18th December 1998 - 10th January 1999Arrived Beijing on UA852 from Tokyo about 9.30pm 18th December. Met by Mr Zhang and taken to Dong Fang Hotel. Capital Iron & Steel, 19th December On north side of complex: 0197 Bo-Bo diesel, green 0047 Bo-Bo diesel, blue DF7 3067 Co-Co, built 1994, brown with blue underframe SY 1034 ) double-heading on long train of limestone ore, pulled out of steelworks complex SY 0963 )Dahuichang Limestone Railway Visited twice - no significant changes from previous reports. On both occasions work started promptly at 2pm and continued until dusk, when we left. On the second occasion, there was an interruption, apparently due to faults on one or two wagons. 19.12.98 01 derelict outside shed 2 outside the shed 04 clean ex works, working Another loco locked inside the shed, no number on LH cabside sheet Another loco, dirty, no number, working10.1.99 01 still derelict outside the shed 04 locked inside the shed 2 working (216 in small figures on LH cabside sheet, as well as large 2) Another loco locked inside the shed, perhaps the same one as before Another loco - no number - working. Has 3 on back of tender. At standard gauge shed, YJ 287, very dirty but in steam.To reach the standard gauge shed, from the tunnel where the wagons are loaded and where the guide goes first, return to the road and go back along it. Do not turn left but keep the factory complex on the right. Turn into it at the second or third gateway (the one with a wagon or two inside). Walk to the tracks and the shed is on the left. Beijing - Harbin Two new pairs of overnight sleeping-car trains were introduced on 1st October 1998, K17/18 and K47/48, and are much improved. Journey times have been reduced and accommodation, though basically in the same style as previously, is superior, with modern toilets, good wash-rooms and corridor ends not exposed to the elements. They are said to be the "best trains in the north of China" and the staff seem to be making an effort to keep them so. One thing remains the same, however. The angelic-looking girls, who welcome passengers on to the train at Beijing, still turn into tyrants overnight, clear away all bedding before arrival in Harbin and even roll up the carpet in the corridor. For some reason this does not happen on arrival in Beijing. Shanhetun Forest Railway, 20-22.12.98 On arrival in Harbin, we were met by our guide, Edward, and taken to the International Hotel for breakfast, after which we soon covered the 153km to Shanhetun. Part of the way we used the Harbin-Mudanjiang-Suifenhe motorway, which will doubtless provide serious competition for the railway. Shanhetun is situated 153km south east of Harbin on the La-Bin line (Quail 11B pages 2 and 3). The forestry station and yard are about 1km north of the CNR station, at the opposite end of the yard where logs are transhipped from the narrow to standard gauge. Originally, the line was built by the Japanese and was 69km long, but considerable extensions were made in the 1970s and 1980s, and the total length is now 420km. Logs are loaded in daylight hours only, and only in parts of the system which are some distance from Shanhetun. To get empty wagons into position for loading, trains leave Shanhetun at night. Similarly, when trains have been loaded, they take several hours to reach Shanhetun and so arrive at night. Thus, from the photography point of view, it is normally impossible to get action shots of trains within reasonable distance of Shanhetun. Although there is a good dirt road parallel to the line for some distance out of Shanhetun, it does not reach the loading areas. The only practicable way of getting to the loading areas is by diesel railbus. The system has 12 engines, of which 8 were seen in three days at Shanhetun and during a trip for 100km in a chartered railcar (actually some kind of officers' inspection saloon). Engines unaccounted for are believed to be stationed at remote points and to come into Shanhetun only for repairs or maintenance. A passenger service is provided by five diesel railcars. They are not the responsibility of the forest railway management but of a private operating company - a hardly credible example of privatisation British-style outside the British Isles! The railcars run to Bai Shi La and Deng Sheng. The railway management was extremely friendly and helpful, readily providing information about the system. A whole day's charter of the inspection saloon was easily arranged for a charge of $50. Locos Seen No. Builder Build No. Date Tender Status 04 Bogie working 05 "Hungary" 6-wheel working 06 Chrzanow 3848 1959 Bogie working 08 Chrzanow 3830 1959 Bogie working 64 none derelict 67 Chrzanow 3850 1959 Bogie working, Shanhetun shunter 506 Chrzanow 3844 1959 Bogie working B031009 "Harbin" 6-wheel working B031603 "Shijiazhuang" 6-wheel workingThere are 5 diesel railcars. Suiling Forest Railway, 23.12.98 The station is situated about 1.5km north of the CNR station on the east side of the line and parallel to it, the tranship yard lying between the two. As at Shanhetun, loading of logs takes place some distance from Suiling, and so empty trains leave Suiling at night so as to be in position for loading at daylight and loaded trains also arrive in hours of darkness. At least, that is the situation as described to us, but we were only there for two or three hours one morning, and so were not able to verify it. Unlike at Shanhetun, where the management were as friendly and helpful as could be wished, at Suiling we were regarded with some distrust. The railway police appeared and inhibited further enquiries, though our guides and the ordinary railwaymen could not be faulted. Locos Seen No. Builder Build No. Date Tender Status 20* "Poland" 1952 Bogie Inside workshop 053 Shijiazhuang K70-11+ Bogie Shunting 201 "Chinese" Bogie Inside workshop 203 Bogie Shunting* told that this loco was 31020, which was confirmed by a tender with that number outside the shop, and that it was withdrawn; probably inside for use as spares. + I am not sure if this means November 1970 or not, but it was stamped on the plate. Outside was a derelict loco on its side, and completely unidentifiable. Suihua Shed, 24.12.98 DF4 9278/9280 Ziyang 1996, DF5 1492 DF4 1781, 1853 Dalian 1990 DF4 7325 Dalian 1994 DF4 7382, 7387, 7389 Dalian 1995 QJ 3043 (1979) 3255 (1980) with red band round smokebox front, Chinese characters in brass etc, high deflectors. 6686 6718 Inside Shed QJ 6551 Datong 1986 6790 1984 6800 6844 6986Bei'an Shed, 28.12.98 JS 8313 high deflectors, passing on short freight 8315 1988 " " 5993 " " OOU QJ 3522 1981 " " 3474 standard deflectors 6961 1985 " " 12-wheel tender 6921 1985 " " 8-wheel tender, OOU 6920 1985 " " 12-wheel tender 3473 " " 8-wheel tender, OOU 3361 1977 " " 8-wheel tender, OOU 3413 1980 " " OOU 3427 1980 " " OOU 3360 1980 high deflectors 8-wheel tender, OOU 3256 1980 high " 8-wheel " OOU, decorated smokebox 3567 1981 standard deflectors 8-wheel tender, OOU 6919 1985 " " 12-wheel " 6894 " " 12-wheel tender DF1 1465 1969 DFH30231 JS 5999 tender tank only, upside down, used for storage of (oil? water?) In workshop/running shed (after servicing locos are kept in here out of cold) QJ 2580 stationary boiler, pistons etc removed 3254 1980 high deflectors, 8-wheel tender, decorated smokebox, clean 3415 1980 " " " " JS 6554 1986 " " 8246 1987 " " 8263 1988 " " One coaling crane Also seen at Bei'an, on another occasion: DF1 1394 1968Zhanhe Forest Railway, 25-9.12.98 From Suihua we travelled to Bei'an on a late afternoon hard-class passenger train. On arrival we were met and taken to the Bei'an Hotel, a very comfortable establishment with excellent food. Our guides were Mrs Cheng, the hotel's tourist manager, and Mrs Wong, a teacher of English in a local school. Both were excellent, as was our young driver, a non-smoking teetotaller, a rarity anywhere in the world and certainly in China! Zhanhe is situated some 50km north of Bei'an on the line to Longzhen,
the stations going north from Bei'an being: Fenghuangshan, Xinfatun, Erlongshan,
Zifu, Namoer, Zhanhe and Caijiagang. CNR JS class 2-8-2s with high smoke
deflectors work north of Bei'an as far as Longzhen. Beyond Longzhen the
line belongs to a local railway and DF1 class diesels from that system
work through to Bei'an on some trains.
