This part of the journey commences with our arrival in the ancient capital of Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors, now world famous. In 1985 Xian was 100% steam, with RM class Pacifics on passengers plus the inevitable QJs and JFs. As with most of China, the weather was miserable, but we did get some snow. We rode into Xian behind RM 1227. It sped along at a good clip reaching 100 kph in spots.

 

 

Our first day in Xian was spent visiting the Terracotta Warriors. This was a bus trip and led us through a small village. Because of the tourist restrictions, it was a rare opportunity to see the side of China the officials were trying to stop you viewing. The photo shows street vendors selling cheap models of the warriors. The large dome in the background is the actual museum. People were generally poor, and I was left with a permanent memory when I saw an old lady who had her feet bound. Her feet were incredibly small due to this barbaric practice. Hopefully it doesn’t happen any more.

On the way back we had a little time to kill waiting for our transport and we found a small shop where they made Wantons. These were freshly fried in oil and the shopkeeper was delighted to serve a couple of westerners. They were the best I have ever tasted. On the bus trip back to town, I spied a good spot for photographing the RMs on Express Passengers and other trains.

Chinese Passenger Trains

Travel by train in China was a very special experience, unlike no other. These days they have Bullet Trains and there have been many changes, but back in 1985 it was very different.

There were literally millions of people travelling all over the country at the time. Most passenger trains were 17 carriages long. There was no class in China, being a communist country, although in fact they do have classes on the trains! To avoid the labels of first and second class, they call it soft and hard class. Soft class is more expensive and geared to foreigners. This mainly applied to sleeping cars, where in soft class there were 4 births to a compartment and linen included. In hard class sleepers you got 6 births and no linen. Either one was much better that the XPTs in Australia where you get to sit up all night! Most of the time we travelled hard class, but once or twice we splashed out to experience the best luxury China had to offer. From memory, soft class sleepers included meals delivered in cardboard boxes similar to those used by Chinese Take Away Restaurants in the US.

Getting On The Train

You arrived for your train 15 minutes at least before the train and stood in the queue. It was like an airport lounge. Seats arranged in the waiting room that was a large hall. Crowd control was in evidence and often security officers with truncheons guarded the barriers as you snaked around towards the platform. If you have been waiting to get in to a major sporting event or concert with a portable barrier, this is pretty much the same as getting on a train in China. There could be 300 or more waiting to board each long distance train.

Due to our Taiwanese Student Cards, we paid in Renimbi, or People’s Money saving us over half the fare. We purchased our tickets and then headed for the barriers.

As the train pulled in to the platform, hundreds of people alighted and headed out past the waiting crowd to the street. Once the crowd had cleared, the barriers came down and everyone made a mad dash for the awaiting carriages. A stop could be 20 minutes or more, slowing down the overall journey time.

Once on the train, we had the opportunity to view Chinese life, especially on day trips. Chai or Green Tea is the staple for the Chinese and everyone carries a container, usually with a lid. It could be an enamel mug, or a simple glass jar with a plastic jacket to stop your hands being burnt.

At the end of each carriage there was a boiler. This dispensed hot water for tea. I think if the boiler broke down there would have been a riot! We quickly acquired a taste for the local brew.

Railway Dining Chinese Style

Meals are served in the Dining Car. This consisted of a cash register at one end, where someone who looked like a bus conductor in a Mao jacket complete with a book of tear off tickets, took your order and money. This was somewhat of a challenge for us as menus were in Chinese, and you had to order before you could see what you were going to eat! The only thing written in characters we understood was the price. The norm was a meal with rice and something. I had learned the Mandarin for fish (yu), chicken (ji), beef (Shūcài). I would simply ask for rice (Fàn) plus whatever I wanted with it! Beer (Píjiǔ) was another useful word! Once you ordered, the attendant would tear off a number of tickets, you paid the fee and then went to your seat. In due course a sloppy bowl of rice and something appeared! Apart from South Africa, I discovered rail catering systems are less than ideal.

There Was More Steam To Photograph

By January 4, it was time to get down to business. I had spotted a reasonably spot for photography on the outskirts of the city and headed there as far as I could by public bus. Public transport was well organised, with bus maps available in most cities. It was a matter of picking the line that went closest to where I wanted to go and then walking. The photo depicts a track I walked down on my way to get the shots.

As usual I went alone on a public bus as far as I was able and then hoofed it.

The weather was disgusting, but at least there was some snow around. At this time, it was the only place you could see RM Pacifics on Express Passenger trains.

 

As the day progressed, it snowed a bit more. Not enough to really whiten the place up, but enough to leave me really miserable. At least I did get this rather nice shot of an RM on a large passenger.

 

It was really great to see an area which was 100% steam, although I believe it wasn’t too long before everything changed in the old capital. We were very lucky.

