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The line is an extension of the electrified line from Datong to Zhoujiawan. All trains change from steam to electric and vv in Zhoujiawan. The loaded coal trains arrive here and the QJ's goes immediately on the turntable, ready for the next trip into the mountains.
The normal traffic-pattern is something like this: 2 eastbound trains consisting of 2 QJ's arrive with say 24 C62 followed by one last train with a single QJ and about 10 cars. (All this within about 2 hours). The coal waggons are then hauled towards Datong by a single SS3-electric in one huge train. Heading west to the mines we saw 2 QJ working uphill with all the empties in one train.
We got the impression that not many foreigners have visited this railway yet. A pity, cause it's really worth a visit! Great scenery with bridges and steep gradients in both directions - and every train with QJ's! Just outside Zhoujiawan the line moves uphill for about 6-7 km, and a tunnel is reached. The scenery is a bit like Jingpeng with mountains in the distance. The line is definitely worth further exploration.
Railway staff and the crews are very friendly, and they expect no money from you. -What a difference from Jingpeng!
During our two-day visit we saw all 13 QJ's in steam, but the line-working changes from day to day. On the 24th, not a
single train moved uphill in daylight, and only 3 came down with coal. But the next day was much better and started at
8 o'clock when QJ 6555 and 7067 moved uphill with 54 empties in the morning sun.
The steam activity varies from day to day depending on the coal production in the mines in Xiyingzi. There is a number
of light-engine workings to Xiyingzi when needed.
The area is a bit remote, but there are hotels in the eastern part of Zhoujiawan. We were lucky to stay in a ldian just across the depot for only 5 yuan each with some very nice people. The place was recommended by a guy in the steam depot.
The condition of the QJ-engines varies from super shine-locos (6944) to others in rather poor working order. We saw one engine having an overhaul in the repair shop (the shed) and running the following day. Another engine was then brought in for a check. QJ 6565 stood in front of the shed all the time, perhaps serving as a steam-supply.
Engines seen in Zhoujiawan: QJ 6555, 6563, 6565, 6573, 6613, 6759, 6907, 6944, 6946, 6995, 7054, 7058 and 7067, all being operational.
We spent some 5« hours there and saw a train leaving at 10:55 with QJ 7200 and another arriving from Daba at 12:18 with QJ 1465. A lot of shunting was going on most of the time (QJ 7036). The engines are turned on a triangle. The line is running through desert-like areas most of the time, and apart from a few places where the railway crosses the river and road, there seems to be few places, to be called photogenic. - But we haven't seen all the line!
In Daban depot they now charge you 200 yuan each for a photo permit. In Daban it self there is a lot going on: all trains changes engines, steam-shunting (QJ 6639 without deflectors), and especially on the east side the terrain is great and offers heavy work for the engines that moves uphill until Gulumanhan. There is a road-bridge over the tracks in the east end of Daban. Here the light is perfect for the morning passenger to Chabuga! Some freights are double headed east of Daban too. For 3 persons we paid 140 yuan for staying at the Railway Hotel in Daban, placed about 700 m's from the station (eastside).
We also observed SY 0201 shunting in CNR-station Xintaizi about 50 km northeast of Shenyang.
Conclusion: a hard, but also a very "giving" tour; we saw more than 100 steam locomotives in two weeks; about
90 of them under steam. There seems to be x-ray control on almost every larger rail station now, but this does not
represent a problem to your film material.
Last, but not least: we managed to get home to Denmark by Scandinavian just ahead of the SARS-disease, which now has
reached Inner Mongolia (Hohhot).
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