Steam in China  :   February - March 2001

Part I

Part I Feb 11th - Feb 23th 2001 Tianjin , YiXian / Beipiao , Yebaishou , Da`an Bei
Part II Feb 24th - Mar 11th 2001 Wulanhote/Arxan/Weidong , Xilin , Weihe , Lingshan/ Anshan , Tonghua
Part III Mar 12th - Mar 25th 2001 Anyang , Zhongyang/ Lishi , Baotou , Wuhai , Final Thoughts

Florian Menius reports on a tour to China in Februry and March 2001.

Introduction

This report consists of 3 parts. For the first two weeks (Part I), the group consisted of 5 persons. 2 of us had some CITS arrangements (e.g. a visit to Chengde steelworks) whereas I was the "guide" for the "low-budget group" of the other 3 tour members. Both parts of the group had a similar itinary but for a few days the group was splitted. As I was member of the "low-budget-group" I will concentrate on our observations but some information provided by the "CITS group" (Jan Schirling and Andreas Rauh) will be included, too.
Originally, both groups had asked CITS to arrange a kind of Plandampf at Yebaishou, which had been confirmed by CITS, too (Costs 121 USD per person). But CITS was unable to organise the "Plandampf". Good luck that we had not paid in advance ...

Part II covers the following two weeks when I travelled on my own. Between Mar 12th and Mar 20th (Part III) Reinhard accompanied me but he had to leave some days earlier which I spent at Wuhai - alone again.

Due to the better flight timings we flew on Swissair (1100 DM and not TAROM for 800 DM). Costs for 6 weeks in China were some 1400 DM. The "CITS group" paid nearly the same price for 7 days full service + 2 days guide only ...

Tour Details

Sunday, Feb 11th 2001

All five tour members arrived on SR 198 in the early morning (06:10) at Beijing Capital Airport. The CITS-Group met its guide and went to Chengde in order to visit the steelworks (not the branch line, the steelworks itself). Our "steelworks-specialist" Jan Schirling has composed a seperate Steelworks Report including a sketch map in German. A English translation will be added later.
The low-budget-group went to Beijing Main Station where we catched T533 at 11:00 to Tianjin. Modern double-deck-air-con train, propelled by DF11. Soft Seater 35Y. At Tianjin, we intented to check out the

Tianjin Local Railway, Feb 11th 2001

Bad News ! The Tianjin Local Railway recently got 4 brandnew 2000-built DF4D ! The DF4Ds include 4063 and 4064. According to local staff at Liqizhuang station, the Local Railway`s roster is 4 DF4Ds (including 4063, 4064) plus 6 QJs at the moment.
The diesels work the majority of linework including the passenger (timings have not changed, see CRJ 125) whereas the QJs predominantly are either pilots or "standby"-engines.

Liqizhuang station is easily reached by birect bus No. 832 from Tianjin Railway Station. Get off at the railway crossing immediately next to the servicing point for steam locomotives. It is situated some 1km south of the area where the "city buildings" become "suburban slum style ones".
Alternatively, you may take busses No. 13, 951 and 952 to its southern terminus "Tiyuanbei". From there it is some 1.5 km to walk - 500m westwards than southwards along the main road.

When we arrived at Liqizhuang railway station at 14:00, DF4D 4064 arrived with a freight train from Chentangzhuang direction. QJ 7062 was under steam at the service point ("standby"). Later, a green 8-wheel-diesel, similar to the GK class, arrived, too. This engine had a CNR depot code. According to B.G.Evans, this engine probably was a DFH5. As weather was quite bad and forecast for steam action was very bad, we did not wait there but immediately went back to Tianjin railway station where we rested in the station`s lounge (10Y per person) until we boarded fast 2229, dep. 22:58 to YiXian. We had got (reserved) hard seat tickets only and wanted to upgrade for sleepers. But as soon as we boarded the train, we felt asleep (we had slept less than 3 hours on board of Swissair) and "forgot" to upgrade... We woke up not before Tangshan at 01:00 when the train was already quite empty. So, we decided to stay at our seats ...

Engines noted :

QJ 7062
DF4D 4064
DFH 5 0073 (CNR depot code !)


