The last days of steam in China

For our 2nd session in the new season David Hugill gave us a presentation on the last days of steam in China.

David started by giving us a background into China particularly outlining his route which covered a huge swathe of eastern China. He was extremely fortunate with his timing as much of the steam was withdrawn fairly quickly after his 2004 visit.

Of particular interest were the SY 282 Mikado’s of which 1820 were produced. They were based on an American design from the 1920s for use in Korea being made from 1960 to 1999.

David showed several pictures of their use in collieries as they provided a reliable workhorse with small driving wheels and limited top speed proved ideal for commercial traffic.

Many of the pictures bore a striking resemblance to Wales coalfield form the 1930s.

Interspersed with his rail shots David also gave us illustrations of his tourist trip covering sites such as the Great wall and the terracotta army. The shots of the 3 gorges dam were particularly striking.

Continuing his journey many shots of SY s were shown, one even had “Work hard and make your town more prosperous” as graffiti on its side.

Sadly in 2005 diesels replaced these iconic engines.

To finish David then showed many local pictures especially steam on the s and c.

This was an outstanding presentation giving us a strong flavour of Chinese culture combined with super steam action