Video of a very interesting “urban exploration” of an underground steam locomotive repair facility in China. Pretty much a fully equipped backshop built in a series of underground tunnels for protection from air attack.

Hundreds of machine tools, bridge cranes, inspection pits, rows and rows of drivers and wheel sets, some spare parts, and at least one intact JS 2-8-2. The facility was abandoned some years ago with no apparent effort to salvage anything inside.

https://youtu.be/QbDQdumtR3k?si=oWLoLlTtPJh0T52w

Very cool video, but if there is any place I would NOT want to be caught doing something like this, China would be near the top of the list.

WOW !!! Thanks for posting, and thanks to the lunatics that risked their lives making this video !!!

The whole time I was watching it, I was waiting for somebody to be killed by walking into a booby trap. It reminds me of the only time I've ever (almost) fallen into an inspection pit, at Ying Hao narrow gauge --- I needed to change my film, and saw a welder in front of an engine they were overhauling, with a nice flat surface I could put my camera gear on. There was what looked like a solid piece of wood laid across the pit in the right location for somebody to stand on while adjusting the welder, so I figured it was safe. SURPRISE SURPRISE, when I stepped on it, it was CARDBOARD !!! One leg went into the pit, my other one stayed outside the rail, but I smashed my nuts on that rail while trying to save my zoom lens. That was with the lights on, and during daylight hours. Just imagine somebody being injured inside that underground steam shop, needing immediate medical attention....

Thinking this over a bit, I notice that some of the machine tools only looked normally scuzzy for a locomotive shop, and the narrator commented on finding paperwork from 2006. I "think" this must have been the place where they overhauled the last two QJs from the Mudanjiang power plant http://www.rypn.org/articles/single.php ... 221746.txt for intended resale in the USA. There was an outfit called "Precision _______" that was trying to sell rebuilt China Rail engines, and which also offered appliances for sale at prices inflated several times over what they had been offered to me for in 2005 and 2006. This must have been their honey hole.

I already posted this in railfanning...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47863

Interesting that the machines are all exactly the same nauseating shade of yellow/green as the ones SRC inherited from the Reading. I wonder how that came to be.

Is the outfit you're talking about Multipower International? Their website is still up, but I don't know if there are any more locomotives/rolling stock/parts available.

It is indeed: https://www.multipowerinternational.com/index.html

I notice the pictures of QJs are the same two I saw in the power plant at Mudanjiang, still at that location. The fotos of standard gauge engines listed as being in stock are dated 2006. The whistles they offered have no price shown, and are listed as "high sellout risk"...

Part of me is tempted to email them and see what's left... Depending on how people view Chinese engines being imported in today's climate, there might be some engines that could be good fits for heritage lines.

Not to divert attention from this topic, but is there a market for new-build steam locomotives on the standard gauge scale? Maybe designs based on the SY's, JS's or even - if we want to get domestic - a Baldwin 90-ton Mikado?

With the whole of the 5AT project going into dormancy, I don't think there is really much of a market for "new" small steam -- and there's more value for most of the people on RyPN in restoring or rebuilding some neglected existing locomotive than making the whole thing from scratch. As I recall there have been similar attempts, for example with Roger Waller in Europe, to develop a line of engines to facilitate 'Plandampf'-style operations, or in one case known to Andreas Schwander, commuter operations. I know of nothing that has had any sort of long-term success, even if its costs or overhead were supported by other lines of business, or it had access to appropriate cheap funding on good terms (as for GM during initial waves of dieselization).

I'd have thought a facility like Meiningen would be suited to 'outsource' construction or spares provision for something like a 'generically optimized' 2-6-2 or 2-8-0.

It is possible that an operation like the one starting up at Silvis could be used as an 'outsourcing' point to develop a 21-st-Century-USRA type of standardized new power that could be shelled out using pre-coded CNC and other modern aids. If we could get around the manifold political and then economic and then insurance "issues", I would be tempted to fit out part of the Steamtown shop with non-Lackawanna-historic-fabric equipment and then arrange to produce locomotives or subassemblies 'at cost' for various railroads with a need -- as an ongoing training exercise and as a demonstration for visitors of 'how a working steam shop goes about its business'...

Well, they have their contact information posted, and it couldn't hurt to see what they can offer. However, I like Chinese steam because I spent a month there, visiting 15 different steam operations and saw 6 classes in regular service. I'm a member of a pretty small group. A lot of heritage RR riders can't tell Chinese from American locomotives, but most all of the ones that can prefer Baldwin, ALCO, Lima or Porter engines. There are certainly plenty of our American built locomotives that need help, IMHO your time, money, and effort would be be better spent on them.

Well, I loved the Gettysburg Railroad under steam, too........ Sure doesn't mean I encourage that "business model" or future patronage........