YiXian - Beipiao Nan - Beipiao, Feb 12th-13th, 18th-19th, Mar 12th-13th 2001

Few changes here since September 2000. Some updates :

Steam Operation :
YiXian-Beipiao Nan : Due to the new passenger timetable valid since Oct 21st, the freight timings have changed, too. I spent 3 periods of each 2 days here. So, my observations probably are quite representative. In general, the following freight trains can be expected between YiXian and Beipiao (timings for Zhoujiatun area) :

Trains without comment : Operating daily and QJ hauled every day, too. Additional trains or light engine workings may appear, too.
Most trains have longer stops at Beipiao Nan, are remarshalled there or even change loco.

Yi Xian - Jinzhou : In the morning, there is a pickup freight (QJ hauled) from Fuxin to Jinzhou. It is at YiXian between 08:00-09:30 and returns in the afternoon (16:00 ex Jinzhou). At least the 12:15 eb freight from Beipiao Nan goes to Jinzhou, too.
The power plant at Bajiaotai has got its own JS : JS 6211 (deflectorless).

Beipiao Nan-Beipiao : A new timetable for the Beipiao-Chaoyang passenger has been introduced on Oct 21st. Service has been extended - there are four pairs of trains now . The trains are hauled by Yebaishou (not Fuxin !) based QJs with southbound trains funnel first. If there are no crossings between Beipiao Nan and Chaoyang, the trains do stop only at the two halts in Beipiao city (neither at Lotuoying, Nengjia nor Jingou). See the March 2000 Report for reference. Trains consist of 3 orange and cream livered YZ22 coaches ("Städte-Express" livery) now. The current timetable is :

Chaoyang-Beipiao Steam Passenger

L611
L613
L615
 L617   L612
L614
 L616 L618
06:20
09:05
13:22
 18:00 Beipiao 08:55
12:41
 17:40 20:42
|
09:47/54
14:05/14
|
 Nengjia
|
11:48/58
|
|
|
|
14:30/37
|
 Jingou
|
|
|
|
07:29
10:24
14:55
 19:09 Chaoyang 07:45
11:20
 16:25 19:30

In addition to the Chaoyang-Beipiao passengers, the Beipiao Nan-Beipiao shuttle service has been reintroduced on Oct 21st. It is operated by two diesel railcars ("Diesel Motor Trolley") with an suitable unmotorised railcar-like passenger car between them. In March, this passenger car was defunct. So, one of the orange-cream livered Chaoyang-Beipiao-YZ-coaches was used leaving only 2 coaches for the Chaoyang passengers. The railcars provide connections to different CNR trains at Beipiao Nan. They stop at the two halts at Beipiao, at Luotuoying and at a lineside village between Luotuoying and Beipiao Nan, too. Current timetable is :

Beipiao-Beipiao Nan Railcar Shuttle

2
4
6
8
10
  
1
3
5
7
9
06:58 09:25 13:40 18:50 21:45 Beipiao 08:30 10:48 16:18 20:16 23:50
07:10 09:39 13:57 19:01
|
 Luotuoying 08:18 10:33 16:01 20:02 23:34
07:26 09:57 14:12 19:16 22:15 Beipiao Nan 08:00 10:17 15:44 19:46 23:18

Freight trains : There are about 10-12 freight trains per direction within 24 hours. All trains terminate at Beipiao Nan and are remarshalled there. On the northern end of the branch line, the destinations of the trains is is a equal split between Beipiao and Lutuoying. Southbound trains are funnel first. Six pairs of freight trains work to Beipiao. The timings for the freight trains at Beipiao station are as follows (Note : BeipiaoNan to Luotuoying trains are not included !) :

Trains tend to run much earlier ! One hour too early or so is very common ! A freight from Luotuoying to Beipiao Nan runs around 09:00.

Luotuoying : At the northern end of Luotuoying station there is a servicing point for steam locomotives. It seems to be the "running shed" for all CNR steam locomotives in the Beipiao area. There is a remarkable amount of light engine workings between Luotuoying and Beipiao Nan, too (e.g. if a Chaoyang-YiXian freight changes engine a Beipiao Nan, two light engine workings to and from Luotuoying will be the result..).
Freight trains along the branch line usually are not very long. The morning of March 13th saw two freights each direction south of Luotuoying with 6, 23, 8 and 1 wagon respectively.
As there is much industry around Luotuoying station, it is not recommanded to stay there very long. "Leather Jackets" are everywhere here ... It is better to go to the viadukt 2km further south.
I tried to find the line to Sanbao. There are two possibilities :

