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| Kina 2002 |
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| I påsken 2002 var jeg med Farrail Tours/Bernd Seiler (www.farrail.net) 14 dage i Kina. Det var en rigtig god tur med masser af dampoplevelser på Jingpeng Pass banen og smalsporsbanerne Shanhetun og Weihe. Vi fløj med TAROM (det rumænske luftfartselskab) fra Frankfurt via Bucharest til Beijing. I Beijing var der lige tid til at komme ind til byen og se den forbudte by, inden afrejsen med nattog mod Chengde ca. 250 km nordøst for Beijing. I Chengde lå et stålværk, der indtil maj 2002 fik leveret kul til værket med damplokomotivtrukne tog af en bane med maksimal stigning 5%. Op til 3 lokomotiver af typerne SY og JS blev anvendt til disse tog. Helt fantastisk! Derefter gik turen med tog og bus til Reshui ved foden af Jingpeng passet. Denne er en af de sidste hovedbaner i verden med dampdrift. Banen stod ovenikøbet færdig i 1995! Den er drevet af et lokalt trafikselskab som holdt de ildelugtende dieseldimser på afstand indtil 2005. QJere bliver anvendt i dobbelttraktion til at slæbe godstog på op til 2500 tons op af bjerget. Vi var der i marts måned, hvor det ikke var så koldt, men i januar måned kan dampfanen bliver 500-1000 meter høj! Maskindepotet i Daban, hvorfra natoptagelserne stammer er hjemsted for over 50 maskiner. Desværre er det ikke udstyret med ringremise og drejeskive, fordi der anvendes vendetrekant og rektangulær remise, men indtrykket af et stort dampdepot i fuld drift er overvældende. Et besøg kan kun anbefales til alle dampelskere. Derefter tog vi videre til skovbanerne Shanhetun og Weihe. Disse baner anlagdes for at få træ fra bjergene og ind til savværket i byen. Imidlertid er miljø ikke kinesernes stærke side, så istedet for at genplante træer, forlængede man blot skovbanerne. De er nu mere end 100 km fra savværket! Vi havde så fornøjelsen af at fotografere smalsporsgodstog med store kævler og små smalsporspersontog. Herligt! |
In the easter of 2002 I joined Farrail Tours/Mr. Bernd Seiler (www.farrail.net) for a 14 day journey to China. It was a marvellous trip with plenty of steam action on the Ji-Tong Railway and the narrow gauge forestry railways Shanhetun and Weihe. We flew with TAROM (Rumanian airlines) from Frankfurt to Beijing over Bucharesti. In Beijing we just had the time to see the Forbidden City before leaving for Chengde, on the night train. Chengde is approximately 250 km to the north-east of Beijing. In Chengde there was a steel works which until May 2002 got coal delivered by steam trains, hauled by classes JS and SY. The railway had a maximum gradient of about 5%. Up to three engines were used on these trains. Magnificient! Afterwards we went by bus and train to Reshui at the foot of the Jingpeng pass, which was one of the last mainlines in the world to use steam locomotives. The railroad was constructed as late as 1995! The local company, which runs the railway, kept the ugly diseasels at bay until 2005. Type QJ engines were used in tandem to haul freight trains with a weight of up to 2500 long tons up the mountain. We were there in March, when the weather wasn't that cold, but in Januar the smoke plumes can reach a height of 500 - 1000 meters! The engine depot at Daban, where the night shots was taken was the home of about 50 engines. Unfortunately it wasn't equipped with a roundhouse and a turntable, because it featured a square enginehouse and a turning triangle, but nevertheless seeing a huge working steam depot made a lasting impression. From there we went to the forestry lines of Weihe and Shanhetun. These railways were constructed to haul timber from the mountains and to the saw mill in the town. Environmental issues isn't a strong suit for the Chinese however, so instead of replanting trees, they merely lengtened the railways. They're now more than 100 kms from the saw mills! We then had the pleasure of photographing narrow gauge freight and passenger trains. Lovely! |
