The last steam loco built in China - SY 1772

[bilgerat671]

I wonder where the pattern makers went after building this loco.. I f anyone could point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

On another note, I seriously have my doubts about steam being more efficient than diesels. I am a steam boater and my boat was engineered to be quite efficient with a monotube steam generator, etc., but I am not naive when it comes to energy transfer. Unless there's nuclear fuel rods involved, one will always be using more fuel in a steam engine.

[SMGJohn]

Modern steam engines are more compact and efficient then the older engines. If they built a top modern steam train, it would perform many times better then the most modern electric and diesel powered trains.

New boilers that boils water to steam in mathers of seconds, more compact ways to storage water. And these engines can burn parafin and other better fuels

[randommagnum]

That's so odd... I have never owned a car that new! :P

[Soundwave3591]

really, we'll have to go back to steam engine or all the way to electric as the oil for Diesel engines is running out. the US, however, has made no real strides in electrification of freight services like other countries have.

[Yownanymous]

@DarkTower97 Oh yes. It's merely a scare, backed up by rather a lot of expensive scientific experiments and data.

[pennyf9]

China is awsome mainly because they still use steam, they do not like electric or disel beacause its expensive and steam engines need lots of labor and more labor means more jobs! something America forgot.

[Yownanymous]

@pennyf9 I doubt you'd like China's approach to "jobs" if you were a worker there.

[trainlover658]

i wanna see an SY run on nene valley railway :[

[TrainHobbyNet]

Oh!!Teifa!!

★★★★★

[ELLIOS187]

It seems to me the everything we produce or consume produce soma kind of waste,some can be recyled.other not.The huge companies shoul be responsable for both precesses,why? they get all the profits.

[hughrobertwright]

China was very keen to present a "modern image" to the rest of the world and so was replacing steam on many lines at the time when I visited in 2005 (a repeat of how we were in the 1960's). But I believe this line/region is still operated by steam as it has proved to be very popular. By the way the steam program here in the UK is well and truly thriving, look at the new A1 locomotive Tornado for example.

[gaycowboy31]

@hughrobertwright very nice I was in Teifa in November and rode behind this engine and quite a few others there and saw several other working ones in various places in China in the coal mines and one steel mill

[bectiursyt]

magnifique machine

[boleamj]

YAY! China rocks!! Up with those steamers!!!

[superarticulation]

I guess someday in the future, for tour use, these QJ or SY will be set again in China rail way.

It's unbelievable that last week I saw SY passing my hometown station.

[sgprailfan]

You can, they are trying to raise money to run C&O 614 off of Bio-Diesel.

[UFPAlexraptor]

I personally love steamies. The unfortunate truth is that its not just the pollution thats an issue here. Its that diesels and Electric engines are more efficient, fuel storage more compact. A Steam engine needs both water and coal to run, while modern trains just need Diesel or Electricity. Plus they are more efficient cost wise than steamers as well.

[hughrobertwright]

Yes I agree, as a fan of steam engines worldwide, I would also add that there is also another reason why steam locos were withdrawn in Britain and elsewhere. Diesel and electric locos do not need hours of work building up the fire before running, the driver can simply get in and drive off, also there is no longer a need for a driver and fireman, so labour costs can be less. This adds to the issues with range before re-fuelling/watering and possible pollution.

[decline2state]

Well, diesel engines do take a few minutes to start up (as other videos here can show), but a few minutes as opposed to an hour or 2 (or more) can add up to substantial cost savings over a fairly short period of time. IAC, critics suggest that railroads are 19th-century technology, and steam engines certainly validate that assessment. Better to use diesel or electric engines and keep the technology current for the 21st century and beyond.

[SP4449Warbaby]

What happened to SY 1772? Did she get scrapped?

[hughrobertwright]

It was spotted still running in July 2008....anyone got an update or planning a visit? This locomotive was built at Tangshan in October 1999 so will shortly be ten years old. I don't imagine the owners of the Tiefa railway would scrap these locomotives, they realised the value of them as a tourist attraction even when I visited in 2005.

[SP4449Warbaby]

Yeah, it looks like brand new, and its very pretty for a nine year old SY Mike

[gaycowboy31]

@hughrobertwright yah I rode it in November of this last year 2009 in the cab

[hughrobertwright]

good to know that you enjoyed your trip to China and that these locos are still running, have you got any videos to post on YouTube of your trip?

[gaycowboy31]

@hughrobertwright yah I got a few but I need to look at them first I wasnt as luckey as you on videoing here people were allways walking in front of the camra and talking too much however most of my video is going to be at Teifa as my camra died and that was all I had ..I do have at least one video of a runby with this SY leading the train..there is also at least one JS working there now too and there was talk of them tradeing a muselm so that they can get a running QJ on the Teifa line too

[SwingTheDoor]

There's a website called "SY Country", which will have you occupied for a long time going through all the trip reports. Have a look through the site and you will be surprised at how much steam is still left in China, at the moment that is!

[SP4449Warbaby]

Huh, I might have a look at that site sometime, is there any QJ's left aswell?

[SwingTheDoor]

There was a trip report from March this year which had 2 QJ's in steam at Zoucheng which is Sth of Beijing.There is or was 4 QJ's operating at Pingdingshan also. But you are better off at places like Baiyin, Sandaoling and Jixi, to name just a few with their JS and SY engines. The Yahoo groups site Steam In China is also a good place for information. I've posted a few videos on You Tube also, some from my most recent trip in March this year. Happy hunting.

[SP4449Warbaby]

Thanks for the heads-up man.

[WhyAyeMann]

diesels and Electrics will never have the spiritual impact on a human being like a steam locomotive does.

[WhyAyeMann]

Yeah, either way you look at it a diesel or an electric engine is ALMOST always more efficient than a steam locomotive. There are some cases that are exempt from this fact but they came too late.

[Kleman09]

Not entirely. Diesles have so much high tech gadgets on them that railroads began to postpone scrapping older diesles and using them on the main. One new diesle these days would cost more than what even a class 1 railroad makes and to top that off the loco would need to be replaced before the end of a decade.

[oldsyphilitic]

@UFPAlexraptor Have a look at the work of the late Dante Livio Porta. Steam can be made far more efficient than diesel

[HOBORON]

It's probably still unning in China!

[SteffanLlwyd]

Needs preserving as a monument to everything that has gone before.... The modern world was built on the back of steam locos (and the stokers more than anybody!)

[JimTLonW6]

Great shot of the light on the smoke!

Would this then be the last commercially built steam loco in the World (I'm excluding locos built for museum lines or rebuilds)?