report by Bernd Seiler, pictures by James Waite
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The line is working normally. All freights are diesel, no passenger service. Charter trains with steam are still possible. If you want to charter a train remember that the serviceable steam locos haven't been used for a long time. So do not expect that they'll be able to haul long trains.
There are plans to convert the line into standard gauge. They'll start in 2005. No exact date can be given yet.
This railway is still using steam! Two QJs are serviceable and handle all traffic which means one or two pairs of trains a day. Plans to purchase second hand diesels are still pending. It was said that they'll dieselise the line in 2005. So there will be only a short time frame for an exciting photo spot: by the end of 2004 they'll finish the bridge over the Yangtze river. Imagine, a steam hauled train over the Yangtze in 2005! If my time allows, I'll be there to capture one of the last railway line inaugurations by steam ever!
Previous reports about changes into a tourist railway cannot be confirmed. There are slightl changes, but nothing serious. Improvements are:
That's all! So the charm of the railway and their passengers (including pigs) is still in place. The locos (in service 09 and 14, a further one under heavy overhaul in the shed) are still in filthy external condition.
The coal mine in Huangcunjin is closed. Some people spoke about re-opening it, but the chances are not good. So we saw no freight trains during our stay. But ther is still some freight: a train loaded with bricks was waiting for sending to the brick-purchaser.
The future of the line sees to be safe until 2006. Plans for a new road (they have to pave the old road to Bagou) are still pending due to no-one being able to spend the money for this project at the moment (all the money for road construction went to the senseless highway through inner Mongolia for 10 vehicles a day ...).
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A delight of our tour! After five visits I managed to get it both: a sunny day and two pairs of trains a day! So we where very lucky and got some shots of this beautiful line in sunshine. The normal timetable contains one train departure at 7.00 am and the return approximately at 8.15 am. If there are two trains a day they'll send the first at 6.30 am to the washery. It returns empty to Huangjinggou around 7.45 am. The second train leaves around 9.00 am and returns around 10.15 am.
The management has changed their mind: instead forcing the Police to kick you off they now charge for your visit. You can avoid this by not staying too long at the line and not visiting the locoshed (which is not really worth a visit). On the other hand, after you paid (there is no fixed amount yet, bargaining helps, the price should be below 100 Yuan) you have free access and can take pictures as you like.
No-one was able to give a prognoses for the future of this scenic line.
Locos:
Good news are bad news: the road to Pingzhai is paved now with the result that the railway lost most of their passengers to the road. From September the well known mixed was cancelled and replaced by a railcar (in our case 1017) plus a single passenger coach. Times for this service are unchanged. So the railway has only three JS in service now: one is shunting between Hechi and Hechi Xi, and two are used for line services.
However, the loss of the passenger train (i.e. the mixed) is only the first step into a steam-free future. The railway purchased two diesel locomotives for this line. They should arrive by November 2004. According to the local staff the line should be totally dieselised by end of December 2004. However, in a discussion with the officials we learned that the railway planned to inaugurate the new diesel age at Chinese New Year which means there is a last chance until February 9th, 2005.
A Japanese group hired a charter train Hechi - Pingzhai. They got a JS and a single passenger coach for 10.000 RMB. Bargaining about the price is not the thing of the Guangxi Local Railway management. So it is not worth to hire a Mickey Mouse rain for this amount of money, for sure!
Even with the only two remaining steam locos the line is still well worth a visit. If you haven't been there before, you should use this last chance to get steam trains in South China's most typical landscape.
Locomotives seen:
| Number | Status | Built in | Last Overhaul |
| JS 8283 | in service | 1988 | |
| JS 8284 | serviceable, dumped | 1988 | 6/2004 |
| JS 8285 | in service |
1988 |
|
| JS 8288 | serviceable, dumped | 1988 | 12/2003 |
| JS 8290 | serviceable, dumped | 1988 | 7/2003 |
| JS 8373 | serviceable, dumped | 1988 | 8/2002 |
| JS 8375 | in service, shunting |
1988 |
|
| JS 8376 | serviceable, dumped | 1988 | 7/2004 |
Same as above: For this line the management purchased another diesel which is to be introduced at February 9th, 2005. Else everything is unchanged from my former reports.
This line will be dieselised at the end of 2005. So this line with its one and only mixed train in daylight gives you a final chance for steam in karst mountains.
The mixed can be delayed on its way from Sancha to Luocheng. It has to cross the mainline while leaving Sancha. Priority is given to the state railway, so on October 10th the departure of the 9.50 am train was at 1 pm! The next day the train was able to leave Sancha at 10.40.
Trains are chimney first Sancha - Luocheng and tender first Luocheng - Sancha.
