Instead of maps: satellite pictures of Chabuga and Daban are here.
The situation on the sections Baiqi - Haoluku and Daban - Chabuga is unchanged from my former reports. The only difference in Baiqi is that all DF4 and DF4Bs have disappeared and have been replaced by DF4Ds (we saw numbers from DF4D 4173 to 7179).
The main change is the operation over the Jingpeng Pass. We saw between three and seven pure steam trains daily during daylight hours. (In addition they have some mixed trains with diesel in front of steam). The trains are usually hauled by steam or diesel according to their weight. Only empty trains up to 1,200 tons can be hauled by both diesel or steam. If the train weight exceeds 2,300 tons they use a mix of diesel and steam, above 2,800 tons (up to 3,000 tons) they use double header diesel.
The increase of the train weight was necessary after the line was often used near or at capacity. Trains between Daban and Chabuga are heavier now as well. Therefore you can see more double headed trains now than ever before. More than 60 % of the freights are double headed on this section. This gave us the chance to see 21 steam locomotives in line service during nine hours! Where else in the world you can see this?
This is the current situation (mid December 2004):
JiTong already ordered 10 more DF4B. These are for Daban. They expect the first arrival mid January. All ten should arrive at Daban before April 2005. With 24 diesels they can cover 80 to 100 % of the traffic Daban - Haoluku, depending on the number of daily trains. They'll have a big meeting about the future of diesel/steam on January the 10th.
|
Baiqi used 13 QJ out of 17 |
Dumped (and ready for scrap) are: |
In Daban the following locos |
|
|
|
Baiqi expect to be dieselised 100% by June 2005. (according to Hans Schaefer they expect new diesels as early as January/February 2005). Anyhow, the decision will be made January the 10th or later. The problem is, JiTong will produce a loss if 100 % is dieselised instead of a sensible profit with steam. So some new construction work in the station will start soon to allow longer and heavier trains (3.000 tons over the pass). The 3.000 tons trains are often not able to cross at the stations due to their length. Diesels are necessary to operate the line with higher capacity (fewer trains with higher load give space for additional trains - the overall capacity increases). With more 3.000 ton trains they hope to be able to break even with diesels as well. In addition, they'll have to dismiss staff.
 |
|
Dream team: Rally driver Li Hong Yi, who is able to chase trains with an 88 kW engine only. No field path, no fort can stop him. Zhang Yi Lan, who can bother the staff of the stations via telephone until they hand over the information about delays and traction. Last but least: a QJ double header leaves Haoluku in perfect winter light.
|
Steam will last on the Chabuga section at least until mid 2005. Nobody can give an exact date. Even the managers have not decided yet when they'll purchase the next diesels, new or used ones. So everything is guesswork with one exception: JiTong will be dieselised soon. This is the last winter season with steam over the pass.
Another source gave us the information that all QJ numbered 6xxx will be put out of service before May 1st, 2005. All QJ numbered 7xxx will last until December 31st, 2005. This might be the last day of steam operation on the JiTong line. Please remember, all dates are soft and may be changed very soon.
The same source stated that the old DF4 (0xxx) and DF4B (6xxx) are very expensive to maintain in service. In addition the operational costs are far above the costs for the QJs (two to three times). However, they clearly said the age of steam is over, there is no reliable workshop for heavy overhauls available any more, so steam will disappear from Chinese rails soon. The reason why they ordered DF4Bs for Daban instead of the more modern and more powerful DF4Ds is the price of the locomotives.
Interesting but without affects on JiTongs plans to switch from steam to diesel is that there is a diesel shortage in Inner Mongolia, at least since September 2004. Although they already raised the price for diesel fuel, our bus was only given 100 RMBs worth (some 10 Euro) of diesel at a time. Only a single filling station allowed us to fill the petrol tank 100 %. China has sufficient coal and cheap labour, but they have to import oil. Maybe, Wardale wasn't too late with his ideas how to improve steam he was to early ...
The steelworks has 16 SY and at least fife GK1. The numbers of the SYs are:
© FarRail Tours - e-mail: Bernd Seiler - zurück zu FarRail Tours
Click here to return to FarRail Tours