Zhanhe narrow gauge station is about 1km from the standard gauge line, roughly at right angles to it, and the line extends due east from that point for 138.5km to Beiying. At Lingding, 21km short of Beiying, a branch line, 37km long, goes off to Wu Sineng. The station building is substantial and imposing, like that at Suiling. To the west of the station the line extends to the tranship yard with the standard gauge, and immediately west of the station are the engine shed and works, the coaling plant and water column, the turning triangle (it was not seen but there is believed to be no turntable there), the carriage and wagon shops, and the main offices. From limited observation, it is difficult to be certain about the number of trains worked but on three days, between 10.30 and 14.30, two loaded trains were seen working towards Zhanhe, and two trains of empties (actually bogies, not empty wagons) left. All trains seen on the line were steam-hauled, except for two trains of bogies hauled by diesels. The locomotive stock consists of 10 steam engines (we were told 11 originally, but a notice in the main office stated 10, which was also the number given to Roger Gillard only three weeks or so earlier) and officially 6 diesels . Though the latter figure was given both to Roger and myself, both of us saw more, though exactly how many the line has remains unclear. There seem to be at least 8: 3 Mudanjiang-built Bo-Bos; 2 JMY380; and 3 0-6-0 shunters. But possibly there are more JMY380s. In addition, there are two diesel railcars lettered "HARBIN", believed to be used for railway workers only. The passenger service on the line came to an end about 1992. The official records (each engine has a box, tied up with ribbon, and containing all documents related to it) show that the engines are C2 class, weigh 28 tons and were built at Harbin Forest Machinery Factory. Several record books were examined but not all have the building date entered. However, 037, for which there is no building date, is shown as being first repaired in 1971; 174 and 175 were built in March 1976, and 180 (not on the system now, perhaps scrapped) in June 1976. So perhaps the engines were supplied in two batches, in 1970, for the opening of the line, and 1976. The quality of the timber seems much higher than at Shanhetun and Suiling, where only quite small birch trees were seen. Here, the logs are generally much thicker and longer, and are not carried in wagons. The ends of the logs rest on bogies and the logs themselves take the forces involved in hauling and braking the train. The distance betwen the bogies depends of course on the length of the logs. Adjacent bogies are coupled, and short logs are carried on two bogies coupled together and marshalled at the end of the train in front of the brake van. Between Zhanhe and Su Dao Gang, 29km out, the line is paralleled by a broad dirt road and trains can easily be chased, though the road is rough in places. The line is undulating and passes through a bleak and featureless landscape - the phrase "arctic wastes" comes to mind - and the only notable feature on this section is a three-span arched bridge. Engines are worked very hard on the adverse gradients with big loads and make a superb sight and sound, a spectacle that is well worth several days of any enthusiast's time - though be prepared for temperatures as low as -30C! Beyong Su Dao Gang, the line and road diverge and remain apart for 50 km, so no further investigation was done. But it seems likely that there are good photo positions as trains could be seen winding their way through hills to reach Su Dao Gang. The utilisation of engines seems extremely high. On arrival, they take coal and water, turn and work out again soon afterwards with empty bogies. Rarely is an engine seen on shed, only it seems when repairs are needed. Locomotive List The details in the following list combine information kindly supplied by Roger Gillard, who visited the line in November 1998, with my own observations and details from the officals of the railway itself. No. Builder Build No. Date Tender Status 203 working SZ-31010 Harbin working SZ-31036 Harbin working SZ-31037 Harbin 1970? working SZ-31080 Harbin working SZ-31174 Harbin 3-1976 working SZ-31175 Harbin 3-1976 working SZ-31179 Harbin working SZ-31195 Harbin working SZ-31198 Harbin working Diesel locomotives JMY380 Changzhou 1990 working JMY380 D working D Mudanjiang working D Mudanjiang working D Mudanjiang working 0-6-0D working 0-6-0D working 0-6-0D workingList of stations
Lingding-Beiying 21km Lingding-Wu Sineng 37km 29.12.98. Left Bei'an on train 544 Longzhen-Dan Dong, dep about 22.10, Harbin arrive 5.00, 30.12.98. Met by the excellent Edward and driver, and taken to the International Hotel for breakfast. Then to Harbin station once more for train 291 to Mudanjiang as far as Yimianpo. There we were met by guide Mike Ma from Mudanjiang and driver. After lunch, Mike had arranged for the manager of the CNR goods department to be with us. He confirmed that there is no SY-worked industrial line at Yimianpo (so that suggestion was proved unfounded) and that the only steam engines around were dumped in the old shed yard, all QJs: No. Built Tender 2582 1976 8-wheel 2886 1979 8-wheel 2879 1974 12-wheel 6902 1975 12-wheel 6087 1981 12-wheel 2759 1978 8-wheel 3476 1980 12-wheel, also red band/Chinese characters in brass round smokeboxDiesels in yard, all DF4: 7110/1925/1164/7112. DF5 1214. Then drove to Weihe for a quick look round and on to Yabuli Hotel for the night. Stayed at this hotel until morning of 8th January and visited either Yabuli or Weihe system, or both, every day.
