The last steam working was scheduled for November 26th behind QJ7195, then it's the end.
The mining system at Beipiao which is about 40km long still
has got 6 SYs: SY 1004, 1196, 1451 in service and SY 0387, 1091,
1550 spare. A JF was refurbished recetly: JF 886 was made in
Japan (Kawasaki) in 1936 for SMR. In 1956 this it was moved to
Beipiao and was used there until around 1995.
On the way to Beipiao, there is one QJ at Luotuoying station. It
was in use until last year...
Passenger operation ceased on Oct 26th 2006.
Daba - Guyaozi will get another two diesel locomotives on November 10th. They'll keep one QJ for spare (under steam) and will run one train in 24 hours to Yangchangwan to keep the loco in running order. Lucky you if this will be during daylight! At the moment they have two QJ in daily service, one for shunting, one for the Yanghchanwan section (100% steam so far). Diesels available so far: 2 x DF11, 2 x DF4DD, 1 x DF10.
Notes from a short visit to Daban last week, 11/2-4/06.
QJ 6911 Youth Culture, and crane 5203, are mounted on a short
track segment near the new Jitong office building. 6911 looks
complete, but is not being kept up cosmetically. There are a
total of 28 QJs and 5 cranes at Daban, including the above. QJs
are:
6878, 6891, 6911, 6977, 6978, 6981, 6984, 6986, 6991, 6992, 6996,
7007, 7009, 7010, 7012, 7030, 7037, 7038, 7041, 7048, 7049, 7063,
7104, 7105, 7119, 7143, 7163, 7164
Cranes are: 5203, 5204, 5208, 5209, 5212
The locomotives are generally decrepit, none appear in ready working condition, most are missing parts, and the cabs I looked into had been stripped. I was told that they would all be cut up next year- presumably excepting Youth Culture- but the parking areas were clean and there was no sign of recent cutting work.
There are still some 10 SYs in steam. SY 0555, 0683 and SY 3023 now are dumped.
Two new diesels are due in 2007, but steam repairs are set to continue for five more years according to railway staff at Jixi Xi workshop.
The timetable has changed. Weihe departures now are at 06.20, 09.05, 12.30, 15.10 which of course makes for better photography. Roadwork is nearly complete. Operation may indeed stop soon, Oct 25th or 26th is being told. However this will mean that the investment in the smart new station at the 'country' end of the line will be wasted. On workdays, some shunting appears at Zhenzhu.
Weihe Forest Railway reopened on July 26th and will continue operation until Oct 28th. There are 4 trains run each direction from Weihe Passenger Station to Baliwan. Baliwan is a new station built after the official closure of the railway in 2003. From there, there are several buses to Liushan and Shanhetun. Unfortunately, the track from Baliwan towards Liushan no linger exists. Even you cannot find many traces.
The line was closed by 20th March 2003 and lifted for most of
its length. But local government decided to keep about 10km from
Weihe to the west for access to new ski resort. Unfortunately,
the plan was not successful.
This summer, road construction started. It will take about 3
months. So government decided to use rails and STEAM train again!
Of course there are no logging trains, but passenger trains for
local people and for some freight.
Section: Weihe(0km)- Zhenzhu- Xiping- Baliwan (The train stop
at 4 unnamed stops)
Schedule: Weihe dep. 06:00, 09:30, 13:00, 16:00 (1 hour for each
direction=10km/h!)
Train composition: C2 steam(facing to Baliwan)+luggage car+two
Passenger cars (sometime it is a mixed trains with freight cars,
too)
Fare: 5 Yuan/ride
Locals said that this will be the final run for steams in this area as the government announced that the road will be grade up for SKI field, no need for rails anymore.
34, 54 and 55 are in the depot with 54 serviceable.
Announced that it will officially open from 1 October. The excellent railway museum has been moved from the botanical garden in the east side of the city in Dec. 2004 and closed then. The new museum is in Tiexi area now, west of the city and not too far from railway station. The museum is already partly open and exhibits are 15 steam engines and 3 replicas.
is back on track again as of August 22nd.
Dagu now has only one QJ in steam mainly used as a shunter,but ocassionally works along the new branch line (Yanchangwan). It no longer performs line work to Lingwu and Daba. A second QJ is in light steam and sometimes in use in case of temporary use for shunting. The management say they will be completely dieselised by end of October 2006.
