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hide options panelSteam
1423 photos
updated : 2024-10-10
China was the last country in the world to use steam locomotives in quantity and a handful still remain in service today. It was a very different story in the 1980s and 1990s, with thousands of locos of different classes and gauges hard at work across the country on the national network, local railways and in industry.
Diesels
210 photos
updated : 2022-11-24
Diesels were very much in the minority when I first visited China in 1984 but there was plenty of variety. As DF4s eliminated steam and earlier diesel classes from the main lines, everything became very uniform but variety returned later with new main line and industrial classes appearing.
Electrics
55 photos
updated : 2022-11-06
It wasn't until around 1990 that main line electrification it really took off. These days 25kV 50Hz electric traction is the norm on principal lines across China with many different classes of electric loco in use. Some industrial lines electrified much earlier and 1500V DC locos from the 1940s may still be in use.
Main Line Freight
377 photos
updated : 2024-08-04
China's railways still carry incredible volumes of freight traffic with freight trains outnumbering passengers on most lines by quite a margin. As on most systems there are block trains of coal, containers or oil tanks but also a large volume of wagonload freight, making for interesting consists.
Passenger Trains
246 photos
updated : 2024-04-20
Passenger trains weren't confined to the national system in China, with many local and industrial railways running their own services. Main line passenger traffic was booming pre-Covid with frequent high-speed EMUs on principal routes as well as more traditional long distance and local trains everywhere else.
Narrow Gauge
90 photos
updated : 2022-08-13
Narrow gauge lines were once a common sight in China, whether they were forestry lines, local railways or short industrial links between a quarry and processing plant, they usually have one thing in common, that they've closed, and the few that remain are probably living on borrowed time.
It's difficult to comprehend the scale of China's railway system or the speed with which it's changed over the last few decades. The photos here are the result of dozens of visits to main line and industrial locations across the country since 1984 and depict many classes of steam, diesel and electric loco at work.
