Sandaoling coal mine in Xinjiang, now the biggest steam locomotive operation in the world. Photo: courtesy of Hans Schaefer

By Sheng Taotao

Hans Schaefer is not a usual tourist. He is kind of a loner. The Norwegian software engineer tries to make it to China every year and has traveled about 50,000 kilometers during the last 13 years. Why? "Because China is the last country in the world where steam locomotives are in daily action," said Schaefer.

Schaefer is one of the hundreds of train enthusiasts coming to China from all over the world to see the trains. They do the same things: they talk to each other. They inform each other. They take photos and they write reports.

Seen and gone

Jitong railway, from Jining to Tongliao, in Inner Mongolia of China, whose 27 trains used to be some of the last locomotive passenger trains still running in the world. Xinhua reported on December 10 2005 that the last 155-km-long railway line where the steam trains run had gone to diesel.

Jitong railway was opened in December 1995 and was, until 2000, entirely steam operated. Then steamers were gradually replaced by DF4 diesels. By December 2005, the railway's tenth anniversary, all the steamers were gone.

Hans Schaefer was there to wave the goodbye. Actually he has been to where Jitong QJ (Qian Jin, China's largest loco type) trains run about 15 times since his first Chinese train trip in 1996. He wrote in his train report at the time: "The last steam passenger train was 6052 on December 7, 2005, departure 20.04 hrs from Chabuga.".

Schaefer made a lot of friends in China. Most of them are railway employees whom he has met with regularly over the past few years. Quite a few Chinese people have invited him to their homes. Even now he still has contact with many locomotive drivers at Jitong railway.

"Railway employees are especially friendly. They like to find out how things are done in my country, and I like to find out how things are done in China. Actually, there is no real difference: the general goal is safety, safety, safety, and reliable service," Schaefer said.

His driver friends in Jitong railway taught him how to operate steam locomotives. In October 2005, Schaefer was working on their last QJ engines, shoveling coal into the fire.

"It was very hard work. But the work was rewarding. If you do a bad job on a steam locomotive, the train will stop! It is like you are on top of a volcano and you control it: smoke, fire, steam, power, noise...like a dragon!" Schaefer said.

One of Schaefer's oldest friends in Jitong railways, He Liwen, started taking photos of trains too after he met Schaefer. And now he is involved in running the locomotive museum operated by Jitong railway.

Lost tracks

Narrow gauge steamers, according to Chen Yuehong, are a lot more approachable because they are smaller. The ex-TV producer went to Weihe, Heilongjiang Province in 2003 to cover the bankruptcy of the train freight service and the life of logging workers in forest area of northeast China. The trains had been running for many years taking lumber out of the forest.

Coming back from Weihe after wandering around the area for five months, she and her cinematographer Du Jianbin couldn't help but fall for the trains and have been train enthusiasts ever since.

Out of the 60 hours of footage, Chen made a documentary film titled Logging Off. "Those trains have no schedule and no one knows when they are coming. So we waited, and waited," recalled Chen.

They waited 36 hours before the "baby" roared past. They had the moment. Then it took them another four hours to walk back in the dark along the train tracks to go back to the village, where Chen remembered the bathhouse.

"Every thread of my hair was wrapped with coal powder. I smelled like coal as well," said Chen.

The ending shot of Chen's film captured another moment of an old train employee, watching the last train whizzing past. It was indeed the last freight train, which carried its own "coffin": the railroad tie timbers of prior tracks.

"That was the moment of loss. The memory of decades of hard work, with low pay. And it's all gone now," Chen said. "What will they do next? They have no idea themselves."

Inland

Hans Schaefer landed in Beijing again this November and went to Sandaoling coal mine, near Hami in Xinjiang, now the biggest steam locomotive operation in the world.

For a train enthusiast, Sandaoling is an exciting place because there is so much activity. Every train they run is steam. They also use steam cranes. "You do not have to wait until there are some steam trains. There are more than 200 per day," said Schaefer.

As an "old acquaintance" of Chinese steam trains, Schaefer has some privileges: he has direct access to people. They know that he is responsible and will not do dangerous things.

"I could eat at the coal mine restaurant. They had the best food of all restaurants in the area, but no sign outside. Only the workers knew about it," said Schaefer.

On Shaefer's first train trip alone without a guide years ago, he knew some 50 to 100 words of Chinese and he made it all way down to Galadesitai at the Jitong railway, and to Chengde.

"How much Chinese does one need without a guide? Actually none. My Norwegian friend used sign language, writing symbols on a sheet of paper, and was friendly to people. Actually you can go to any place in the world if you have some kind of dictionary, and if you are patient enough and friendly," Schaefer said.

To see steam trains in Beijing:

Dead ones

China Railway Museum

Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, 20,500 square meters in size.

There are 60 trains on show from the different periods of Chinese train history, including the pioneer steam locomotive in China and different imported trains before 1949.

Beijing Railway Museum

Southeast corner of Tiananmen Square. It was rebuilt on the site of 1901ï‚'s Jingfeng Railway Zhengyangmen East Station (Qianmen Railway Station) and opened to the public last year.

Factory 751

Hiding behind the former factory 798. There is a locomotive on display. Go and talk to the old guy who used to actually drive the train.

Still running

Shougang Group

East gate of Shougang, Shijingshan District, west of Beijing. The iron and steel factory offers an industrial sightseeing tour. 40 yuan per person plus 50 yuan for a tour guide.

Some websites you may find helpful if you travel by train in China:

http://home.c2i.net/schaefer/traintravelling. html

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/