Kunming metre gauge-All the passenger cars(60-70 in number) have been sold to the Burma Government on the orders of the China Government and the Premier. This has finished the passenger service on this line.
Mianyan Steelworks Railway about 130 kms north of Chengdu still uses 7 SY according to the management.
In Zhuzhou there are three factories using steam. The following locos are known: SY 0997, 1039, 1318, 1341 and 1347. No more information yet.
Business as usual. At Nanpiao currently only three BJ and four SYs are in use.
The whole line and yard are still in place, 3 C2s are locked in the shed, one of them in very good condition, the other two look rather derelict.
SY 0891 was seen on duty recently, SY 0732 on standby in steam. JF 2446 was cold in the siding, but probably workable.
Business as usual with up to 38 SYs being used during a mid May 2006 visit.
Two diesels have arrived: DF 10D 0098 and 0099 with 2005 Dalian builders plates. Both machines very clean and look fairly new. Only one SY is still in use, a second is standby (SY 1741 and 1307 noted on Jun 4th 2006). The diesels handle the majority of trains including the passenger which now consists of 4 very clean looking carrages, painted in a new colour scheme similar to the JiTong one (blue-white-red, CNR`s "160-km/h-paint-scheme").
The Qinxian and Wuxiang Local Railways have changed to diesels recently.
Mudanjiang power plant has finished working with their 2 QJs in early April 2006.
Another loss is the narrow gauge system at Xinglongzhen: closed forever ...
Three new diesels are due to arrive in May. The diesels,
probably class DF12, are awaiting delivery right now. The first
is due to be on site by May 1st and the company plan a
celebration for it's arrival on May Day. The others will follow
soon after. 2 JS will be retained for use, the rest is to be sold
(either to Pingzhuang or Lingyuan, information differs. If
Lingyuan is true they probably will serve as scrap metal for the
steel plant... ).
The plan to install a conveyor to carry coal from the mines to
the power station is going ahead but the rail link with the well
known incline will remain in use.
Officials know nothing about possible JS from Yuanbaoshan. Here too, new diesels are on order there which are expected this year. SY's 0072, 0073, 0724, 1096, 1386, 1387 and 1708 were seen at Lingyuan.
Although it was stated in a report from 2004 that the Pinglan Railway was going to scrap their QJs soon, they are still in place and serviceable. The Pinglan Local Railway is in Shandong Province, located in RiZhao, 33 km long and runs from Lanshan port via Fengshui to the CR-station in Tieniumiao. The QJs are only used when one of their DF4Ds needs a repair. They could not say how long the QJs will remain serviceable.
The local Railway in Luzhou still has one serviceable QJ. It is not used as they have still only one pair of freights daily and sufficient diesel motive power.
Two former JiTong QJs (6988 and 7081) have been shiped to the USA recently. They were overhauled at Jinzhou 701 works and will be tested in at Iowa Interstate.
are all dieselised now. This have been QJ allocations.
Allan Hardy reports:
"At Tonchuan and Pubai lines, all I found was the remains of
numerous broken up QJs. In the depot at the northenmost point of
the Chenghe line I found QJ 7171 & 7172 in the yard (see pics).
The locals were very friendly and very proud of their little DF4
and could not understand my interest in these 'antiques' one
little bit. However these two engines and tenders had been sat
here in the yard since May last year.
The main repair shop at Jixi Xi now features facilities for complete steam loco overhauls. Machinery from the former CNR works at Mudanjiang was purchased. According to local railway staff, dieselisation of the mining railway systems around will start in 2006 and is to be completed during winter 2006/2007.
The first diesel loco (Beijing 2005 built DF7G 5163) arrived in late December and is covering all line duties between Yaojie and Haishiwan as of early January 2006. 3 SYs are still in steam at Yaojie yard, one used for shunting with the other two being standby locos.
Railroad Development Corp in the USA purchased 5 former JiTong QJs through Multipower International Inc. in China. They have picked out five locomotives: QJ 6988, 6998, 7002, 7040 and 7081. They go to overhaul and adaption works to Jinzhou 701 works first. Initially, only two locos will be dispatched to the US with an option for other three if successful.
