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This
is a report of the recent China trip that I did with Adrian
Bagnall.
Nothing particularly new although we did see an SY at a
previously unreported place North of Chongqing.
Despite the distances to be covered we had resolved that as this
was a railway trip we would use the train rather than internal
flights and as a result we did some daytime train journeys
through some exceptional scenery.
After
arriving in Beijing we headed for Xi station and with some time
to spare watched the comings and goings at the west of the
station with a surprising number of types of loco to be seen
including 2 DFH5's on carriage pilot duty. One of these was 0373.
We took T9 to Chongqing finding that start point and
destination on Chinese railway tickets are now also in English. T9
also has it's restaurant car menu in English but it seemed to
have lost something in the translation. "Fish with
interesting taste" wasn't. On the exit from Xi we saw a BJ
double unit but little else of interest. By morning we were
around Shiyan. The whole line from here (and thus presumably from
Xiangfan to Chongqing , is being doubled. This is a monster
project with numerous deviations, tunnels, embankments and
viaducts under construction. On this line freights seemed to be
exclusively SS3 and passenger trains SS7C. At Ankang a number of
SS3B double units were present. These closely resemble SS4's but
are Co-Co-Co-Co. Some of these work to Chonqing and presumably
they also work Ankang - Baoji.
Our
first sight of steam was at Qinghua where an in steam SY sat in
what was probably an Ironworks but too far from the line to get
the number. At Daxian there were a number of DF4DF's. They look
to be in at least 2 number series as we identified 0351 and 4057.
South of here , probably at Lushi there was a DF1 in a Cement
Works and around Moxinpo there are a number of coalmines
with narrow gauge systems and some with extensive ropeways. After
being on time all the way we were then extensively delayed by
problems on the single line and arrived in Chongqing exactly 1
hour late.
Jianghe
Coal Railway 21st November
As
we headed out of Chongqing it started to rain and poured
for the rest of the day. We found the mine devoid of any
locos but after a few minutes a convoy of 4 trains of empties
appeared hauled respectively by 1, 4, 5 and 6 of the unique locos
that work this line. They quickly loaded and we were able to
photograph them from the road using the tailgate of our vehicle
as an umbrella. The staff here are known to have some hostility
to visitors. One driver certainly did but the others seemed
completely friendly. The rain made it impossible to follow the
line into the country so we were restricted to the road and to
Taishan where the line goes down the main street. Here there are
some good photographic opportunities and the locals were
delightful. The 4 train convoy returned but did not stop here for
lunch as previously reported. 2 locos then retired to the shed
with a 2 train convoy then setting off. With the rain still
pouring we set off back to Chongqing
Chongqing
Monorail 21st November
Our
early return to Chongqing meant that we could ride the monorail.
It's not a monorail in the true sense as it is rail less, the
cars running on a narrow central concrete platform presumably on
rubber wheels. The whole thing is elevated and as it tilts as
well riding it over the streets of the city is like being in a
low flying helicopter. Certainly not to be missed. They do appear
to have had a singular problem at the stations, however, as each
one has signs which say "No Tossing". Points on a
monorail are always a difficult thing and at the depot the points
system would have won Lartigue's approval it being very Listowel
and Ballybunnion.
From
here we took N858 to Chengdu which despite it's ambling schedule
arrived 10 minutes late.
Despite
quickly acquiring a car to take us to Qianwe it was now our
problems began as Chengdu was suddenly engulfed in a
impenetrable fog. The motorway was closed and despite the driver's
best and sometimes lethal endeavours to use the old road progress
was at a snail's pace. A change of wheel and a punch up
with another taxi driver didn't help. We had intended to go to
Mojiang en route but this proved impossible but we did just get
to Yuejin to see some action on the Shibanxi line as the sun
eventually pierced the fog.
Shibanxi
23-25 November
We
stayed at The Tian Bo Hotel in Qianwe at a substantially
discounted rate to that advertised. Setting out in the dark to
get the 07:00 train the third car to pass the hotel was a taxi
the driver of which knew our intentions. Indeed we had not the
slightest difficulty getting to and from the line during our stay.
The taxi fare was 22Y on the meter.
14
was the train engine. We rode the train to Mifeng then
photographed the departure before walking up the line. We had
hoped a freight would run the intention being to photograph it on
the Caiziba curve but no freight came and we were still there
waiting for the 10:30 passenger when the rains came with a
vengeance and it rained for the rest of the day. We were
entertained by a recalcitrant pig refusing to board a down train
before returning. At Yuejin we encountered No. 10 which double
headed the train back to Shibanxi.
The
following day it was still pissing down so we took the 10:30
finding 14 with a train of asbestos sheets and concrete at
Xianrenjiao. We rode up to Bagou then back to Jiaoba
photographing the following train on the curve near here. More
pigs boarded on a wet return journey. The next day the
rains continued so we gave up and headed back to Chengdu staying
in the adequate Quanxing Building Hotel. Outside were extensive
works for the new Chengdu Metro. It looks like this will be on
stilts like Chongqing but if the publicity is to be believed will
not be a monorail but still a rail less rubber wheels on concrete
job. The same street bizzarely had no less than 26 shops selling
theodolites and 8 sex shops - those kinky Chengdu surveyors!
The
following day we took 1012 from Chengdu headed for Hami. There
were only 4 occupants of the soft sleeper coach on this wandering
train which misses out Lanzhou going from Baoji to Zhongwei and
on to Wuwei. Leaving the greenery of Sichuan and waking up in the
snow covered wastes was a bit of a shock.
