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Despite the SARS-paranoia, the FarRail Desert Steam and Jingpeng 1 tour started as planned April 10th. It was the first China tour which didn't need any change in the tour programme due to steam replacements or line closures. All lines have been reported before (check out here). So this report is rather short.
First line we visited was the DaGu Railway from Daba to Guyaozi in the Ningxia province. A recent report from a friend of mine stated that the management did not welcome unannounced visitors in the loco shed anymore. But with an appointment (free of charge) you're just as welcome as before.
The good old super-shiny QJ 2690 has come out of service and it seems there is no need for another overhaul. In service we saw: QJ 1465 (now the oldest working QJ?), 2869, 7036, 7195 and 7205. Dumped are QJ 2690, 6545, 6832, 7061 and 7194.
Traffic was light with only two pairs of trains during daylight. Uphill trains to Guyaozi ran in the morning at about 08.30 and in the afternoon at 15.50. We saw a road access to the interesting part of the line beyond Lingwu. It's an unpaved road north of the line which leads to a dam project about 4 km north east of Lingwu near the railway line.
The future of steam is limited. They told us that steam is safe for the next three years only, after that the line might be dieselised. The new line to another coal mine south of Guyaozi is planned to be opened up in 2004. The line is 14 km long. At the moment the coal from this mine is brought to Guyaozi by trucks, some of it goes directly by road to the power station. The management of the line expect a higher number of trains after they have finished the new line. The expectations are for one or two additional pairs of trains per day.
The steam locos of DaGu are well kept and in good technical condition. Although some of the engines still have the stoker equipment, this installation is out of use. There are no spare parts available, they said.
Second line we visited was Wuhai Xi - Jilantai. It reminded me of the old days in Wankaner and Jetalsar. It's a miracle that a China Rail line still uses steam in 2003. Although people from the Huhehaote (Hohhot) headquarter had said that steam would be finished in middle to late March 2003, steam operation was normal during our visit. Light traffic, heavy delays, poles along the line everywhere making this line not everyone's favourite. However, we enjoyed the last working China Rail QJs and JS. Yes, even a single JS still alive. JS 8014 was used for shunting duties in Jilantai. The QJs we found were different from the engines I saw last November: QJ 6829, 6909 and 7065. It's surprising that China Rail obviously has a stock of at least 6 locomotives in running order for this line. All locomotives we have seen are in good condition, although these locos have lost their stokers too. The equipment is still in place but out of use.
The special equipment of these locos is very simple and can't be a reason to be not replaced by diesel locomotives. A hydraulic piston can lower a small sand plough down on the rail to remove sand from it. It's easy to move this equipment to a diesel locomotive.
The track is often bedded in sand. The steepest gradient is around 1,7 %. So it might be possible that China Rail has to invest a fair amount of money into the track to make it possible for diesels with sufficient power, i.e. DF4 or DF4D to run over this track. So the light traffic over this line together with the required improvement of the line might be the reason why Wuhai Xi - Jilantai is still a steam line and why the last JS in Jilantai wasn't replaced by a DF5 like all the others in Wuhai Xi. However, no doubt that this line will be dieselised, sold to a private company or closed within the next few months. Neither in Wuhai Xi nor in Huhehaote was anyone able to tell us when this will happen.
On the way to Zhungeer we found QJ 6573 freshly overhauled in the loco shed of Huhehaote. Apart from this were the remains of two scrapped QJs and a dumped QJ.
Two days were planned for the ZhunDong railway. Different to my first report, the road S303 from Huhehaote to Zhungeer is 126 km (instead of 120 km). On the way we saw the previously mentioned power plant now in service. The railway to this power plant was completed last year. But any hopes for steam were destroyed: we saw a DF4 working with special coal wagons.
The ZhunDong railway was very busy during our visit. Nearly every engine was on the line. We saw: QJ 6555, 6563, 6565, 6613, 6759, 6907, 6944, 6946, 6995, 7054, 7058, 7067, all working. Not a single dumped loco could be seen in the depot. In one and a half days we saw 13 trains. We spent some time at the two summit tunnels. There is quite a lot of photographic potential on the line, especially around the tunnels.
The first tunnel is 830 metres long and approximately at kilometre 9,5 to 10,3, the second tunnel (called Guiban tunnel) is nearly 1 km long and situated at kilometre 25,8 - 26,8. In both cases, the summit is shortly before the tunnel on the northern end of it.
The management of the loco shed couldn't say when the new line to Huhehaote will be opened up. The construction of the line is not in the hands of the ZhunDong railway company, they have a contract with one of the government owned railway construction companies. It was not certain, but there is a good chance that this company will use steam locomotives. The staff at Zhungeer expect the opening of the new line not before end of 2004. Until this time, steam is certain. Once the line is opened, they need new locomotives. Because there is no possibility of buying extra steam locomotives from China Railway they will have to buy new locomotives. These new locomotives will be diesels, of course. However, the plans for electrifying the line are complete and diesels maybe an intermezzo only. But this is guesswork. Keep in mind, that the fantastic ZhunDong railway will put their QJs away rather sooner than later.