Weihe Forest Railway is a small but attractive and very busy system,
with one feature that is now perhaps unique in China, a steam-hauled passenger
service. The system has been cut back, like other lines, due to the forest
being worked out and to improved roads encouraging competition, and now
consists basically of a main line to Liushan, perhaps 50-60km long, with
one branch from Zhenzu, 6km from Weihe, for 18km to Xinan.
The terminus of the line in Weihe is called Ke Yun Jin ('passenger station'). The main offices are located in the station building and nearby is a whole complex of buildings housing the engine shed and works, the carriage works and other shops. There is also a turntable, used for railcars as well as steam engines, and opposite the station is the coaling plant and water column. Weihe station proper is about 1 km from Ke Yun Jin, the line between the two running alongside the road. At Weihe is the main yard for the log traffic, with lines going off to the standard gauge and to several factories. There seems to be no regular pattern of train working but there is probably a loaded train into Weihe and a return train of empty bogies roughly every two hours or so. In addition, there is an intensive passenger service in daytime. Diesel railcars operate four return trips a day between Weihe and Xinan, while three-coach trains steam-hauled do two return trips a day between Liushan and Weihe. The engine and train are thought to stay at Liushan overnight; certainly the train arrives in Ke Yun Jun at 7.30, departs at 8.00, arrives once again at 15.30 and finally departs at 16.00. It seems likely that the railcars have only recently replaced steam on the branch, as there are two spare sets of coaches, still in good condtion, by the turntable in Weihe, and not long ago there was talk of "street-running by six trains a day". Nine engines are allocated to the system but only eight are in use. The "missing" one is probably surplus to requirements and kept as a spare. Again engines seem to be used intensively and only go to the shed for repairs. Since there is often little activity at Yabuli in the afternoon, it is a good plan to go to Weihe, which is literally "less than 20 minutes up the road", as there is usually a couple of freights as well as the afternoon steam passenger. Locomotive List No. Tender Status SW-21030 Bogie working 031 6-wheel working 032 Bogie working SW-21033 Bogie working 034 Bogie working 035 ? In store; not seen 053 Bogie working SW-21054 Bogie working SW-21055 Bogie working Notes SW-21033 Has special decorations and characters on the cabside as the Chinese Communist Youth League Model engine. SW-21055 Carries plate showing it was built at Dunhua, Jilin Province, Forest Machinery Factory Total engines - 9 Total railcars - 2Yabuli Forest Railway has been cut back considerably in recent years, as the forests have been worked out and road haulage has been made easier by improved roads, and now consists of some 100km of line. Nevertheless, it is an interesting system, with the best potential for photography of all the lines visited on the trip.
The pattern of working varied between one and four loaded trains arrivng
at Yabuli between 8.00 and 13.00, two being the most common. The first
usually arrived about 9.00 and the second about 11.00. On some days there
was also an arrival in the afternoon about 15.00. Returning trains of empty
bogies seemed to leave at no particular times, though on several days there
were a couple in the early evening.
