Steam in China, September - October 2000

Dahuichang, Tonghua, Da`an Bei, Jingpeng, Yi Xian, Yebaishou

Till Mosler reports on his Autumn trip to northern China.

Dahuichang Limestone Rlwy., Sept 16th

As usual, traffic did not start before 14:00. Two engines (No. 1 and 3) were in use.

Tonghua/Hunjiang, Sept 17th - Sept 24th

Sept 17th

A visit to Tonghua shed between 10:00 and 12:00. The following JS could be noted there (workable if nothing different indicated) : JS 6020, 6021, 8154, 8155, 6360(cold, oou), 5485(cold, oou), 6271(under repair ?), 6557(cold, oou), 5731(dumped), 5751
Later, JS 5731, 8231 und 5855 were seen shunting/ waiting in the station. The rest of the day was spent between Daoqing and Guyuan.

Sept 18th

The day was spent at Daoqing/ Guyuan again.

Sept 19th : Daoqing/Guyuan

Sept 20th - Sept 23rd : See Thorge and Florian`s Report

Sept 24.09

Daoqing-Guyuan

Dongtonghua

Near Zazi

Da`an Bei , Sept 26th - Oct 2nd

Business as usual. Some 40 steam locomotives are still in use. The lines to Ranghulu, Taipingchuang and Baicheng were visited. Noted engines :

QJ 6891 has lost its squre-shaped headlights and has the "standard ones" now. During my visit, QJ 6571 and QJ 6809 were sent to Changchun for overhaul. As substitution, a brand-new DF5 took over their duties.
For the 51th anniversary of the "Peoples Republic of China" on Oct 1st, all decorated engines became cleaned thoroughly.
Highest steam levels were on the lines towards Ranghulu and Taipingchuan. The line to Ranghulu is still up to 70% steam worked.
The mixed Y267,Y268 to Baicheng ("tourist train") and T951, T952 to Taipingchuan as well were still hauled steam hauled.

Jingpeng , Oct 3rd - Oct 6th 2000

Business as usual. At the railway crossings along the line, barrier-posts have been installed. They are quite photogenic, too.
Engines : QJ 6027, 6125, 6135, 6274, 6389, 6517, 6577, 6576, 6630, 6828, 6876, 6996, 7009, 7012, 7041, 7137

Yi Xian - Beipiao , Oct 7th - Oct 10th

Four days were spent here (for decription see Thorges and Florian`s Report). Sadly, the "freight timetable" I had got from T.Bockholt/ F.Menius at Tonghua no longer valid. There was much fewer trains than expected and on 3 out of 4 days, different timings were valid. Most freight traffic was on Saturday 10th !
Due to bad weather on 2 days and infrequent trains, I needed quite much time here. The following tables show freights only.

Oct 7th : Zhoujiatun

Oct 8th : Zhoujiatun

Linesiding finished by 15:00 due to bad weather.

Oct 9th : Zhoujiatun

Oct 10th : Zhoujiatun

Light disappeared at 15:00.

Yebaishou , Oct 11th - Oct 12th

During my visit, some 2-3 steam hauled freights each direction were seen on the line to Chifeng during daylight. Volume of freight traffic seems to be reduced significantly. Most of the trains stopped at Shinao and shunted there. So, overtaking them by taxi was no problem.
According to a worker at Yebaishou shed, there are only 12 QJs left at Yebaishou. The line towards Chaoyang is worked by both Yebaishou and Fuxin based engines, which still reach Yebaishou.
The following table show all train movements (!) on the Yebaishou-Chifeng line :

Oct 11th : Shinao

Oct 12th : Shinao

Engines :