Linesiding : Beipiao Area : Luotuoying is easily reached from Beipiao by urban bus No.6. Bus No.5 goes to Beipiao Nan station. Buses along the Beipiao Nan to Shangyuan Road operate every 2 hours or so. For example, Buses from Shangyuan towards Beipiao Nan leave Shangyuan at 14:30 and 16:30 respectively.
The village at the bridge half way between Zhoujiatun and Shangyuan is called "Qilingsi".
YiXian area : See September 2000 Report

Accomodation : The "Nanshan Jie Binguan" at the railway crossing in Beipiao was even worse than in March 2000 with no hot water available, mould at every wall and high prices (120 Y per room). For Accomodation at YiXian see September 2000 Report. Motive Power : Changes / Corrections to September 2000 Report (everything else is still valid) :

The QJs from Fuxin are in very bad external and technical condition.

Engines noted (QJ, DF4 Fuxin based, all seen under steam) :

QJ 6095, 6172, 6226, 6382, 6410, 6489, 6655, 6671, 6672, 6707, 6726, 6750, 6752-6754, 6776, 6943, 6990, 6991, 7117
DF4 7429
JS 6211 (Bajiaotai Power Plant)

Tour Details Yi Xian (I)

Munday, Feb 12th 2001

Arrival at Yi Xian at 06:53 and check in at the hotel across the station (see Sept 2000 Report). Due to thick fog in the morning we stood at the hotel until 08:00. Then by taxi (50Y one way) to Zhoujiatun where we spend the whole day. In the afternoon at 17:00 our taxi picked up us at Zhoujiatun again.

Tuesday, Feb 13th 2001

By taxi from YiXian to Shangyuan and back in the evening (80Y each way). Linesiding around Shangyuan. In the late evening, we took K645 (dep. 23:04) and upgraded to a Hardsleeper (YW) to Pingzhuang (arr.04:48) from where we returned to Yebaishou riding fast 4207 (Pingzhuang dep. 06:08, Yeb. arr. 07:40). No steam noted between Pingzhuang and

Yebaishou, Feb 14th-17th 2001

Still some steam activity here but it is hard to predict which line will be worth it on a particular day. Though our "Plandampf" did not take place as we had wanted to, the crop was satisfiing due to the fact, that we asked at the shed which trains would be exclusively steam und chased these trains by taxi. Consequently, we had a taxi every day (200Y) during our 4-day-long stay. Sadly, the Yebaishou dispatcher did not know the Fuxin duties - only his own engines were listed.

Prospects for steam : The shed foreman confirmed once again, that steam will finish in August 2001 at Yebaishou ...

Steam Operation : Yebaishou-Chifeng : Steam only trains were very rare here (see Hans Schaefer`s bad experiences for reference) ! During our 4 days at Yebaishou there were only 2 steam hauled trains towards Shinao and not even one in the other direction ! This does not mean that the line is 80% diesel now but the QJs usually are either banker or second engine of a DF4 hauled freight.

Yebaishou-Lingyuan : The most steamy line around Yebaishou now ! We had up to 4 steam hauled trains towards Lingyuan, some of them QJ banked, too. Paths for freight trains leaving Yebaishou are at 08:35, 09:05, 11:31, 13:38, 15:20 and 16:10.
Unfortunately, a new line of poles has been errected near the summit at Hongshi (luckily north of the line) making photography more difficult. In September 2000, it has not been in situ yet ...

Yebaishou-Chaoyang : This line sees a number of Fuxin-QJ-hauled trains during daylight. Departures Yebaishou : 09:15 or 10:30, 14.00 and 16:00. The two timings for the morning train are alternative paths for the same trains. This train was double-headed with an Yebaishou engine in front of the Fuxin engine every day. We had : QJ+QJ (twice), DF4+QJ and DF4+QJ+QJ (each once). The piloting Yebaishou engine from this train comes back from Chaoyang in the afternoon around 16:00. (By the way : the morning freight ex Yebaishou becomes the 16:30 or 17:15 freight at Zhoujiatun in the evening - it is the same Fuxin-QJ).
The afternoon departures both were single headed (=Fuxin-QJ only), but were observed only once. Another sure train is a westbound single headed train (4 of 4 days observed, Fuxin-QJ) passing Gongyingzi at 10:00.

Accomodation : We stood at Yebaishou 3.5 nights. Three of them were spent at the JianPing Binguan which was neither bad nor overpriced : hot water after 20:00 and only 100Y per night for a three bed room.
For the last "half night", we stood at the Tielu Lüdian next to the station (20Y/ person) - no problem ! You have to tell the staff that you will stay only 1 night, leave early in the morning and that you need no "bill" or "official registration".

