating this winter. I am not entirely sure whether this means not operating with steam as this was what I wanted to find out.

Shanhetun will not make a decision until December. It appears that if they are told they will get the work hauling materials for the dam project then they will stay open.

Finally some good news. Weihe expect to operate as normal this winter."

ChenJia Railway (August 19th 2002)

Sangendalai-Xilinhaote (August 14th 2002)

This line was opened on Aug 1st 2002. Currently the line is worked by diesels from JiTon`s Baiqi depot with only few QJ hauled trains. There is a mixed train along the line in the afternoon.

Timings of the Jininig-Tongliao passenger trains has not changed. Baiqi still has got only 6 DF4Ds.

(So, an incline of steam activity between Benhong and Baiqi can be expected as some DFs are at now Xilinhaote now. FM)

Steam around Hangzhou/Ningbo (July 28th 2002)

Is Shanghai area the "last bastion of CNR steam" ?

Ulrik Jensen reports :

"Following steamers has been seen operating shunting at the Hangzhou-Ningbo line
Shaoxin: JS 8380, SY 0736 (the latter probably operated by local industrial branch)
Shangyu: JS 8403
An idle JS was seen on a siding in Ningbo, but apparently in operating condition.

Have not been further than Ningbo passenger terminal (ie. not to Beilungang). Ningbo's marshalling yard seems newly constructed and of course without facilities for steamers.

Above seen July 26th and is reliable."

Chinese Railway Terms (July 25th 2002)

Robin Gibbons has compiled an updated "Chinese Railway Terms Glossary".

Qitaihe Mining Railway (July 10th 2002)

Additional info by Roger Blundell : "The CNR runs into Qitaihe station from the west. The CNR line does not terminate here but continues eastwards past the diesel depot to make an end on connection with the Mine Railway at Jipei where the Mine Railway passenger service starts. The distance between the two stations is estimated at just over a mile/or a little under 2km.
The Mine Railway continues eastwards to the first intermediate station then climbs and curves away to the right before turning back towards the left before Taoshuan, the second intermediate station. This section takes it round the south east side of the city. From Taoshuan the line seems to run in a north easterly direction to Longhu.
The works is at a station beyond Longhu (the next one I think) so it is to the east, not the west."

New Report

Shijiazhuang and Tangyin-Puyang (June20th 2002)

A Japanese website contains some interessting reports dated May 2002. Attention ! As the reports are in Japanese the links below will use mechanical translation. No Oxford-English!

Shijiazhuang Local Railway

10 QJs present, 4 under steam and 6 spare. Occasional trains.

Tangyin-Puyang Railway

Summary :

Tangyin is situated some 15km south of Anyang along the (Beijing-)Shijiazhuang-Zhengzhou mainline. Until about 1988 this line was narrow gauge but was regauged. Today it is operated by QJs. Both (irregular) freight trains and a mixed train are operated. The mixed has got 3 YZ passenger coaches. Timings are :

Landscape is rural, no grades exist.
Dieselisation has started yet. 3 diesels were present at Tangyin on May 11th 2002.

Further recent reports :

(Acknowledgement to Louis Cerny for providing the links)

Tiefa (June 9th 2002)

(Acknowledgement to Louis Cerny for providing the links)

Some Japanese reports with mechanical translations. Click on "Japanese - English translation". An initial image will come up but wait and the list of reports will materialize.

Jixi Coal Mines (June 5th 2002)

Derek Jenkins reports :

"I have visited Jixi twice in the last 6 months with no difficulty about access save that it is impossible to get permission to visit the central workshops which are at Liangxi (however if you turn up on a Sunday there is not even a guard on the gate!!).
This is the allocation of the locos as best I know it (All SY's unless indicated) :

Didao : 0407, 0950, 1205, 1213, 1446
Chenghize : 0590, 0733, 0863, 1018, 1058, 1437, 1544
Hengshan : 0038, 0040, 746 (numbered thus i.e. no 0 prefix), 0898, 1369, QJ 3085
Liushu : 0477, 0951

Also seen at Liangxi : 0804, 1340, 1344, 1545, Unnumbered loco with worksplate 10/74.

This makes 24 and with no guarantee I have seen them all.
Liushu is a long way South of Jixi but is still part of the same group. Locos from there reach Jixi (when necessary) by way of China rail.

My information is also that there are no plans at present to eliminate steam here. Liangxi has the ability , it would seem ,to carry out major repairs - I am not sure about boiler work - but locos from this system have in the past received major repair at Mudanjiang Works - 1369 was there when I visited April 2000. Visitors should beware that some parts of the system can see little activity e.g. the last time I was at Hengshan 4 locos were in steam with no work orders expected that day."

Previous News (until May 2002)

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