Heritage route
Jiayang Steam Train
Shixi → Bagou · China
One of the world’s last everyday steam railways: C2 engines built for 1950s coal pits still haul villagers past rapeseed terraces for pocket change.
Built in 1958–59 to bring coal down from the Bagou pits, this 762 mm line never stopped running its C2 steam engines, and villagers still ride the wooden coaches to market for a few yuan. The train reverses up a zig-zag at Mifengyan and rounds horseshoe curves that blaze yellow with rapeseed every March. At the end sits Bagou, a remarkably preserved Mao-era mining town.
Along the way
- Shixi valley departure under steam
- Mifengyan zig-zag reversal
- Caiziba’s rapeseed horseshoe curve
- Bagou’s preserved mining town
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 4264534 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Jiayang Steam Train?
The Jiayang Steam Train runs 20 km from Shixi to Bagou.
How long does the Jiayang Steam Train take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 1 h 15 min for the 20 km. That is an average of 16 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 20 km/h.
Who runs the Jiayang Steam Train?
Jiayang Group, with C2-class 762 mm steam locomotive, wooden open-window coaches.
How old is the Jiayang Steam Train?
The line has been in service since 1959. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How often does the Jiayang Steam Train run?
4× daily each way.
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