Mandarin Madness – Solo Travels in China

Our meeting tonight was superb and thoroughly entertaining. Dave Longman talked about his solo trips to China to photograph steam. He visited various coal mines and steel works on several trips. in the winters, during the 1990’s, at this time the temperature averaged minus 35, but this produced clear skies with superb steam effects.
The coal trains around 800m long were usually hauled by double-headed 2-10-2 loco’s, with another banking at the rear of the train. The sight of such heavily loaded trains produced these spectacular steam effects to photograph, with either a mountainous or an industrial background scene.
During the evening Dave told us about many of the experiences he had communicating with the local people, many of whom had never seen a British person previously, at 6 ft tall he must have towered over them. Most of the time he had no difficulty gaining access to the working areas and once inside was never challenged, very often being offered cab rides by the crew, or sharing meals with them. During his visits he always found the Chinese people very welcoming and hospitable. What more can a person ask for - lots of steam, many loco’s and friendly people.
An evening very much enjoyed everyone attending, unfortunately it was the smallest attendances I can recall since the inauguration of the Branch.

Dave Elsdon
Branch Secretary