Engines :
The following Yebaishou based CNR engines could be noted during our visit at Yebaishou and YiXian :

JS 8237, 8238
QJ 3268, 6086, 6409, 6411-6414, 6416, 6418, 6554, 6677, 6728, 6729
JS dumped 8239
QJ dumped 6676, 6709, 6727
DF4 1618, 1649, 1652, 2117, 2118, 2122, 2124, 2185, 2264, 2271, 6193, 6194, 6196, 7319-7322, 7367, 7368, 7427, 7428, 7452-7454, 7456, 7475, 7476

Tour Details Yebaishou

Wednesday, Feb 14th 2001

When we arrived in morning at 07:40 from Pingzhuang, we were already awaited by our "CITS group" in front of the station. At the shed we tried to arrange a sort of "concentrated operation" for the next days - without success. So, we had to be satisfied with the timings of the "steam only" trains. The day was very quiet : one double header to Chaoyang (09:15), and each one single header to Chifeng (12:01) and Lingyuan (13:38).

Thursday, Feb 15th 2001

Today, the morning train to Chaoyang was DF4+QJ headed. Furthermore we had : 1 arrival from Chaoyang (10:00), 2 funnel first and 2 tender first single headed trains from Lingyuan to Yebaishou and 3 funnel first trains towards Lingyuan with one of them QJ banked, too.

Friday, Feb 16th 2001

The morning train to Chaoyang was QJ+QJ again. The 10:00 arrival, two trains to Lingyuan (one banked) and a banked afternoon train to Chifeng were the results of this day. Jan and Andreas Rauh had a short afternoon visit to the Lingyuan Steelworks.

Saturday, Feb 17th 2001

4 trains to Lingyuan (2 banked), the 10:00 arrival, two afternoon departures towards Chaoyang and the DF4+QJ+QJ morning train to Chaoyang made up our last day at Yebaishou. Together will pleasant weather, the visit to Yebaishou was a success.
In the eveing, we changed to the Tielu Lüdian amd had some hours sleep before boarding train 2114, dep. 01:33 to Yi Xian, arr. 04:52 : hard seater for the rest of the night - but the train was relatively empty.

Sunday, Feb 18th 2001

After check-in at the hotel in front of YiXian station and a recovery break until 09:00 due to the morning fog, we hired a minibus (for 5 persons) and went to Zhoujiatun again (80Y one way). In the evening we were picked up at Zhoujiatun by our bus again.

Munday, Feb 19th 2001

As we intended to spend the morning around Beipiao Nan, we left YiXian at 06:00 in the morning. The day before`s minibus was 300Y for the whole day. We arrived at Beipiao Nan just before 08:00 and were really impressed by the amount of steam here ! We had expected to see two morning freights plus one Chaoyang passenger only. There were up to 5 QJs present at Beipiao Nan station at the same time ! The steam action until noon was (at 08:00 no QJ present) : Da`an Bei is not busier ! At 12:00, we left Beipiao Nan and went to Shangyuan where we had the 2 afternoon wb freights from YiXian. The second train was chased but as the road is not very good, we only got a departure shot at Nanling station. Afterwards, we went to the climb from Beipiao Nan towards the summit tunnel just before Nanling station and waited for the 16:00 eb freight. But it did not appear until 16:45 when the light failed. We arrived back at YiXian at 18:00.
In the evening, the group was splitted again into its parts : "low-budget" left YiXian for Da`an Bei (via Jinzhou and express 1343 overnight to Da`an Bei) while Jan and Andreas ("CITS") stood another night at YiXian and visited the Fuxin Coal Railway on Feb 20th. In the morning of Feb 21st, we met up again at

Da`an Bei, Feb 20th-24th, 26th 2001

Da`an Bei was a dissapopintment this time compared to my previous visits in March and September 2000. On the one hand this was due to a sometimes poor weather with strong north-westerly winds and overcasted sky but on the other hand, traffic levels were low with few morning trains. Once, there was no southbound train along the Ranghulu line until noon !
This time, we tried the third lüdian at Da`an Bei station (10Y per person) which is the worst one. There are no in-house toilets - you have to leave the building and to go to a seperate "barrack" behind the building.
On the other hand, a new (forth) lüdian has opend in front the station (just across the temporary station exit). It offers both shower and hot water (Jan and Andreas / ["CITS"] stood there).
My September 2000 description is still valid concerning steam operation, but we saw no JS on the line towards Qianguo. Even the Changshantun pilot was QJ.

