tarboat's photos with the keyword: desert

Snow on the desert as JS 8358 of the Sandaoling Coal Railway hurries the only three empty wagons that were available this morning from the Liushugan interchange with China Rail. The usual number would be around 60 empties at this time.

There is just a bit of frozen snow on the ground as a pair of JS class locomotives drag and bank the empty coal wagons across the desert from the exchange sidings towards the Sandaoling opencast mine and collieries. It was well below freezing in this bleak and exposed spot.

QJ 7200 at the head of coal empties hurries through the desert from Guyaozi to the new coal mine at Yangchangwan in Ningxia Province, China. This branch had only been open for a year when I visited the line in 2006.

In gently falling snow and low visibility QJ 7200 charges uphill with coal empties past the small temple at the Guyaozi brickworks on the Daba to Guyaozi line through the desert. This 70km + line was quite recently built and carried coal and oil products in a remote area of Ningxia Autonomous Region. Looking at Google Earth it is clear that this line has been doubled since my visit in 2006 and a coal-fired power station built close to the new colliery at Guyaozi.

QJs 7049 and 6905 close to Gulumanhan with a westbound train on the Jitong railway in China's Mongolian Auntonomous Region. Typical scenery for the central section of this 943 km line.

The visit to the desert line between Daba and Guyaozi was intended to make shots amidst the dunes and wide open spaces. The weather had other ideas and the falling snow soon reduced visibility and required a change of tactics. QJ 7205 nears Guyaozi with a long train of empty coal wagons. This is a reprocessing of an image that I felt could be improved upon.

There is just a bit of frozen snow on the ground as a pair of JS class locomotives drag the empty coal wagons from the exchange sidings towards the Sandaoling opencast mine and collieries. It was well below freezing in this bleak and exposed spot.

The visit to the desert line between Daba and Guyaozi was intended to make shots amidst the dunes and wide open spaces. The weather had other ideas and the falling snow soon reduced visibility and required a change of tactics. With a brick built temple to the left, the line is seen rising up to pass the brickworks situated behind me. QJ 7200 is charging out of the mist and snow with coal empties for the mines

Out in the desert to the east of the small town of Linwu the Daba- Guyaozi coal railway passes a brickworks a few kilometres from Guyaozi. On a dark January day it had just begun to snow, a precursor to a severe blizzard that nearly trapped our bus after dark, and QJ 7205 heads downhill with a loaded train heading for Daba and the interchange with China Rail. I understand that China Rail has now taken over the operation of this line.

A westbound freight heads downhill for Gulumanhan after crossing the summit after Chaganhada on the Jitong Railway.

Today I read the sad news from China that diesels had started work in the section of the Sandaoling Coal Railway between the CNR exchange yard at Liushuquan to Nanzhan. December 2009 saw this JS class locomotive with the morning empties and the Tian Shan range as backdrop.

Catching the morning empties heading for Sandaoling in the early light proved to be a chancy affair as in December sunrise clashed with the shift change. However, on this day the sun was still very low as a short-ish train gathers speed across the desert after a stop to raise pressure on the line between the interchange at Liushuguan and the yard at Nanzhan.

The light falling snow is already beginning to accumulate on the dunes as QJ 7036 heaves a long train of empties across this viaduct on the extension of the Daba-Guyaozi Coal Railway to the new mine at Yangchangwan. View On Black

In Ningxia Autonomous Region, west central China, the Yangchangwan coal mine opened in 2004.

Cold desert conditions as a QJ class 2-10-2 heads the empties towards Yangchangwan Mine on the Daba-Guyaozi Coal Railway. View On Black

The extension of the Daba-Guyaozi Coal Railway to the new coal mine at Yangchangwan was only completed in 2005. Until the diesels took over at the end of 2006, QJ class locomotives hauled long trains through the desert to and from Guyaozi. There wasn't much sun around on this visit and the temperature was below freezing.

The visit to the desert line between Daba and Guyaozi was intended to make shots amidst the dunes and wide open spaces. The weather had other ideas and the falling snow soon reduced visibility and required a change of tactics. QJ 7205 nears Guyaozi with a long train of empty coal wagons.

Sixty one empty wagons and a van with a JS class locomotive at each end - the morning empties have just started their journey from the interchange yard at Liushuguan on the Sandaoling Coal Railway.