China - Steam

News & Comment
China - Loco Lists Updated
14/07/08 11:48
The Loco Lists have been updated to include sightings up to June 2008. The inclusion of historical data continues but progress is very slow. It can take hours to pin down a single sighting because many of the locations listed are very obscure. In contrast, entering 40 numbers from a web report of Sandaoling only takes a couple of minutes.

Many thanks to everyone who submitted reports to Steam_In_China and SY Country or e-mailed me directly with information or links to items on the Chinese bulletin boards. It's thanks to you that the list now contains details for around 400 industrial and local railways and 6900 individual locomotives.

Lists by Class
Lists by CNR Location
Lists by Other Location (Industrial, Mining, Local Railways etc incl Museums)
China - Main Line Galleries
01/07/08 20:09
The China Main Line Galleries have been reorganised on a CNR Bureau basis. Many of the pictures have been published before but there are quite a few brand new pics and others that have been re-scanned or otherwise improved. In particular, there are fresh scans of 35mm slides from 1984/5, using a proper film scanner this time, not a flatbed, and a new gallery of pictures from the spectacular Datong - Qinhuangdao coal line. In total, there are over 200 photos covering a wide variety of steam, diesel and electric classes in Harbin, Shenyang, Beijing and Lanzhou Bureaux.

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China - JiTong Pictures
22/06/08 16:11
It's taken a long time but I've finally got round to organising all the JiTong railway pictures in the same place. There are almost 200 pictures in 14 galleries covering the line from near Fuxindi, east of Chabuga to near Majiazi, west of Jingpeng. In addition to the pictures in the old Tractive Efforts galleries and those already on Railography, there are many previously unpublished images. This is just the tip of the iceberg and covers the line from early 2003 onwards with a handful of scans from 2002 and 2003. This was the ultimate main-line steam spectacle in more ways than one. Enjoy!

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JiTong photo galleries
Chinese Pictures Added - March 2008
17/05/08 13:52
Pictures from my March 2008 trip to Baotou, Gongwusu and Baiyin have been added to the photo galleries.

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Baotou photo gallery
Gongwusu photo gallery
Baiyin photo gallery
Chinese Trip Report (Steam Along the Yellow River) - Feb/Mar 2008
16/03/08 06:12
After three successful spring trips to North-East China, it seemed time to do something different. This time we travelled west from Beijing to visit three steam operations along the Yellow River. The steelworks at Baotou is largely dieselised but still employs a number of SYs. Further west at Gongwusu, a quiet and rarely visited coal mining system uses a couple of JSs. Our final destination was the mine and smelter complex at Baiyin with its very active fleet of SYs.

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Chinese Pictures Added - Mar & Nov/Dec 2007
01/01/08 20:33
Pictures from my November/December 2007 trip to Jixi and Nanpiao have been added to the photo galleries. There are also some shots from Jixi, Hegang and Zhalainuoer in March 2007 that somehow got missed in earlier updates.

Hegang gallery
Jixi-Chengzihe gallery 2
Jixi-Didao gallery
Jixi-Donghai gallery
Jixi-Hengshan gallery
Jixi-Lishu gallery
Nanpiao gallery
Zhalainuoer gallery
Chinese Trip Report - Nov/Dec 2007
30/12/07 10:44
This trip turned out very differently to the one we planned. The idea had been to get some shots of Huanan in the snow and have another go at Huludao before the diesels arrived. As we were in the area, it seemed sensible to spend a few days in Jixi as well. In the event, there was no snow and Huanan wasn’t running any trains. Huludao had two brand new diesels and no steam on line work. Fortunately JIxi didn't disappoint and Nanpiao proved to be an acceptable alternative to Huludao.

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Chinese Trip Report
05/04/07 16:42
This visit to China started with a few days photographing modern traction around Beijing, including SS4Gs on the busy Datong - Qinhuangdao coal line and 8Ks on the Fengtai - Shacheng route. The remainder of the trip was spent in the North-East visiting three of the surviving steam-worked colliery systems at Jixi, Hegang and Zhalainuoer.

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Chinese Photos - Daban - Chabuga
04/02/07 19:19
The JiTong Railway's Daban - Chabuga section was the last place in the world that you could see main line steam in action. It isn't as spectacular as JIngpeng Pass but it was still well worth visiting. The landscape is attractive and varied with enough bridges, curves, semaphore signals and hills to keep visiting photographers busy. These galleries contain pictures taken on the line between 2003 and the end of steam working in 2005.