Additional information :

In order to vary the shots, I visited both the Taipingchuan and the Ranghulu end of the lines from Da`an Bei.

Taipingchuan Area
At Taipingchuan, freight trains from all 4 directions change loco. This means that DF4 from Baicheng, Tongliao, Zhengjiatun and Da`an Bei plus QJs from the latter depot can be seen here. The line towards Da`an Bei is doubletrack as far as until Changqing station. Just west of Taipingchuan station the two tracks are not parallel but some 300m distant between each other. The "loco service station" is situated between these tracks. The triangle next to the shed is freely accessible. The depot itself has got no fence, too. So, it is possible to enter the depot from its back (near the traingle), take photos and to leave again immediately.
As Taipingchuan is loco change point only, they have no "spare engines" there. This means that all arriving engines will go back within the next hours and no "new" engines can appear at Taipingchuan.
Traffic along the line to Da`an Bei is some 50-70 % DF4 at the moment. This means about 2-3 QJ hauled freights per direction during daylight. Additionally, the 3-YZ-coach-long Da`an Bei-Taipingchuan mixed 6818 and 6817 are QJ hauled (and very photogenic of course as they operate around noon here). Though the low number of steam trains, the section towards Changqing is well worth a visit. Especially the 4 km long double track section south of Changqing offers "mainline atmosphere" in a better than "Da`an Average" landscape. Furthermore, afternoon departures at Taipingchuan passing by the depot (climbing onto a dam until the overfly over the Baicheng line some 3 km west) are a great sight.
At Taipingchuan, long-dumped and derailed formerly Baicheng-based QJ 992 (built 1975) is dumped in front of the signal box.

Ranghulu Area
As mentioned before (see Report by Michael Rhodes) virtually all tanker trains from Da`an Bei terminate either at Dulitun or Linyuan. So, Ranghulu itself sees fewer trains than the Da`an Bei end. As some light engine movements could be noted arriving at Ranghulu, it is likely that the tanker train`s engines go to Ranghulu for coal, water and being turned.
At Ranghulu, the line to Da`an Bei leaves the station to the west passing the depot area. Freights which arrive at Ranghulu from Qiqihar direction and go on towards Da`an Bei do not enter the station but use a bypass track. This track leaves the Qiqihar mainline some 3km west of Ranghulu and meets the TongRang-Line line some 2 km north of Zhuangzhi station from where it goes parallel to this track to Zhuangzhi station (means : "double track" section). Engines are exchanged at Zhuangzhi then.
Photogenic potential is limited as very much industry, poles and - south of Zhuangzhi - the parallel highway spoil photography. But a afternoon departure leaving Ranghulu freight yard is a good spot. Ranghulu probably is one of the largest freight yard (in addition to Fuxin) which still sees regular QJ-freight departures.

Engines noted :

JS 6239, 6481
QJ 3179, 3251, 6112, 6143, 6361, 6367, 6368, 6379, 6435, 6484, 6571, 6586, 6773, 6825, 6851, 6852, 6882, 6886, 6887, 6889, 6891, 6924, 6926, 7081, 7086, 7104, 7119, 7173
DF4 1098, 1472, 1543, 1549, 2120(Changchun), 2128(Tongliao), 2178(Tongliao), 2488(Tongliao), 3281, 3315-3317, 3986-3989, 6075
DFH3 0010, 0076, 0085, 0268 (all Changchun based)

Tour Details Da`an Bei

Tuesday, Feb 20th 2001

We arrived at Da`an Bei at 05:56 in the morning and checked in at the (bad) lüdian mentioned above. Our first sighting after sunrise was the former "Tourist Train" (now having the strange numbers L701 and L702) from Qianguo to Baicheng : QJ hauled, of course (QJ 6848 from Baicheng depot). We took fast 2209, dep. 07:27 (but more than 30 min late) as far as Xinhuatun (arr08:49 + 35`). As photogenic potential was not great at Xinhuatun (birch forest to the north, embankement to the south), we stood only 45 mins there and took passenger 6004 back to Xiangyangcun - a station in the middel of the nowhere 10km south of Xinhuatun but with a small tann forest next to the line. Riding 2209 and while being at Xinhuatun, no southbound freight was seen. At Xiangyangcun, the first southbound freight (in fact the first sb daylight freight of the whole day !) arrived not before 12:25 ! At 14:39, we took passenger 6003 back to Xinhuatun and further on to Da`an Bei by train 2155, dep. 16:35, arr. Da`an Bei 17:53.

