Diagrams
Each train is hauled by the same engine every day (1-day-diagrams). That means, that you are able to identify "trains" when knowing the number of the locomotive. Sometimes it may appear, that the "right" engine for a particular trains works as light engine earlier than "booked". Given this situation, the "booked freight" may appear, too but with another, "new" engine of course.
The following (pairs of) trains are hauled by the same engine during a day : 07:30(eb) and 16:30(wb), 08:15(eb) and 15:30(wb), 11:30(eb) and 18:30(wb). This means for example, that the engine of the 07:30 eastbound-freight comes back at 16:30.
Any other "freight engines" appear only once a day.

The Line
Yi Xian-Beipiao : During our visit we "fotographed" on the section Lijiagou-Shangyuan exclusively. The station of Lijiagou is situated some 9km from Yi Xian at km-post 57. About 1 km west of Lijiagou (km58), the tar road to Beipiao crosses the line. At km 61.5, you will find the first of three scenic bridges, a irony one. The section between km 63-65 offers some nice possibility as the line is winding through hilly landscape next to the large river valley. At km 65, there is the 8-arch-stone-viaduct (best after 12:00 for eb trains) immediately next to Zhoujiatun station (km65.5). The section between Zhoujiatun and Shangyuan has got some cuttings and dams although the landscape is quite flat. But nearly everywhere, you will have a line of high, ragged mountains as bachdrop. Highlight is the third bridge at km 71 : a irony bridge, too. The surroundings and the bridge itself could be in Romania as well : a very idyllic place. Shangyuan station is situated at km 76 and quite scenic, too. At its eastern end, it leads directly into a tunnel on whose other side the line immediately crosses a river. The section west of Shangyuan is less interessting.
Fuxin-Yi Xian : About two kilometers north of Y Xian station, there is a large riverbridge crossing the "Dalinghe River" with mountains as backdrop. Although it is guarded by military, taking photos is possible because there is a kind of "riverwalk" along the river, which is freely accessible. A motuche from the station to the "river" (taxi drivers know this) was 3Y.
Some 2.5km north of Qinghemen there is a photogenic riverbridge, too (best after 16:00). To the north of Qinghemen a branch line extends to the east which is served by a (unidentified) SY several times a day. About one kilometer north of the riverbridge is Aiyouying station, where a quite old SY (SY 0035) can be found. It serves a coalmine next to the station.
The rest of the line towards Fuxin is not very scenic, but the southern end of Fuxin freight yard is still worth a visit as the SYs from "Fuxin Coal Railway" can be seen here, too. Remarklable is, that only loaded coal waggons are tripped along the "southern link" to the Fuxin CNR yard whereas empties to the local railway normally use the connection at the northern end. Fuxin CNR yard still has up to 3 pilots (both JS and QJ) which serve some factories, too.

Linesiding (Yi Xian-Beipiao)
Access by public transport : Neither Zhoujiatun nor Shangyuan have a bus link to Yi Xian. The only "public transport" is by train : passenger trains T853 and T854. T853 leaves Yi Xian very late (in fact too late) at 09:10 and T854 returns quite early (arr.15:50),too. Between Shangyuan and Beipiao there are two links by bus. One uses the dirt road via Beipiao Nan, the other one the tar via Sanbao.
Access by road : Major problem is, that there is no good road between Zhoujiatun and Shangyuan. Zhoujiatun is easily reached by Taxi or 3-wheel-taxi "Motuche". But anyway, it is possible to go to Shangyuan by Taxi as a dirt "road" parallels the railway between Zhoujiatun and Shangyuan. At least you will be able to reach the bridge at km71 where the "road" crosses the river, too. Given only few water there, you may be able to go on to Shangyuan. A taxi to Zhoujiatun may cost 50Y/30min, to Shangyuan 70Y/60min (one way each), a motuche 30Y/60min and 50Y/90min respectively (Motuche to Shangyuan is not recommanded !). A cheap option is to go to the crossing at km 58 and walk along the track. Motuche should cost some 10Y. If you need a taxi early in the morning, it will be necessary to arrange this the evening before as only motuche were available at Yi Xian station around 05:00.

Locomotives :
Fuxin CNR depot is situated some 2km south of Fuxin. Access was denied but at least a dozen dumped QJs (including QJ 6754) could be seen awaiting their fate there. Fuxin still has got more than 20 QJs which contrasts to information provided in CRJ 123. The following CNR locomotives could be noted around Yi Xian/Fuxin during our visit (Fuxin based if not stated different, underlined = noted by Till Mosler) :

Accomodation :
Yi Xian : There is a quite good hotel outside the station at Yi Xian. Double is 80Y. The hotel itself provides no hot water for shower, but you will get a coupon for the "public bath and shower" - institution next door in the same building. Just go out of the hotel, turn left and walk around the building. You may have a massage there, too (50Y extra). This "bath and shower" - institution can be used by "Non-Hotel-Residents", too. Costs for a shower are 15Y (men) and 5Y (women) respectively.
Fuxin : There is a good "lüdian" near the station. Walk along the road right angel to the tracks. After some 100m, you will find it to the right. A double is 50Y. Behind the building in a separate one, you will find the showers, available 17:00-22:00. As there is only one "shower room", there will be alternating "shower times" for men and women.

Catering :
In the evening, there are a lot of people selling delicious "meat sticks" in front of the station at Yi Xian.

Fuxin Coal Railway , Sept 10th - 11th

There is only little to say about the "Fuxin Coal Railway" as there have been numerous earlier reports about it (e.g. Rob Dickinson`s report. Although the system is very busy, we were dissapointed : The central area, where most SYs are employed is quite unphotogenic, a few hours are enough here...

