tarboat's photos with the keyword: pingzhuang

Morning shift change with SY 1083 at the servicing point on the Pingzhuang Coal Railway and about to move forward for the the tender to be filled using the grab.

After a hard day chasing steam around the mining districts of Pingzhuang we were heading for Chifeng and the train back to Beijing when this new colliery appeared in front of us at Xiliujiacun. The mine was still opening out and the headgears are just for sinking purposes.

Trains on the northern end of the Pingzhuang mining railway tended to be few and far between so it was lucky that we were able to find SY 0400 passing Gushan No.1 mine with a loaded train.

Deflector fitted SY 1083 is on the final approach to the exchange sidings at Pinzhuang Nan with a loaded coal train.

The opencast coal mine at Pingzhuang was reaching the end of its life when I visited in 2008. The coal was worked from the pit in electrically hauled trains whilst maintenance trains were steam hauled. Coal production in the area continues from deep mines.

SY 1487 and SY 1052 undergo repairs in the workshops of the Pingzhuang mining railway. This is still a stronghold of steam in China being entirely operated by SYs outside the opencast pit.

Steam is still in use at the Pingzhuang collieries although action can be hard to find at times. Two SYs are being prepared for work at the servicing point adjacent to the washery. The loco coal supply is protected from the predations of the locals by the heavy sliding covers for the storage pit under the grab gantry.

A deflector fitted SY drops across the road with a long load of empties from the China Rail exchange sidings at Pingzhuang Nan.

Dark and gloomy but very atmospheric. SY1052 on test inside the maintenance depot of the Pingzhuang coal railway.

SY 1017 makes an early morning departure at the Pingzhuang washery.

Deflector fitted SY1083 charges across the bridge on the incline towards the China National Railways interchange at Pingzhuang Nan with a long rake of loaded coal wagons. The Pingzhuang system on the edge of the Mongolian Autonomous Region is still completely steam worked, with a well maintained fleet of locomotives.

Pecking at a seam in the Pingzhuang opencast coal mine, Mongolian Autonomous Region.