Florian Menius and Thorge Bockholt report on a tour to China in August, September and October 2000.

Shuozhou - Shenchi Nan , Sept 25th - Sept 26th 2000

It is still possible to take a photo of a hard working QJ+QJ-hauled goods train beneath the Chinese "Great Wall"! But no chance for euphoria ! There is nearly any photographic potential left because the whole line has been electrified recently. Furthermore, all uphill trains are tender first. But anyway, the steam action here is breathtaking ...

The line :
The line between Shuozhou and Shenchi Nan has been built in 1995/1996 in order to transport coal from the mines around Daliuta and Shenmu to Datong. Total length is 46km. It seems that the line "begins" at Shenmu Bei as Shenchi Nan is situated at kilometer post 221, Shuozhou at km 267. The 221km might be the distance between Shenchi Nan and Shenmu Bei.
The stations along this section are : Shuozhou (km 267), ShuozhouXi(km263), Guanzhuang(km253), Jiugetai(km243), Shanggelao(km234) and ShenchiNan(km221).
The whole line is single track. All intermediate stations between Shenchi Nan and Shuozhou have light signals and 2-3 tracks. The line offers :

• constant grade of 12%o for 42km between ShuozhouXi and Shenchi Nan
• 9 tunnels
• several bridges including a 400m long, some 70m high one crossing a side valley
• a horseshoe curve including 1 tunnel and 3 bridges
• the "Great Wall" as backdrop

Unfortunately, the whole line is electrified now and ready for the use of electric locomotives. (Additional information [added Jan 2001] : Electric operation started in early November 2000 according to the "People`s Daily"). In addition to the electrification masts, there is another line of poles parallel to the line. Sometimes, the line is hidden behind poles at both sides.
Between Shuozhou and Jiugetai, the line is - though haevily graded at 12%o - not very scenic. It curves through flat landscape. Beyond Jiugetai(km243) the line winds through the hills - steadily climbing at 12%o - until Shenchi is reached. At km240, the above mentioned 400m long, 70m high bridge is passed which is followed by the horseshoe curve at km 235-238. At the far end of the horseshoe bend, the first (more exactly : "the last") tunnel of the line is reached : Tunnel "No.41". Here, the Great Wall comes in sight for the first time, too. Between Shanggelao(km234) and Shenchi Nan(km221), tunnels No.40 to No.34 follow in short distance to each other. Tunnel No.38 crosses the "Great Wall" situated on top of the hill. The longest tunnel is "No.33" which starts immediately after the entrance signal to Shenchi Nan station. It crosses both the road and the Ningwu-Shenchi-Kulan CNR line and leads directly to Shenchi Nan station`s freight yard.

Shenchi area :
At Shenchi, there are two seperate stations : the recently built Shenchi Nan (freight) yard and the "old" Shenchi station situated some 300m north of Shenchi Nan but parallel to it. The "old" station has got 2 tracks only and looks like a "standard branch line station". It is used by the passenger trains along the non-electrified Ningwu to Kelan line (see timetable, too). Shenchi Nan station on the other hand is a modern freight yard, electrified, has got some 10 tracks plus one platform. At the western end of Shenchi Nan station, the "Depot No.3" is situated which is home to all QJs and several DF4s.
To the east of the station, the line to Shuozhou extends. Furthermore, there is a recently built double track line towards Ningwu, too. It is situated parallel to the Ningwu-Kelan single track line most of the way to Ningwu. Some 2 kms before reaching Ningwu station, it diverges and swings towards Yuanping. We suppose, that this double-track line will become the extension of the Yuanping-Dingzhou-Cangzhou-Huanghua line which would provide another "coal link" to the coast in addition to the Datong-Qinhuangdao (Da-Qin-Line) line. The line is being electrified at the moment, too.
The Ningwu-Kelan single track line reaches Ningwu station from the south. Just before Ningwu, there is a large horseshoe bend where the line curves around Ningwu city in order to reach the station from the south. The single track line to Jingle (see Quails atlas) is in situ, too, but obviously not used as the track was very rusty. It crosses the double track line to Shenchi Nan just at that point where it diverges from the single track line. At the southern end of Ningwu station, there is a small depot (no usage of steam here according to staff) which includes a turntable, too. Furthermore, the haevily graded single track line (Quails Map is wrong !) to Yuanping extends to the southeast of Ningwu station. By the way : BeiTongpu Line (Datong-Taiyuan) is double track only north of Shuozhou. To the south - at least as far as to Yuanping the line is single track only.
The area west of Shenchi Nan and Shenchi station was not visited. But according to its direction, the lines towards Kelan and Shenmu are very likely to have an interchange station there. Another fact is sure, too : The "mainline" westwards from Shenchi Nan goes to Shenmu Bei and not to Daliuta as shown on Quails Map. In this respect, Nelles map is more likely to be correct as "their" line goes to Shenmu.
The alignment of railway lines in this area is shown here :

Operation (Steam & Diesel) :
Shuozhou-Shenchi Nan : Although being electrified, the whole line is worked by steam and diesel exclusively. The coal trains are loaded in direction to Shuozhou (downhill) and consist of up to 60 wagons - more than at Aobaogou !
Freights : Along the first 4 kms between Shuozhou and ShuozhouXi, the coal trains are hauled by one of Shuozhou`s DF7B pilots (Datong-based CNR engines). At ShuozhouXi, where watertowers and dorms for railway employees can be found, the engines of "Depot No.3" take over the trains. Motive power is either a pair of QJs or 3 DF4s ! Don`t ask me, why 3 DF4 are necessary to cover the same duties 2 QJs can manage as well, but triple headed DF4 coal trains are no unfamiliar sight in this area.
Due to a lack of turning facilities at ShuozhouXi, all QJ face northwards. This means, that all uphill trains will be tender first!
Having arrived at Shenchi Nan, the engines of "Depot No.3" are replaced again. In most occasions, motive power further west of Shenchi was 3 DF4.
Volume of freight traffic is quite high. There is a train in each direction about every 90-120min or more frequently. After having arrived at ShuozhouXi, the engines will go back immediately. The mix of DF4 and QJ can vary (see Sightings ).
Though having the disadvantages of tender first workings under wires, the steam action is fantastic. Engines are worked very hard. It is a spectacle to watch and hear the QJs heading a queue of 60 coal wagons racing uphill at maximum speed - speeds of some 50-60 km/h along a steadily climbing line for 42km ! It is probably one of the best sounds you can have in China.