Steam operation :
Very busy freight tripping and shunting activity at the "central area" between "Wulong" and "Taiping". About every 30 minutes, a SY will trip some 10-12 loaded coal waggons along the "southern link" to the CNR freight yard (southern end) and returns light engine immediately.
The Passenger Timetable by RD has changed a bit : trains No. 108 and 110 (dep. Xinqiu 05:48 and 06:04 respectively) have changed their destinations. Train No.108 works to Wangying mine while 110 goes to Dongliang now. The trains to Wangying consist of 10 coaches whilst other trains are shorter : 3-5 coaches only. The engine which hauls passenger No.108 to Wangying immediately returns light engine to Wulong, takes water there and works back to Wangying, light engine of course, too.

Depot :Some 300m south of Taiping station, you will find a stabling point for steam locomtives. SY 0541 and YJ 0403 are dumped there.

Linesiding : Minzhu : You may reach Minzhu and its obligatory "Church Shot" very easy. Just take one of the frequent minibuses towards Qinghemen. Fare is 1Y only.

The OpenCast Pit : If you are fed up to watch tender first SYs, you may visit the large open cast, too. At Taiping, a public road extends eastwards to the rim of the opencast, where you can walk down to the "first level" and watch the busy train operation there. Most trains are electric (either LEW, Skoda or Chinese ones) but if you are lucky, you may see SYs hauling construction trains there, too. At least this "uppest level" is freely accessible.

Electric passengers : Very archaic trains consisting of a electric locomotive and 11 very short "passenger-coaches", which resemble more to a freight waggon than to a passenger one. They leave at Taiping station (read Rob Dickinson`s description, too) but we couldn`t find a timetable. It seemed that the electric trains only operate at the beginning and end of a shift. That means then when the steam passengers operate, too.

Locomotives :
The following "Non-CNR" locomotives were noted around Fuxin (all "Fuxin Coal Railway" if not indicated different) :

Tour details Yi Xian / Fuxin :

Sept 6th, Wednesday
After our early arrival at Yi Xian at 05:00, we checked in at the hotel and hired a motuche to Zhoujiatun. During the day, we walked back to the crossing at km58 near Lijiagou where we arrived around 17:15. The ride back to Yi Xian by (shared) motuche was 8Y only ! A "urban"-motuche from the central place at Yi Xian where we had to leave the motuche to the station costed another 2Y. With the exception of the evening of Sept 8th, we had 100% sunshine during our 4 days at Yi Xian.
Sightings on Sept 6th.

Sept 7th, Thursday
Stood up at 04:30 and went to Shangyuan by Motuche (50Y). The driver didn`t take the road paralell to the railway but another one along a river valley. So it happened, that we had to cross the river several times, but once it didn`t work : the motuche stopped in the middel of the river. As the engine didn`t start again, we had to take off our shoes and walk through the river whilst the driver pushed the motuche through the water. Only a few minutes later, the vehicle nearly fell on his side when the bank of the river was to steep and the driver tried to turn right at the same time ... A trip we won`t forget ! Once arrived at Shangyuan after a 1 3/4 h horrifying ride, we walked to the railway bridge at km71. Sadly, the 13:30 westbound freight had a total of 0 waggons (=light engine). As the shot had not been taken yet, we had to come back the next day again. Around 15:00, we left this place and walked back all the way to the crossing at km58, where we took a motuche back to Yi Xian (10Y). Detailed Sightings

Sept 8th, Friday
The day began at 04:30 again. The evening before, we had asked a taxi driver ("never again motuche") for a ride to Zhoujiatun. During the day, we walked the 10kms to Shangyuan (and got our 13:30 shot at the bridge). Due to a lack of alternatives (and as we did not want to walk the 13kms back to Lijiagou) we took passenger train T854, Shangyuan dep. 15:10, Yi Xian arr.15:50. In the evening we visited the Dalinghe Bridge north of Yi Xian. Detailed Sightings

Sept 9th, Saturday
Today, we wanted to check the area west of Shangyuan. We took a taxi to Shangyuan (via Zhoujiatun this time). In the afternoon we took passenger T854 back to Yi Xian. As it was Saturday, the day became quite frustating : Detailed Sightings. After our arrival at Yi Xian, we waited for the two afternoon freights : both didn`t work. A few minutes after sunset when we already sat on board T620, dep. 18:04 to Fuxin (arr.19:31), QJ6707 arrived with its Fuxin to Jinzhou freight ... At Fuxin, we went to the above mentioned "lüdian".

Sept 10th, Sunday
Sunshine all the day. In the morning we visited Wulong, watched the Coal Railway`s morning passengers there and started walking towards Taiping. At Taiping we visited both the stabling point and the Open Cast Mine (see above), but didn`t succed to ride an electric train. As early as 10:00, we thought to have seen everything what could be seen there and took a motuche back to the lüdian. Later, we went to the CNR crossing north of the Fuxin station again. Then we walked southwards along Fuxin freight yard as far as to the shed. QJ 6655 and deflectorless, 1-headlight-only and in worst-condition being QJ 6725 were pilots at the northern end, whilst JS 8235 did the same job at the southern end. SY 1397 came along with some loaded waggons, too. Quite surprising was the sight of a freight hauled by DF4 7460+QJ 6925 (Dahushan based) arriving from the north. As acess to the shed was denied, we took a minibus to Minzhu, where we did the compulsory "Church Shot". CNR freights passed at 13:00(sb), 14:00(sb), 14:30(nb); all QJ hauled. We went back to Fuxin by minibus and spent the rest of the day around the CNR yard : Sightings

Sept 11th, Monday
The morning was spent at the Coal Railway again. As it was overcast this day, we left the place around 10:00, went back to the lüdian and had a cup of coffee there. At 13:23, we took overcrowded T608 from Fuxin to Qinghemen (arr.13:57) : we prefered QJ-hauled mainline freights. In the evening, we took T620 from Qinghemen(dep.18:42) to Xinlitun (arr.20:47). Xinlitun is a great place. It is not only the wonderful old style station with its footbridge but you can get fantastic food there, too. Behind the low buildings / barracks in front of the station, a road extends. The left building at the corner with the lightened advertisements houses a great and cheap restaurant : we voted it to be one of our "Top5-Restaurants" during the trip. The restaurant offers some berths, too. (If you have nothing else to do : visit Xinlitun! It will be worth it!) Later, we took express train 343, dep. 22:20 , upgraded to YW (AC : 128Y/Person !) and went to Da`an Bei. Sightings

Da`an Bei , Sept 12th - 14th

Surprisingly few changes here compared with Peter Patt`s May 2000 report. Even the Qianguo-Baicheng tourist train is still steam hauled. Da`an Bei is still a very good steam location. Originally, we had planned to stay only 1 day at Da`an Bei : I wanted to take a morning picture at Haituozi. In the end, we stood 3 days ... and Tiefa had to be cancelled, too ... Read Till Mosler`s Report, too.

