Chinese Forestry Steam in 1997

Although this report from Robert Palmstrom is now two years old (added 10th November 1999) it remains the most up-to-date information on some of these systems that I have seen. Please bear in mind its age when reading it and compare some of the comments with John Raby's 1999 visit to Chaihe etc. I have added only the barest of comments in the light of newer information

Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory.

At the Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory we were told that there are now 7 forestry lines still in use in Heilongjiang:

Alihe, Sanhetun (should that be Shanhetun?), Zhanhe, Dungfanghung (should that be Dongfanghong?), Ganhe, Huanan, Yabuli
(See John Raby's list.....RD)

Some of those places are in Inner Mongolia, however in Jagdaqi we were told that that part of Inner Mongolia is administered by Heilongjiang due to the large size of Inner Mongolia. Does that explain why they appear in this list? Could it be that the list covers the lines served by the Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory? As far as I could gather some of these lines are now dieselised. This list does presumably not include narrow gauge mineral railways etc.? If this list is correct it implies that there is a forestry railway at Ganhe (both my maps and the IRS book spell that 'Ganhe' rather than 'Ganghe'), but not at Genhe.

However, among the engines under repair at the Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory we were told that one belonged to Waihe (should that be Weihe?). Weihe does not appear on the list of forestry railways above! Does that mean that the forestry railway at Weihe is still running, and should be added to the list of operating forestry railways, or was that engine due to be transferred elsewhere? Or did I misunderstand something in the list of forestry railways?

(As we now know Weihe is not only open but very active! RD)

Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory has apparently taken over a lot of work (all the work for the forestry railways?) from Harbin. As far as I could gather it overhauls more narrow gauge steam engines than any other works in China. We saw 7 steam engines (or parts thereof) being worked on (all 0-8-0s), but also various mainframes that looked as if they were dumped (or spares?). We were told where some of the engines under repair belonged: Zhanhe, Ganhe, Yabuli, and Waihe (should that be Weihe?). As well as overhauling steam engines, they also overhaul rolling stock. There was a (narrow gauge) passenger carriage there which they were apparently preparing for a tourist railway in Beijing. It was apparently due to be air conditioned! In all they overhaul about 45 vehicles (narrow gauge engines + rolling stock) a year. If I understood correctly Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory has built a total of 55 (steam) engines since it was built in 1960.

Chaihe Forestry Machinery Factory is situated on the W side of the Mudan Jiang. It looked as if it used to have a rail connection to the Chaihe Forestry Railway.

Steam locomotive numbers noted (all narrow gauge (presumably 762 mm) 0-8-0s):

79 (number painted roughly on side of smokebox of partly painted engine, so may not be complete number. This engine was apparently built in Poland, and was apparently due to go to Ganhe)
B * 309 (cast plate on r.h. side of engine which had slightly different no.: C2 309 painted on l.h. side of same engine)
SW - 21030 (apparently produced at Chaihe, belongs to Weihe (the SW apparently indicates Weihe))
SZ - 31198 (apparently belongs to Zhanhe)

Alihe Forestry Railway.

The Alihe Forestry Railway (762 mm gauge) apparently has 121 km of track and 11 steam engines. We were told that the railway was built in 1963. We saw 5 steam engines (2 in the workshop, 1 in the shed in Alihe, and 2 in steam), all 0-8-0s. There were also 3 engines dumped by the workshop. At the back of the shed there was a bogie diesel engine (Bo-Bo or B-B presumably?), which was described as the "future". They anticipated there would be no more steam in two years time. As well as transporting timber down to Alihe, from where it is moved by the standard gauge railway, there is a passenger service, which seemed well filled, certainly in connection with the 1. October National Day, when we were there. The Alihe Forestry Railway does not seem to be shown on the Nelles map of N-E China.

Steam locomotives observed (all 0-8-0s, 762 mm gauge):

In steam: 044, 046
In shed:
020    (recently painted, but not in steam when we were there)
(there was a tender numbered 020 at the back of the shed, presumably replaced by the recently painted tender attached to no. 020)
In workshop: 023, 045
Dumped: 009, 022, 040
Numbers on dumped tenders: 022 (number uncertain as difficult to read), 023, 035 (number uncertain as difficult to read), Unidentified
Bogie diesel locomotive in shed (B-B or Bo-Bo): 044 (Builders plate: JMY 380 ), (199* + )
(where * and + were numbers stamped into the cast plate. * looked as if it was 0 or 3, and + looked as if it was 1, but the numbers were difficult to read. We were told it was built in 1994)

Additionally we saw a small diesel (?) railbus for PW work (?), and there was a dumped rail mounted bogie crane.

Huanan Forestry Railway.

The Huanan Forestry Railway (762 mm gauge) apparently now has 63 km of track, down from 368 km. We saw 6 steam engines (all 0-8-0s) (2 in the workshop, the remainder in steam), which is apparently all they have. Additionally there were 4 engines dumped (one of them partly cut up). We were told that the railway was opened in 1952, but they started building it in 1948. The forests are pretty well worked out, but as far as I could gather there is still some timber traffic. The main traffic seems to be coal from a mine at the end of the one remaining line. This line is apparently the southernmost of the lines shown radiating out to the east of Huanan on the Nelles map of N-E China. There are also what are apparently gold workings alongside the line, but I do not know if they generate much traffic. The only passenger carrying vehicle seems to be a bogie railbus, which I think is primarily for PW staff etc.

Steam locomotives observed (all 0-8-0s, 762 mm gauge):

In steam: 043, 044 (the only number I could see was painted on the front, below the smokebox door, and it was barely visible!), 168,  2004
In workshop: 11, 041
Dumped: B1 001, 52, Unidentified, Unidentified, partly cut up
Numbers on dumped tenders:
07
2011     (could that be an old tender from no 11?)
21001    (could that be the tender from dumped B1 001)
2104*     (where the * was pretty well illegible, possibly 5)

Bogie railbus (possibly 2-A1, one of the others in our group looked underneath, and the drive shaft from the engine went to the rear bogie):   I could see no number anywhere on the railbus to identify it.

Chaihe Forestry Railway.

We were told that this closed a year or two ago, since the forests were worked out. The system was apparently over 1000 km. The narrow gauge station area in Chaihe (on the E side of the Mudan Jiang, i.e. the same side of the river as the main line railway) was certainly derelict, and I counted 5 dumped steam engines, 18 coaches and luggage vans etc., dozens of trucks, and also a pile of bridge girders. Across the river (the Mudan Jiang) there was a row of old bridge piers (with one or two missing), was that the bridge for the narrow gauge railway?

Steam locomotives observed (all narrow gauge (presumably 762 mm) 0-8-0s):

Dumped: 110, 116 (a), 118 (a), 119, 121
Numbers on dumped tenders: 102, 112, 113, 122, 124

(a) "Industrial Locomotives of the People's Republic of China" (Industrial Railway Society 1996,ISBN 0 901096 96-2) pages 26, 27 & 37 speculates that Xilin Mineral Railway nos. 16 and 18 (noted under repair 1996) were ex-Chaihe Forestry Railway nos. 116 and 118 (identities presumed from similarity in running numbers).   Given that we saw nos. 116 and 118 dumped at Chaihe in early October 1997 Xilin nos.16 and 18 do not seem to be ex-Chaihe.