Very early wake up at 5am in Fanling HK. Took KCR train to Lo Wu, arriving about 6:15. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12.15am, but we decided to leave this early as I heard it was quite chaotic through customs given that we were travelling around the busiest time of the year for the lunar new year. In fact, when we arrived at immigration for across the border, the gates hadn't even opened and it took my wife, Vinci, and I less than 15 minutes to clear customs once it did some 15 minutes later! Then a short walk to the bus terminal in Shenzhen.
We decided to take a taxi over the bus to the airport, for a slightly negotiated cost of 150 yuan. Not cheap, but we were given conflicting advise about where to get the bus from, and it ended up we were walking back and forth from the taxi rank to the bus depot and back a few times with 20kgs of luggage strapped to my back, before giving up and taking the easier way out.
Our driver was a friendly man and a complete lunatic. We topped speeds of 150kph on the express way, even overtaking a police car. The drive took less than 20 minutes, an impressive feat even Michael Schumacher would have been proud of. We soon discovered we may as well have left Hong Kong at midday as the helpful announcement of "This flight has been delayed due to aircraft delay" had us waiting for a further three hours. Many types of aircraft at Shenzhen ranging from small airbus 319's to Boeing 747's, and some more exotic aircraft like MD 82's, which I can't ever recall seeing in Australia.
Hainan Airlines Boeing 737-800 ; China Northern MD82
Hainan Airlines flight 7067 took us to Zhengzhou some 5 and a half hours late in a Boeing 737-800. The flight was much better than expected from some of the stories I've heard of Chinese domestic flights. Took bus from Zhengzhou to Civil Aviation hotel close to Central Zhengzhou. By the time we arrived it was already 6pm and not wanting to arrive late in Pingdingshan, decided to stay over. We were recommended to stay in a new hotel "Home Inn" - telephone: 0371 620 5888, and told it should cost around 150 yuan per night. Price for the double was closer to 300 yuan, but it was fairly nice and the staff are extremely welcoming and refuse tips. Rooms are fairly basic, but clean and fresh. Had dinner downstairs in the restaurant which I have to say is quite superb. Two massive meals, many side dishes and a large bottle of coke for 45 yuan. The best food we had while in China and probably the cheapest also. I recommend the deep fried Chilli fish if you can't handle the otherwise steamy and boiled dishes of Chinese cuisine. The hotel staff do not speak Engrish.
Next morning woke at 6am and took a taxi to Zhengzhou central station. Around -10C, very cold for Feb. The bus station is opposite central station. You need to buy tickets at one end, you can then check baggage in halfway down the street (I would not recommend this to those taking expensive camera equipment) and then check in. Luggage is put on the X-Ray conveyor while all the staff are fast asleep in the screening room, giving that extra sense of security. Buying tickets was a fiasco. For first time visitors you will soon discover the mainlanders have no sense of queuing, so it was a bit of a push and shove game, with Vinci shouting through the little window in the booth and myself fending off another 20 locals trying to get their hands through the window Jackie Chan style.
Map of a bus station in Zhengzhou (for busses to PDS)
Left on 730am express midi-bus, cost 33 yuan. Bus was freezing and cramped, heater didn't work. There were people who smoked on the bus, despite many cigarette stops along the way. There was an hour delay at the first toll way on the Freeway with our driver filling out the paperwork and chatting to the police, leaving the door open. Crossed over Xuchang narrow gauge, nothing in sight.
We eventually arrived at the "Old Pingdingshan bus terminal" three and a half hours later. Pingdingshan was very different to what I had imagined. It is a city of about 500,000 with loads of police and seemingly no traffic laws. It is however probably the friendliest city I have yet come across in China.
Skyline of Pingdingshan from line leading to Mine 1 and oil refinery
Took a taxi to the Shen Ma hotel, as trying to get the driver to take us to the Jin Xiu seemed all to much for poor Vinci who had a very hard time understanding the Henan accent. The Jin Xiu was directly opposite so I didn't mind. We checked the Shen Ma, rooms were between 300yuan for a single and just under 500 for the best room per night. Looked to be a very nice hotel, but decided to take a look at the Jin Xiu opposite anyway. Our double room was 148 yuan for the first night and 128 per night after that. Deposit necessary for the room. Not the best hotel, but very warm and unable to justify the extra cost for the Shen Ma. Father Christmas decorations still lit up around the hotel.
The Jin Xiu hotel & their sign warning all you bums out there!
