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| Mmm,
the Huanan line. My favourite place. C2 #4 leaves the depot at sunrise |
|
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| Morning
departure from the Huanan yard |
|
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| A
hardy man. At least it is warm in there |
|
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| Until
Xiahua, the line runs across a fairly flat plain that in summer
is full of corn and other crops |
|
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| The
Wedding Crashers. Is that Jet Li's brother in the
passenger seat? |
|
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| Frozen
Beef in the making |
|
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| The
C2 class: "an elephant balancing on a beach ball" |
|
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| Approaching
Xiahua. Yes, I did edit some foreigners and a pole line out of
this but managed to leave those dust spots in top right. Eejit. |
|
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| Crossing
at Xiahua |
|
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| Just
past Xiahua, while changing lenses on two cameras, but before
attaching them, I manage to drop the 1Ds face down in the snow.
Eejit. The 40D is this pressed into service here |
|
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| Steam
- taken quite appropriately with a steamed-up lens through a steamed up minibus
window |
|
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| At
Tuoyauzi, the line starts climbing and we start walking |
|
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| After
a long walk up to the summit, we await a loaded banked train that we
can hear coming up from Lixin |
|
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| The
sun, shadows, wind and steam are perfect! The lead engine enters
the frame, I
press the shutter and.... nothing. Arrrrgggghhh! Looks
like my fake 1Ds battery isn't seating properly on the contacts
in the cold. Still a quick smack and the banker is snapped |
|
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| The
Lixin loco facilities. The loco has returned from its efforts
banking the train in the previous shot to the summit and
returned from the mine with the next loaded train. It waits for
the next set of inbound empties, which will provide the banker loco
for the back of its train. All very complicated... |
|
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| The
train departs just after sunset, which was about 3pm |
|
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| Night
departure just out of Lixin |
|
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| The
banker |
|
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| After
the banker returns, it continues with its empties to the mine at
Hongguang. |
|
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| Next
morning, it is -35˚C
(-31˚F) on the hillside above Lixin and we catch the first
train of the day preparing for departure. The loads come in from
the mine and are shuffled around a bit before the banker (which
has just arrived with empties and has been turned on the wye off
to the left) goes on the back |
|
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| Just
as the sun comes up, the departure is spectacular. One of
the most memorable sights of my life. I need to get out
more. |
|
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| As
Dave, Aaron and I walk up to the summit, we meet another set of
empties coming downhill |
|
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| We
try to catch the next banked train up at the S curve before the
summit, but get screwed by clouds of steam and clouds of clouds.
Due to the short days, this was 'the' daylight banked train. |
|
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| We
head back to Lixin a bit disappointed, but Aaron and I return
many hours later to take a night shot as light snow falls. Unfortunately the lead
loco is a real leaker and the flashes on the rear loco don't go
off due to battery challenges in the frigid air.
Still, what are ya gonna do. |
|
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| An
equally steamy banker |
|
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| Having
done its duty, the banker returns to Lixin light, where it will
pick up its empties again and continue on its journey to
Hongguang for loading |
|
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| A
snowman at Lixin |
|
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| Shuffling
around in the Lixin yard |
|
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| Early
next morning, a loaded train approaches Lixin from the Hongguang
end of the line |
|
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| And
after that... there wasn't much going on at all due to the
general winding down for the Chinese New Year break, so we head back downhill
but there are no more trains |
|
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| Damn
it's cold. Those dudes who elected to take the sleds must be
frozen solid. |
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