My seventh and longest china trip until now
took about 45 days. As I am not really a friend of industrial
action but prefer lines which are situated in interesting
landscapes I had to travel long distances between my destinations
which caused a main part of the costs. But most of you know that
relaxing in a sleeper for a day or two after running many km
along the line can sometimes be necessary. I did the whole trip
on my own expect the last five days when I joined Bernd’s
FarRail group.
I arrived with flight CA 932 from
Weihe, 13-16/10/2006
Arrival in the early morning. I went to the
ng station for finding out what’s happening and checked in
into the hotel around the corner. As line service should be over
now I just mention the basic data: C2 54 (in good external and
technical condition) hauled four returns per day to Baliwan. The
trains included two YZ passenger cars and a luggage car.
Sometimes they brought some additional freight cars from/to
Zhenzhu. Trains have always been used by many factory employees
and farmers (no tourists). As the engine shed was always locked I
unfortunately couldn’t see whether some other locos have
survived in Weihe.
From Weihe to
12:08 at noon I took train 1451 to
I arrived in
Chengzihe, 17-18/10/2006
I took bus No.3 from
I got the following locos:
SY 1437,1544,0733,237,0590,1351,1058
Hengshan, 20-21/10/2006
I went to Hengshan by bus, too. From
One day I got five uphill trains to Zhongxin
(all single headed, no banker) between 8 a.m. and 9.30 a.m.
Another day I saw two single headed and a single headed and
banked train. I was waiting about 300m above the second level
crossing. No problem to see the banker in this position, also if
train would be double headed. I walked along the line to
Xiaohengshan where SY 0804 was pushing spoil trains to the tip.
All in all I saw: SY 1340,0341,1095,0746,0804
From
I walked to
Huanan, 21-28/10/2006
I gave a call to a friend who was already my
driver for several times. His name is Er Lin and I can highly
recommend him as he is always in time and very helpful by asking
the railway staff for the times. His mobile phone number is 138
4549 4168. We went to the ng station where I saw that the former
stabling point was completely pulled down and the tracks have
been lifted (excluding the turntable for the railcar). The
facilities have changed into the shed now. No problem to ask for
the times inside. Went back to the Bao Li binguan for checking in
(the locals call it Da Bao Li as Huanan has a Xiao Bao Li, too, I
paid 100 Y per day).
Unfortunately there was not much traffic on
the line due to a low output in the mine. About 2 to 4 trains in
daylight. Some days they had 3, some days just 2 locos in steam.
I usually went by taxi to Tuoyaozi every morning and walked along
the line towards Lixin. In the afternoon my driver picked me up
in Tuoyaozi again.
Locos in service (they changed sometimes):
C2 168,011,043,044
A local in Tuoyaozi seems to improve his salary: Foreigners have
to pay 50 Y if they want to go from Tuoyaozi to Lixin, but just
between September 15th and December 15th! Reason is, that the
money is needed for paying the firemen if there is a fire in the
fields above Tuoyaozi. Locals have not to pay for sure because
they have a special permission. You don't believe that? I didn't,
too so I refused to pay and... nothing happened....I was told
that a group with guide had already paid...
Two nights I slept in a railway workers house in Lixin. Here is
the (in)official price list if you're interested to find
accommodation here:
20Y per night (just for sleeping there)
50Y for each meal
If you come with a guide you have to pay the fix price of 200 Y,
per day! Not bad, isn't it.....?
From Huanan to Yizhou, 28-30/10/2006
I took train 6451 to
Sancha-Luocheng, 31/10-02/11/2006
31/10: I took a bus at 7 a.m. to Sancha.
Buses leave the bus station close to the railway crossing every
hour at x :00 (8Y,90 min ride).I was waiting in the river bed
close to the well known bridge when JS 8353 arrived from Luocheng
with some 15 freight cars and no passenger cars at 10.00 a.m.
After the train had passed I walked northwards along the line to
find a position for taking the northbound train on its way back
to Luocheng. Some two km south of Chayan I found a reasonable
position from a new railway bridge which was still in
construction. According to Dick Walker this is the new high-speed
railway from
01/11: Bus departure at 08.40 a.m. towards
Luocheng (11Y, 40 min ride). I left the bus behind Siba at the
level crossing and decided to walk northwards along the line. As
I didn’t find a single reasonable photo position I arrived
at Luocheng shed at 10.30 a.m. Here I saw the following engines:
JS 8284, cold, in good condition
JS 8286, cold, in good condition
JS 8374 and 8377, oou, in bad condition
JS 8376, in steam
The railway workers told me that there would
be a train to the northern mines at 11.15 a.m. which would come
back at four p.m. After a hurry I found a very good position some
1 km to the north of Luocheng station. Sun was in a good angle
and in this section the line is surrounded by very impressive
karst rock formations. The JS came just in time at 11.20 chimney
first with four coal empties. I went back to Luocheng station for
waiting for the train from Sancha but it didn’t arrive…
At 2.30 p.m. I decided to go back northwards. After some two or
three km I found several good positions in this area in which I
would wish more trains. The line describes many curves which
allows to get the sun in a good angle every time. The JS arrived
at 3.20 with its four loaded coal cars. I returned back to
Luocheng for getting a bus to Yizhou. I met a cop in Luocheng but
he was absolutely not interested in me. Maybe Luocheng city is
not off limits for foreigners?