Passenger : There is a pair of passenger trains along this line, too. T833 and T834 work between Datong and ShenmuBei. They are hauled by Datong based BJ diesels which work through from Datong. The train itself consist of BJ-diesel +3YZ+1CA+1RW+1YW. The existance of a RW-coach in (such a short, secondary) passenger trains is quite surprising.
T 833 / 834 must have been introduced very recently. The stations between Shuozhou and ShenmuBei are not included in the ticketing system yet. So, all tickets have to be written by hand what takes very, very long time. It is quite likely, that the ticket counter has to close before all passengers got their tickets due to the arrival of the train.
Between Shuozhou and Shenchi Nan, the passenger only stops at ShuozhouXi. Though Shanggelao is included in the timetable board at Shuozhou and even has got a price for the ticket (3Y), the train does not call there. The timetable of T833, T834 is (copied from the board at Shuozhou) :

At Shenmu Bei, there is a connection from passenger T855 train from Baotou (arr.Shenmu Bei 13:07) to T 834 to Datong(dep.Shenmu Bei 14:00). So, if you have a day spare at Dongsheng before returning to Beijing, you may use this connection. Exploration of the area between Shenchi and Shenmu is requested !

Ningwu - Shenchi - Kelan : The express trains T665, T666 Kaiyuan-Kelan-Kaiyuan are hauled by orange, Yuanping - based DF4. The engine runs round at Ningwu and continues haulage. T829, T830 Datong-Kelan-Datong are hauled by Datong based BJ.
All freights observed between Ningwu and Shenchi/ Shenchi Nan (both lines) were single headed DF4. Most of the coal trains used the double-track line but a single trains was seen using the single track line, too.
West of Shenchi : Freights leaving Shenchi Nan to the west or arriving from there were predominantly DF4 triple headed. Both loaded and empty coal trains change loco at Shenchi Nan.
CNR line Datong-Taiyuan : As mentioned above, this electrified mainline is single track south of Shuozhou. Goods trains are hauled by SS4B, 8K and 8G electrics whilst all passenger trains had either orange DF4 or BJ.

Linesiding :
Shuozhou Xi - Shenchi Nan : Shuozhou Xi station is situated south-east of the city of Shuozhou. To get there, you can use a taxi along the road to Ningwu. Some 1.5 kms after having left the urban area, you will find the line. Attention : taxi drivers do not know ShuozhouXi station! The cheaper option is to take urban bus No.3 to "Nanmen" ("southern gate"). Walk about 1km southwards and you will reach the line, too. Bus No.3 stops in front of Shuozhou main station. The area around Nanmen is very scenic. There are nice, old-style houses, the city-wall including the "southern gate" and even a church.
Between ShuozhouXi and Shenchi Nan, the line is not accessible by public means of transport. The first chance to reach the line is some 3km next to Shenchi Nan where the tar road from Yangfangkou reaches the line again.
At Shuozhou bus station opposite of Shuozhou railway station, there are frequent buses to Yangfangkou (about every 60min) and Shenchi. Buses to Shenchi go via Yangfangkou. It is possible to go to Yangfangkou by bus and go further on to Shenchi by "Tianjin-Minibus". At least a dozen will be present at Yangfangkou. Fare depends on the number of passengers. A "Tianjin-Minibus" - driver between Yangfangkou and Shuozhou requests 40Y one way. So, the fare for 8 passengers is 5Y ...

Locomotives :
This chapter is the most complicated of the whole report. You will become crazy if you note all engines and their depot codes at Shenchi. Engines from everywhere are here. Examples ? Well, do you expect engines from Lanzhou, Yinchuan or Xining shed at Shenchi ? In addition to the "ordinar" depot codes, you will read some "number-codes", too. There are at least depots No. 1, 3 and 4 with No.3 being located at Shenchi. If someone wants to write an essay about depot codes, you are right at Shenchi ...
Well, in addition to the QJs (all depot "No.3"-based, luckily very easy), there are lots of DF4 around Shenchi. You will find an example of nearly any series built during the last 20 years - from quite old, 1970s built green examples to 2000-built DF4C in light blue and white.
Engines noted (depot codes and builder dates in brackets, if noted/ identified) :

QJ	2950(4-axle tender), 6433(1983), 6542(1983), 6619, 6663, 6664(1984), 6698(1986), 6746
DF4	0180, 0256, 0257, 0422("No.1", 1981), 0701(Xining, 1984), 1444, 1445 (both Taiyuan), 1935, 2580, 2581(both Taiyuan), 3366, 3556(Lanzhou), 3604(Yinchuan), 3608, 3940, 6055, 6094(Datong,1991), 6320(Datong), 7086, 7295, 7306, 7391, 7395, 7396(latter 3 all Datong), 7612("No.3"), 9487, 9491(both "No.4", 2000)
DF7	0037, 3012
BJ	3101, 3135

Accomodation :
Shuozhou : There is a reasonable hotel ("TianYuanDajiudian") just outside Shuozhou station. Price for a double is 60Y.
Shenchi : Opposite of Shenchi (old) station, there is a lüdian, too. We didn`t check it, but it will offer very cheap rooms. In Shenchi`s main road, you will find the "Railoroad Resturant" (lettered on the board !).

