More Background Information

Accuracy of Data

One thing that soon became apparent while compiling the database was the large number of errors in the reports. I think it's fair to say that everybody who has reported more than a few numbers has made mistakes. I've certainly found more than a few in my own notes and some reports seem to be riddled with errors. This is hardly surprising as many locos will have been seen briefly at a distance and the stencilled numbers can easily be misread, particularly on dirty engines. This may be why Fuxin SYs top the error statistics. The approach to suspect data has been as follows:

If it's an obvious error at a much visited location, e.g. a known Daban QJ which mysteriously appears on the DaGu line for a day and is seen at Daban afterwards, it will be ignored unless it's an obvious typo, e.g. 7063 instead of 7036. If it's less obvious, e.g. an SY that hasn't been seen for years suddenly appears at Pingzhuang, it may be recorded with "error ? " in the notes column until it becomes clear from other reports whether the loco is there or not.

Some judgement has had to be made in applying these tests and I probably don't always get it right. In general where there is any doubt in my mind over whether a loco is there or not, it gets included although it may not get published until it's presence is confirmed by another report.

Mis-sightings from infrequently visited locations are more difficult to spot and such information has generally been taken at face value. Even in cases where a loco is known to be elsewhere, it can't be written off because there is increasing evidence of engines with duplicate numbers.

Status Confusion

It's often unclear what the status of a particular engine actually is unless it's in steam. A newly dumped engine may look as if it's only out of service temporarily while a scruffy loco stopped for a few days for some minor repair will frequently be reported as dumped. Several locos reported as scrapped have subsequently been seen hard at work and looking none the worse for their traumatic experience. As a result, the choice of category may sometimes seem a bit arbitrary.

A Note of Caution

Please remember that the information here is always going to be incomplete, particularly for locations that were visited infrequently. The fact that steam hasn't been reported at a location for 3 years doesn't necessarily mean that it's finished, it may be that nobody has been there in the interim. On the other hand, China is changing incredibly fast and the location reported to be all steam last month could be 100% diesel by the time you get there.

If you are looking for more information on a particular operation, Dave Fielding's SY-Country website is usually a good place to start.

Cross Linking

Class and Location lists are now cross linked. By clicking on a loco number in a location list, you go to the same loco in the class list. Similarly, clicking on a location in a class list takes you to the list for that location's. Links are shown in blue and are underlined.