We took a walk shortly after checking in at around midday and snow had started falling and was quite heavy by the end of the day. We walked directly north from Jin Xiu arriving at a level crossing with JS 8054 idling outside the level crossing hut. The level crossing is about 100 meters west of the station. There were two sets of passenger cars in the station and 8054 was in charge of the Baofeng passenger service. I was surprised to see a JS on pax service, as I always thought this was strictly an SY service. 8054 departed about an hour later with a baggage car and 6 white/orange and red hard seaters. On the other platform was a string of green/gold hard seaters with SY 1002 on the PDS Dong service, tender first. After spending some time here, we walked east, next to the mainline and came to Shenxi yard, encountering JS 8338 with a long train of empties heading to one of the mines.
JS steaming away in snow fall
The locals extremely curious and very friendly after giving them a smile. I only saw one negative incident in the whole of PDS where one of the locals tried to impress the foreigners by hurling a brick at a stray dog. There are many tiny huts lining either side of the mainline here where the poorest people live, we learned why shortly after, although I won't mention this on the internet. Despite being in their situation they seemed to be a lot more relaxed and happier than most of the other parts of China we have visited.
Some friendly locals from around Pingdingshan
At Shenxi we were invited into the yard building by the very cheery station master, Mr. Wang Hong Bin. He speaks a tiny bit of English, but not enough for a conversation so I let my wife do the talking and question asking. Mr Wang was adament that steam would remain in the next 3-5 years on the system. I personally doubt it will, or at least not on the scale that it is now. As well as this, he mentioned he had not seen any foreigners there since last October, saying most go in the Summer. He also said most of the groups didn't seem to take much interest in the staff, which I believe is a great shame, however I can understand how awkward it would be not speaking the language. I gave him and a few of the other present staff some photos of my last trip to Jing Peng in 2000, which were greatly appreciated and were very keen to have them autographed!
Shenxi station master, Mr. Wang Hong Bin and worker Mr. Liu Guang Jun
First engine to roll into the yard was QJ 2035. I was ushered into the cab by Mr Wang with Vinci and we stayed inside for a few minutes while the engine shunted some cars. QJ 2035 appears to be in very good condition despite its age. There were 8 people in the cab! Talk about crowded. Plenty of trains at Shenxi in the afternoon, mostly tender first with loaded trains from the mines.
We were then asked to join the crew of 8421 on a run to Mine 4 and back, this was even more cramped that the QJ with 7 people in a much smaller cab. Extremely loud, dirty and highly enjoyable. Returned with a massive loaded train after dark, the driver stopping in the middle of a level crossing to let us out creating a traffic jam which we compounded by hailing a taxi driver in the opposite lane.
JS 8065 at Shenxi ; on board JS 8421
Had dinner at Jin Xiu restaurant for the first and last time. Very expensive comparatively and generally substandard. Blaring Chinese pop music and the freezing conditions made for a less than enjoyable culinary experience. Vinci was completely buggered after the first day, but surprisingly handling it all very well. I was having a ball. 15 trains, 2 cab rides and just seeing 3 classes of steam in the first day was more than I could have asked for.
Woke up at 6am to no hot water. I believe it gets turned on sometime around 7-8am, so if you are getting an early start, best to have a shower at night. First bad experience with a taxi driver. We asked to go to Tianzhuang and the driver claimed he knew where it was. Soon became apparent he hadn't a clue where it was and even had the audacity to tell us we didn't know where we were going! He phoned a lot of other drivers who didn't know either. He managed to drop us off by luck at the level crossing just west of Shenxi, where we stayed for the morning photographing trains coming from Tianzhuang, giving up on the parade until the next day. Snowfall had stopped but a good amount of snow on the ground. Very cold morning again so good exhausts, but offset by overcast sky. Used video for the first time getting two trains of empties, JS 8031 and JS 6429, with very impressive trains. Walked back to the platform and photographed the following; JS 8065 arrived light departed with empties, JS 6253 + QJ 7186 light, seperated and departed with empties and GKD3B 0003 also with empties. Loaded arrivals were JS 6253 and JS 6429.
JS 8031 approaching Shenxi, looking more like December than February
We took a taxi back to the hotel around 11am, then walked up to Central station JS 8054 again on passenger duty and SY1002 on the same train as well. We took the JS to Baofeng and spent a little time there. All hard seat cars, cost us 3 yuan each 130 pm departure from Central. The windows were so dirty nothing could be seen out of them along the way. Sign posted in car with 10 conditions of passage. All but one were broken - littering, spitting, smoking, standing on seats, etc. The only thing we didn't encounter in our coach was urinating!