Tour details Shuozhou-Shenchi Nan :

Sept 25th, Monday
We arrived at Datong in the morning of Sept 25th on train 637 (Beijing 22:48-Datong 07:00). After breakfast in a restaurant opposite the station which even offers "Nescafe"-Coffee (20Y per pot), we took fast train 297 (Datong 08:05-Shuozhou 09:47-Taiyuan) to Shuozhou. We left the luggage at the hotel and began exploring. At first, we looked for ShuozhouXi station. As taxi drivers didn`t know ShuozhouXi station, we started walking. By 11:30, we had reached the line south of "Nanmen" and saw DF7B 3012 tripping a rake of emties to Shuozhou Xi station, where QJ 6433 and QJ6542 took over the train. In order to have a look at the line, we asked the crew of the first engine (QJ6542) whether we could ride the train to Shenchi (all trains don`t have cabooses here). He sent us to ask the "chief of train" who proofed to be QJ6542`s driver. He agreed and so, we started our trip at 11:57. A breathtaking 1-hour-ride - "regulator wide open"-style - began. At Guanzhuang, we crossed a QJ+QJ headed, loaded train. We passed it and hammered on - full speed uphill. At 12:57, we arrived at Shenchi Nan. QJ 2950 with its 4-axle-tender was waiting in the station hauling a construction train, QJ 6698+6664 were under steam at the depot west of the station whilst QJ 6663 was under repair inside the workshop. Two triple headed DF4-freights were waiting at the station, too. We began writing down the DF4s. Suddenly, a police officer stood next to us and made us go to his office inside Shenchi Nan station building. We explained what we were doing and he was content, when we told him that we would soon go back to Shuozhou.
The police officer told us that no date is known when the wires will be "switched on" and electric locomotives take over traffic. He told us that another station (the old one) exist and that the passengers from Ningwu call there. So, we went to the old station where we boarded T 668 (Kelan-Shenchi 15:04-Ningwu 15:24-Taiyuan) and went to Ningwu(DF4 2581). There, we had a short visit to the stabling point (DF4 6320, 7391, 7395, "no steam" according to railway employees). We went back to Shuozhou on T568, Ningwu dep.16:34, Shuozhou arr.17:10 (DF4 2580).
In the evening, we discovered the seperate board at Shuozhou ticket counter showing the timetable for the Datong-ShenmuBei passenger. The whole day was sunny without any clouds.

Sept 26th, Tuesday
Weather had changed : it was overcast, dark and grey in the morning. We intended to ride T833 as far as to Shanggelao and to try the picture "QJ at the Great Wall". So, we queued up at the ticket counter but got no tickets until the train arrived.
When we entered the train, we were told that it would not stop at Shanggelao. We had a discussion with the conductors and it seemed as if they had decided to make an extra stop for us at Shanggelao. Indeed, the train stopped at Shanggelao but the lady did not open the door. At first, she claimed that this station would not be Shanggelao but we knew that it was the right place. Then, she suggested that we should better go to Shenchi and go back by taxi ... We got very angry to have stopped at Shanggelao for some 2 minutes but not have been allowed to get off.
In the end, we found us at Shenchi Nan and had to walk back the 13km to Shanggelao ... While walking, it started to rain and rain got haevier and haevier the further we walked. After our second uphill QJ-freight (photographed on a bridge at the horseshoe bend with the Great Wall backdrop), we walked back to the street (another 6kms or so).
Once having arrived at the street, we took a Tianjin-Minibus to Yangfangkou (3Y), another one to Shuozhou (15Y / 2 persons) plus an urban one to the station (5Y). When we arrived back at Shuozhou we no longer wore any dry clothes. Sightings
In the evening, we left Shuozhou at 18:58(T673). Destination : Shijiazhuang, arr. Sept 27th, 06:07 in the morning.

Sept 27th, Wednesday
At Shijiazhuang, we intended to catch express K89 (Shijiazhuang-Guangzhou) to Shaoguan. But no tickets were available. The same was valid for all alternatives except for T157 (Beijing Xi-Liuzhou-Zhangjiang), depature Shijiazhuang 15:37 in the afternoon. This train is bad choice as there is another, faster train to Liuzhou two hours earlier (K5). T157 needs 5 hours longer than K5 but has got the same, very high air-con-prices : 418Y for 1 YW ticket Shijiazhuang-Liuzhou !
Furthermore, we had to hang around at a rainy Shijiazhuang for more than 9 hours ... Once on board of T157, the only "steam" observed was a steam crane Z151-type at Anyang depot (which still has got class JS engines, too).

Sept 28th, Thursday
No steam in sight during the whole day when we travelled on T 157. Our YW - wagon became emptier and emptier south of Changsha. South of Guilin, less than a dozen of passengers were left ... Arrival at Liuzhou was at 20:35 in the evening, 29 hours after boarding at Shijiazhuang. Liuzhou is a very unfriendly city. Being a foreigner, you are not allowed to stay at one of the cheap hotels outside the station - even if you just want to relax for a couple of hours. You will be sent to the "Nanshan Binguan" - lowest price 120Y. As we intended to leave at 04:00 in the morning again, we didn`t want to pay 120Y for 6 hours of sleep. We asked a police officer what to do and he wanted to send us to the waiting room. We answered that the waiting room would be unsafe - and he was beaten by his own weapons... In the end, he allowed us to go to the "Tielu lüdian" inside Liuzhou station. Double was 50Y.

Jinchengjiang - Pingzhai / Shangchao, Sept 29th - Oct 3rd 2000

If you haven`t had the chance to experience the "Tongchuan feeling" (= frustration), you will get another chance. Just come to Jinchengjiang ... Landscape is great, world famous, the line extraordinarily scenic. But you have 2 unknown quantities : the weather and the trains. The line is still 100% JS worked.