A passenger service is provided by two diesel railcars (actually converted road buses, still with the rear light fittings intact). One works to Hung Chi and Jing Gou (presumably going to the former, returning to the junction at Shung Li and then going to the latter) and the other to Huashan. These vehicles are kept in their own shed at Yabuli and only emerge to face the wintry temperatures a short time before departure. Again engine utilisation seems extremely high. The sytem is worked by seven engines. Six are used on the line and on arrival at Yabuli take coal and water, and turn, and then usually wait around the coaling area, only going to the shed for repairs. In addition, one engine shunts the yard and works trips to the tranship yard with the standard gauge. Three engines seem to be regular occupants of the shed, probably because there is not enough work for them. Loaded trains approaching Yabuli are faced by a steep climb from the second station out, Hwongwei, to a summit about 10km from Yabuli, and a second engine is sent out to assist. Usually, the second engine goes on the back, for some reason with a load of logs between it and the brake van, but on one ocasion it was about two-thirds down the train. On another occasion, the train was double-headed, a failed engine running tender-first behind the train engine, with a banker as usual at the rear. When the train reaches the summit, the banker drops off the back and waits. If another train is following, it eventually runs back to Hwongwei once again. If not, it follows the train to the next station, Shinfu, and goes on the front there to double-head into Yabuli. On the occasion when the second engine was in the train, it was re-marshalled at Shinfu to enable the banker to get to the front. Though very small, the C2s are fine engines and when worked hard both sound and look superb. The opportunity to see and photograph two of them climbing this bank is well worth several days of any enthusiast's time. Yabuli Hotel offers good food and warm rooms. Hot water is available from 8pm but as is usual in China the maintenance of toilets so that they flush reliably does not feature on the management's list of priorities. Locomotive List No. Builder Build No. Date Tender Status C2-01 No plate Bogie In shed, not in use C2-02 Shijiazhuang Bogie working 03 No plate Bogie working C2-04 No plate Bogie working 05 No plate 6-wheel derelict 06 No plate Bogie In shed, not in use 07 Shijiazhuang Bogie working 10 Shijiazhuang 1975? working 127 No plate 6-wheel working 161 No plate 6-wheel In shed, not in use B*309 No plate Bogie working Railcar 08 + trailer Railcar 09 Notes 05 also has Z6-01014 on the cab sides, very faded and hard to make out, especially on the LHS. 127 has C2-127 on the back of the tender. It was being used for shunting in Yabuli yard and on trips to the tranship yard with the standard gauge. Loco Summary: 1 derelict - 05 3 inactive - C2-01, 06, 161 7 working - C2-02, 03, 04, 07, 10, 127, B*3098.1.99. By road from Yabuli to Chaihe and back to Mudanjiang. Hengdaohezi. A part-roundhouse of attractive construction, possibly Russian, was seen here from the road with several QJs outside. The original station nearby is in the same style. About two miles further on, is a large log yard served by an internal 762mm gauge overhead electric railway. Three 4-wheel electric locomotives were seen - 1, 3 and 5 - with bow collectors and one electric motor mounted centrally. The conductor wire was suspended from wooden poles and kept at the correct distance by loops of wire hanging down. We then went to Hailin, and Mike enquired at the Regional Forest Administration office about some questions we had put to him. He returned with the following replies: Hailin. There is no narrow-gauge line here and there has never been one. Changting. The narrow-gauge line is closed. Lengshan-Quingyun. Also closed. Because there was nothing to be done at Hailin, we decided to follow up some information from Mike that the Forest Machinery Factory at Chaihe repairs narrow-gauge steam engines. We had not been able to make any sense of this, because as far as we knew the Chaihe system had long been closed. However, he seemed to know what he was talking about - he had taken a Norwegian group there recently and he knew the manager - so we went to investigate. Once again we were to be surprised. Many enthusiasts must have visited Chaihe when the system was in operation. I did, and was taken to the log yard with small engine shed at the south end by the well-known bridge across the river. John did not know that shed but had been to a station in the town where there was another shed and a works repairing engines. These installations were unknown to me, but we expected to find the workshop still in use, as that was the only place we could think of which fitted Mike's description. In fact, we were taken under the CNR line, past the turn to the old station (now converted to a bus