General News :
Da`an Bei Station : The old-style station building of Da`an Bei has been pulled down. A new building is under construction. The entry to the platforms is now either some 100m north of the old building (ticket counter is here) or 150m southwards.
"Da`an Bei Goods Trains" become longer and longer! In March 2000 an average goods train had 40-45 waggons. Now, the trains had up to 60 (!) waggons.

Steam Operation :
Da`an Bei - Ranghulu : All passenger trains are DF4 now. Freight haulage has not changed reasonably since my first visit in March 2000 : 15-25 freights a day with some 70-90% out of them QJ hauled.
As reported earlier, the "best" section for photography is around Lizhi. Northbound freights often stop there for up to 1.5 hours - nobody knows why. They do not take water and capacity of the line would allow much shorter stops. It happens quite often, that two nb freights are waiting at Lizhi at the same time. Due to the fact that there is no road bridge across the Songhua River north of Da`an, you should go to Taiyangshen / Lizhi by train.
Da`an Bei-Qianguo : Our observations showed still 100% steam haulage of freights. At Qianguo, two JS (JS 6236, 6238) are pilots, Changshantun has another JS (JS 6096 or 6237) as pilot. The Changshantun pilot is used on line work between Changshantun and Da`an Bei, too. At least 2 return trips are done during daylight but the engine is not turned at Changshantun and works tender first in direction to Da`an Bei. Anyway, the sight of a JS hauled 50-wagon-tank-train is still possible here. There may be a "freight timetable" here, too as our  morning observations at Changshantun were nearly identical to those in March.
The Qianguo-Da`an Bei-Baicheng tourist train Y267/268 is still steam hauled. Sadly, the "Bautzen"-style coaches have been replaced by ordinar YZ22-coaches. Sometimes, there will be some goods wagons attached to the top of the train. So, the "tourist train" can become a "mixed", too. Both Y267 and 268 were observed on two subsequent days. It was the same engine every day : Baicheng-based QJ 6848. Furthermore, both Y 267 and Y 268 have been retimed :
Y 267 : Qianguo - Da`an Bei 07:40 / 08:10 - Baicheng
Y 268 : Baicheng - Da`an Bei 18:10 / 18:40 - Qianguo
Best photospot is a bridge west of Changshantun, easily accessible by train and by minibus along the paralell road. The minibuses from Da`an to "Changshan" start at the central crossing in Da`an Bei city. Alternatively, you may take urban Bus No.3 from Da`an Bei to its eastern terminus. It is situated at the road towards Changshantun and Jianguo and catch a bus to Changshantun there.
Da`an Bei-Baicheng : This line is entirely worked by Baicheng based DF4, QJ and JS and by Changchun based DFH3 which haul the through trains from Changchun (predominantly double-headed). Freight duties are dominated by DF4 now. During our 3-day-visit, we observed only one QJ hauled freight. It was the only steam hauled train except of the daily tourist train Y267/268 we saw on this line.
Da`an Bei-Taipingchuan : Obviously, this line will be the first to be dieselised. According to railway staff, 8 DF4 and 12 QJ are booked for this line. But with lower freight levels than in March 2000 this meant about 50% diesel haulage. The mixed T952/953 Da`an Bei 06:05-11:48 Taipingchuan 14:12-20:19 Da`an Bei is still steam worked. Best spot is the bridge north of Haituozi, which is best reached by train, too.
Da`an Bei Yard : Two JS (JS 6239, 6481) are still used as pilots. The northern end pilot serves some factories including the wagon repair shop some 2km south of Da`an Bei whilst the second JS acts as hump yard shunter all day.

Locomotives :
The current Da`an Bei roster includes 37 QJ, 6 JS and 20 DF4 (according to railway staff). The locomotive list is (1 QJ, 2 DF4 unknown, underlined=noted by Till Mosler) :

Surprising was the existance of JS 6096 and its use on line work towards Changshantun. Its condition was (March 2000) and still is very bad : no chance to accelerate this engine without wheelspin !
On the other hand, the other JS and most of the QJs are in very good condition. QJ 6435 for example looks as if it left Datong Locomotive Works in the year 2000 : blinkering and in excellent technical condition ! Just stand next to QJ 6435 when it rolls past : you will hear absolutely nothing!
Although steam is said to come to an end by August 2001 (told by staff), three QJs were at Changchun for overhaul : QJ 6156, the "sqare-headlight-QJ" QJ 6891 and "decorated" QJ 6924. All three engines had returned to Da`an Bei by the end of October (information by Till Mosler). QJ 6891 had lost its sqare headlights at Changchun. Another "special engine" is lost. At the same time QJ 6571 and QJ 6809 were sent to Changchun for overhaul. A brand-new DF5 acted as substitute for them ...
As mentioned above, Baicheng shedstill has got a number both of QJ and JS , too. Baicheng engines seen at Da`an Bei were : JS 8045, QJ 6284, 6848, 6888 and DF4 1699, 1701.
Furthermore, Tongliao-based orange liveried DF4 2162 and 2178 and Changchun based DFH3 0010, 0072, 0085, 0224, 0246 were noted, too.