At
Wuwei Nan we changed our SS3 for a DF11 but the electrification
now goes right on to Jiayuguan. All passengers remain DF11 but
freights are now SS3 (sometimes in pairs) or SS3B doubles. Also
at Wuwei Nan we saw an SS7E which had an SS9 bodyshape together
with some SS8's in red , white and blue livery. As we saw none of
these to the west presumably they only run to Lanzhou.
Beyong
Jinchang (a dreadfully polluted town) the line is on a new
spectacular, sweeping alignment. The old single and double track
alignments can still be identified here. There is a freight loco
changing point at Zhang Ye where the old steam shed still stands.
Sandaoling
28-30th November
Despite
having been 45 minutes late at one stage we arrived early at Hami
and were quickly on our way to Sandaoling. We had to knock up the
slumbering receptionist of the padlocked Sandaoling Hotel
to get in and still managed to be at Xibolizhan before dawn on a
crystal clear still morning with snow on the ground. With JS's on
spoil trains coming and going almost all the time it began an
exceptional 3 days where we got in 10 hours dawn to dusk
photography each day. The first evening a host of trains were on
the Xibolizhan tips at sunset. We started the following day
at Dongbolizhan with equally good results and ended at
Kengkongzhan where we were rewarded with a storming train at the
ultimate time as the sun set. Quite a number of coal and spoil
trains came out of the hole this way during our visit and there
is also spoil tipping being done in the hole. On each of the
first 2 days the empties train ran from Liushuquan. The first day
banked with over 60 wagons and on the second a single header (but
no less spectacular) with only 24. On the 3rd day this train did
not run. On both occasions we saw the train it halted just short
of the level crossing so perhaps there has been a recent
collision here. The action on the line was so good that we did
not bother to visit the works.
The
following were seen (all in steam) :- SY 1593, 1718. JS 6203/8/9/10/23/59,
6430/6, 8027/40/55/77/8/81/, 8167/73/89/93/5,
8221,
8358/68.
Heading
back to Hami we caught T198. We had organised soft sleepers on
this from Urumchi because Hami had no sleeper allocation. This
was a wise move as upgrading would have been impossible as the
sleeper was full. We hit the Lanzhou pollution as far out as
Hekou Nan and pretty grim it was. At Lanzhou K197 to Lhasa was
about to leave with a pair of DF4D on the front. From Lanzhou
towards Baoji nearly all freight we saw were double headed by an
SS1 and an SS3.
Yinghao
2nd December
We
staggered off the train at Sanmenxia Xi at 05:12 the only people
to get off there. This is a freight loco change point in the
middle of nowhere. As we had a car organised we disappointed the
huge gaggle of taxi drivers who were waiting for non existant
business outside the station even at this hour. The drive to
Sanmenxia itself was down a vast, empty well lit highway and
after an early breakfast we headed to Yinghao.When I first
visited here the concrete road was all but complete and
predictions were that coal lorries on it would finish off the
railway. Now the coal lorries have finished off the concrete road
in many places and the train still runs. On arrival at the shed
15 was being serviced. An apparently unnumbered loco was in light
steam and 08 was dead. Another loco (it could have been more than
one) was lying around in bits with its boiler being retubed in
the open. 15 had some blocked tubes and when these could not be
cleared with a steam lance an oxy acetylene torch was brought out
to perform the task. Such an item near a pressure vessel caused
us to make a sharp withdrawal and by this time 09 had arrived and
was being watered and having its sand box refilled from the
antiquated sanding platform. The engine lubricating oil was
obviously too thick so a fire was started and the can plonked in
the middle of it in a huge cloud of smoke. 09 then headed to the
mine with 4 empty wagons but expired in a ball of steam on the
climb back despite the attentions of a crew member sitting on the
boiler trying to get the sanders to work. Eventually it struggled
to the junction and 2 more runs with 3 wagons were alright. 15
then appeared but didn't look well taking over the mine shuttle.
09 took the loaded train to CNR but when it returned it had to go
to the mine as 15 had expired there and the two double headed 3
loaded wagons. 09 was despatched to CNR leaving there at 15:00
as we left for Pingdingshan We did not have time to look in at
Mianchi but crossed the Tiamen Silica sand line which is still in
use as the rails were shiny. Freight traffic on CNR west of
Luoyang now sees a good number of SS3B's with the 6K's less in
evidence. There is now a new motorway open which got us from the
centre of Luoyang to The ShenMa Hotel in PDS in 2 hours.
Pingdingshan
3-6 December.
Steam
here continues to hold up well with 12 JS and 2 SY seen on the
line. The 2 in steam QJ did not rouse themselves from the shed.
Of the 5 diesels we only saw 4 on the line on any one day.
Traffic was generally heavy. Diesels are certainly not preferred
to steam on the heavier turns , for instance on 3rd December JS
8031 brought a very lengthy train of empties from CNR passing
straight through Tianshuang yard without stopping. The following
day there were 3 steam departures from Tianshuang with empties
before a diesel even stuck its nose out of the shed. The line
between Tianshuang and Shenchi is being doubled and new road
construction means that new bridges are under construction on all
lines west of Shenchi. The slacks for these had an advantage on
the line to Mine 1 as trains were shorter, 4 - all steam hauled
going up before 13:00 on 4 December. The Passengers were SY save
that the morning train from Mine 13 was JS on 6 December. All the
locos were in excellent condition and only problem was the usual
PDS grey days.
Locos
seen :- QJ 6450, 6813 (dumped), 7186, JS 5644, 6225/53, 6429,
6539 (dumped), 8030/1/54/62/8, 8122, 8338, 8421, SY 1209, 1687.
DF5G 5121, DF10D 0060/87/8, GKD3B 0003.
We
then motored back to Luoyang taking K270 back to Beijing
Derek Jenkins
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© 2006 Derek Jenkins