ABOVE: SY 1395 storms out of Wulong Mine on a sunny May morning with a train full of coal bound for China Railways. SY 1395 is the last operable decorated steam locomotive in China, as the locomotive bears the portrait and name of Zhu De, the first Marshal of the People’s Republic of China, and a key general during World War II and the Chinese Civil War.
work for the 2-8-2s. Halfway up the branch, a short spur leads down into the old opencast pit. Some spoil trains go down into the pit and are dumped there, making the branch a very busy place. I have personally seen up to 50 steam movements on the branch in one day, an impressive sight for 2016. The Fuxin Mining Railway boasts
an impressive fleet of 11 SY 2-8-2 locomotives. The SY 2-8-2s look very American, which reflects their origin as Alco light 2-8-2s supplied to the Japanese in the 1910s. These light Mikados proved very useful to the Chinese, so the design was modernized in 1968 with the application of a welded (but externally identical) boiler, boxpox drivers, and an extended-view locomotive cab. The locomotives were provided with sloped tenders to reflect their intended service, as industrial and switching locomotives capable of running on light track in either direction. The modernized locomotive was named ShangYou (SY), or Aiming Upward, and quickly proved very popular on Chinese industrial lines.
How to get to Fuxin
Fuxin is a very easy location to visit as a railfan tourist. A comfortable
sleeper train connects Beijing and Fuxin, and the city is also a two-hour drive from Shenyang, the provincial capital, where there is an international airport and hourly high-speed railway service to Beijing and Shanghai. The railway station opens onto Zhenxing Road, which boasts several comfortable hotels ranging from budget to luxurious, alongside some very nice restaurants. The HuaMei Hotel is one of the best,
and some of the rooms face the mining railroad as an added bonus. Like Sandaoling, many railfans visit Fuxin in group tours or with a local guide; however, Fuxin is an easy destination for the independent railfan. The hotels are just a quarter-mile from the morning shift change at Wulong Yard, and the entire system can be seen by walking. The local taxi drivers know the railway and mine locations well, so getting around the city is easy.
The Future for Fuxin The future of steam in Fuxin is very
much in doubt. In 2006, the Fuxin Mining Administration bought eight diesel locomotives, and for the past decade six of these diesels were used at other mines. Those other mines
will be closing so the Fuxin Mine Administration has announced plans to bring these soon out-of-work diesels to the Fuxin Mining Railway. However, Fuxin will not completely dieselize the railway but instead will slowly eliminate many of the steam locomotives, leaving four 2-8-2s in service. In the meantime, the workshop at Fuxin continues to overhaul steam locomotives, extending the life for steam with each overhaul. Only time will tell if this reallocation of diesels will be the death knell for steam.
Pingzhuang Mining Railway Pingzhuang is a small mining railway
system in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, just a few hours’ drive from the steam center of Fuxin. Pingzhuang is a steam system in decline, but it bears mention because of its photographic potential. Just a few years ago, the Pingzhuang area boasted three separate steam railways and a dozen locomotives, which have been reduced to one or two locomotives in steam at Pingzhuang. The three systems all purchased diesels at the same time, but for Pingzhuang the diesels have proved to be less than a stunning success. The mining railway is a poor system, with little money for
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