02/11: I took the bus at 09.40 a.m. which I
left at Siba level crossing again. I hoped to get the nb train
from Sancha this day so I walked southwards along the line. After
some three km I found a good spot just opposite to the embankment
dam at Siba. After waiting for more than three hours in which
nothing happened the light became more in more wrong. I continued
my way to the south for finding a new position when I heard a
steam whistle behind me! Indeed JS 8376 approached tender first
with a freight from Luocheng at 3.20 p.m. I waited until sunset
but neither the mixed nor the freight returned…I walked to
Siba and went back to Yizhou.
Yemao Railway, 03/11/06
After the disappointments due to the lack of
trains at Luocheng I decided to spend a day in Yemao. I went by
taxi to Yemao station (20Y) and walked to the nylon factories
which are situated in an area which is thickly white powdered
with residues from the manufacturing process…. Nobody was
interested in me when I walked through the factory. I found the
following locos:
SY 0917, in steam, tender first towards
Yemao
SY 1702, cold, in good condition, chimney
towards Yemao
I had a bit conversation with a very
friendly worker who brought me to his extremely friendly boss who
invited me into his office. After he knew what I was doing there
he immediately started to telephone with several people for
finding out where in the region steam has survived, too. He found
out that Laibin still should have two SY for industrial operation.
It seems they are running to places which are called FungWang and
BaYiKuang. He also told me that Liujia (west of Hechi) still
could have two SY but he wasn’t sure.
Steam traffic in Yemao was on a very low
level. There was a single shunting operation from the upper to
the lower factory at noon. But that was sufficient to get the one
and only good shot in which I was interested in as there is a
gigantic karst mountain between the two factories which gives a
very scenic backdrop. Rest of the one km line was completely
uninteresting as the fields have been very high which made
photography senseless.
From Yizhou to Weiyuan, 04-05/11/06
In the morning of November 4th I
took train 1319 to
Huangjinggou, 06/11/06
Left the hotel in the early morning and took
a taxi towards HJG. The trip to BaDongQiao took just about 20
minutes as I had a very motivated driver…The C2 crossed the
bridge just in time at 7.30 a.m. with 22 coal cars towards NiHe
and returned back at 8 o’clock. Although the weather was
good I had no chance to get a shot in sun as the line was
completely in the shadow. Definitely not the ideal season to
visit this line but my last chance for sure. I chased the train
to HJG where the train arrived at 8.30. Due to previous reports
about the “friendly” railway management I refused to
visit the shed. The loco was in disastrous condition. I even
couldn’t identify its number… We drove back to Weiyuan
where I had to pay 120Y to the driver for a bit more than three
hours. The future for the line is definitely bad, maybe it’s
closed already?
From Weiyuan to Qianwei, 07/11/06
There is a bus connection from Weiyuan to
Leshan. I left Weiyuan in the morning. The journey took perhaps
three hours (fee was around 25Y). From Leshan I got a bus to
Qianwei (11Y), very quick connection. The Tian Bo hotel offers
fair quality and service (220Y per night have been definitely too
much).
Shibanxi, 08-15/11/06
I took the first bus in the morning at 6.20
so I had sufficient time to get the first train at 7. The bus
connection to Shibanxi is very frequented. Within the next days I
did some line siding between Mifeng and Bagou. My preferred
section are the first km above Mifeng where the locos have to
produce a delightful thrash for accelerating the trains. There is
a big difference between their technical and visual condition.
They get a respectable speed in the gradient towards Caiziba
without problems.
Traffic was as reported: C2 07 was in use
for the passengers, C2 10 and 14 hauled the freights. Freight
traffic was very high! The morning freight which was normally
scheduled after the first passenger ran every day, incl. week
ends. The second freight left Shibanxi between the 2nd
and the 3rd passenger and ran every second day. The
pathway along the line seems to become a more and more important
traffic route as there was sometimes an heavy motorbike traffic.
Don’t wonder when they spoil your shots, especially if you
take videos. Fortunately the drivers don’t seem to know yet
that railway enthusiasts can be a valuable source of capital (as
in Huanan, where nearly every driver stops for offering his
service which can become a bit annoying after several days). The
feared hordes of tourists haven’t been there, just a few
friendly single travellers.