PDS Rwy Baofeng Station ; Old Baofeng Rwy building
I was disappointed with Baofeng, a pretty uninteresting place. Photographed many green DF4b departures from the CNR yards and a few passengers with DF4b and DF4d. There are a couple of DF7's shunting around the yard also, but didn't manage to get any photos of either. The old station building appears to have been converted into a block of residential flats. The PDS Rwy side of Baofeng looks to be very poor. Didn't check the other side or explore the area too much. We then walked north along the platform and a bit beyond, found two SY tenders stacked on top of each other and welded together as one big water tank which ran into a hut. A little further on in one of the spur tracks was a Plasser car and a green/gold SY track testing passenger car.
DF4b departs Baofeng CNR yard ; Stacked SY tenders
Rare SY car no. 8003 ; Plasser Tamper vehicle
It was extremely cold here. The sun came out a few times, but the wind chill was very bitter. Last train we saw to come into Baofeng was JS 8068. This did not come from the main PDS system, came further north beyond Baofeng. It uncoupled from the train and returned north again light. DF10D 0060 (not GKD3B) took the train back to PDS. Took 8054 back to Central tender first, departing around 550pm. Windows were cleaner this time and quite a few trains were seen running on the CNR network, mainly trains with oil pots. Passed a few JS on the way back.
Below are two photos showing the two different diesel types on the Pingdingshan Coal Rwy. The GKD3b # 0003 has been there for some time, while the DF10D # 0060 is a 2005 built Dalian machine.
GKD3b 0003 ; DF10d 0060
Visited Tiangzhuang depot for the first time, yet another taxi driver who didn't know where it was, but was all too happy to bundle us into his cab. After a few wrong turns and his obvious lack on knowledge as to the whereabouts of the yard, I asked him to drop us off at the level crossing which happened to be the line to one of the mines and only a few hundred feet from the engine depot. Still dark on arrival so first went to the depot, after asking permission to enter the yard. We woke up the worker in the hut at the entrance of the yard who was happy for us to go in. Took some tripod shots of the JS in the yard prepping for the day, unfortunately non turned out satisfactorily. In the depot in steam were JS 8031, 5644 and 6225. We didn't hang around to long, instead headed off to Tianzhuang in readiness for the parade. We waited for quite some time before heading to the platform and given a royal welcome from all the employees who told us to come in and keep warm. I brought the photos out and we were mobbed! All but two were taken! I thought 30 would be plenty - I wish I had taken 4 times that amount. Many trains came into the yard, but the parade was delayed until about 10am, at which time it wasn't much of an event with many of the engines coming out some time apart and leaving before the next one came rolling out of the depot. The sun rose and amazingly a very clear day. Still cold wind, but the sun stayed out for the rest of our trip so we were very lucky.
In the signal box was a 12 year old boy who was quite badly injured after running away (possibly kicked out) from his home some thousand kilometers away in Hebei province after hitching a ride on a freight train and jumping off. Police were called, but didn't take any interest. I have no idea what the police do in Pingdingshan. There are so many of them, but I never actually saw any doing anything apart from one directing traffic near central station. In the yard was JS 6429, 8031, 8062, 8037, 8030, 6253, 8057, 8065, 8421 and 8338; QJ 7186, and both the diesels GKD3B 0003 and DF10D 0060. After a few hours went back to the engine depot, saw 5644 which was still in steam but hadn't moved after some 6 hours. 6225 was also there still.
Servicing JS 6225 at engine depot
There appeared to be many dumped engines, namely QJ 6813 and 6690 both with deflectors, high deflector JS 6539 and SY 0758. All the dumped engines look to be in some pretty severe decay - the worst being the SY. It seems that 0758's tender has been swapped with 1687's. the tender body of the original 1687 is turned on its side with what appears to be some pretty nasty damage to the corner of the tank, and there is a second 1687 tender in the yard which looks like it has been very freshly painted.
Dumped high deflector JS 6539 ; QJ 6450 with Z601 steam crane
The two SY 1687 tenders
SY 1687 itself is in the shops undergoing some major work. We found this after going to the main shop building just as QJ 6450 with 8 wheel tender emerged pulling out the massive Z601 steam crane - having just removed the cab of 1687. The whole engine (1687) is almost unidentifiable apart from the smoke box door with was propped up against the wall.
SY 1209 in main shop having some minor work done ; SY 1687 undergoing full rebuild, JS 8122 undergoing some repairs
Apart from SY 1687 in the shop, there was also SY 1209 with third driving wheel and all running gear removed and JS 8122 undergoing some apparently minor repairs. While in the shop, my wife was talking to one of the workers who let us in, when another worker approached and said that we should pay to get in. Luckily the other worker refused and the other went away. I thanked him with a photo which I believe he enjoyed more than he would of with money. First I've heard of anyone here asking for money - perhaps he was transferred from Tiefa or Jing Peng? I didn't stay there for too long, as I didn't want to out stay my welcome. When we left the depot, another 2 JS had come into the depot for rewatering. A real hive of activity!