The line :
The local railway between Jinchengjiang, Pingzhai and Shangchao was last decribed in CRJ 123, by Thorge (../qjc/mlp/bockholt201.html Link broken by December 2021) and Berndt Seiler. Although many facts have been reported before, we will repeat them to give a complete overview.
Stations along the line are : Jinchengjiang(km0), JinchengjiangXi(CRJ is false, km3), Wenping(km13), Pohua(km29), Puluo(km39), Huajiang(km56), Yamai(km68), Shangchao(km83).
Puluo-Pingzhai section : Puluo(km0), Duchuan(km14), Rende(km22), Dashapao(km31), Kenfu(km39), Pingzhai(km52).
Hechi is the Cantonese name of Jinchengjiang (official name).
For the first 2km the line is parallel to the mainline to Guiyang. At JinchengjiangXi, the headquarter of the railway can be found. At the northern end of the station, there is the shed where engines which are not in use are stabled. A turntable is there, too. The first 6-7 km of the line are very scenic but most of the pinneacles here become blown up by locals in order to get lime ... After some 7km (4km north of JinchengjiangXi), the valley becomes wider and the road joins it, too.
The section between Wenping(km13) and the crossing with the road(km16) is very scenic and offers photographic potential for at least a whole day. km16-Pohua was not visited. Pohua-Puluo section is not photographable due to the vegetation next to the track.
At Puluo, we walked some 6 kms along the line towards Duchuan. Scenery is quite pleasant here with hills and lot of curves but photography can be difficult. We didn`t visit the Pingzhai -branch north of Duchuan.
The line towards Shangchao is quite nice and steeply graded, too. But due to vegetation and/or embankements at the wrong places, you will hardly find good photospots between Poluo and Huajiang. Some 3km north of Huajiang (where barriers and a police control point can block the street northwards; the name of the village is Huashanlinchang), you will find the panorama shot mentioned by Berndt Seiler. The line becomes photogenic again near Yamai. The pinneacles are very close to the railway here again. As there was no train when we visited Yamai, we didn`t visit the section north of Yamai.

Operation :
Passenger trains : As reported before, the passengers T997, T998 between Jinchengjiang and Pingzhai are JS hauled and worked as mixed in most occassions. The complete timetable is shown below. The train at least consists of 4 YZ22-coaches, 1 XL and one caboose. There can be up to 11 (loaded) coal wagons, too.
Previously unknown is the fact, that there is a passenger service between Puluo and Shangchao, too. Trains 5702 and 5703 act as connecting train to and from the Pingzhai passenger. They consist of 2 diesel railcars (Diesel Motor Trolley). There had been another pair of DMT-passengers between Shangchao and Puluo but it has been cancelled. The complete timetable of T5702 and 5703 is shown below, too.

Pingzhai - Puluo - Jinchengjiang

T 998		T 997
07:50	Pingzhai	17:10
08:13/08:15	Kenfu	16:37/16:45
08:28/08:30	Dashapao	16:20/16:22
08:42/08:44	Rende	16:01/16:04
08:58/09:00	Duchuan	15:45/15:47
09:22/09:30	Puluo	15:17/15:22
09:44/09:46	Pohua	15:00/15:02
10:08/10:10	Wenping	14:36/14:38
10:24/10:35	JinchengjiangXi	14:20/14:22
10:40	Jinchengjiang	14:15

Shangchao - Puluo

5702		5703
07:46	Shangchao	17:00
08:08/08:12	Yamai	16:32/16:39
08:29/08:38	Huajiang	16:12/16:18
09:00	Puluo	15:50

Freight trains : There exists a timetable for the goods trains, too. The following table has been "constructed" based on the data from the timing-boards at JinchengjiangXi, Wenping and Puluo. At Puluo, we noted only the arrival times. But it doesn`t matter as the booked paths are theory only. Discrepancies of +/- 60mins are not seldom with earlier running being more common for goods trains whilst the mixed usually is delayed.

Jinchengjiang Xi - Puluo - Shangchao / Pingzhai

	4303	4305	4323	4307	4325	997	4309	4327	4301	4321
Jinchengjiang Xi	01:45	04:00	06:25	08:58	11:16	14:22	15:30	17:50	21:10	23:25
Wenping	02:00/10	04:16	07:06	09:14	11:32	14:36/38	15:46	18:06	21:24	23:42
Puluo	02:52	04:56	07:48	10:06	12:12/39	15:17/22	16:26	19:01	22:04	00:22
Shangchao	|	|	10:00	|	14:00	|	|	21:00	|	02:00
Pingzhai	05:00	07:00		12:00		17:10	18:00		00:00

Shangchao / Pingzhai - Puluo - Jinchengjiang Xi

	8812	4324	4304	4326	998	4306	4328	4308	4322	4302
Pingzhai	23:00		04:00		07:50	10:30		15:30		20:20
Shangchao	|	01:00	|	05:30	|	|	12:20	|	18:20	|
Puluo	01:08	02:58	06:05	07:42	09:22/30	12:36	14:18	17:46	20:20	22:22
Wenping	02:06	03:57/19	07:03	08:41/17	10:08/10	13:34	15:32/49	19:04	21:19/27	23:21/45
Jinchengjiang Xi	02:20	04:30	07:18	09:30	10:24	13:49	16:06	19:19	21:40	24:00

Timings in italic are estimated only. Passenger trains 5702, 5703 Puluo-Shangchao are not included. All freight trains are JS hauled (funnel first).
Northbound, empty coal trains can consist of up to 34 wagons + caboose whilst southbound trains have a maximum of 17 (loaded) wagons plus caboose.
All trains start or terminate at Jinchengjiang CNR station. The engine of a arriving train from Pingzhai/ Shangchao will be uncoupled at Jinchengjiang Xi, go to the shed and return to the north afterwards. The Jinchengjiang Xi pilot (JS 5706, bad condition) takes over the train and hauls it to the CNR station. Departure at JinchengjiangXi is some 20min after the arrival of the train. Train number does not change. The same happens in the other direction with the difference that the JinchengjiangCNR - JcjXi section will see tender first haulage as JS 5706 is not turned, of course.
Frequency : Not all trains listed above will operate daily. In the evening you can ask for the trains booked for the next day at every station. Staff at Wenping is very friendly, but they have to call to JinchengjiangXi for expected trains. The best point for asking is at Jinchengjiang Xi. About half way between the station building and the shed, there is another building (dorms). In the basemment of this building you will find the office of the dispatcher who has got a board indicating the trains for the current and the next day. It includes the numbers of booked engines, too. Be careful. At the depot, there is another board which is visible from the track but it isn`t correct! You have to ask the dispatcher.
Traffic levels on Saturday and Sunday were lower than on Monday to Friday. On M-F, nearly all daylight trains were operating (less than 3 trains won`t operate). On weekends, there can be very few trains : down to 2 trains each direction including the mixed during daylight !
Asking for trains is essential if you do not want to get annoyed by "Non-Operating-Trains". But remember that trains can significantly run earlier than scheduled.
Furthermore, it happened during our visit that booked trains got cancelled on short term due to lack of freight. But this may have been caused by the date, too : Sunday, Oct 1st, "Anniversary of the PRC".

