Farewell to steam

 Today was about as cold as it has been on this trip, with a starting temperature of -18 in the morning.

Our farewell to steam in China came in the form of the morning passenger working which we observed from the snowy fields of Meihekou. After this, we drove to the terminus at Sijing (the destination for the passenger service) before heading on to Sujiatun for a short visit to the yard outside the workshops.

The morning passenger service on the Meihekou Coal Railway

Finally, in the evening we boarded a sleeper train at Shenyang for the overnight journey to Beijing.

Photos from Sujiatun Depot

Meihekou

The Meihekou Coal Railway links up six mines. At the time of our visit just one steam locomotive was in use but most freight and passenger services were diesel hauled. A second steam locomotive (SY1216) was in the shed.

Our morning started at the washery at Erjing where we found SY1564.  After this we more or less followed this loco throughout its working day – first to Yijing and then to Sanjing. Meihekou may not have the grand sweeping vistas of other locations that we had visited, but I particularly  liked the mixture of urban, industrial and rural settings in this compact system.

Erjing in the morning

Rush hour in Meihekou

A couple of lads on a motorbike chat to a girl on the platform at Sanjing with SY1564 in the background

Sunset at Meihekou

Sweetcorn store at Sanjing

SY1564 takes on water in the yard at Yijing

More photos from Meihekou