I worked at the 701 Factory as project manager, and in plant locomotive inspector for Henry Posner with RDC for QJ steam locomotives 6988, 7081, and 7040 rebuilds and FRA 1472-day inspection in 2006 and 2007 spending about 2 1/2 months there.
The factory was placed in a very rural area about 25 KM from Jinzhou, Liaoning, China.
Facility was connected to China National RR branch to Nanpiao which connected to Nanpiao Coal Railway. Most of the factory workers 100-125 people commuted on a local passenger train daily to Jinzhou. Some workers lived in brick buildings on the property. the facility consisted of two tunnels:
The lower elevation tunnel and track when all the way through the mountain and curve around and connect to the higher shop tunnel. This tunnel was set up for just protected inside locomotive servicing and daily inspections. Tunnel water standpipes. pits and smoke jacks.
The Shop tunnel track had two screw jack locomotive hoist sets with 10-ton overhead crane for lifting off running gear and two smaller hoist sets for the Tender frames.
The was set-up so locomotives had to be spotted from either end of tunnel. Track was not a through track on account of hoist sets.
Tunnel system had two main perpendicular tunnels connected to the main tunnel that were equipped with all the necessary machine tools for preforming all heavy steam locomotive rebuilding to to include wheel lathe, driver journal lathe, quartering machine. wheel press, boring mills, link grinder, planner, shapers, milling machine, piston rod grinders, driving box boring machine, rod boring machines. The speed and quality of machine work was very good. Time required to turn drivers & journals and do quartering on 5 driver sets on a QJ was less than 3 days. One tunnel side bay was heavy machine tools with the other for the smaller machines.
Also, inside tunnels was a storeroom, toilets, smaller spaces for facility equipment.

Buildings outside the tunnels consisted of:
workshop building with overhead cranes to lift boilers, tender cistern and cab which were all worked there before the locomotives chassis and tender frame went into the tunnel machine shop. Was also equipped with tube and flue safe ending are and an superheat repair area.
Powerhouse: with boilers for steam, electricity and air. When I was their boiler was out of service and the shop switcher steam locomotive was piped up to heat water once or twice a day.
Babbitt building all Babbitt work accomplished here.

Office Building, Commissary, personnel living spaces, toilets, showers locker rooms.
faciality being in rural area meals were provided for all. Not your American Chinese food!

Production was about 2 locomotives a month for a 250,000KM standard heavy rebuild they also did other repairs. As I know they did QJ repairs for Jitong RR and various industrial JS and SY repairs. I believed factory was closed in the fall of 2007. The other 2 QJs that were stored were scrapped about that time.

I was last that the 701-factory in August 2010 acquiring parts, flues and a set of
screw - locomotive hoists. Even then machines in tunnel were getting rusty.

QJs 6988 and 7081 had the 250,000KM rebuilds accomplish in about 5 or 6 weeks
The boiler and machinery work were good. Appliance work was fair to poor. Appearance work was rough RR functional standard.

Factory was built as a military harden Facility by the Army but seems to have been operated by China National Railroad as part of Jinzhou Shed.

I was one of the first westerners ever to be allowed there and beside a RJ Corman employee for 7040 only a few to work there. Luckly a had a very enable Chinese interpreter Vicky Yuan for all the projects. No one spoke English even in Jinzhou where we stayed and commuted by van every day to the factory.

Most of the people at the factory were great to work with as I mostly was involved with two chief inspectors the senior one was a lifelong steam man and very knowledgeable, the other one was their boiler expert. I consider the 701 Factory experience one of the high points in my almost 50 years in Railroading.

Dennis Daugherty

Were these QJ1830 and QJ1675 ??

And thanks for your description of the facilities.

That’s an amazing story. I was thinking as I was watching it that I’d love to see a diagram of this place as it was practically impossible to tell what was where as the guys were wandering around in the dark. It’s a shame to see so many irreplaceable machine tools go to waste but I suppose even if they were available at scrap prices, the cost of getting them out and transporting them would be prohibitive.

I had the pleasure in 1985 of spending 5 days on the finish line at the Datong locomotive factory accompanied by a very capable English speaking host.

We had reached a signed agreement with the Ministry of Railways to build the ACE 3000 locos in the Datong plant and ship them to us in Los Angeles. The project died when the world price of oil sank from $ 32/barrel to $ 9/barrel and my 2 railroad investors ( CSX & BN ) pulled out.

IIRC at that time the Datong plant was turning out 2 brand new QJ's a day 6 days a week and the sight of thousands of workers arriving and leaving at shift change time all on bicycles was a sight to remember.

Ross Rowland

Most military style "hardened" facilities would have an equally secure power generating source. The only power plant supplying the tunnel complex was external? That seems contradictory to the purpose of putting the repair complex underground.

PC