The full timetable of the line could be gathered:
| Freight Train | Mixed | Station | Mixed | Freight Train |
| 45331 | 8595 | www.farrail.com | 8596 | 45332 |
| 23.20 | 09.55 | Sancha | 08.30 | 21.10 |
| - | 10.02/04 | Zhoutuan | 08.22/24 | - |
| 23.36/52 | 10.12/45 | Chayan | 08.02/15 | 20.20/52 |
| 00.11/29 | 11.04/06 | Sanhe | 07.43/45 | 19.50/20.04 |
| - | 11.16/28 | Gantangcun | 07.27/29 | - |
| - | 11.41/43 | Shimen | 7.12/14 | - |
| 0.58/01.21 | 11.57/12.17 | Xinyin | 06.58/07.00 | 19.09/24 |
| 01.31 | 12.25 | Luocheng | 06.50 | 19.00 |
This Guangxi Local Railway line east of Guilin was dieselised at the beginning of 2004.
No information abut this line of the Guangxi Local Railway are available.
According to the management the brickworks are to be overhauled so no clay is demanded for at least six months. This means the railway will not working until spring 2005.
Rob Dickinson is right if he said Yinghao is not Shibanxi. The photographic potential of the line is rather limited due to the many electric wires and poles which are crossing it and the best line to the depot is out of use for coal transport. Whatsoever, the loco shed in Yinghao Meikuang, the coal loading facilities in Liangjiawajing and the unloading station in Yinghao are real delights! The loco shed is in fact a repair shop which is able to carry out heavy overhauls. But, under what fantastic circumstances!
There are normally three pairs of loaded trains during daylight which are reaching the unloading facility in Yinghao in the morning, between 11 and 12 am and between 2 and 3 pm. There are another chance in the summer for the evening train which should arrive the unloading station between 6 and 7 pm. All together they have 8 return trips a day. The trains consists out of 8 wagons.
To bring up the steam pressure there is normally at least one stop on the way from Yinghao with the empties. From the coal mine Langjiawajing they'll bring up four wagons to the station. It was reported (but not seen by us) that the locos have to stop for steaming up on the some one kilometre long section also.
Between the station Xiangyang (-chezhan) and the Depot locos can run chimney first into both directions. The wyes in Xiangyang and in the depot Yinghao Meikuang are both in use. If you're lucky the loco takes one wagon to or from the repair shop to the station. It's a pity that this scenic section doesn't see freight trains!
We saw some antennae on the hill beside Xiangyangchezhan, but no military equipment or personnel. Nobody harmed us while taking pictures, everyone we met was either curious, friendly or both. Some of the loco crews do not like to be photographed. They are friendly as well, so please respect their wish not to be photographed.
Some 20 km south-west of Zhenjiang, in Jiangsu province, is a large industrial and mining area which is linked by local railway to the China Rail line from Zhenjiang to Nanjing. The locoshed of the railway is in Weigang, about three km south of the small city of Shima. The name of the station is probably Chuanshan and not Weigang. In Weigang are an open cast iron ore mine, several limestone quarries and some other industries.
The railway is some 15 km long and links the limestone quarry with the unloading point near the state railway, close to the Yangtze River. It is not known whether the unloading point is connected by conveyors either to a harbour on the Yangtze or to another loading facility on the state railway.
There are about 5 to 7 return trips each day. After loading, the trains of modern wagons have to pass over a weighbridge at the station Chuanshan before proceeding down to the unloading point. Because the wagons are self unloading, the whole process is very quick. The trains return empty after just 35 – 40 minutes.
Locomotives are at least seven JS, all facing north. So the uphill empty trains are always tender first, while the downhill loaded trains are chimney first. Photographic potential is limited due to a forest of poles along the line. Some rural pictures with hills in the background are possible, however. The best spots seem to be the water tower in Chuanshan (Weigang) and the departure from the loading point south of the station Chuanshan with the huge factory in the background.
Locomotives (October 30th, 2004)
The old locoshed in Weigang with water crane and coal facilities is out of use. To replace it they have built a new maintenance depot nearby, which was occupied by two wagons under repair and a railcar. The railway owns at least 55 of the 1986 to 1990 built self unloading wagons.
The coke plant is situated in the north-eastern suburbs of Zhenjiang. They own at least two SY which are facing south. The level crossings are staffed 24 hours a day but we were told that there are only a few trains daily. Often the trains run between 8.00 and 9.00 am and 2.00 and 3.00 pm. There may be more activity during the night. The line is some 3 km long and leads from the coke plant south to the Zhenjiang freight terminal which is in the south-eastern part of the city. Sometimes the steam locos serve two factories to the south of the station as well. The last one of these, also looking like a coke factory, is very close to a prison so it would be well advised not to go there without a permit.
There are some good shots possible with the coke plant as backdrop and with the level crossings in the city. However, it would be not worth a visit to Zhenjiang if this were the only steam railway there.
In the coke plant there is at least one guy who does not take well to foreign visitors. If you want to take unauthorised pictures, I would advise going there with at least a bicycle to speed your escape before he starts to bother you.
Locomotive seen in service: SY 1279
The local line from Zhenjiang to Dagang (east of Zhenjiang) was always doubtful as still using steam traction. However, we visited this line too as a gate keeper at the coke plant had told us the line still used steam. We found a brand new industrial diesel locomotive with a train leaving the port towards Zhenjiang. It seems that the line has received several new bridges because of road construction as well as being recently ballasted. The line has some photographic potential, but who would want to go there just for some bulky diesels?
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