Vintage Harbin Shed Pictures

December 1984

The shed was very atmospheric during our morning visit with a constant stream of QJs appearing out of the fog, being serviced, taking on coal, water and sand then disappearing into the gloom in search of their next working. In temperatures of -25C or below with so much moisture in the air everything quickly became coated in ice and an army of workers was kept employed chipping the stuff away to keep the depot functioning.

JF1913 was probably built in Japan prior to Liberation in 1949 but may be have been built in China during the period of Japanese occupation. Sources differ as to whether these pre-liberation locos were built in China or merely assembled from Japanese made components.

The fog lifted towards the end of our visit revealing a busy scene. QJ2141 (centre) received attention under the sand tower while a worker cleared frozen ash from between the rails.

Eventually, the sun broke through illuminating the locos during the few brief periods when the billowing clouds of steam from the other engines cleared.

As the fog started to lift a surreal scene materialised before our eyes. SL661(a Jilin engine?) was silhouetted against a wild sky and swirling steam. Harbin had an allocation of RM pacifics at the time but none were seen on shed, leading me to believe that as passenger engines they were based at Sankeshu (Harbindong) like the DFH3s and this was a visitor from another depot.

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