 

Regrettably, with so much ground to cover, and a day lost touring, it was time to again head off west towards Louyang. This city is now huge, on the mighty Yangtze and the gateway to the west of the country. We set off on an overnight train no 143, headed by RM 1257, which took the train some 173 kms to Baoji with me in the cab!

I used sign language to get on board with the crew, something I have been unable to achieve in Turkey. I think it was because it was night time. I am pretty amazed this happened in a country as tightly controlled as China, and it was absolutely freezing, but I enjoyed my ride at 100 kph plus on a China Express Passenger.

I talked them into letting me set the fire, and grabbed the shovel. It was rather small due to the use of pulverised coal dust. This was very heavy compared to that used in NSW. Soon I got the hang of it and had a great time, even though we simply couldn’t communicate verbally. I think they were rather amused!

Lanzhou, the land of the Lilly, their trademark regional dish, was reached by morning. Slowly I was getting used to the country and more and more adventurous in terms of getting some great photos. This city is very large and very polluted now. It is located on the Yangtze river near the Great Wall. At this point I grabbed the local transport map and worked out how far I could go on the local bus. I found a great spot for photography and headed off on foot. I was far away from the Tourist minders by this time and had a day uninterrupted!

 

This was the furthest West I ventured. I recall that from here was no man’s land, and the Silk Road. Those viewing the pictures in these stories must understand that line side photography at this time was simply forbidden! I was at risk just by being where I was. The next episode takes in Lanzhou and Datong, where QJ’s and JF’s were still being manufactured. It was here I had my closest encounter with the Chinese authorities.

Our next stop on the trip was at Mao’s birthplace, a sacred shrine for the Chinese. This was interesting as year’s later, we visited Fidel Castro’s mountain hideout in Cuba. It had a similar feel to it.

I thought I would throw in one of the double QJs we saw at Louyang early to give you a taste for the steam action in this post.

Mao’s Birthplace

We begin part 2 in Mao’s birthplace, Shaoyang. It is a delightful village, probably typical, if a little more sterile, of the thousands of villages that make up rural China.

 

It was a real treat to visit this village as for the most part we were barred from leaving the big cities. For someone like me, who loves wandering around the countryside it was a difficult medicine to digest, and my attempts to break free often failed. The couple of hours here were really great and relaxing.

Mao came from humble beginnings in a small cottage in the village. As we walked around the area we saw people tilling the fields with traditional Chinese hoes. There was little mechanisation, except for the small tractors that never seemed to haul a plough. I believe that was so everyone would have a job. The average wage in the countryside was around $1 a day, but this went a long way. Everyone had enough rice to eat and a place to stay.

The farms were communal. Unlike Australia there are no fences, and ducks wandered everywhere. Private ownership was a concept that simply didn’t exist. Everything was common land worked by the collective. The village appeared very relaxed. It was a far cry from the huge cities. Naturally, there was no steam around here and the weather was perfect and sunny. Damn!

You can see from the photo how imposing the Chairman is. I am not sure what his position is in China now, as loyalties often change with regimes. The little figure beside the statue is me!

In some ways it is a real shame that the Chinese Government of the time were so paranoid about foreigners talking to their citizens that they tried to keep us apart. The official reason for not letting westerners visit many parts of the country was simply that the facilities were not there. They considered the accommodation for the Chinese would not be good enough for Westerners. I had a more cynical viewpoint. The government only wanted foreigners for their tourist bucks. Like other communist countries, the state did everything it could think of to extract the maximum amount of money from foreign tourists.

 

Shopping Chinese Style

One other interesting phenomena I witnessed in Shaoyang was the local store. As I said, it was difficult to get exposure to normal Chinese life outside of major cities. Being there for such a long time, I did manage to get a glimpse of things from time to time.

The manager (the State owns everything) of this establishment sits high up in the store on a dias. From here he can watch everything going on and control his staff. You enter the shop and it is quite normal. Glass cases displaying the goods, and attentive Chinese women serving customers. I might add it was very different from the department stores in the cities. More on that later.

The sales clerk helps you pick what you wish to buy. In our case this was done by pointing. They then use an Abacus to add up the total and write that down. Fortunately, Chinese used western numbers or we would have been totally lost. Then they let the manager handle the money side.

If you look closely at the photo you will see that there are a series of wires spreading out from the manager’s position. These lead to all of the sales counters. When you make a purchase, a docket is written up and sent through a tube on the wire to the manager with your money. He works out the money, and then sends the tube back for you to receive your change.

This to me is a real insight into old China. I am sure that commerce was carried out in this way for many years. We all know the Abacus is legendary in China, and I am sure there were many shops using the wire and cylinder method of payment.

We Say Goodbye To Shoayang

After a couple of hours, we hopped on another train and headed towards Changsha. This town is famous for a mummy. This is no ordinary mummy like the Egyptian ones, but a 2100 year old Chinese woman so well preserved, you can see her skin. All of her organs are stored in jars around the room, and we were not allowed to take photos, because the flesh would degrade her quickly. If you ever visit China, I would recommend a visit to this to9wn. It is truly amazing and moving to actually see someone who lived over 2,000 years ago in a pretty good state of repair.