Accomodation :
The (big, grey) lüdian outside Da`an Bei station is cheap but offers low standard : no shower, not even hot water. You have to ask for any bottle of hot water separately. Price is 15Y per person in 2-bed-room. The small, white lüdian opposite is better value for the same price (see March 2000 report for reference).

Catering :
A very good restaurant is situated at the place in front of Da`an Bei station. It can be found about in the middel of the northern side of the sqare, has got a turquoise sign above the door and a TV set opposite the entrance door. It became member of our "Top-5-Restaurant-Score", too.

Tour details Da`an Bei :

Sept 12th, Tuesday
After our arrival at Da`an Bei at 05:12 in the morning, we immediately headed back to Haituozi. We took mixed T 952 (dep. Da`an Bei 06:05; arr. Haituozi 07:01) which was hauled by QJ 6571. The morning at Haituozi was quite frustrating : it took 3.5 hours until the first QJ hauled freight arrived. The bridge north of Haituozi is difficult to photograph in summer because the "summer lake" is much larger than winter`s ice. Fortunately, there was a fisherman at the bridge who lent us his "spare boat". So, we could row some meters on the lake and could take pictures with the fishermen`s nets (eel-bucks ?) as foreground.
At noon, we went back to Da`an Bei by T 703 (Haituozi 12:31, Da`an Bei arr.13:15), hauled by DF4 2178. The afternoon was spent on the roadbridge at Da`an Bei. It is a very nice for having a cup of coffee while watching the trains. We arrived there at 14:15, a few minutes after a QJ hauled had left the station. It was even more frustrating there than at Haituozi: no further QJ hauled freight until sunset. After sunset, T Y268 was hauled by QJ 6848. Sunshine from sunrise until 17:20, later cloudy. We took a 30Y - double in the big lüdian opposite the former Da`an Bei station building. Sightings on Sept 12th

Sept 13th, Wednesday
The morning was still cloudy. But by 07:30, the sun had won the fight. After a morning session around Da`an Bei yard, we took T212 dep. 08:19 to Changshantun (arr.08:50), where JS 6096 was shunting. At 12:00, the light at the riverbridge got worse and worse. So we left Changshantun and took a minibus back to Da`an (5Y / person), then Bus.No.3 to Da`an Bei (1Y). We immediately went to the roadbridge again and were lucky as it took "only" 1.5 hours until the first (and only) afternoon QJ hauled freight towards Taipingchuan left the station. Afterwards, we went to the crossing near Da`an Bei shed north of the station. Sightings

Sept 14th, Thursday
Another morning spent at Da`an Bei yard. This time, we had sunshine (sun shone all the day). We took T 581 , Da`an Bei dep. 09:13 to Taiyangshen (arr.10:13). Then we walked the 6km to Lizhi where we took the evening passenger T706 return to Da`an Bei (Lizhi 19:13 - Da`an Bei 20:45). 18 freights between 11:00 and 19:00! Sightings. After a few hours sleep, we got up at 00:30 again and left Da`an by fast train T582 Da`an Bei 00:56-Changchun 04:39.

Changchun Tramway , Sept 15th, Friday

There is only one tramway line in Changchun. It is Line No.54 which commutes between "Hongqi Road" and "Hepingda Street" in the south-western suburbs of Changchun.

Access : "Hongqi Road" can be reached by taking bus No. 25 or 62. Both of which provide a direct link between the CNR station and "Hongqi Road". From the Renmin-Square in the city center you can take Bus No.17, too. It crosses the tramway some 200m north of the depot near Hepingda Street.

Operation : Due to the fact, that the bridge, where the tramway crosses the Bei-Ha-Line is being rebuilt at the moment, line No.54 was worked by buses along the whole length of the line. According to staff, the tramway service has been suspended since May 1st 2000 and is due to reopen on Dec 15th 2000. During this "closure time" not only the railway overbridge is to be reconstructed but the whole tramway line throughout. Nearly everywhere along the line, new tracks, new poles and wires were under construction. But, given the progress of work, it seemed to be a very optimistic target to reopen the line in December. The most likely section to be ready by December is that one between "Hepingda Street" and the railway overbridge.

Rolling Stock : According to staff, 30 vehicles out of three "classes" of electric motor units are present at the moment (numbered 201 ff.). There are at least 8 (16 according to staff) units with wooden body built in Japan in the 1930s. One of this "old" EMUs has been rebuilt and modernisised in the 1960s by the Changchun tramway company. The third type is a series of 10 Dalian-built tramway cars, built in the 1970s and numbered 701-710.
On Sept 15th, the tramway depot ("dianche sushe", literally "tramway residential home") situated about 1.5 - 2 km south of "Hepingda Street", contained 8 "old" railcars, the reconstructed one and all 10 Dalian-built ones with most of them dumped outside the workshop. Condition of most cars was quite bad. Nerverthless, some of the Japan-built units were under serious reconstruction inside the workshop which included new wooden bodies, too.
A visit to the "dianche sushe" is no problem. You may walk in without having asked as there is no fence but a "Hello, I am here" at the gate-keeper`s office, no doubt, will be better.

Tour details Changchun Tramway, Changchun-Kaiyuan, Sept 15th

After a breakfast at Changchun station, we took Bus. No. 62 to Hongqi Road, where we had to take the bus No.54 instead of the expected tramway. We left the bus at the tramway depot, explored it and went back to Changchun city by Bus.No.17 as it was obvious, that no tramway would work on this day. From "Renmin Square" we walked back to station where we catched T510 (Harbin-Shenyang), dep. 11:46 and went as fas as Kaiyuan (arr.14:39). After a short visit to the local railway`s depot, we took T685 to Xifeng which was hauled by JS 8242. Having arrived in Xifeng we checked in at the lüdian next to the station. At Xifeng Xi, JS 8044 was crossed hauling the freight towards Kaiyuan (details see below). Nearly the whole day was overcast. Sun didn`t come out before 17:30 some 20min before sunset.

