| ANSHAN - IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT Anshan is the home of what is almost certainly China's largest steelworks. The entire town and surrounding area is dominated by this huge plant which covers over 15 square kilometres and employs close to half a million people. The main area features 11 blast furnaces and 3 steel making plants and, like many other large industrial concerns in China, has its own internal railway system. Although now dominated by large numbers of diesel and electric locomotives the railway used to have a fleet of about 50 steam locomotives, mainly Class SY 2-8-2's but also some rarer YJ class engines, some JS class engines and a few PL2 's. Until 1999 visiting enthusiasts were able to inspect locomotives under repair in the workshops, watch shunting taking place around the blast furnace area and then watch the incredible spectacle of molten slag being tipped from cauldron wagons onto the waste tips surrounding the site.(see below) This was truely one of the most spectacular sights in China but unfortunately an accident resulting in the death of a Japanese visitor resulted in the slag tip and workshops being placed 'out of bounds' to visitors. Incredibly it is still possible to watch molten metal being poured into wagons, from close quarters, at the blast furnace and then watch the loaded wagons being removed by one of the fleet of locomotives at work in the area. |
| Shafts of sunlight are barely able to penetrate the murky interior of the locomotive repair shop at Anshan. Such locations were always of great interest but were often 'out of bounds' to foreign visitors. |
| "Now we take you to see something very special", said our local guide and we headed off to watch the dumping of molten slag which has come from the blast furnaces. Class SY 2-8-2 No.0436 heads a train of cauldron wagons towards the slag dumping tip |
| Something special? What an understatement that turned out to be! The actual tipping process took some condiderable time with wagons being emptied two at a time. During the journey a thin crust of solidified rock had formed across the surface and this had to be broken up using a crane with a ball. The wagons were then tipped and the molten rock flowed down the side of the bank. Even from a 'safe distance' it was possible to feel the enormous blast of heat as the wagons began to discharge their load of molten slag. A nearby lake was the only unfrozen expanse of water for miles around - a testament to the effect of the 'pour'. Once most of the molten rock had been emptied from the wagons the crane was employed again - this time to dislodge the solidified material around the sides of the wagon. Once this had been completed the next pair of wagons were empted .... and so it continued until the very last wagons had discharged their load. It was a totally compelling spectacle which even these pictures fail to truely convey. Sadly the death of a Japanese visitor brought an end to visits to this particular part of the site shortly after our own visit and only long distance views were available to future visitors |
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| A pair of JS class locomotives standing outside the repair shops at Anshan steelworks on 8th January 1999. Anshan had a very varied fleet of locomotives - one of its great attractions |
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| SY0834 standing inside the repair shop at Anshan. The combination of low light, steam, smoke and dust made photogrphy extremely difficult in 1999. How different it might have been with a digital camera! |
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| In sadly derelict condition and unlikely ever to turn a wheel again, was PL2242 found outside on what appeared to be a scrap road of unwanted or unserviceable locomotives. |
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| Equally unlikely to see a return to steam was YJ238 covered in a mixture of sand and ash and gently rotting away. Behind it in the same line but not in a position to be photographed was a USA tank 0-6-0 |
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| Pollution levels in Anshan were unbelievably high and so a visit to the slag tipping was arranged for the morning whilst skies remained reasonably blue and smog levels had not yet begun to obliterate the sun. SY0436 nears journey's end and the start of the tipping process. |
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| The final part of our visit was to one of the blast furnace areas. Here a number of locomotives were in constant use - either hauling away wagons of molten slag or else wagons full of molten steel. In front of one of the furnaces two SY's and a YJ shunt a variey of cauldron wagons whilst on the left YJ No.286 propels a rake of cauldron wagons full of molten slag away from the furnace. It was a fascinating sight - unlike anything one could hope to see in any other part of the world. The increasing pollution was making photography ever more difficult and there was even a 'taste' to the air itself. The incredible levels of pollution created by the steel plant means that sunshine is a rare commodity which rapidly disappears as the day wears on. Frequently the air over the city is a fetching shade of orange covering the entire area in a fine layer of grime! |
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| 2-8-2 SY0571 backing down towards the blast furnaces - this was one of four engines working in and around this particular furnace. |
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| Also hard at work was a much rarer beast - YJ289. This was the only occasion that I saw a YJ class engine at work and indeed the number of classes of engines still known to be at work by the end of the C20th was very limited indeed - four classes of standard guage engines and one class of narrow guage |
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| Although not a very well lit shot, this view of YJ289 clearly shows its smaller 2-6-2 wheel arrangement. The tenders are cut down at the rear to allow for clearer vision when shunting in limited yards. |
| Click on locations below for more Chinese steam (systems shown in yellow no longer have steam) ANSHAN STEELWORKS BAOTOU BEITAI STEELWORKS BENXI STEELWORKS CHENGDE HANDAN STEELWORKS FUXIN COAL RAILWAY NANPIAO MEIHEKOU JIXI MINING RAILWAYS JINGPENG TIEFA MINING RAILWAY WEIHE FORESTRY RAILWAY XINGZANG BRICKWORKS XUANHAU STEELWORKS YUANBAOSHAN |