Dahuichang  Sujiatun  Tiefa  JiTong  Yuanbaoshan

Part 6:  Chengde Steel

Undoubtedly the SYs will be the last class of steam in non tourist revenue service on earth, and already they are the most numerous. While a few years ago the thirty mile industrial railroad connecting the steel mill at Chengde with the town itself had triple headed freights powered by both SY and JS locomotives, there are today only a few SYs working around the mill complex.

Two SYs traded empty and loaded cuts of hot steel carriers, shuttling back and forth between the blast furnace and foundry. This is a popular spot for steam photographers because a footbridge spans the tail end of the switching leads, and no permission is required. Access over the railing to a high retaining wall is also tolerated with no hassles such as we would get here in the USA for doing something like that, even if we were totally respectful and careful.

A few years ago this junction was the center of a busy helper district, with a busy roundhouse area, but the action has slowed down considerably these days. Besides the two engines inside the mill complex, there were two other SYs working transfer cuts between there and this yard. Freshly rebuilt SY 0048 was the lowest numbered standard gauge locomotive I saw working in China. Here she simmers while the carman adjusts the brake rigging on her cut, and the new power returns light from Chengde.

The last six months have been the best of my 50 years in the train hobby. Just as some fortunate Americans in the 40's and 50s were able to capture with their Brownie cameras and recreate with their model Hudsons or K4s the same action they saw on their local railroads, in my second childhood I have the pleasure of seeing my memories of big steam power working in model form. The trains of China are so much like our own, and travel is so inexpensive, that the modern steam freak can ride the engines, photograph them, collect souvenirs, and it's like experiencing traditional American railroading in the internet/cell phone/SUV age. Then we go home and have the option to easily model China Rail using the beautiful line of Bachmann China models. Although sometimes you can pick these up in Beijing, they are pretty much always available in North America from Canadian John M. Day, who supplied me with the SY and 2 QJs shown in this view. His website is called China Rail Gallery.  Another excellent source for China Rail modelers is the website of Peter Haworth from Australia.  And finally, there is a fine series of China Rail steam videos available in VHS or DVD from Revelation Video.

Truly it was a Smorgasbord of Steam --- five standard gauge classes, plus narrow gauge, a trunk line with doubleheaders and nice passenger trains, two regional short lines with freight and passenger trains, a steel mill, a busy steam locomotive backshop, and a narrow gauge cement quarry line, around 60 engines total working in the year 2005 !!! Probably I should have gone to China years ago, but I really don't know if I'd want to trade in any of the other steam adventures I had back then. The fact that it should have all been over years ago just makes the Lazy Susan that much more enjoyable in this day and age, and everything I've been through in the past just makes me appreciate the remaining steam in China that much more. Go now if you possibly can. You won't be sorry. There are a few bright spots yet, a fair number of engines receiving fresh overhauls, another locomotive backshop closing and being rebuilt for further use in a different location, maybe a brand new branch of the JiTong will use some QJs for a little while before there are enough diesels. In spite of the continually declining numbers, there will probably be some genuine steam workings in China for another five to ten years yet. There's dozens of them left today, with new ones still being discovered, and some of these places have 5, 10, 15 engines........

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