Kaiyuan-Xifeng (-Anmintun) , Sept 15th - 17th

Thanks to L.Bell/P.Odell for their May 2000-report which proofed to be very useful. The line is 100% JS worked, but diesels are expected to arrive in October 2000 ..

Steam operation :
As reported there is only one pair of passenger trains left. The second one was still noted on the board at Xifeng station but did not operate. Compared to May 2000, the timetable has changed a bit : T685 Kaiyuan-Xifeng leaves an hour earlier now. September 2000 timings are :

After its arrival, the engine of T685 runs round at Xifeng and works back to Xifeng Xi. The same procedure is expected to appear in the morning in the other direction. The passenger trains consist of 6 YZ22-coaches.
In addition to the passenger, there is a daily pair of freights, too. The eastbound freight leaves Kaiyuan after the arrival of T686 around 08:30-09:00. On its way to Xifeng Xi, it stops at different intermediate stations to collect and distribute its waggons. Arrival at Xifeng Xi is around 11:00-11:30. During the two days, we observed this train, it didn`t go further east towards Anmintun. The track here is very rusty, too. So, freight traffic to Anmintun may have been suspended.
Being at Xifeng Xi, the JS serves some factories around Xifeng Xi and east of Xifeng station.
In the afternoon the westbound freight leaves Xifeng Xi immediately after the arrival of T 685 around 17:30. Due to its late departure, it is hardly possible to photograph it.
Summary : The two morning trains (T686 and the eb freight) can be phtographed quite well. Between 11:00 and 15:30, there is no train on the line. T685 works against the light at nearly any location. The only exception is the bridge near Xifeng/ Daqingyang.

The Line :
The line is not spectacular but offers a typical shortline-atmosphere, which is contributed by the appearance of a real pick-up freight which stopps nearly everywhere to collect goods - a very unfamiliar sight in most countries in Western Europe nowadays.
As reported before, the tracks are nailed throughout the whole line and laid on sand. Though this "low standard-infrastructure", the speeds are quite high : we rated the top speed of the passenger to be some 50-60km/h or even higher.
Quails Map is not completety accurate concerning this line. The passenger`s stops along the line are :
Kaiyuan(km0), Laocheng(km8), LaochengDong(km15), Weiyuanpu(km25), Songshucun(km35), Gaojiadian(km46), Gangouzi(km51), Daqingyang(km56), XifengXi(km64) and Xifeng(km66).
All stations with the exception of Daqingyang have sidings, facilities for goods transport, (ligth) signals and local staff. The shed is at Kaiyuan some 500m north of the station. At Xifeng Xi, there is a wye where the engines are turned. So, all trains are funnel first.
The section between Xifeng and Anmintun probably is out of use now : very rusty track here.

Most of the line follows a very recently built "highway-like" road, that limits the possible photo spots tremendously. Beyond Laocheng Dong, hills appear on both sides. But the valley is still more than 1km wide at every point. The railway line is situated at the southern rim of the valley close to the hills - but immediately next to the highway ! The line features 4 larger bridges which are the best photospots : the first bridge is about 1km before Laocheng (km7), the next one follows after Laocheng Dong (km18). Both are concrete one and you have to care about poles here. The smallest of the bridges is situated just west of Weiyuanpu (km25) but the road is quite far away here (some 300m). The forth bridge, the line`s top-spot, is situated between Daqingyang and Xifeng Xi at km58. It is a very unusual bridge for China as it features a very interssting irony structure and a line of hills as backdrops (best for the evening passenger T685). Another photo-spot may be the view on a village between Daqingyang and Gangouzi (for the eb freight). Furthermore, nearly all stations can be used as a photo-spot.

Qinghe Power Plant :
CRJ once reported about a power plant at Qinghe some 9km distance from Kaiyuan which is said to have both SYs and QJs. This powerplant can be seen from Laocheng, but there is no rail connection in between. As there are two lines leaving Kaiyuan to the north-east (the Xifeng one is more northerly one) we guess, that the power plant is linked to Kaiyuan by this direct line.

Linesiding :
Given the few trains, the best solution is to hire a taxi for a half day and to chase the morning passenger and the eb freight. Due to the new highway, you will get the train at least 4-5 times each direction. Costs will be some 150Y.
The afternoon passenger will be not worth chasing (bad light). As said above, the only acceptable spot for this train is the bridge near Daqingyang.
Along the highway, there are buses between Xifeng and Kaiyuan about every hour. Additional buses work between Xifeng and Tieling or Shenyang, but they can be used only as far as Laocheng : they do not go to Kaiyuan. Fare Xifeng-Weiyuanpu is 5Y, for example.
At Xifeng bus station which is some 200m distance from the railway station, you may catch these buses. There is also a very frequent service to Liaoyuan (departures every 30minutes, traveltime 90min).

Locomotives :
The local railway owns 6 workable JS. All of them were built in Datong in 1986 or 1988. Out of them, two engines are used for line work only. At the depot in Kaiyuan, three further JS were present : JS 5268, 5700 and 8241. JS 5268 and 5700 were in the progress of being cut up during our visit on Sept 15th with 1988-built JS 8241 awaiting the same fate.
According to staff, diesel locomotives are expected to arrive in October 2000 and will replace the JS. It is not known what class the diesels will be.
The following engines were seen :

Accomodation :
Xifeng : Xifeng has got both a lüdian and a binguan. The lüdian is situated halfway between the railway and the bus station, each of them being some 100m distance. It costs 10Y per person but as there are no smaller rooms than 4-bed-ones, you will have to pay 40Y if you do not want to get some chinese people in your room. Standard is very bad : dirty, without shower and "tasteful". The binguan is some 300m further north-east. Price for a double is 150Y, negotiating didn`t result in a price lower than 120Y. Near the bus station, there had been another binguan but it has been closed down.

Catering :
Another restaurant of our "Top-5" - Score is situated half way between the lüdian at Xifeng and the bus station. In direction to the bus station, it is on the right side of the street.

