tarboat's photos with the keyword: diaobingshan

SY 1751 pulls away from a stop at Sanjing Mine with a miners' train on the Tiefa Coal Railway.

It's 6.14am and just daylight as SY1751 hurries a service to Diaobingshan away from Sanjiazi Junction on the Tiefa coal railway. In the distance is the headgear and spoil heap of the Dalong mine. This is a reprocessing of this image as I have not been happy with previous attempts.

A busy moment in the late afternoon at the junction station at Sanjiazi on the Tiefa Coal Railway. A passenger service headed by SY 1770 sets off for one of the mines whilst DFH3 diesels await the road with their coal loads. The steam locomotive is the new, having been built in 1995 whilst diesel 2003 is the old, coming here second hand off the main line and being constructed in 1977.

Early morning action on the Tiefa Coal Railway as SY 1412 leaves Daqing mine for Tieling.

Train staff coming off duty at Diaobingshan on the Tiefa coal railway. Behind the ladders are already up for carriage washing to continue.

The train staff on the Tiefa Coal Railway were expected to keep the outside of the coaches clean in between trips serving the local mines and villages. A large supply of ladders was available to assist in the operation. Depending on the timetable the job would sometimes be only part finished before the next service departed, resulting in a curious striped effect on the coaches.

SY 1751 heads onto the scissors crossing as it departs from the main station at Diaobingshan on the Tiefa Coal Railway.

Snowy conditions as SY 1772 arrives at Wangqian on one of the branches of the Tiefa Coal Railway with a local passenger service.

A local passenger service ventures towards Xiaonan along one of the many branches on the Tiefa Coal Railway. The buildings of the Daxing mine form the industrial backdrop.

SY 1772 arrives at Wangqian on one of the branches of the Tiefa Coal Railway with a local passenger service.

SY 1772 makes a spirited departure from the main station at Diaobingshan on the Tiefa Coal Railway.

SJ 1751 heads a local passenger service away from Sanjing Mine on the Tiefa Coal Railway.

Tiefa Coal Railway's most recently built steam locomotive, SY 1772, approaching Diaobingshan with a morning passenger service. The exhaust shows just how cold the winter can be in the north-east of China.

It's 6.14am and just daylight as SY1751 hurries a service to Diaobingshan away from Sanjiazi Junction on the Tiefa system. In the distance is the headgear and spoil heap of the Dalong mine. This is why it is always worth getting up early when chasing steam photos.

Dalong Mine is one of the older sites operated by the Tiefa Coal Mining Administration in Liaoning Provice, North-East China.

Xiaonan Mine is one of the collieries operated by the Tiefa Coal Corporation, Liaoning Province, China. This is one of their older units, having been started c1958. It is currently seeing developments in methane drainage to supply gas to a small power station.

A look back to the days when all the passenger trains and much of the coal traffic was steam hauled on the Tiefa Coal Railway. A view between SY 1770 and the coaling crane on the servicing point at Diaobingshan.

SY1749 is seen with a passenger train on the Faku branch to the west of Diaobingshan on the Tiefa mining railway system. The mining company had agreed to run this special train in between the coal and passenger services on the branch and had also agreed to a number of photo runpasts. This would have been wonderful apart from the problem that the crew were completely unaware of the requirements of the photographers. The runpasts turned into a series of trains coasting gently past. No amount of pleading and bribery would persuade them to make a bit of steam and smoke and some spirited running for the video people. They were just too professional and used to using minimum steam and making as little smoke as possible!