Ji-Tong Pictures 2 - Galadesitai to Shangdian

September 2002

All photographs © Copyright Duncan Cotterill 2002. All rights reserved.

Near Galadesitai

On a glorious Autumn morning, QJ 7041 & 6356 cross the low bridge just west of Galadesitai with a westbound freight. Although it's not yet 10 o'clock, the weather is so warm that there's not a trace of white in the exhaust of either engine. Everywhere, the farm workers are busy gathering in the last of harvest, returning the fields to their familiar brown colour ready for the winter.

Little did we realise that Hans Schaefer was sitting on a nearby hill watching all the activity in the valley. Did you notice the four lunatics running round in the riverbed, Hans? That was us. QJ6230 crosses Reshui viaduct as the sun manages to avoid lighting the scene yet again. It had been a very frustrating afternoon.

The harvest was in full swing during our visit and the fields teemed with people gathering in the crops. China's farmers may lack mechanical equipment but they do seem to make very effective use of the land available. Maybe there's a lesson the west could learn here?

Whether it's autumn or winter, the semaphore signals at most stations on the Ji-Tong railway add a lot to the character of the line. In a country where colour lights have been the norm for many years, it's remarkable that a line built in the 1990's was equipped with proper signals. QJ 7041 & 6356 blast into Liudigou on a long westbound freight.

After a lousy day, the cloud eventually cleared late afternoon. We picked up a westbound goods near Linxi and chased it back to Reshui, getting this last shot in brilliant light. Seconds later the sun had dropped into the next bank of cloud rolling in from the west. QJ 6735 & 7143 are approaching the Liudigou distant signal on level 3 high above Reshui.