tarboat's photos with the keyword: nancha

QJ 2590 returning to Nancha after banking a freight train up the twisting 1 in 30 grades of Nancha Bank. This single line was very busy carrying timber from the north.

QJ 6952 appears around the curve as it storms up the steep and curved Nancha bank in Heilongjiang Province, North-East China. The flat wagons will return loaded with timber from the forests towards the Russian border. There was another QJ at the rear banking tender first. Here is a recording of this train on Nancha Bank.

Morning northbound passenger service charging the 1 in 30 gradient of Nancha bank. This was the only train that I saw on this line without a banker. With 11 coaches behind, QJ 2823 slipped almost to a stand on the final ascent, but superb driving saw the train successfully cross the summit at walking pace.

Nancha Bank with QJs 2144 and 2420 heading a heavy timber train with another QJ banking. Well worth getting to this remote spot on a cold October morning. The action on this single line was almost continuous as there was so much traffic.

The driver has time to glance towards the photographer as QJ 2144 nears the summit of the climb from Liushu towards Nancha with a heavy timber train. There is another QJ immediately behind and another banking the train. The noise was fantastic.

Another reminder of the joys once to be found at Nancha on the branch to Wuyiling. The sinuous climb up from the main line junction guaranteed frantic steam action every time, even with the empty log wagons as seen here. This train was banked by another QJ running tender first.

Another thrash up the bank for QJ 2590 on the back of a train of empty flat wagons at the start of the 257km branch to Wuyiling. Trains were banked up from Liushu on the other side of the hill too and this meant that the banking locos had to work uphill tender first out of Nancha. The steepness of the climb is evident from the height already gained in less than 2km from the level of Nancha town in the background. This was a great place to spend time watching the endless procession of freights over the bank, and it was easily possible to run over to the other side to photograph the southbound trains coming up as well.

Morning northbound passenger service charging the 1 in 30 gradient of Nancha Bank. This was the only train that I saw on this line without a banker. With 11 coaches behind, QJ 2823 slipped almost to a stand on the final ascent, but superb driving saw the train successfully cross the summit at walking pace.

Another view from Nancha Bank with QJs 2144 and 2420 heading a heavy timber train with another QJ banking. We shall never see the like again.

In 1992 one of the more spectacular steam locations was the steep climb up both sides of the bank at Nancha on the branch to Wuyiling. A regular procession of trains loaded with timber would slowly ascend from Liushu with two QJs at the front and another banking. In this case the train set off before I had reached the desired photo spot and it developed into a race to get in position in time. I had to run across a wide boggy area and my companion fell into the mire but still got his shot. The sight and sound was awesome.

QJ 6961 banking a heavy timber train on the Nancha bank. The driver is listening for the whistle from the train engines once they are over the summit.

A piece of history with a 1992 view of QJ6952 storming up the incredibly steep and curved Nancha bank in Heilongjiang Province, North-East China. The action on both sides of the summit made this area very popular for photography until diesels took over in 1994. The original slide has the exhaust steam almost entirely blown out in the exposure and yet it has proved possible to recover the detail by careful work on the scan. Following the wishes expressed in the comments, just this once, here is the sound of this train on Nancha Bank.