Linesiding :
Close to Jinchengjiang : Urban buses No.6 and 23 run to JinchengjiangXi station. Fare is 1Y. Both lines starts at the "urban-bus-station" next to the river in Jinchengjiang city. Take the road right angel to the tracks at the CNR station and walk some 300m. You can`t miss it. Due to congestions in the city, it can take some 30min until you reach Xi station.
A motuche to Xi station will cost some 5Y and is much faster as it will use a more direct road than the urban buses do.
To go to km7, you can use one of the buses towards Wenping. Get off at the village some 500m south of the scrap yard. You will not see the line here but it is situated at the opposite side of the valley.
Wenping : There is a very frequent (mini)bus service. From Jcj CNR station walk some 300m eastwards. You will find a bus station there where the buses to and from Wenping direction start and terminate. Some further 100m east, the road to Wenping crosses the CNR to Luizhou by a subway crossing. Just wait there. The first buses in the morning start at Jcj around 06:00. Fare to Wenping or to the crossing at km 16 is 1Y only.
The long-distance bus station is on the other side of the river near the "urban bus station" but offers no buses to Wenping or Puluo.
Taxidrivers to Wenping will use the taxometer. It will cost some 20-25Y. Be careful in the morning. Before 06:00, a "night"-fee will be charged. The trip will cost some 30-35Y then. But a taxi is absolutely not necessary as there are buses every 5-10 min or so.
Puluo area: There are frequent buses in all 3 directions. The destination of the buses towards Shangchao is either "Shangchao" itself or "Huada". There are lots of buses to Duchuan, too. Be careful as some minibuses will try to demand too high prices in this area. Fare from Puluo both to Jinchengjiang and Yamai is 5Y. Don`t pay more !

CNR line Liuzhou-Jinchengjiang-Guiyang :
Jinchengjiang CNR depot is home for a couple of DF1, DF4, DF5 and DF7D. Sadly, the DF1 are predominantly used for haulage of construction trains. The only train which was observed DF1 hauled was the passenger T710 (Mawei 07:23-Jinchengjiang 12:50). Return working T709 (Jinchengjiang 16:06- Mawei 21:40) may be DF1 hauled, too but was not observed.
All trains along the Liuzhou-Guiyang mainline change locomotive at Jinchengjiang. Towards Liuzhou predominantly DF4 are used but DF7D single-units appear sometimes, too. West of Jinchengjiang both fast and goods trains are hauled by DF7D double-units. Most DF7D were built in 1995/96 and wear green livery. But there are orange examples of this class, too. The DF5s are used for shunting (e.g. at Jinchengjiang).

Locomotives :
The local railway has got 10 JS. 9 out of them are 1988 built ones and are used for line work. The tenth engine is JS 5706, the JinchengjiangXi pilot. Its builder plate showed "1981" as builder date but 1961 is more likely. Some engines are in bad condition (5706, 8284, 8287, 8375). Out of the 10 JS only 7 were seen under steam. JS 8284, 8373 and 8375 were cold at JinchengjiangXi shed all the time.
All diesels listed below are based at Jinchengjiang.

JS	5706, 8283, 8284, 8285, 8287, 8288, 8290, 8373, 8375, 8376
DF1	1902, 1908(built 1984 !?), 1926(built 1971)
DF7D	0030, 0044, 0045, 0055
DF4	6545, 6551

Weather :
Weather in October proofed to be a mixed bag. During our 5 days we stood at Jinchengjiang we had 3 different types of weather : rain without any braek (1day), two perfect days with some 90% sunshine, some +25-30øC and a few clouds and last but not least two days you nearly can`t stand ("sauna-weather") : +38øC, 90% humidity (your sweat becomes a river ...), sometimes haevy rain for 1-2 hours but without any cooling afterwards.
At least, we had some sunshine. Sadly, our two "perfect-waether-days" became the most frustrating : very few trains and most of these trains arrived during the 10% cloudy-time a day. On the other hand, on all other days nearly all trains were operating ! This is frustration!

Accomodation :
Jinchengjiang : There are dozens of (cheap) hotels/ lüdians just outside Jinchengjiang CNR station. We stood at that one just next to the "Agricultural Bank" opposite the station. A double including toilet, shower, ventillation and mosquito net was 24Y (12Y/pers) only! Cheapest room in the binguan opposite the station is 50Y.
Puluo : At the moment, a binguan is being built at Puluo. Construction was nearly completed in early October. It may open in November or so. It will be a perfect base for linesiding.

Catering :
It is true that Chinese people eat "everything being alive". You can have dogs, jelly-fishes, alive frogs, turtles, squirrels, even porcupines for dinner. A very "delicious sight" are fried dogs hanging on their tail in the steets ...
When ordering dishes you should be very careful as everyone will try to make a soup for you. If you don`t want a soup, you will have to "fight" for it.

Tour details Jinchengjiang :

Sept 29th, Friday
We had an early start (04:15) at Luizhou. We took long-distance express train T181 (Shanghai-Liuzhou 04:50-Jinchengjiang 07:31-Kunming) to Jinchengjiang. It was hauled by a orange single-unit DF7D. After breakfast, we took a motuche to Jinchengjiang Xi station(5Y) where we arrived at 09:00. We spent the whole day along the first 4km north of Jinchengjing Xi station. It was one of those incredibly hot days with some +30øC at sunrise, +38øC at noon, some 90% humidity, 2 periods of heavy rain.
We had a total of 6 trains until we finished linesiding at 17:30. Out of them only 1 train appeared when sun was shining although 50% of the day was sunshine! 1 train was missed, 2 appeared during the "rain-periods", another 2 when clouds covered the sun. So, we got only 1 acceptable picture (Sightings). A quite frustrating day! Can it be worse ? Yes, it can. Just read about our next day ...
At 17:30, we took urban bus No.6 (1Y) and went back to our lüdian. Due to various congestions in the city, it took some 30min.

