|
|
 |
 |
|
This
old-style steam locomotive is witness to decades of history.
|
The old steam train is still relied upon by local residents. |
Riding
on the steam train brings back old memories. |
The Jiayang steam train has been running for almost half a century
in Qianwei County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province. It was in 1958
that the Jiayang Coal Mine (predecessor to the Sichuan Jiayang
Group) built the Ba-Shi (Bajiao Valley-Shixi) Railway -- a total
length of 19.84 kilometers -- and bought trains from the Shijiazhuang
Steam Engine Locomotive Factory in Hebei Province to solve the
problem of coal transportation. It opened on July 12, 1959. The
trains were known as “inch gauge” because
their gauge is only 76.2 centimeters -- half that of the common
standard.
When the Ba-Shi Railway first opened in 1959, the Jiayang Coal
Mine owned 10 steam locomotives, but only 4 are still in operation.
As they are the only old-style narrow-gauge steam locomotives
still carrying passengers, Jiayang trains have been dubbed “living
fossils of the 18th century Industrial Revolution.”
Sad to say, before too long these “living fossils”
will be put to rest forever.
|
|
 |
 |
|
An old train with trendy passengers.
|
The engineer’s cabin. |
This small steam train has a host of important functions. |
|
