China - Steam to the Gobi Desert - English • Great Railways

This classic documentary by Nick Lera takes us on a 1991 journey on China’s railways, the world's last great bastion of steam operation. Starting in the last standard gauge steam locomotive factory at Tangshan, where we join coal miners in their steam-hauled shuttle to the pithead, we travel from Beijing past the Great Wall of China and on through the wilds of inner Mongolia to Zhongwei on the edge of the Gobi desert. En route we enjoy a good lunch in our dining car express, and take a dramatic cab ride aboard our steam locomotive, one of China’s famous QJ class 2-10-2 locomotives. Other classic steam types featured are YJ 2-6-2 at Baotou steel works, plus JF 2-8-2 and SY 2-8-2 on branch line and mine service. A rare archive clip shows an ex-Soviet Railways FD class 2-10-2 filmed inside the great Yangtze bridge.
We conclude with double-headed heavy freights in stunning mountain scenery on the horseshoe curves beyond Zhongwei en route to China’s Far West. In all, a fascinating portrait of a now vanished era.
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