JiaYang steam-locomotive in QianWei, SiChuan China
JiaYang steam-locomotive in QianWei, SiChuan China
hop on this steam locomotive that is still transporting coal mines today and experience the ride into a local old town/villages
Taking the Bullet Train to Ride a Steam Train - A Tale of 2 Trains in China
China's last steam-powered passenger train is called Jiayang Steam Train. It's located south of Leshan, Sichuan in Qianwei county. While it does take locals everyday to their homes and to work, it is also a tourist attraction. The train was originally setup to ship coal from the coal mine in Baguo, at the last stop. It expanded to include passenger cabins, mostly workers at the mine. When the coal mine shut down, the passenger train remained open, because the roads in the area were really bad and the coal mine had increased the population in the area. Nowadays, the roads are fine, but the local government decided to keep the train running as a heritage railway.
We started our journey on China's incredible high speed train system, which is nothing like riding the steam train. It took us from Chengdu to Leshan in just an hour. That's 135 km. Compare that to the steam train, which takes the same amount of time to go just 20 km.
HOW TO SEE THE JIAYANG STEAM TRAIN
There are day trips from Chengdu with tour groups. If you book with a company that caters to westerners, you'll likely pay 3 times as much. If you book with a fully Chinese company, they won't speak English but it will probably be dirt cheap (unless they find out you're a westerner and they jack up the price).
I also read about a bus from Chengdu that goes directly to Jianyang (嘉阳). It supposedly leaves at 9AM. If wish I had known about this a week ago.
If you can't make that bus, from Chengdu you can head to Leshan. There are many trains that leave the East and South Chengdu train stations everyday. The ride takes an hour.
In Leshan, you have to take a bus from Lianyun Bus Station. There are 3 buses that I know of that go to Jiayang. One leaves super early in the morning (around 5:30AM, but I'm not sure of the exact time), one leaves at 10AM, and one leaves at 2:30pm. There may be more, but it's also possible to take a bus to Qianwei (犍为), which takes about an hour, and then get another bus from there to Jianyang (about 45 minutes). Buses leave every 10 minutes to Qianwei (which is sometimes called Jianwei).
My advice, get to Jianyang as early as you can because the trains tend to sell out quickly. We arrived at around 12:30 and had to wait until 5PM to get on a train (which isn't worth it because it gets dark before you're back and there is no way back into town at that time).
If you want, you can stay at the hotel in Jianyang. It is down the street from the square where the ticket office is.
The experience was a bit much, but I'm glad we did it. It's always fun getting off the tourist trail in China. The locals loved seeing westerners roll through their town. Everyone was hospitable. I got to practice my Chinese a lot. And the train was something special.
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Blitz by Eric Reprid -and- Clueless Kit
Shibanxi Railway C2s 30/12/2018
Here we see my footage of the Shibanxi Railway on 30/12/2018. Running on the day were 4 C2s, nos 08, 17, 18 & 19. The majority of my footage is of the ride behind Shibanxi no.08. in a single coach tourist train. I apologise for the camera shake in the first 3 shots. The temperature was in single figures and nos 17 & 18's whistles were extremely loud.
The Shibanxi Railway, also known as the Jiayang Coal Railway, is a 762mm gauge line situated in Qianwei County, Sichuan Province, China, and opened in the mid 1900s for coal traffic. The railway has now stopped transporting coal and is becoming quite touristy. For a while, the section between Yuejin and Shixi was electrified but the overhead catenary has now been taken down. The railway is believed to be the last revenue earning narrow gauge railway still using steam.
As my visit was on a Sunday, only tourist trains feature in this video however, Shibanxi no.17. is seen coming off a train of wagons loaded with trams from a coal mine (possibly a recently closed mine). A similar rake of wagons loaded with these trams is seen at the other end of the line, Huancunjing, at 04:22 (in the video). Sadly, I did not see any of the local service trains, probably because of the timing of my visit, but 4 C2s in steam feature in this video.
On board the train I managed to put my video camera on a tripod at the end of the carriage where the windows opened right infront of the loco. I filmed the whole journey from Huancunjing to Mifengyan where the train changes direction. On arrival into Mifengyan (at 31:52 in the video) you will see an SY standard gauge locomotive and Shibanxi C2 no.09. as part of a railway museum exhibition.
Highlights of the video:
Shibanxi no.17. coming off wagons loaded with trams at Yuejin (01:28),
Shibanxi no.18. seen twice at Bajiaogou (02:08 & 02:24),
Shibanxi no.08. run around at Huancunjing & wagons loaded with trams (04:23),
Shibanxi no.08. storming up a bank (19:22),
On the famous curve at Caiziba behind no.08. (28:20),
Arrival into Mifeng behind no.08. (31:37),
Shibanxi no.19. comes storming in at Mifeng (34:52),
Shibanxi no.08. under the coaling tower and shunting at Yuejin (37:28),
I would have liked to have more time at the railway so a revisit might come in the future once they get rid of their steam outline diesel which is seen in the background at the start of the video.
Hope you enjoy.
If you are interested in the C2 locos take a look at the C2 Project at the Ffestiniog Railway, Wales: You will find a lot of information about the type of locomotive and progress on the rebuild of Dahuichang no.4.
▶︎JIAYANG STEAM TRAIN▶︎ ???? The LAST STEAM LOCOMOTIVE ???? Sichuan, China [TRAVEL VIDEO] ????
Dicen que es ultimo tren de vapor que aún transporta pasajeros en China, entre dos pueblos separados por pocas decenas de km. A mi me obsesionó tanto que le dediqué un video exclusivo a esta maquina que te transportará unos cuantos cientos de años atrás. Pero llegar ahí no es fácil, sin gente que hable ingles, solo puedes confiar en su buena voluntad para que te estén dirigiendo al sitio correcto… nunca me defraudaron. Si quieres verlo tienes que ir a Jiayang en las provincia de Sichuan, pero que no te den gato por libre, esta el tren turístico y el tren tradicional, justo el que veras en este video. Xexie.
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Lunch Banquet in Qianwei
Panda Fans are welcomed at another Lunch Banquet specially set by the people of the County of Qianwei.
Excellant lunch menu, most of all tasty foods of the local and Sichuan treats.
Huanglong Scenic Area , Jiuzhaigou Valley.......Sichuan , CHINA !
Huanglong Scenic Area in Jiuzhaigou Valley . China Travel October/November 2016 . KennieGVideoWorks New Music. AllRightsReserved.
South African Steam: 14R Grootvlei Proprietary Mines June 1997
Whilst working in Johannesburg in mid 1997, I drove out to Springs during a lunch break to catch 14R #5 on mine duties at Grootvlei. I met up with well-known enthusiast, the late Dusty Durrant and we followed the 14R out to #6 Shaft. The scenery is not that attractive, but the spectacle of a daily steam turn near Johannesburg in 1997 was certainly special!
QuickClip: Cabcars at Irishtown Road
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We take brief a look at Amtrak action on the Keystone Corridor.