After three days I decided to change my
accommodation and transferred my basis into the doctors
guesthouse in Mifeng which I got recommended by Jan Willem van
Dorp. That’s the authentic place to be! I got a clean room
for 25Y incl. three warm and tasty meals per day in a hundred
percent real Chinese environment. It can happen that you have to
bargain a bit especially for the meals but it is by far the most
cheapest and practically way. In addition it’s a very nice
way to become awoken by a whistle of a C2 which drives past five
meters away from your bed. The friendly doctor offers a perfectly
temperated shower in the coal cellar surrounded by his impressive
pin-up collection…Okay, he has no heating in the rooms which
can become a bit cold in winter but with about 20 degrees in
November I had no problem with that within the six days of my
stay. Highly recommendable! Weather was as expected: 2 days sunny,
3 days foggy and 3 days cloudy, but no rain. The doctor told me
that May would be the sunniest month of the year (but I can
imagine it could become really hot outside).
From Qianwei to Sanmenxia, 16-17/11/2006
Buses from Qianwei to Chengdu ShiYang bus
station are running every hour (45Y, comfortable journey is about
3 hours). From ShiYang I took bus 28 until its terminus at the
railway station (1Y, trip took one hour). In the extremely
overcrowded ticket counter area I luckily got an hard sleeper
ticket for train 2098 to Sanmenxia (199Y, departure at 6.55 p.m.).
Arrival in Sanmenxia next day in the afternoon. I decided to take
my basis here as I didn’t know anything about accommodation
possibilities in Yinghao. I got a room in a hotel just opposite
of Sanmenxia station (120Y) but cannot recommend it as it has
been extremely loud due to many people who used it just for
several hours until their train departures. They checked in and
out 24 hours per day producing an horrible noise. Don’t
forget your earplugs!
Yinghao, 18-19/11/2006
18/11: There is a good bus connection
between Sanmenxia and Yima/Mianchi via Yinghao (6Y, 50 minutes
ride). From Yinghao I took the bus to Huangmen (2Y) where I got C2
03 in steam in the shed. At 9.15 a.m. she went to Xiangyang light
engine for hauling a few trains from Liangjiawajing (about one
train per hour). C2 08 arrived at 10 in Xiangyang with some
empties from Yinghao and continued service on the Liangjiawajing
line. 03 left Xiangyang at 12.20 with a loaded train to Yingao
where she arrived at 1.15 p.m.
The loco crews asked for money (they
didn’t collect coins!) and cigarettes and told me that I was
not allowed to take photos when I refused to pay. I asked them
why I should pay but they had no answer so I continued. Who began
giving money to them and why?
19/11: Next day I visited the shed in
Huangmen again. I had no problem to enter the maintenance hall
where C2 06 was in works. I saw the following locos, too:
C2 08: cold, was in service the day before
C2 09: cold, in good external condition
C2 15: seems to be oou but was complete
C2 03 and a C2 without number (in horrible
condition) were in service between Liangjiawajing and Yinghao.
One time 03 had to tow the numberless loco which had been broken
down on the mainline with its empties towards Xiangyang.
From Sanmenxia to Pingdingshan, 20/11/2006
After one day break due to the weather I
took train T232 to
The FarRail part
Please look at Bernds FarRail homepage for
getting further information about our destinations. We went to
PDS (much steam traffic, just a few diesels), Xingyang (break due
to heavy rainfalls), Yima (just some dead JS in the shed) and
Yinghao (busy, C2 09 and 03 in service).
From Sanmenxia to
In the afternoon of the 25th I
left the group in Yinghao and went by bus to Sanmenxia. Waiting
for my train I spotted a shunting JS in the yard. As Bernd could
find out a bit later the JS belongs to Sanmenxia-Hubin. From
Sanmenxia I took train K118 to Beijing Xi (120Y, departure at 5.57
p.m.). For some additional 93Y I could get a hard sleeper berth.
Arrival at Beijing Xi in the next morning. I took a taxi to a
place some km away from the station which is called Xidan (15Y).
Here is a terminus of the Airport Shuttle buses which bring you
to the airport for 16Y.
Conclusion
At first I’d like to thank everybody
who helps with its knowledge and experience to realize such
independent trips like this one. Please keep on your brilliant
work! Comments or questions to my trip report are welcome. My E-Mail
address is QJ6911@web.de
A special thanks to Bernd Seiler, Jan Willem
van Dorp and Dick Walker for providing their information about
several lines. After the Jitong era there is just a little rest
of enthusiasts who are making the effort to travel through
I would say that all the lines I’ve
seen were definitely worth the visit, some of them are or could
be already history. Huanan is one of my favourites, if it’s
running… Sancha too, if there would be more traffic.
Pingdingshan is still on the agenda due to the horrible weather
conditions during our stay. The mass of steam locos leaving
Tianzhuang station in the morning is so fascinating. But we have
to hurry up before additional diesels will destroy one of the
last big steam places on earth.
And what about the Chinese? Maybe we should
thank them, too for being so friendly and helpful in more than 90
percent of the cases. I don’t think that a Chinese would
meet so many people in middle
Markus Mayer,
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