Changsha To Wuhan

The final leg of this section is the run to Wuhan. It is a 358 km journey. For us it took 5 hours and 42 minutes. There is a reason. These days the line is serviced by bullet train and the journey is just 1 hour 25 minutes at an average speed of 252 kph. How things have changed!

Anyway, after two days of brilliant sunshine, I was itching to get at least one steam train shot in full sun. As we headed towards Wuhan, we stopped at a major town, probably Yueyang, although I can’t be sure. This was not on the official list as acceptable for westerners, but what the heck, I thought I would chance my arm.

I hopped off the train and headed north down the tracks. Pretty soon a freight came by with double QJs at the helm.

This was a busy main line and pretty soon another QJ appeared. Regrettably not far behind were railway officials who escorted us back to the station and put us on the next train north!

By now we were well aware that everyone in China was watching. After all, we did tend to stand out! Many areas we visited rarely saw a westerner, and the Chinese were paranoid about US imperialism to the point that they purchase US equipment from my company in Australia so they wouldn’t have to deal with the yanks. That got me a trip to the China Daily in Beijing.

I think you will agree that the last picture is a nice one, if not spectacular. We reached Wuhan without further incident. Still all the expresses were hauled by diesels. The next leg of the journey was from Wuhan to Luoyang, a distance of 703 kms. Unfortunately the express was diesel hauled. Luoyang is the site of the famous Longman Grottos, but I wasn’t there for that!

Luoyang

According to the latest information, the rail trip from Wuhan to Luoyang is now just over 5 hours, a distance of 580kms. It was obviously a lot slower back in 1985! We travelled 703 kms according to my notes. They must have straightened the tracks.

We arrived in Luoyang after a 13 ½ hour journey and headed for the local “Hotel Fan Dian” or friendship hotel. It was, of course, bitterly cold at that time of year. The average temperature for January is just 1 degree C. It seemed every journey led us to colder weather. This hotel was one of the old ones. It was large and looking very much run down. Luoyang is a major tourist spot in China, and at least the staff spoke English. There were very few westerners around at the time probably due to its remoteness. As I went to book in, I noticed an English gentleman asking questions. I knew he was English by his accent. Being a friendly Aussie, I asked him what brought him to that part of the world and he was rather cagy. Eventually he said he was on a “special interest” trip. I said I was too, and that I was here to photograph the trains. His eyes lit up and as it turned out he was wandering around China on his own in search of steam too.

Difficulties Getting Trackside

That night we had a banquet. There were at least 7 dishes on the table including some peanuts, rice and various dishes. It was all quite delicious. The next morning my new friend and I headed for the railway station and attempted to hire a cab to go to a nearby good photo spot. The cab driver would have none of it. He wasn’t going to risk heading out of town with 2 foreigners on board. There was a trishaw not far away, so we flagged it down and fortunately this driver was far more co-operative. We headed off down the line.

It was a slow trip through the suburbs past the tractors that were just hauling trailers, hoping that we wouldn’t encounter any police of military. We knew we would be sent back if anyone saw us, and we did rather stand out!

We picked our spot and had an hour or so with a procession of QJs.

 

The spot we had chosen was on a bank, so the engines worked their way along. As part of the parade, we witnessed 6 double headed QJs in 75 minutes. This was something I had never seen before!

There were so many trains, we managed to get the above shot with QJ passing QJ. You can see the China haze in this photo. For much of the country it is as close as it gets to sunny at that time of year. The condensation is due to the very cold weather. Yes, rail photography in China is a pretty miserable occupation in winter!

After a while of monotonous QJs, one after the other, we had enough of the cold and decided to return back into town. We arrived without incident, pretty pleased with ourselves.

It seems a little incredible now that there is virtually no mainline steam anywhere in the world, that we would get bored, just because there were thousands of QJs running all over the country. I can imagine a few years later it wouldn’t matter where you went in China, all you would see were QJs and JFs. Fortunately for me, it was not all like that back then.

We Move On

The next leg of the journey was on Express 163 to Xian via Baoji. Our destination is one of the more touristy parts of China and home of the Terracotta Warriors.

We travelled 3 hours behind diesel, before we finally attached an RM to the train for the run to Xian. At that time all trains in and out of Xian were steam hauled. It was a 6 ½ hour trip behind steam

 

 

I didn’t take any log books while in China, but I did record some times. The RM reached sustained speeds of 100 kph. This is pretty good, considering the huge loads they hauled.

The next segment details my time in Xian and then on to Lanzhou, our furthest point west, located on the Yangtze River. As I recall, it was difficult to travel any further West as an individual in those days. For this part of the journey, I am afraid you will have to wait for a little while.