Operation on the Yinghao coal railway restarted on Dec 28th 2005. Things are back to normal.
SY1625 was reccently reported there being under steam. However, only 5 SY remain serviceable with 3 or 4 in use. Some 20 SYs were dumped are gradually being scrapped.
The line now has two old DF4B (0050 and 0061). They can handle
all the normal traffic on the line, the SY's are just kept in
reserve. One SY usually shunts the local railway yard at the
junction with the national railway and shuttles backwards and
forwards between both yards during the day. It also runs trips to
the cement factory at the end of the line. The main traffic on
the line is limestone for the cement factory and the two diesels
operate this service. A real shame - the line has a ruling grade
of 30/1000 and it is nicely scenic near the summit tunnel.
Sadly the Port railway now also has a diesel , an orange DK1C
0648 (Ziyang 2005). Under normal circumstances the SY's in
reserve are not needed. SY 1636(1/1989) was the reserve loco and
the other SY's 1413 and 1301 were being overhauled at the
national railways works about 30km to the north of Zhicheng ( I
believe it called Zhi Jilin). At least one more diesel will be
bought in 2006.
At the moment, only one of the two DF4DDs is in use. Fuel costs for the diesels proofed to be much higher than coal for the QJs... (who wonders...?)
is claimed to reopen as early as on Feb 15th 2006 after the annual New Year Break.
JiTong`s last QJ, defelctorless Daban yard shunter QJ7063 was retired a few days ago. It was replaced by a DF5.
seems to have abondoned their steam locos recently - according to an article in "West China Metropolis Daily".
On Dec 9th, there was a farewell passenger train between Daban and JingPeng. The last regular revenue steam train seems to have operated on Dec 10th, a double-headed freight between Daban and JingPeng. As Daban received 7 additional DF4s, steam usage is supposed to have come to an end as planned/promised/feared...
R.I.P. JiTong!
Latest reports indicate that the Steam Farewall Event started on Dec 3rd involving 15 QJs working between Daban and Chabuga.
Latest news say that all trains between Chabuga and Daban will be hauled by QJs between Dec 4th and Dec 8th being part of the "steam farewell festival" activities.
On Sunday, Nov 27th there were no steam freights in daylight between Chabuga and Daban, but two passed in the dark. However, there were light engine movements at Chabuga at about 08.00 am and at Daban about lunchtime so there must have been some work for those locos. Monday operation was similar with no steam for hours during daylight.
According to the Jitong Travel Service, there will be a "farewell festival" next week (appr. Dec 8th-10th) which includes running a passenger special Daban to Jingpeng and back on the 9th. Supposedly, all QJs will be out of service on the 10th and you can watch their final clean out...
Some steam activity remains around the steelworks itself but
not to any great extent. Only one SY numbered 17xx (1722 or 1744)
was observed there in late October. Another two SYs, 0048 and
0532, seem to be based at the midway yard. SY 0048, in very good
condition, was being used on the coal mine branch and both were
also seen banking diesel-hauled trains from the midway yard
towards the steelworks or power station.
Five DF4Bs (7670, 7673, 7695, 7696 and 7698) were seen. It seems
as if there are now at least 8 DF4Bs on the system. Trains were
seen going up the hill with DF4Bs at the front and banking as
well as double-banked. The trains are obviously longer than in
steam days.
In addition to the DF4Bs, Ziyang built GK1C 0161 in a blue with
red stripes livery was seen bringing a train into the midway yard
from what seemed to be a limestone quarry branch. This train was
then banked by one of the SYs towards the steelworks.
December 10th is quted as the deadline for steam at Daban. By late November, the majority of trains between Daban and Chabuga already was diesel hauled.
Between November 16th to 19th, there was nearly no steam train between Daban and Chabuga. Some five diesels could haul all trains,even the passenger at november 18th and 19th. The reason was track working at the entrance of the shed at Daban. Consequently,all steam locos which has been in the shed seemed to be locked in.When visited on November 18th, the shed contained was not even a single diesel. Steam service restarted on November 20th.
A new line under construction from Baomutu to the north-east. This should go to a coal mine.
