By Justin Franz
This week, the editors of Railfan & Railroad Magazine are looking at some of the biggest stories in railroading in 2022. Be sure to check Railfan.com every weekday all year long for all your (free) railroad news and if you like what you see, consider subscribing.
The age of steam in one of its last strongholds came to a close in 2022. On April 25, the Sandaoling Coal Mine Railway — long considered by rail enthusiasts to be the last place on earth to see steam locomotives in regular, revenue freight service — ran its final steam-powered coal train. On May 7, the owner of the railroad began ripping up the track.
Deep in the West Pit, an electric shovel loaded JS 8225’s spoil train while another JS navigated the switchbacks upgrade in the background. Photo by Ben Kletzer.
After regular service steam power disappeared in the Americas and Europe in the 20th Century, enthusiasts set their sights on China starting in the 1980s and 1990s as the place to take in main line steam railroading. Among the highlights was the Jitong Railway in Inner Mongolia, which operated double-headed 2-10-2s until 2005. Once that came to an end, steam fans turned their lenses on smaller operations, such as the Sandaoling, which rostered a fleet of 2-8-2 locomotives in western China. The Sandaoling served a number of coal mines, had a double track main line and featured tough 2 percent grades. It also had steam-powered cranes, which according to some reports, are presenting being used to rip up the railroad.
With the end of regular operations there, the only places on earth to see steam locomotives in revenue freight service are small switching operations in China, North Korea and Bosnia. However, according to author and photographer Ben Kletzer, who made multiple trips to China to photograph steam and authored a recent cover story about it for Railfan & Railroad, those operations are sporadic at best.
“All other steam operations are run by nonprofits, museums or tourist railways utilizing steam for preservation and pleasure, not for necessity,” Kletzer wrote. “It is sad to say, but real steam is truly dead.”