After lunch and buying more film (central shopping plaza has 36 exp for 20 yuan - and you can negotiate to 15 yuan each if you buy more than 15 rolls), we spent the rest of the afternoon at the West end of Shenxi yard, getting on film and video some awesome departures. Massive trains of empties departing in the sun with very high crisp exhausts. We were at the point in the line where the track seperates into 3. This is also where the shacks along the railway line start and we had many friendly locals come out with their children after we were spotted by one who told every one else "a foreigner and his wife just walked outside our house!" They really are very friendly, however they seemed to have no concept of silence while the video camera was rolling after Vinci pleaded with them many times. We still came away with some very nice departures with beautiful audio and at least the chatter was in Chinese, giving a more authentic sound! We then went to Shenxi station and met the other friendly station master who became even more friendly after I gave him my last photo. Mr Wang was off until Monday. Managed to get written directions for the taxi drivers.
Main street of PDS taken from Central Shopping Plaza ; JS 8057 at Shenxi
Went back to Tianzhuang yard again for the depot ride - amazingly a taxi driver who got us there first time! The parade was delayed again! Locos were fairly spasmodic from the depot, we eventually got JS 8338, 8065, 8057, 8421, 6429, 8030, 8062 6253 and 8054, QJ 2035, 6650 and 7186 and the two diesels but still not the great line up of engines. There was never more than 2 or three engines at once.
Two JS at Tianzhuang ; 3 classes in one shot! QJ 7186, JS 6253, JS 8057 & SY 1209 at depot.
Not complaining however; it was still a fantastic spectacle. Staff told me to try again tomorrow. I missed an amazing non-coal freight coming into Tianzhuang from Pingdingshan Dong, led by two full deflector QJ's. View was blocked by the masses of coal hoppers in the yard and by the time I ran down to the other end of the yard, it was too late to get any photos. They both uncoupled and ran back east light.
Spent a few hours at the Tianzhuang again then walked up to the mine between Shenxi and Tianzhuang yards, got 8338 pulling up a train of empties, and pulling back loaded ones to the yard. Exhaust was great coming up the bank, however due to the sun light from behind the train, the photos were rather unsuccessful. Many trains coming in and out of Tianzhuang with coal trains, mainly JS but QJ7186 also. We were planning on visiting the depot again, but the gates were locked.
After lunch we went to Pingdingshan Dong. Found it impossible to get onto the station itself to take photos, so we walked a short distance down line coming to a level crossing. First train was DF4b 2460 on the CNR network with 17 passenger cars. The engine uncoupled at the station for electric loco replacement, then 2460 rolled up just before the crossing. The driver was a senior driver and extremely friendly. We were invited into the cab and shown the controls. After descending and getting photos of DF7 3099 shunting in the yard, 2460's driver flagged it down and I went for a cab ride shunting sections of a massive string of empty hoppers into different sidings. The staff were very excited by having a foriegner on board but were as frustrated as I was at not being able to communicate well. Saw many trains over the afternoon. Had yet another cabride in JS 8338 when it came into the yard with a coal train from the PDS Rwy up and down the yard a few times and even had a go at firing it for a few minutes. 8338 appeared to have a different cab layout to the other JS's I had been on - having a double passenger seat.
L-R, DF4b 2460 ; DF4b 9022 ; JS 8338 ; JS 6429 ; Me in JS 8338 ; SS3 0054
The other trains seen were SS3 0496, 0054 and 0046, DF4b 2387 and 6497; SS8 0021 and 0025; JS 8030, 6253 and 6429. We stayed here until mid morning. There was also a small orange GK diesel down line doing some shunting. Got a photo, but too far away to know what number it was. I would have prefered to stay here for the rest of the day, had I known that the afternoon was to be fairly dull in terms of trains when we went back to the center of the PDS system after lunch. We walked up to mines 2 and 4 - one hell of a hike, getting only 3 trains in as many hours. JS 6253, GKD3B 0003 and JS 6429.
JS 6253 approaching Mine 2 with empties
Took a taxi to Tianzhuang again - discovering we were on the taxi driver's network of idiots! Conversation in Chinese over CB - "...do you know a Tianzhuang yard? (reply from another taxi) "...Is it a pair of foriegners? *laughing in background*". After two disappointing days for the parade I decided to stay at the west end of the yard to get all the action I was missing the previous two days, only to find out it was actually happening!!! Still, got many great shots and video footage coming in and out of the yard and depot.