Sept 30th, Saturday
The day started with haevy rain. After rain had stopped around 07:00, we had brilliant waether with some +30øC and 80-90% sunshine and no rain. We looked for a bus to Wenping. As neither the long-distance bus station nor the urban bus station had buses to Wenping, we took a taxi (21Y, taxometer price). Sadly, there were only 4 trains until sunset, but 2 of them directly arrived against the light and could not be counted as "photographable trains". One of the two southbound trains arrived so late in the evening that we had already left the valley north of Wenping. So we had it at an quite uninteressting spot near Wenping station. In the end, only one picture again - though having such great weather and dozens of fantastic spots ! (Sightings) . If we had not bought our sleeper tickets ex Luizhou yet (which allowed / made us stay 5 days at Jinchengjiang), we would have left Jinchengjiang immediately! But this was not the end. Frustration went on ... just read about Sunday!
In the evening, we asked at Wenping station for expected trains on Sunday. It seemed to be not bad as some 7-10 daylight trains were expected ...

Oct 1st, Sunday
The first northbound train was due to be at Wenping around 07:00 with sunrise being at 06:45. So, we took a taxi again and went to the crossing at km 16. We left Jinchengjiang at 05:45 and had to pay the extra "night fee" : 32Y. We had just arrived at the crossing at 06:05 when our train arrived - in total darkness and 45min too early, of course. This was the first "lost picture" of the day. Weather was even better than the day before : more than 90% of brilliant sunshine! We took a bus to Puluo (4Y) and looked for a spot for the southbound mixed. We had to walk some 6km towards Duchuan until we found the first reasonable spot. We took a bus back to Puluo (1Y) and confirmed the train timings at the station.
As there should be both the nb and sb freight along the Shangchao branch, we decided to go there. We went to Yamai by minibus. The lady in the minibus wanted 10Y per person but correct fare is 5Y which was confirmed by another passenger. As we paid only the correct fare of 5Y, we had a lot of annoying discussions with the dragon lady. But you have to show them that they are not allowed to charge extra-high prices for foreigners. After a 1-hour-ride, we arrived at Yamai and had to learn that both freights had been cancelled in the meantime ! So we had to go back to Puluo without having taken any picture there. Near Puluo, we waited for the northbound mixed. Sadly, it arrived during the 5% of "cloud-time" ! Freight train 4309 which should follow the mixed to Pingzhai had been cancelled, too. Southbound freight 4308 arrived just before our spot became ruined by shadows. But when 4308 arrived, there were clouds again! In fact, we had only 1 picture again - though this brilliant weather! You already know the word : "fr..." ! Sightings
We went back to Jinchengjiang by bus (5Y).

Oct 2th, Monday
The morning was overcast. We went to Wenping by bus and just missed the crossing at 06:40 there. We didn`t worry about that because it was overcast (Sun would have rosen at the same time...). We asked for train timings at the station : all daylight trains were expected to run and, indeed, they ran! By 09:00, the sun had won the fight against the clouds but we got the "sauna-weather" of the first day again. Though there was still some 60-70% sunshine for the rest of the day, the light was very glaring and by far not as beautiful as the two days before. Nerverthless we were very happy as two of the 4 southbound trains were photographed in sunshine. Expectations get lower and lower here! Around noon, we left Wenping area and went to the section just north of Jinchengjiang Xi again. Unfortunately, the last train of the day (4327 nb) left Jinchengjiang too late. Sun dissappears in the valley at 17:50 - exactly the booked departure time. Sightings
We asked the dispatcher for train timings of the next day : all daylight trains except 4326 again! We went to the crossing where the line branches off the Guiyang mainline and took a motuche back to the lüdian.

Oct 3th, Tuesday
The day started with haevy rain again which did not stop before 09:00. We decided to take a photo of the arriving mixed near JinchengjiangCNR station. There is a crossing some 1km east to the east. We arrived there at 10:00 and waited, waited, waited. Well, JS 5706 arrived light engine and tripped goods train 4325 to Jinchengjiang Xi, but the mixed didn`t arrive . At 11:45 (the mixed was booked for 10:40 !), we left the crossing as the weather hadn`t improved : grey sky everywhere. After lunch, we had a visit to the CNR station. During the day`s lonely half hour of sunshine, passenger T710 from Mawei arrived - hauled by DF1 1908. At 13:45, we took DF4 hauled passenger train T832 to Yemao, where DF1 1926 was employed on a construction train. We explored the branch there (details see below) before returning to Jinchengjiang on board of DF4 hauled T843 Liuzhou-Yemao 18:25-Jinchengjiang 20:21. Fried dog for dinner.

Yemao , Oct 3rd
Yemao is situated about half way between Jinchengjiang and Liuzhou. As Thorge had seen a YJ there during his visit in March 1999, (../qjc/mlp/bockholt101.html, link broken by December 2021) we decided to investigate it.

Description :
To east of Yemao station, a 2.0 km long branch line extends to the north-east. It leads to two factories. The depot is at the far end of the line inside the "Guangwei Factory". To reach the second factory, trains have to reverse here and propell. As there is no siding at the factories, the engines are not able to run round. So, either the trip to Yemao station or the return trip has to be propelled. Which direction will be the propelled one depends on the factory which will receive the wagons.
About in the middel of the line, there is a good photo spot with a single pinneacle and one of the factories as backdrop. There are two engines : 1983-built JS 6275 and 1959-built YJ 214. Both engines face westwards (funnel towards Yemao). The spot is useable for trains with engine on the Yemao end. Light is best between noon and 15:00. Another spot might be a crossing some 400 meters further east.
During our 3 hour -visit, there was one return-trip to Yemao (JS 6275). It is not known how many trips will be during a whole day. The YJ is dumped in bad condition inside the shed. It might be still workable but its usage is quite unlikely due to its condition. As a result, JS 6275 is in daily use. We saw it waiting at Yemao station in the morning of Sept 29th, too, when we passed Yemao on our way from Luizhou to Jinchengjiang.
Accomodation : Even Yemao has got a lüdian. It is just opposite the station but was not visited.