Fuxindi - Xiaoxinglongdi photos
Xiaoxinglongdi - Yamenmiao photos
Yamenmiao - Lindong photos
Lindong - Chaganhada photos
Chaganhada - Daban photos
Daban Depot photos
Chinese Trip Report & Photos - Steam in Sichuan - January 2007
20/01/07 17:14
This report covers a visit to the south-western province of Sichuan in early January 2007. After searching out working steam in the Chengdu area for a couple of days, we headed south to the narrow gauge line at Shibanxi. This is a superb railway with excellent scenery, steep gradients, good photo locations and appalling weather. If only the sun shone a bit more it would be close to perfection. To find out what makes it so special, read the report and look at the pictures.

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Shibanxi photos
Even More Chinese Industrial Steam Photos
26/12/06 13:09
This update contains the remaining industrial railway pictures from Tractive Efforts together with a good selection that haven't been published before. Locations include Baiyin, Dahuichang, Dayan, Hegang, Tongchuan, Yaojie, Yuanbaoshan and a gallery of photos from miscellaneous locations.

Baiyin photos
Dahuichang photos
Dayan photos
Hegang photos
Tongchuan photos
Yaojie photos
Yuanbaoshan photos
Miscellaneous photos
More Chinese Industrial Steam Photos
16/12/06 19:46
As part of the migration from Tractive Efforts to Railography, four more photo galleries totalling almost 60 pictures have been added to the Chinese Industrials section. As usual, these contain a mixture of previously published material and new images. The operations covered are at coal railways at Meihekou, Nanpiao, Pingdingshan and Sandaoling.

Meihekou photos
Nanpiao photos
Pingdingshan photos
Sandaoling photos
Chinese Trip Report and Photos
10/12/06 16:11
There's still plenty of steam working on the industrial railways of north-eastern China and this report covers a visit to three centres in November 2006. Jixi is the largest coal mining centre in the north-east and home to several busy steam worked colliery systems. Huanan is at the other end of the volume scale, a scenic narrow gauge line that hauls tiny volumes of coal out of the hills. Fuxin was once a great mining centre but has been in steep decline for several years. Despite this, there's still enough traffic to keep more than a dozen steam locos busy working between the remaining mines and power stations.

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Jixi - Chengzihe photos
Jixi - Didao photos
Jixi - Hengshan photos
Jixi - Lishu photos
Huanan photos
Fuxin Photos
Chinese Photos - Weihe and Tiefa Galleries Added
13/11/06 16:28
Two more photo galleries covering the Tiefa Mining Railway and the Weihe Forestry Railway have been added. Most of the pictures were previously on Tractive Efforts but many have been remastered. There are some previously unpublished pictures as well.

Tiefa Mining Railway
Weihe Forestry Railway
Chinese Photos - JiTong Railway - Galadesitai to Dabaliang
05/11/06 16:44
The JiTong Railway was a dream come true. A brand new steam worked main line with an incredibly photogenic mountain section that opened just as the rest of China dieselised. For nine glorious years we scrambled up the hills and exposed miles of film and terabytes of memory recording big steam's last stand. This gallery contains photos taken on the east side of Dabaliang (Jingpeng Pass) during the last few years of steam operation as well as a few pictures of current diesel workings. Many of these pictures have been transferred from Tractive Efforts but a few are published for the first time.

Galadesitai - Dabaliang photos
Chinese Photos - Lanzhou-Wuweinan
13/10/06 20:26
A gallery of photographs taken on the Lanzhou - Wuweinan line in northwestern China. Many of the pictures are from 1989 when the line was single track, steeply graded and steam worked. By September 2006, when I next visited the area, a completely new, double track, electrified railway on an easy alignment had replaced the original route and some of the photos show the current situation.

Lanzhou - Wuweinan photos
Chinese Steam Photos
02/09/06 21:00
More pictures from the mine railways around Jixi, this time the busy SY worked Chengzihe system north of the city.

Jixi - Chengzihe Mining Railway photos
Chinese Steam History and Locomotive Profiles
31/07/06 14:04
Some background information on the development and use of steam locomotives in China together with detailed profiles of 16 significant classes. These include historical and technical details and photographs.

Locomotive Profiles

Chinese Locomotive Lists
29/07/06 21:59
The Chinese Locomotive Lists, the most comprehensive database of locomotive sightings on the web with data on the whereabouts of around 6500 Chinese steam locomotives over the past 30 years, is now available on Railography. The lists, which were part of my Tractive Efforts website, have been updated with sightings from recent trips as part of the transfer.

Locomotive Lists
Chinese Steam Photos
26/05/06 14:46
Two of China's surviving steam worked mining railways and very different operations. Zhalainuoer is probably the most spectacular steam location left in the world today, a huge opencast mine worked by a sizeable fleet of SY class 2-8-2s. Lishu is much smaller but is set in attractive rural scenery. Many new photos have been added to those previously published. These galleries will be the first of many to be transferred from Tractive Efforts.

Jixi - Lishu Mining Railway photos
Zhalainuoer Opencast Coal Mine photos


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