JS departing Tianzhuang yard with a massive train of empties
Locos recorded were JS 8338, 8054, 8062, 8031, 6429, 8421, QJ2035 and the two diesels. At the depot, I was amazed to find two SY's in steam, being 1002 and 1209 which only the day before had been in the main shop missing its driving wheel and all its running gear! Put on a great show steaming out of the depot.
SY 1209
Unfortunately by now, Vinci's patience was running thin at my non-interest in eating (her main interest) and started to become very grumpy and agitated. Having resigned myself to the fact that I have to live with her after this quest for steam was over, we went off to get some breakfast. We went to Shenxi after this to bid farewell to Mr. Wang and invited him to come out for dinner with us that evening after he finished work. We then walked up to Central station along the line from Shenxi, stopping twice for two groups of track gangs along the way. Again very friendly and all wanted their photos taken with me!
As soon as we made it to Central The lady station master Li Wen Li took us inside and talked to us with great interest for a couple of hours. She was most interested in Australian life and explained the hardships of living in China. I showed particular interest in a jacket hanging up on the wall with all the brass badges and buttons and she started taking off her uniform and begging me to take it back to Australia. I initially refused but she had a spare. I ended up with two shoulder bars, a few arm duty badges and a male and female hat! I got many photos of trains going through the station and had enough time to visit mine 7 on foot and a passenger train heading for Baofeng. We left Central at about 1pm, stopping 1/2 hour down line and got the JS on the passenger train.
JS 8065 outside oil exchange with pax to Baofeng
Arrived at mine 7 and got some pics of a JS shunting wagons there. Some friendly locals, one in particular who was a trainee worker at mine 4. I asked his position there and he said "everything". Just before leaving mine 7, the camera slipped out of my hands, snapping the two plastic lugs that hold the back panel in place. The film was exposed slightly so quickly closed it and rewound the film. Very fortunately only one photo was damaged to exposure, the rest were perfect. Camera fixed after one of the lads found the two black plastic lugs in the middle of a black coal path. How he did, I will never know. Took them back to the hotel and super glued them back on, worked a treat. Went back to central to talk to Mrs Li again, photographing many of the trains that went through at the same time.
JS 8065 on pax duties idle while JS 8031 leads long loaded coal train through central
I never got to see all of the mines, but I am glad I spent the amount of time with the locals that I did. They are really incredible people and really are a major part of the PDS experience. Went to Shenxi to get Mr Wang, arriving 1 minute past our 730 meeting time. He had just left! Fortunately another worker phoned him and we met up again having a superb quality meal at a restaurant called Dao Fu Weng - a restaurant famous in PDS for Tofu. I'm not a lover of Tofu by any means, but some of this stuff was incredible and I highly recommend it. As a general rule for a good restaurant, eat at very busy restaurants. Had a great meal out and was a fantastic way of spending the last night there.
We left the next morning, no rail seen until Zhengzhou. Bus trip back cost 34 yuan. Inflation? This was then turned into an extra 2 yuan after the other passengers voted to take a quicker route back and ended up taking the same amount of time as it took to get to PDS! We saw DF7 0003 and 0006 shunting long strings of Pax cars and many SS4s over the wall at Zhengzhou South station - but never found a place to photograph them until we took a taxi to Zhengzhou North. Here we were stopped by a policeman for taking photos and walked to the police station on the platform to ask for permission. The police captain although polite was very firm and what turned out to be a request to take photos turned out to be a huge defence against spying! Vinci did a sensational job of talking our way out of it and protecting the film in the camera. Put a very sombre mood over the rest of the day and we were honestly very relieved to get out of Zhengzhou. We did get some nice pics from here of the diesels and electrics, but I would not recommend anyone take any photos from around here. Stayed over night and returned to Shenzhen by the next afternoon.
I could not believe that we didn't spot one foreigner on our entire stay there. I was thinking this was starting to become a very popular area, but perhaps everyone is up seeing the last remnants of steam on the Ji-Tong line. While Jing Peng in 2000 was superb, I think this trip was a much greater success, even thought bad lighting conditions made many of the photos much lower quality. The people generally around Jing Peng certainly weren't as friendly as PDS. Also with the amount of traffic and variety of steam engines the experiece made it that little bit better.
Many thanks to everyone who helped us get there via emails and previous trip reports. Especially Dave Habreken, Robin Gibbons, Michael Rhodes and Florian Menius.
The photos in this trip report and more, in larger format, can be found in the photograph gallery.