Locomotives :

YJ (oou)	214 (1959)
JS	6275 (1983)

Oct 4th, Wednesday
In the morning, we left Jinchengjiang at 06:25. Passenger T844 (Jinchengjiang 06:25- Liuzhou 10:44) got fuller and fuller and arrived at Luizhou very overcrowded. At Sancha, we saw the mixed to Luocheng. It was hauled by JS 8374. The 2 ex KCR-passenger coaches which had been at Jinchengjiang before are used at this branch line now.
At Taiyangcun, there is a large factory which has got at least two (unidentified) SYs in use. After our arrival in Liuzhou, we went shopping and had lunch before boarding AirCon Train T38 Liuzhou-Guangzhou at 14:53. This departure time is quite stupid as the express train K6 to Beijing leaves at Liuzhou at 15:05 and overtakes T38 only a few stations north of Liuzhou. "How can I reduce the capacity of a line ?" must have been the task for the CNR-timetable-maker... Interessting was the sight of 1999-built orange DF4s 2659 and 2665 at Liuzhou. We had thought that manufacturing of orange DF4s came to an end some years ago. No further steam was recorded north of Liuzhou until sunset. We went to Shaoguan, where we arrived at 04:52 the next morning. The whole day was overcast, dark and grey, typical southern chinese weather.

Shaoguan , Oct 5th - Oct 6th
A reduction of JS usage had to be noted here. Quite strange is the fact, that only pilot duties became diesel worked since my April 2000 visit. Line works along the Pingshi-Muchong and Huanggang-Geding branch lines remains exclusively JS worked. Guangdong province is "corruption country". Very annoying !

The following JS-duties have become DF5 or DF7 since April 2000 :

• 2 (of 2) pilots at Shaoguan passenger station (1 DF5 and 1 DF7 now)
• 1 (of 3) pilot at Huanggang (DF5 now)
• 1 (of 1) pilot at Lechang (DF5 now)

• 2 engines at Huanggang including line work to Geding
• 4 engines at Pingshi : 3 engines for line work towards Muchong plus 1 pilot

• 1 pilot at Maba

Linesiding :
Huanggang-Geding : Take urban bus No.11 which leaves in front of Shaoguan station to the very last station next to a tollgate. There, you will see Huanggang station. Fare is 1.5Y.
From Huanggang`s tollgate take one of the frequent minibuses towards Rende. The road meets the Geding line naer Huaping (official name is Honggong, but nobody knows it) for the first time. Be very careful here when paying to the minibus conductors : they all are corrupt here and will try to charge doubled prices from foreigners. Do not pay more than 4-5Y for the section between Huanggang and Huaping (some 20kms) even if they ask for 10Y or so. Don`t have any scrupel ! Everybody makes his own price here. A Chinese passenger between Huaping and Huanggang even paid only 1Y and the conductor didn`t throw him out. But when we paid 3Y for the same section, there was much discussion as they wanted us to pay 10Y ! According to a "price list" inside the bus, some 4Y would have been the "official price"... The minibuses to Rende start at Shaoguan, but it is better to take the urban bus as far as Huanggang to minimize the "minibus-ride" with its annoying debates on fares ...
Taxidrivers at Shaoguan know their price for foreigners even before knowing your destination : 200Y. Just laugh and go on ! Do not support these robbers !

Locomotives :
Shaoguan depot contained a total of 12 dumped JS. No JS under steam was present. A railway worker told us, that the JS at Pingshi and Huanggang are based there and do not come to Shaoguan regulary. Some of the dumped JS at Shaoguan were said to be useable (including JS 6459, 6427, 6507, 6373 and 6463) whilst other engines (including JS 6419, 6372 + 2 unidentified engines) apparantly are no longer workable. With the exception of the 63xx - engines (1985), all JS were built in 1986.

JS	6376, 6428, 6460, 6508 + 2 unidentified JS
JS dumped	6372, 6373, 6419, 6423, 6426, 6427, 6459, 6463, 6507, 6510 + 2 unidentified JS
DF5	1575, 1577

Jing-Guang Line :
The electrified section between Chenzhou and Shaoguan is no longer exclusively SS1 worked. We observed SS4B and SS8 as well. DF4D still haul the through passengers which do not change engine at Chenzhou and Shaoguan. Quite surprising was the fact that the SS8 had Guangzhou depot codes although the line between Guangzhou and Shaoguan is not electrified yet.

Accomodation :
We stood at the lüdian just opposite Pingshi station. A reasonable double is 50Y. Typical for Guangdong province was, that in the morning when we left the lüdian, the lady suddenly wanted 60Y for the room although 50Y was the correct price.

Tour details Shaoguan :

Oct 5th, Thursday
After our arrival at Shaoguan at 04:52 in the morning, we had a visit to the shed. As only dumped engines were there, we expected the worst case : no more steam. Fortunately, a railway employee told us that JS are still in use at Pingshi and Huanggang. So, we took urban bus No.11 to Huanggang, then a minibus to Huaping. We paid 10Y per person as we didn`t know that Huaping and Honggang are the same village and we ordered tickets to Honggang. Weather was very bad, grey and grey. We spent the whole day at Huaping station watching JS 6508 which was on the Geding line duty. As we had nearly exclusively tender first movements, we stopped waiting at 14:00 and went back to Shaoguan by minibus (3Y) and urban bus (1.5Y) via Huanggang. For the following two days, no tickets for one of the 3 direct trains to Beijing were available. The only tickets, we could get were tickets for T K90 to Shijiazhuang(YW : 370 Y !!) for the next day (Oct 6th). In the afternoon, we went to Pingshi by SS8-hauled, overcrowded T544 Guangzhou-Shaoguan 16:23-Pingshi 17:32- Zhengzhou. We stood at the above mentioned lüdian.