Tour details Kaiyuan-Xifeng , Sept 16 th - Sept 17th

Sept 16th, Saturday
As the weather proofed to be quite bad (very dark, grey clouds and plenty of haze), we decided to hire no taxi but to try linesiding by bus. Our first "step" was a "private car", who brought us to the bridge near Daqingyang. The 15Y were overpriced. After T686 (06:35/ JS8242) had passed, we took a minibus to Weiyuanpu(4Y), where we watched JS 8044 hauling its freight to Xifeng Xi (09:30). We returned to Xifeng by bus and visited Xifeng Xi station, where JS 8044 was shunting (11:30). After lunch at "our restaurant" (see above) around 15:00, JS 8044 started shunting again and served the factory east of Xifeng station before doing the same around Xifeng Xi. We took a bus and went to the Daqingyang bridge again (2Y) to watch eb the passenger T685 (JS8046/17:20). Back to Xifeng by private car and dinner at the restaurant.

Sept 17th, Sunday
When we stood up, weather had not changed yet. But in the far west, blue sky was visible. So we hired a taxi for a half day (150Y, 06:00-12:00) in order to chase trains. Indeed, this proofed to be the right decision as the weather improved and even sunshine could be noted (though the haze didn`t disappear completely). Both T686 (JS 8046) and the freight (JS8044 again) were photographed 5 times between Xifeng and Laocheng. The freight was some 30min later than the day before. By 11:30, we had arrived back to Xifeng Xi station. At 13:30, we took the bus to Liaoyuan, where we arrived at 15:00. Then, tourist train Y257 was taken to Tonghua (Liaoyuan dep.17:14- Tonghua 20:39). We stood at the "Railway Hotel".

Hunjiang-Tonghua , Sept 18th , Sept 23rd
Hunjiang-Songshuzhen , Sept 19th- Sept 22nd

Surprising : No changes here since March 2000 concerning steam-hauled freights. A new timetable has been introduced for the passengers which limits the possibility of steam usage to a handful of trains. A unique experience is the lüdian at Songshuzhen. Tonghua`s steam roster has to be rewritten ... Read Till Mosler`s report, too.

New timetable :
If you get hold of a copy of the April 2000 timetable, you should forget it when being in Tonghua. Although "valid" since April 2000, a different timetable has been introduced on March 31st with further changes since July 11th. As no printed version of the current timetable was available, we copied the departues boards of Tonghua, Guyuan, Hunjiang, Dayangcha and Songshuzhen. Based on this data, the timetable as shown below could be constructed.
The most remarkable change is, that nearly all trains which work between Tonghua and Linjiang/ Baihe have a shorter stop at Hunjiang now. So a loco-change is no longer possible there what means DF4 or DF5 haulage all the way. This limits the possibilty of JS hauled passengers to a handful of trains...
A pair of all-station passengers between Tonghua and Songshuzhen has been cancelled whilst some fast trains now stop at "smaller stops", too (Guyuan for example).

Northbound (Tonghua-Baihe) :

Southbound (Tonghua-Baihe) :

The extra passenger Tonghua-Hunjiqang 601/602  reported by L.Bell/P.Odell no longer operates.

Steam operation :
Passenger trains : The following passengers are JS-hauled :

T 808 : Hunjiang 07:36 - Tonghua 09:35    (JS or DF5, Linjiang-Hunjiang DF5 hauled)
T 955 : Hunjiang 15:48 - Songshuzhen 18:16   (JS, sometimes DF5)
(T 792) : Guosong 05:40 - Tonghua 07:05    was not observed but JS is quite likely)

In addition to these trains, the "return workings" T807, T956 and T791 are the only further trains that could be steam hauled (timetable allows nothing else) but were observed diesel hauled in any occassion.

Freight trains : My March 2000 description is still valid concerning freight duties.
Hunjiang - Tonghua : JS operation is limited to two freights each direction, the pick-up freight (northbound tender first) to Daoqing/Laoying in the morning and the (lonely) northbound freight in the afternoon. Sometimes, there is an afternoon sb freight, too. Pilots : JS 8154, 8155 at Tonghua, JS 8211 at Dongtonghua, JS 8231, 8233, 8234 at Hunjiang (nothing has changed).
Till Mosler tells that days can offer much fewer JS-hauled goods trains, too. Sometimes, there was only the pick-up-freight and its return working plus an afternoon sb freight.
Hunjiang - Baihe : No chances, too. Approximate departures and arrivals for Hunjiang are :

Bold letters indicate possible JS-freights, the rest is DF4. Underlined times indicate local freights to Sanchazi and Zazi (southbound tender first) whilst all other trains come/work to Songshuzhen. The timings of the local freights can vary, additional trains may appear, too. The number of nb trains in the afternoon can vary, too. After the (sure) 13:00 departure, there will be at least two further freights until 17:00 (1 local freight to Sanchazi and 1 to Songshuzhen). But it may happen that up to 4 nb goods trains can be noted between 13:30 and 17:00.
The afternoon freight(s) to Songshuzhen can be double-headed or banked. It can appear that a double-headed-train becomes a banked one at Dayangcha. The first engines leaves the trains, runs round and acts as banker.
DF4 : The two DF4-hauled freights in the morning are supposed to work to a destination north of Songshuzhen (Quanyang ?) as the engines need a much more time to arrive back at Hunjiang than the Songshuzhen-only freights.
DF5 : As it used to be in March, there is still exactly one DF5 on JS-duties every day (see "Diagrams" section for details).