park and station) and across the river by a road bridge. At the other side we turned right along the old trackbed (all the narrow gauge lines in the area have now been lifted) and about a quarter of a mile further on came to a complex of quite large buildings, the Chaihe Forest Machinery Factory, which has been in existence since the 1950s if not before. There we met Mr Huang, the manager, who very kindly entertained us to lunch and patiently answered our questions. Firstly, he confirmed what Mike had been told at Hailin, as mentioned above, and said that the Chaihe system closed "before 1994". In the 1950s and 1960s the factory repaired 40-50 engines a year and also built 10 new ones. The new ones had a rectangular works plate on the dome with Chinese characters only and no symbol or logo - a plate unknown to me - but no example had survived to be shown to us. In 1998 the factory repaired 13-14 engines, for Zhanhe, Yabuli, Weihe, Huanan, Dahiuchang in Beijing and for Tianjin Salt Works Railway. Huanan has 10 engines working. In the far north the lines at Alihe and Ganhe, between Jagdagi and Yitulihe (Quail 14H) are still working, as is a line near Genhe, north of Yitulihe (Quail 14G). I was once told about the latter line by Bruce Evans and thought I would test the manager's reaction to it, as it is not in the Quail Atlas, but the manager seemed to accept it. The lines at Tongbei, Tieli, Langxing, and all the lines between Suihua and Nancha, are now closed. He did not know about Arxan (Quail 7B) and seemed never to have heard of Wanxiantian (Quail 13B). Engines are brought to Chaihe by the CNR and then transferred to road vehicles to be brought to the factory. They arrive in April and May and are returned about six months later to be ready for the winter operating season. No repairs are done in the winter and no engines were in the works at the time of our visit. Only C2 class are dealt with, no C4s and no diesels. This factory is one of the largest in the north of China. The factories at Dunhua in Jilin Province, Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, and in Harbin are now all closed. We asked the significance of numbers such as SW-21030, SZ-31010 and B*309. He explained that 'S' stands for 'shen' (Pinyin for the character meaning 'forest'), 'W' means Weihe and 'Z' means 'Zhanhe. The forest operations are divided into forest districts and '21' is the code number for the district in which Weihe is situated (Huanan also has an engine with a '21' prefix), while '31' is the code of the district in which Zhanhe is situated (both Suiling and Shanhetun have engines with a '31' prefix). 'B' simply denotes an engine from Poland, presumably for the same reason that Peking became Beijing. Presumably again, the '*' is the communist star and '309' is a number in some other list. From the road back to Mudanjiang, near Mudanjiang power station: QJ 6959 and QJ3593 (with red decoration round smokebox front) were seen on a short northbound freight. 9.1.99. 8.46 train to Harbin. Met once more by Edward, an excellent dinner in the Dong Fang Hotel, then on K18 to Beijing. 10.1.99. Met by Wally, to the Dong Fang Hotel, breakfast, and then to Dahuichang. 11.1.99. Flight UA852 to Tokyo. Since returning from China, I have asked Zhang by fax whether any of the narrow-gauge lines east of Jilin still have working steam. He investigated and replied, 'There is no steam running on the narrow-gauge at Dunhua, Huangnihe and Dashitou. They are already dumped'. Comment These days many enthusiasts visit China - groups, small parties and individuals - and very many of them have been to Yabuli. Literally less than 20 minutes up the road from there is the fascinating system at Weihe with its steam-hauled passenger train. Yet no one, it seems, has ever bothered to make that 20-minute trip just to find out what is there. This is surely amazing. Even more amazing is the fact that the line is clearly shown on the Quail China Railway Atlas and is also listed in Rob Pritchard's Industrial Locomotives of the People's Republic of China (both these works are classics of their kind - PhDs are awarded for far less - and cannot be praised too highly). In the latter it is clear that no one has actually been to the line to see what is there. Does no one buy these publications? Or if they do, do they not read them? Does no one have any curiosity? If a certain lone Frenchman had not wondered what could be found along a certain line he had seen on a map, Jingpeng would still be undiscovered. And if Bruce Evans had not decided that a certain coalfield was worth exploring, just because there might be something interesting there, the 0-10-0s at Zibo would still be working away unphotographed. So the question must be: how many other fascinating places still remain to be discovered in China? The answer must be "many". But will anyone go and look? Send feedback to etalbot@jiu.ac.jp
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