Oct 6th, Friday
Weather had not improved. We arrived at PingNan at 06:50 just when a JS left the station hauling a freight towards Muchong. The day was very busy with all 3 line-work JS in use. There were 3 morning departures towards Muchong (including the passenger) and the 3 corresponding arrivals in the afternoon. Furthermore, there should be another westbound freight ex PingNan "as soon as one JS is back". JS 6376 was pilot/ spare engine. Due to the poor weather, we photographed on the two large bridges next to PingNan only and finished "linesiding" by 10:00, when all JS had left PingNan. Sightings. We took the Pingshi-Foshan tourist train Y17, dep. 13:35 to Shaoguan. We had expected an empty train (as it starts "in the middel of the nowhere" at Pingshi), but it was booked to the last seat! Consider that the train consist of 16 wagons ...
At Shaoguan, we visited the depot again and took some pictures before boarding K90, dep. Shaoguan at 18:06 (DF4D hauled). The next surprise was to see, that our YW waggon had much more passengers than berths. Obviously, the stewardess had sold the aisle-seats to passengers which had got no berth. As we had paid for full "YW-comfort" which includes the aisle-seats of course as well, we complained about this. In the end, we succeded and the Non-Sleeper passengers were thrown out of the coach. The stewardess must have got more than a month`s wage by "selling" the aisle seats ...Corruption in Guangdong - it was Guangzhou staff. You have to fight against the corruption!

Oct 7th, Saturday
A quite uninteressting daylight ride between Luohe (no steam there) and Shijiazhuang. The QJ at Xiaolizhuang (correction to my April 2000 Report, Xiezhuang is wrong!) is still present and was under steam, but a DF4 was there, too. JS 8064 was under steam at Anyang shed. The line to LinXian may still be steam worked... Arrival at Shijiazhuang was at 13:59 on time. At the ticket counter, we had to learn, that no reserved seats to Beijing were available for this day. Both K216(dep.14:48) and K218(dep.18:15) were sold out. So, we had to take T8 Chengdu-BeijingXi, Shijiazhuang dep.15:31, Beijing Xi arr.18:30. We were lucky to find two seats in the very last waggon whilst most Chinese people entered the train near the platform entrance - and had to stand ...
At Beijing Xi zhan, we took the direct bus to the Jinghua Fandian (bus line without number, destination is Fangzhuang via Beijing Nan zhan). It leaves at the bus station next to Xi zhan. 4-bed room at Jinghua Fandian is 35Y/ person. Probably the cheapest accomodation in Beijing for foreigners.

Nankou , Oct 8th

The last destination of our tour was Nankou, situated some 40km north of Beijing at the Jing-Bao line. Purpose of the visit was to take a picture of Henschel-built class NY7-diesels.

Description :
Between Nankou and Kangzhuang the Jing-Bao line crosses some mountains ("Nankou pass"). Due to the haevy grades and the reversing station at Qinglongqiao, each train will need two engines, one at each side. According to our observations, all passenger trains (there is no freight traffic) are hauled by Nankou based DF4. Exceptions are those trains, which do not terminate/ go via Beijing Bei but go to Beijing zhan. They are hauled by Beijing based NY7. The NY7 work as train engine between Beijing and Qinglongqiao and as rear engine between Qinglongqiao where they become deattached again. In the other direction, they work as banker between Kangzhuang and Qinglongqiao and as train engine further on to Beijing zhan.
Sadly, there are only few direct trains to and from Beijing zhan. The "star-train" is the Trans-Siberian express to Moskow / Ulan Bator which is even double headed NY7 out of Beijing (+plus DF4 banker beyond Nankou), but the Baotou-Beijing AC-train 564 with its white and red coaches is impressive, too. In detail, the following daylight trains may be NY7-hauled :

• T90 (Hohot-Beijing), Nankou 06:18- Beijing 07:20
• T564 (Baotou-Beijing), Nankou 09:28- Beijing 10:34
• T4 / T24 (Moskow / UlanBator -Beijing), Nankou appr. 14:30- Beijing 15:33 (Monday and Friday only)
• T3 / T23 (Beijing- Moskow / UlanBator), Beijing 07:40- Nankou appr. 08:40 (Wed. and Saturday only)

Changping :
Just north of Changping station, there is factory which had a SY under steam inside the factory. Be careful when visiting Changping by road as Changping station is some 4kms south-west of the city which is situated just next to Changping Bei station. Access by train is no problem.

Oct 8th, Sunday
At 05:30 in the morning, we took a taxi to Qianmen underground station and went to Xizhimen/ Beijing Bei by metro(3Y). The local passengers between Beijing Bei and Nankou seem to be dedicated to transport workers of "Nankou Engineering Works" as nearly everyone went there. We took T931 Beijing Bei 06:41, Nankou 07:45. Fare was quite unfamiliar : 2.8Y (for 42km). We stood at Nankou until 11:00 (Sightings). As all potential "NY7-trains" had passed, we took Bus No.357 to Changping (1.5Y). To our surprise, there was no direct bus to Beijing at Changping and so we decided to return by train. We took T650, dep.Changping Bei 12:48, arr.Beijing Bei 13:45 (hauled by DF4 0577). As we weren`t sure if Dahuichang would work on Sunday and due to our lateness, we didn`t go there but went back to the Jinghua Fandian (metro to Qianmen, Bus No.66 to NansanhuanXilu).
After dinner, I took the direct bus (No.957) to Beijing zhan and were lucky to get the last bus to the airport (18:30 ex International Hotel). At the airport I had to wait until 23:15 when I left Beijing on board Tarom flight RO52 to Bucuresti Otopeni. I were unlucky as I had hoped for a buisness class seat when checking in as the very last passenger. Sadly, one more economy class seat was available - that one just next to me ...
Thorge stood another two nights in Beijing, visited Dahuichang on Oct 9th (no changes, very busy) and left Beijing in the morning of Oct 10th.
After arrival at Frankfurt Airport on Oct 9th, 11:00 (RO 303) I went to Dresden by train. Riding the ICE train, I found me looking for possible "SYs" at a factory near Frankfurt ... Steam makes drunken, no doubt...

Dresden, Oct 26th,
Florian Menius, Thorge Bockholt