Interested in Working Steam?

Interested in working steam? Want to visit China? John Raby has a list of reasons why you should join his tour to Sichuan Province which visits the Shibanxi line that runs from 5-15 March 2012.

"1. It's the place I chose for my 60th birthday last year because it's one of the best narrow gauge steam railways (real or preserved) in the world
2. real steam ng, trains in a landscape, friendly people, good food
3. walk everywhere and anywhere
4. no cars
5. the nicest place I know in China
6. some great little locos that think they are big, working their socks off
7. passenger, coal traffic, tourist trains, additional cargoes – pigs, refrigerators, brick, bamboo (and even corpses!)
8. five tunnels to walk through (bring a torch) and 1 reversal
9. electric coal trains and steam under the wires on the bottom section
10. haircut in Bagou, stay with the doctor in Mifeng
11. hiking trails with views of the line in the hills between Sanjing and Huangcun
12.small coal mine at Huangcun with hand tramming (and 300mm and 600mm gauge)"


This is the second time that this tour has run, so you can read about the 2011 trip on John Raby's blog. Even if you cannot take the trip, I recommend reading the blog just for the pictures and perspective on life in small-town China.

The fully refundable deposit for the tour is 400 British pounds with the tour itself priced in Chinese yuan. The main tour costs 11,000 yuan for 10 nights and is to be paid in China at the start of the tour or my bank transfer to the Chinese guide, Zebedee. Minus the £400, that means ¥7,000 will need to be paid in China. All meals, transportation, and tours are included in this price. Most of the rooms will be singles, although you will need to pay a small surcharge to guarantee a single room every night. Tour arrangements assume that participants will fly into and out of Chengdu in western China. Apparently, this is easy for people coming from the UK, but may be more of challenge (and more expensive) if you are coming from the US.

Both pre and post tours are available at an additional, reasonable cost. (At current exchange rates, this entire tour costs less than $1,800.)

The deadline to book is February 1. Contact John Raby at jraby at linesiding.co.uk if you are interested in more information.

Upcoming rail trips to Asia

There are two rail trips being planned that I know about. The first is ground transit only with no flights within the country being visited. The second only has a single flight.

In March, John Raby is hosting a trip to the Leshan region in southern Sichuan to ride on a steam passenger line as well as visit coal railways in the area. The tour will be kept small (10 people max) to allow all participants to directly experience China and to encounter regular people along the way. This is very much an unpackaged tour and as such involved lots of real Chinese food and the ability to walk up to 10km a day over uneven surfaces. The trip also involves lots of flowers along the track; the trip is being planned for the beginning of March for flowers and the (possibly) good weather.

Shibanxi and Mojiang Narrow Gauge Coal Railways 7 - 17 March 2011

ends and starts in Chengdu, Sichuan Province

aprox. £ 1000 ($1550)

Airfare from London (through Amsterdam) is available for £571.

Americans can get to Chengdu by flying to Beijing and then taking a train.

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Farrail is running a tour of steam engines used in the sugar industry. This tour is all rail except for a flight at the end from Surabaya to Jakarta. This trip would be good for someone who is interested in how things work.