Songshuzhen Area :
Most JS/DF5 hauled freights from Hunjiang terminate at Songshuzhen or change engine there. JS are used north of Songshuzhen as well but excact volume is not known. The two DF4 hauled freights ex Hunjiang 06:00 and 07:00 are supposed to work to a destination north of Songshuzhen. Sadly, this means that there are 2 sure DF4 freights during daylight plus their return workings in the evening. With expected lower freight levels here than south of Songshuzhen, there cannot be very many JS hauled freights during daylight. Exploration is requested!
Songshuzhen station itself is very scenic, situated below a hill. The station building is situated some 15m above track level and is conncted to the platforms by a wonderful old-style wooden stairwalk.
Just north of Songshuzhen station, there is a 3-track-stabling point /depot which includes a turntable, too. Songshuzhen has got two pilots : JS 8112 and 8199, both being high-deflectored engines.
Wangou situated half way between Sanchazi and Songshuzhen has different spurs to a number of coal mines. For serving these mines a JS pilot is present, too (JS 8229, hd).
The only spot that can be found between Dayangcha and Songshuzhen is bridge which leads to a cutting some 4 km west of Songshuzhen.

Linesiding :
Dongtonghua : Take Bus.No.3 from Tonghua station to its terminus at Dongtonghua. Fare is 1Y.
Daoqing/Guyuan : Easily reachable by train (see timetable). Access from Tonghua direction is better as you will have more time for linesiding.
Hunjiang-Zazi : Frequent minibuses run along the road next to the power plant. Get off next to the road tunnel some 6km north of Hunjiang. The riverbridge is best reached by urban bus. No.3. From its northern terminus "Hekou" it is only 500m to walk. Bus. No.3 runs past the stabling point south of Hunjiang station, too. If you walk along the river in western direction (about 600m) you will reach the "main avenue" very close to the "Baishan Shi Binguan". Bus No.1 provides a direct connection between the hotel and the station. Fares for the urban buses are 0.6Y-1.2Y.
Dayangcha : The road between Sanchazi and Wangou has been rebuilt in Summer 2000 and is a tar road now. A direct minibus provides a connection between Baishan/Hunjiang and Dayangcha. The "surest" way of getting to Dayangcha is by train. Especially in the evening, you do not have to care about "ways to come home". Best base for visits to Dayangcha is Songshuzhen, where you can take T956 early in the morning and return on T955 or T 801, just as you like. Another advantage : T956 crosses the 05:00 nb freight at Wangou. So, you will know the engine of the 13:00 sb, too (for details see "Diagrams").
Diagrams :
During the 4 days, we spent north of Hunjiang, the following diagrams could be "reconstructed" based on our observations.

3-day-diagram for JS/DF5 :

The DF5 will cover one of these duties. On our first and forth day, the DF5 was on "day2" duty. Although this diagram might be right for the DF5, the JS of "day2" did not do "day 3" the day after in any occassion. The same is valid for day3 - day1. But day1 - day2 was right for both JS and the DF5.
Although it may be, that the diagram above is not absolutely correct, it may help you to calculate the "probability for the DF5".

Furthermore, it seems that there is another 1-day-diagram because this train had the same engine on 3 out of 4 days.

1-day-diagramm for JS/DF5 :

Between Hunjiang and Sanchazi, two further JS are employed during the whole day. One of the engines is Sanchazi pilot but returns as soon as the second JS arrives there, too.
The two DF4s on freights north of Hunjiang have 1-day-diagrams, too. Every day, it were the same engines. The 07:00 ex Hunjiang engine arrives back in the evening at 19:00.

Around Tonghua : In general, the JS are used very intensive. A turn-round at Tonghua can be as short as 1 hour. Furthermore, there are obviously no substitute engines at Tonghua : the engines which come in will leave again; you can count incoming engines to know how many will leave again ...

Locomotives :
Some of the old, large-deflectored JS are out of use now. On the other hand, large-deflectored engines are still in use including two recently ex-works, 1960-built ones (JS 6020 and JS 6021). But the biggest surprise was the number of high-deflectored engines, we noted. Most of these engines seem to be allocated to Songshuzhen or Quanyang "sub-shed" as they have never (or very seldom) been recorded near Tonghua. Anyway, all engines wear "Tonghua depot code". Given this fact, I no longer doubt that the number of 42 JS in spring 2000 given by a Chinese travel agency was correct !

The number of recorded DF5 was lower than in March, too. For example, no "red" DF5 ("5xxx"-series) was noted although they still exist as Till Mosler saw DF5 5010. Between Tonghua and Hunjiang, DF4 are preferred now for hauling freights.

The following engines could be noted (JS,DF4,DF5 : Tonghua based; SY : Dongtonghua steelworks, underlined = noted by Till Mosler) :

Concerning the DF4 there will hardly be many further engines as the engines noted in March and September were nearly identical. The number of DF5s might be some 10-12 engines in total, the number of JS will be somewhere between 25 and 35 workable engines. It is remarkable, that 50% or more of Tonghua`s locomotives are still JS !

Accomodation :
Tonghua : The "Railway Hotel" just north of the station is recommanded. A double is 56Y. For having a shower, a special "institution" in the basement can be used.
Hunjiang : The "Baishan Shi Binguan" (see March Report ) offers both rooms for 100Y and 200Y. The cheaper ones do not include a bathroom but "public ones" inside the hotel can be used.
Dayangcha : This is no joke! Dayangcha has got a 3-room lüdian. Prices are 10Y/person. The lüdian is combined with a restaurant. From Dayangcha station you have to walk to the signals towards Wangou. Walk down the path and you arrive at a place (direct bus Dayangcha-Hunjiang starts here, too). The left restaurant on its eastern side featuring a red sign is the right one. The restaurant offers very good meals, too.
Be warned that the lüdian is very grotty, but you will have no problems to reach the line in the morning here ...
Songshuzhen : Just to the left outside the station building there is a lüdian (mentioned by L.Bell/P.Odell, too). Price is 10Y per person. Everything is very old (you even may say antique) but very well-cared and clean. Cold shower is available only. Nerverthless, we voted this lüdian to be our best accomodation during our 7 and 5 weeks in China respectively. The reason is : you will have "night-music by JS" during the night. In intervals of a few minutes you will hear a JS hard at work outside, either one of the pilots or departing trains. There can be only few experiences in China being better than listening to this "music" when going to bed and when getting up in the morning again... Simply great !

