tarboat's photos with the keyword: ningxia

QJ powered coal train crossing the bridge over the frozen Yellow River at Wuzhong on the Daba to Guyaozi line in the deserts of western China.

East of the small town of Lingwu the railway passes through a desert and semi-desert landscape all the way to the mines at Guyaozi. After a long wait on a bleak hillside the afternoon empties arrived behind a QJ class locomotive which was thrashing uphill in great style.

The extension of the Daba-Guyaozi Coal Railway to the new coal mine at Yangchangwan was only completed in 2005. Until the diesels took over at the end of 2006, QJ class locomotives hauled long trains through the desert to and from Guyaozi. There wasn't much sun around on this visit and the temperature was below freezing.

The visit to the desert line between Daba and Guyaozi was intended to make shots amidst the dunes and wide open spaces. The weather had other ideas and the falling snow soon reduced visibility and required a change of tactics. QJ 7205 nears Guyaozi with a long train of empty coal wagons.

Outside the small town of Guyaozi in Ningxia Province stands this gem. It features the local power station and the newly opened coal mine at Yangshangwan, of which the two domes over the coal storage areas are prominent. It is an advertisement aimed at attracting business investment into this remote desert area. The town, it says, is one of the biggest places where dinosaurs were living and has a great amount of resources, industry, good environment and historical culture!

In Ningxia Autonomous Region, west central China, the Yangchangwan coal mine opened in 2004. The location amongst the desert dunes is remote and wild and is served by a 10km branch of the Daba-Guyaozi Coal Railway. This new line was steam operated until late 2006 and may still see occasional steam haulage.

Although this may seem to be a historic image this branch of the Daba-Guyaozi Coal Railway was only completed in 2005. A QJ class locomotive hauls a long train of empties through the desert from Guyaozi to the new coal mine at Yangchangwan in Ningxia Province, China.