JiTong will hold a auction on Nov 29th-30th 2005, about 20 QJs are for sale. The base price is 350,000 RMB. There will be 27 competitor joining the audition.
According to a Hasea posting, steam terminated in 2004. DF7 and DF5Bs are in use now with SY 0641,0851,1473 dumped.
Personal telephone contact to the railway manager confirmed that the railway is NOT working at the moment. This info contrasts to info given by CITS.
Some images of a dumped 8xxx JS, SY 1497, and a QJ apparently numbered 0001 and QJ 7192 recently appeared on Hasea. Location was Lianyungang.
The following DF4s were seen working between Daban and Chabuga
recently:
DF4 0490, 0537, 1291, 6007, 6103, 9010, 9516, 9518
The manager of Huangjinggou coal mine stated that the narrow gauge railway operation stop soon( before Dec 1st 2005) and not reopen again.
The new Shenyang railway museum is under consruction. The locos are already there and the building is being erected while they are inside! Of course they are sheltered, no display. The name of the place is TieXiSenLin Park in the western part of Shenyang. Due to be opened 01.03.2006.
SY 1232 in steam.
Most of passenger workings are diesel hauled now! In steam were seen SY 1751 1761 1749 and YJ 269.
received two new, Dalian-built DF4Bs (7758 and 7759) recently. They replaced QJs.
is understood to have bought two new DF4Bs, too.
11 SY in service, no plans for replacing them yet.
6 SY remain in service but they are to be replaced until Chinese New Year (Jan 29th 2006).
Steam was replaced by diesels in 1998. However, they kept C2 021 as a "souvenir". This loco can still haul special trains, although not in a good technical condition. The line has some scenic parts, but in general it's more flat than Weihe for instance.
After a period of almost no trains (problems with the locos, bridge constructions works) service is normal again. Investments in painting all six locos and rebuilt bridges are a good sign. No plan for closing the line yet.
Less passenger trains now with one line without any passenger trains now.
The special on October 8th, 9th and 10th seems not to run. The
special trains are ordered with steam, but the management of
JiTong didn't confirm steam until now. They told us they have
problems with water (Linxi, Jingpeng) and coal (Haoluku). As the
October special is not paid in the same way as it will be done in
November by tour operators no-one on the JiTong line seems to be
interested in the extra steam trains. However, final decision is
still pending.
No new information about Lanqi yet.
Definitely closed. You can still charter a train for some 300 meter service. Everything is still in place with No 2 freshly overhauled.
Pingdingshan Coal Railway has received another 3 diesels recently: two DF10Ds (Dalian built 0087 and 0088, both in orange livery) and Beijing built DF7G 5121 (in standard red-gold livery). Altogether, 5 diesels are present now (1xGKD3B, 1xDF7G and 3xDF10D).
Hans Schaefer and another source in Daban indicate that the passenger train will remain steam until end of October. L113/114 will run the last time on September 14th.
"Prestige" Locmotive QJ6911 was withdrawn on Aug 16th 2005, followed by QJ7164. With a great deal of whistling and tooting the latter one (also a decorated QJ) was withdrawn from service on the night of Sunday 28/8/2005; it had run two trains together with 7163 the previous day.
During 11 days in late August until 4th September, with the exception of 3 freight trains all those on the Daban-Chabuga section were steagm hauled.
Some of the 10 DF4D locomotives built this year were found to have hair-line cracks in their wheels, and all were laid up pending repairs in August. Three had re-entered service by the end of August.
The hallways of the new administration building in Daban are lined with pictures of steam locomotives at work.
Only 9 SYs are still use. Six out of them possibly survive until 2006, three will be scrapped later this year.
The DFH5 4010 diesel is still not very reliable. So, the system is still 100% steam at certain times.
Rumors say that the line`s QJs (replaced by electrics earlier this year) work on the branch line to the new power plant near Huhehaote now. However, this is NOT CONFIRMED (yet)!
The steam loco overhaul facilty officially closed on July 6th being the last CNR works carrying out steam loco overhauls. The workshop's repair/maintenance equipment has been sold to the coal transpQinhuangdao Local Railway
That branch line is still steam operated. SY 1290 was observed under steam there recently.
The railway is about to close within the next days as the quarry closed recently. One loco is currently still employed to "tidy up", but rail operation is going to cease shortly.
