This video shows steam locomotives at work on passenger trains and coal traffic in the Fuxin area of NE China. Much of the action at Fuxin is centred around the ebb and flow at numerous level crossings. The film also includes a colliery overhead electric narrow gauge system, and battery powered mine trains. A particular feature of the coal mine tip at Wulong is the dust cloud when wagons dump colliery waste.

Please see http://www.sy-country.co.uk/ for a full account of this N E China trip.

Update December 2011

The situation on the ground remains very much as in recent reports. On the 17th December 2011 the morning line-up at Wulong Yard saw 6 SYs in steam at 0800, the following morning 5 SYs were being serviced as we arrived, together with 2 diesels but within a few minutes a third came through from Wulong Mine on a loaded coal train, to be followed a few moments later by 2 SYs topping and tailing a rake of empty spoil wagons, but also with a diesel on the end.

Once the shift change was over, we headed to the Wulong Tip branch, where activity was quite intensive, with 2 trains at the head of the tip on the morning of 17th, and a steady rotation of trains throughout the day. There appeared to be two types of spoil being tipped - heavy rock over burden from the deep level mines, in trains of not more than five wagons which when fully loaded posed a challenge for the SYs on the steeply graded line.

There was lots of slipping as trains neared the top of the branch. Less frequent were longer trains of 7 wagons, which may have been clinker from the power stations. Both the tip and Wulong Mine, where there was also lots of activity, including a number of spoil workings up the tip branch, were 100% steam while we were there.