Dahuichang was a short visit only. The management have introduced a visitors fee of 100 Yuan per person per day. They even followed the photographers to the line with a black VW Santana to charge the fee.
The line was as good as ever. No. 2 and 3 produced seven return trips between 14.00 and 17.00. On the other side of the factory we saw SY 1251 in a sorry shape (as before). The YJ has disappeared, the loco shed is just a ruin now.
The rest of the day was spent in the new museum. It is close to the airport express way in Dashanzi. Nothing new to report here. Nice collection. By the way, we were told that there are plans for setting up another railway museum in Shanghai too.
Our day in Beijing was like a summer day. We had sun, sometimes a bit dim due to smoke, and 28 degrees Centigrade. So we felt very cold next day in Jingpeng, where we had snow and the second night's temperatures was around minus 6 degrees Centigrade! For those, whose "season" ended in early March: We got both blue sky with moderate steam exhaust in the afternoon and a bitterly cold morning with steam exhausts longer than the trains. Traffic was as usual. Nothing new to report except for one thing I'm not sure if it was reported before. The section Benji - Baihong is nearly dieselised. The JiTong railway now owns 12 DF4D. Another four DF4Ds would end the steam services on this part of the line. They need another one for spare, so with 5 new (or used) diesels they could complete dieselisation on the western section of the line. In this part the water quality and availability is the reason for the dieselisation. For the rest of the line there are no plans yet to replace the steamers. Also the manager I've spoken to couldn't tell me when the next diesel locos for the western part of the line would be purchased. Nothing was said about difficulties to find workshops for heavy overhauls of QJs.
Due to discussions on the newsgroup steam_in_china about the price of a cab ride I asked the manager for the official way to enjoy a cab ride. They could offer footplate rides on the sections Chabuga - Daban and Daban - Haoluku for 200 Dollars per person per ride (i.e. a return trip costs you 400 Dollars). For this service between Tongliao and Chabuga and Haoluku and Jining Nan you have to ask for a permit in the headquarter of Huhehaote. In Daban they were not able to give me a price for these two sections. So if anybody complains about high prices loco crews ask for, choose the official way and you have nothing to complain about. Of course, the crews will ask you for a tip anyway ...
It is well known that many railroaders try to sell everything which is connected with the railway like (faked) builders plates, uniform parts and so on. The manager in Daban asked us not to buy such items because they belong to the railway and are not the private property of the employees. During our night visit in Daban shed railway workers were like flies around us and tried to sell anything with the exception of a whole QJ. During our daytime visit it was much more quiet, everybody knew that the managers were in the office and could see what was going on. However, on nearly every railway station between Galadesitai and Jingpeng the staff will offer you whole uniforms, plates and so on ...
In Daban we found in steam:
QJ 6735, 6751, 6905, 6978, 6988, 7012, 7040, 7041 and 7119;
Being repaired:
QJ 6639, 6763, 6825, 6851, 6882 and 7112 (some of the repaired locos were also in steam, and at least one then went out of the workshops, into the yard!);
Stored out of use:
QJ 6125, 6274, 6351, 6385, 6386, 6388, 6389, 6580, 6926, 6996, 7063 and one more.
Steam cranes 151 and 5203 were active.
If you want to experience some "special things" at Jingpeng it won't be wise to publish every cab ride (Oh, I got it for 200 Yuan only, who paid less?) and every purchase of a number or builders plate in the internet. There are quite a lot of Chinese officials who monitor the net, the e-mails and China-connected discussions. They won't do much against the corruption (because too many people are living very well of this) but they could spoil harmless things if they want.
It was another successful tour to China of course, but I fear that the end of the so called paradise can be close. And the reason is SARS. Not because one of the party members got SARS (so far as we know, nobody did) or another serious disease. But the economy of China and maybe of Asia could run into real trouble due to SARS. The travel industry such as hotels, travel agencies, carriers (railways included) could be affected seriously by the cancellation of many tours. I spoke to a travel guide from Liuzhou. She told me, she had nothing to do for one month due to cancellations. I asked the Harbin CITS branch about cancellations too. Yes, they had to reconfirm the arrival of our group even one day before we left Europe. Because all the other groups were cancelled. No customers - no business. Do not underestimate the influence of the tourism business for China's economy. Another example: The Shanghai car fair this year is to be held without a German delegation. And be sure, the Germans didn't lose their interest in being amongst of the most important car producers. If China's industrial growth will be cut down to, let's say, less than 4 % the number of trains will be lower, the number of traction power units needed will be lower, the market for used diesels become wider and the price for used diesels become reasonable even for smaller coal railways. So the end of steam might come earlier than expected. Do you remember the end of steam in Vietnam? The problem might be not the illness itself, the problem might be the fear of it.