New Railway Tonghua-Dandong ?
Fast trains T665, T666 operate Dandong-Tonghua-Baihe : not spectacular. The miracle is the traveltime between Tonghua and Dandong : some 6.5 hours only ! To realise this traveltime, you cannot go via Shenyang along existing lines. On the other hand a traveltime of 6.5+24=30.5h is too long. Is there a new railway link between Tonghua and Dandong ? Exploration is requested !

Tour details Tonghua , Sept 18th - Sept 23rd

Sept 18th, Monday
We stood up at 05:30 in the morning to see that you could see nothing : haze and fog everywhere. So, we stood at our room until 07:00 when we decided to visit Dongtonghua anyway. We took Bus.No.3 to Dongtonghua and arrived at the riverbridge at 08:00. We wondered a bit about the passenger trains as we had not realised the changed timetable yet. Though the thick fog, our decision proofed to be right : by 09:00, the sun was shining for the rest of the day. Immediately after the sb freight at 14:10, we went back to Tonghua by minibus. Sadly, at the moment when we get off the bus, the afternoon northbound was leaving the station yet. We spent the rest of the day around Tonghua yard, but no more steam movement except for a light engine working and the pilot JS 8155. Sightings
In the evening, we took T653 to Hunjiang, Tonghua dep. 18:39, arr.19:49. This train is nearly empty - a good choice. On board, we realised, that the new timetable had ruined our program as one its "essential train" had been cancelled. So, we had to rearrange the program and went on to Songshuzhen as consequence. We took tourist train Y 257, Hunjiang dep.22:24, Songshuzhen 00:15. Our first night "music by JS 8112" followed.

Sept 19th, Tuesday
Stood up at 05:00 again and took T956 to Dayangcha (3Y). Thick fog again and very cold in the morning, but it became sunny and warm by 08:00. Linesiding at Dayangcha and back to Songshuzhen on T801, dep. 18:07, arr. 19:22. Sightings

Sept 20th, Wednesday
A 05:00 visit to Songshuzhen shed gave names to our "musicbox" : JS 8112 & JS 8199. The same program as the day before (Dayangcha). Although we had sunshine again, it was hazy today. At Dayangcha, we met another gricer from Germany (Till Mosler). We spent this the following three days together. Sightings .

Sept 21st, Thursday
Got up 04:45 today in order to catch tourist train Y258 to Hunjiang (dep. 05:07, arr 06:58). Met Till at the station (he stood at Hunjiang all the time) and went to the riverbridge. It was hazy again, but sun was too late : it appeared not before 10:00 and disappeared at 15:00 again (clouds). Sightings We stood at the Baishan Shi Binguan, where Till lived, too.

Sept 22nd, Friday
Another day between Hunjiang and Zazi. Sadly, the same weather as the day before : sun only between 11:00 and 15:30 just before the passenger 955 left. In the evening, we went to Tonghua by train T220 Hunjiang 20:17, Tonghua 21:32, which arrived 30mins late due to a crossing at Dongtonghua. This is Chinese inefficiency ! We stood at the Railway Hotel again. Due to the delay of our train, we couldn`t have a shower (shower room closes 22:00) and couldn`t buy sleeper tickets for the next day, too(ticket counter closes 22:00, too). Sightings

Sept 23rd, Saturday
In the morning, we had a fight with the lady of the ticketcounter who didn`t want to sell sleeper tickets to Beijing for the evening. She wanted us to come back at 08:30 when we would be out on the line. In the end, we succeeded and got our tickets.
We took T 807, Tonghua dep.06:12 to Guyuan (07:03). There was plenty of fog again in the morning which ruiened photography before 09:00. The day became quite frustrating as only one sb freight (the pick-up freight) appeared during sunlight. It was Saturday, again ! Be very careful on weeksends nowadays! SightingsWe returned to Tonghua on board T802, Guyuan dep. 17:16, Tonghua arr.18:14. In the evening, we boarded the express train 538 to Beijing, dep. 21:03 where we arrived at 15:15 the next day.

JingHa-Line (Beijing-Harbin) , Sept 15th , Sept 24th

We travelled along JingHa-Line on Sept 15th (Changchun-Kaiyuan) and on Sept 24th (Siping-Beijing) during daytime.
According to officials, JingHa line will be completely electrified until August 2001. The Harbin-bureau - section between Harbin and Siping will be ready by this time as all masts are already installed and the wires were being under construction in September.
A very different situation is to be found in "Shenyang-bureau area" between Siping and Shanhaiguan. There are neither masts nor wires along most of this line. It has to be doubted, if electrification can be finished until August 2001. In our opinion, it won`t be possible. Maybe, steam in Shenyang bureau gets another year. The fact that still QJs are seriously overhauled in Changchun would support this suggestion.
Anyway, between Jinzhou and Shanhaiguan, a lot of construction work was under way both at the new "highspeed line" and along the old "BeiHa". Between Baimiaozi and Shahousuo (Jinzhou-Shanhaiguan section), both QJ 6461 and QJ 7103 were employed with contruction trains.
Quite interessting is the fact, that the Shanhaiguan-Jinzhou all-station passengers are hauled by DF11 (!!). Fast and Express trains are hauled either by orange DF4, DF4D and DF11. Goods trains are nearly exclusively DF4C north of Shanhaiguan.
Double-unit DF10F 2001 A/B was noted at Qinhuangdao. QJ 6464 was under steam at Goubangzi shed.

Sept 24th, Sunday After our afternoon arrival at Beijing (15:15), we bought YW-tickets for the overnight passenger T637 (dep.22:48) to Datong. This train leaves at Beijing zhan and uses the line towards Chengde before changing to the Datong-Qinhuangdao coal line (Da-Qin Line) at Gaogezhuang. In the meantime, we visited "Jinghua Fandian" in order to visit the internet-cafe there. For a description of this hotel see Part I

This report is to continued with  Southern China / Part III