Huanan has suspended coal traffic and all of the available
workers are planting trees between Huanan and Xiahua. The start
was today 27 April and will last for '5 days'. However, the 'ripoff'
passenger railbus is running as normal.
Visitors from April - August also need to watch out for ticks
blown in the wind. You would not want one of these bugs burrowing
into your skin.
(info by John Raby)
Maps (by Jan Schirling) added to Peter Patt`s Report.
Steam is expected to be finished until end of 2005.
JS 5029 is dumped now but steam will continue for at least two years (on passenger trains)
A C2 operated ng line operting inside the security parameters of a factory exists at Licheng 15km east of Jinan.
At Lanxi on the JinQian line north of Jinhua in Zhejiang province, some SYs are used on an industrial railway.
JF 2368 was steamed at Chenjiashan on Apr 14th but said to go for scrap on Apr 15th! JS8094 (alias 5094) at Chenjiashan, JS 6025 at Xiashijie and SY 0369 at Jiaoping were in use. At TongchuanNan, JF 2369 is still sitting, very dead, in a siding.
At Diantou, the DF4's have at last been put into service: DF4 7709 was hauling coal to the CNR yard on Apr 14th 2005.
JiTong has decided to abandon loco changes at Haoluku and work both Baiqi and Daban DF4s on through trains. The first DF4 already perform through runs (Baiqi`s DF4D 4174, 4177, 4179 + Daban`s DF4B 6005, DF4D 4240). Once the scheme is fully adopted, steam hauled trains will be impossible.
The new line from Sangendalai southwards to Lanqi (= blue banner; full name Zhenglanqi, Chinese name = Xulun Hoh). The line connects a coal mine with a power plant It is not clear whether the coal mine or the power plant is near Lanqi. Operation will start in September/October. Rumors say, the power plant plans to aquire 10 QJs, JiTong sources suggest diesel traction.
The daily mixed is rostered for a M62 diesel. Manp`o`s MiKa rescues if neccessary. However, CNR staff at Ji`an usually knows the scheduled locomotive 2 or 3 days in advance.
On March 8th at Zhoukou, no steam was seen but the steam crane still steamed. However at the Fuyang end, QJ 1271 arrived on a 50 wagon train from the west and 2 more QJs in steam on shed.
Yongcheng has 2 DF10D, but 2 QJs are sharing duties equally with them (Mar 10th).
went bankrupt and no longer operates (railway ops also finished).
There are 2 SYs active at the Hangbo glass factory rlwy. Access is easy by taking bus K528 from CNR central station and a 2km taxi drive or walk. Direct taxi takes about 30-40min and costs around 50Y.
The plants owns 3 QJs. In addition to QJ 7180 and 7187, ex Da'an Bei QJ 6924 has just been released from Changchun Works after overhaul and repaint. The loco still retains its Da'an Bei decorations. QJ 7187 is reported as being overhauled at Changchun last year and QJ 7180 may be overhauled this year.
Baiqi received another 2 DF4D in early February. Still 11 QJs
are workable, but rarely used. Complete dieselisation at Baiqi
depot is expected in mid April 2005.
Daban had 18 DF4 in late February, mostly used towards Haoluku
but also performing some turns to Chabuga. In mid March, Daban -
Chabuga was averaging about 90% daylight steam with 9-10 trains
per day(light). Diesel creeps in although at most two daylight
per day. On Jingpeng still up to 6 daylight trains with steam due
to problems withs diesels. More than half of the diesel locos on
the pass were Baiqi paint - probably due to the Daban problems.
Steam defintely continued on March 19th.
According to officials, as of Mar 15th 2005 there will no longer be any regular steam turns between Daban and Haoluku. The Daban-Haoluku passenger train will also be diesel as of mid March.
Four DF4s are present now, steam completely eliminated in daily traffic.
are all reported to have been dieslised within the last two weeks.
(information by Sun Xiaolan)
Current situation according to Bryan Acford: 9 SY, 2 DF4, 5 DFH3 active. Steam works freight on the north and south lines and all passengers. Diesels work Faku line freight.
The railway shut down for the Spring Festival on Jan 26th. Expected to reopen in about 4 weeks.
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