Modern Steam at Sandaoling

[Kiha66]

Apparently operations are winding down, and the repair shop has since been closed so the current plan is to run each locomotive till it breaks down.  Some operations have already been shifted to truck and the newer pit has opened with diesels rather than steam.  Still, the last of full size steam locomotives in mainline service, rather than just as a industrial switcher.  And its possible that one or two may even last until 2020 considering how recently they were built and/or overhauled.  Anyone else down for a trip to China before the last of them are gone?  Now how can I kitbash one in N scale.....

 

[gavino200]

On 8/13/2018 at 1:03 AM, Kiha66 said:

 Anyone else down for a trip to China before the last of them are gone?  

 

Actually yes. But I doubt if I can talk my wife into going to Xinjiang. What I'd really like to do would be to start in Urumqi and make my way to Europe on the old silk road. Maybe someday. 

 

But what we'll probably do is land in SH and take the Maglev from the airport to the city. Then after a day or two take a high speed rail to Nanjing where we'll spend a week or so with some friends of mine. Then a slow train uphill to Moganshan where we'll hang out in one of the mansions built in the 1920s for Shanghai gangsters and colonial expats. It's still a rough plan. Nothing written in stone. 

 

(First I have to ween myself off my infatuation with German and get back to my China obsession) 

[Kiha66]

43 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

Actually yes. But I doubt if I can talk my wife into going to Xinjiang. What I'd really like to do would be to start in Urumqi and make my way to Europe on the old silk road. Maybe someday. 

 

Sounds like a good plan!   While you work on convincing her I'll start learning Chinese, shouldn't take too long to get proficient I'm sure.  😁

[gavino200]

2 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

 

Sounds like a good plan!   While you work on convincing her I'll start learning Chinese, shouldn't take too long to get proficient I'm sure.  😁

 

Of course I know you're joking. But if you ever did decide on that, I have a ton of material I can give you. It's not as hard as people say. Pronunciation is a bitch. And it takes a while to learn characters. But after that it's super easy. There's zero, inflection or conjugation. The "words" are like immutable lego blocks that you build sentences out of. Grammar is minimal. Also, most Chinese people other than the youngest generation, are learning Mandarin as a second language and are super paranoid about "how bad their Mandarin is", which makes them fairly tolerant of your efforts. Also, if you use a computer program with pinyin, you can actually type those moon runes faster than you can type in English. 

 

Chinese opens up China, and China is probably the most interesting place on the planet, right now. Do it! Take the plunge! 

[Kiha66]

3 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

 

Of course I know you're joking. But if you ever did decide on that, I have a ton of material I can give you. It's not as hard as people say. Pronunciation is a bitch. And it takes a while to learn characters. But after that it's super easy. There's zero, inflection or conjugation. The "words" are like immutable lego blocks that you build sentences out of. Grammar is minimal. Also, most Chinese people other than the youngest generation, are learning Mandarin as a second language and are super paranoid about "how bad their Mandarin is", which makes them fairly tolerant of your efforts. Also, if you use a computer program with pinyin, you can actually type those moon runes faster than you can type in English. 

 

Chinese opens up China, and China is probably the most interesting place on the planet, right now. Do it! Take the plunge! 

 

Actually I need to take an extra unit of classes this semester while I finish up the two classes that I need for my degree, I was considering taking beginning Chinese!  I think being interested in the country will help a lot more than my uninterested struggling years of Spanish back in high school. 

[gavino200]

4 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

 

Actually I need to take an extra unit of classes this semester while I finish up the two classes that I need for my degree, I was considering taking beginning Chinese!  I think being interested in the country will help a lot more than my uninterested struggling years of Spanish back in high school. 

 

Do it. Chinese 101 is not hard. I'll give you some tips and I'll bet you a train you'll get an A.

[Kiha66]

2 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

Do it. Chinese 101 is not hard. I'll give you some tips and I'll bet you a train you'll get an A.

 

Thanks for the encouragement!  Maybe I'll try starting with something like duolingo until the semester begins, so I can try to get ahead early.

[gavino200]

22 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

 

Thanks for the encouragement!  Maybe I'll try starting with something like duolingo until the semester begins, so I can try to get ahead early.

 

I'll send you a message or email with some goodies over the weekend.

[Szdfan]

It looks like they are still at it. Article in Trains Magazine about the steam operations in Sandaoling.
 

https://www.trains.com/trn/videos-photos/photos/photo-galleries/final-days-of-steam-in-western-china/?fbclid=IwAR1rNzJT6pfmU4-0fO3h6DpQHPRTdqDq--s95DjQn7vppJZq66EGjckX8HA

[Kiha66]

That article is from early 2020, when they were still running but the maintenance shed had been torn down.  I very much hope they are still running, but it's likely they have steamed their last sometime in the past year.

[Szdfan]

5 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

That article is from early 2020, when they were still running but the maintenance shed had been torn down.  I very much hope they are still running, but it's likely they have steamed their last sometime in the past year.

It popped up on my FB feed this morning. I didn’t realize it was from 2020 until after I posted it.

[tridentalx]

On 7/19/2021 at 2:08 AM, Szdfan said:

It popped up on my FB feed this morning. I didn’t realize it was from 2020 until after I posted it.

I'm glad it did because otherwise i wouldn't have been drawn to this thread and the fascinating video from the OP. Thanks.