Wednesday, Feb 21th 2001

In the morning, we took a picture of the L701- mixed to Baicheng (QJ 6848 again) before -once again- taking fast 2209 as far as Taiyangshen. At Taiyangshen, we met Jan and Andreas who had arrived with fast 2209 from Shenyang/ Fuxin.
The rest of the day was spent between Taiyangshen and Lizhi before returning to Da`an Bei by passenger 6006, Lizhi dep.19:41, Da`an Bei arr.21:00.
Again- with the exception of a sb freight we crossed at Xinzhao at 07:55 - the first sb steam freight did not arrive before 13:15 ! But the afternoon was "Da`an Bei at its best" : great light and 11 steam hauled freights within 4 hours until sunset at 17:15 ... In total, we had 15 freights between 08:30 and 17:15, 14 of them steam (plus 1 DF4).

Thursday, Feb 22th 2001

In the morning, we watched mixed 6818 to Taipingchuan (dep. 06:28, QJ 7086) and L701 (QJ 6848 again) before going to Changshantun by fast K652 (dep. 08:15, arr. 08:46, DFH3 double headed). Due to strong northerly wind, the bridge at Changshantun was unphotographable for steam trains. After the usual 3 morning steam workings (10:00 wb, 11:00 eb /light engine, 11:45 eb), we took fast 4243 back to Da`an Bei (dep. 12:38, arr. 13:17, DFH3 hauled) where we spent the rest of the day. In the evening, we met the "Steam Extreme Team" at the well-known "northern crossing" next to the shed.
After dinner, the "low-budget group" left Da`an Bei for Baicheng (fast 2155, dep. 18:04, arrival Baicheng 19:35) while Andreas and Jan stood at Da`an for another day and visited Tiefa on Saturday, 24th.
At Baicheng, we stood at one of the numerous hotels outside the station (double 80Y).

Friday, Feb 23th 2001

Early start at 05:00. We took the overcowded Hailar-Baotou express K 276, dep. 05:26. This train has as few as 4 hardseat coaches, which did not satisfy the need by far. So, we had to stand the 2 hours until 07:30 when we arrived at Taipingchuan.
At Taipingchuan, we stored our baggage at the lüdian left of the station (3 bed room for 40Y) before taking passenger 6003 dep. 09:34 to Changqing. As staff there did not allow us to take photos at the station, we immediately walked southwards towards Taipingchuan and the double-track section. Between 10:00 and sunset (17:00), we had 1 northbound and 3 southbound freights plus the two passengers and a afternoon nb departure DF4+QJ+QJ. As the DF4 had ruined our afternoon departure spot at Taipingchuan, I decided to stay another day at Taipingchuan.
After a short recovery at the lüdian, Stephan and Andreas Walla took fast 2190 to Chengde (dep. 21:15), where they spent aonther day before flying back to Germany on Sunday, 25th. For the next 16 days, I was alone now.

Saturday, Feb 24th 2001

Another day spent between Taipingchuan and Changqing. I had 2 steam hauled freights each direction (DF4 : 5 sb and 6 nb trains) plus the passengers and a light engine arrival from Da`an Bei. I was nearly diing when I was waiting at the "afternoon departure" spot from 14:00 on and prospects for my shot got worse and worse due to the disappearing sun... But then - 20 minutes before sunset - in great evening light, the prettiest of Da`an Bei`s QJs (QJ 6435, undecorated, but brass boiler rings and immaculate condition) left Taipingchuan, hauling a 45 wagon tanker train - it was a kind of dream !
In the evening, I took fast 2083, departure 21:13 to Baicheng, arrival 23:38. As I intended to go to Wulanhaote at 04:22 (train K955) in the morning, I waited in the waiting until I had to learn that you are not allowed to board this train at Baicheng. Then it was too late to look for a lüdian. So, I spent the whole night in the waiting room at Baicheng station ...

This report is to be continued : see  Part II, Feb 25th - Mar 11th 2001

Dresden, Mar 28th 2001
Florian Menius

Content Page Trip Report Page
© 2001, F.Menius , email : Florian.Menius@tu-dresden.de