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Map
of Yinge Forestry Railway (pink) from Wanbei in the south, through
Da Qiao to Lojiace where it meets the standard gauge line (green)
of the Pinshi Coal Railway which joins the main Beijing - Guangzhou
line at Pingshi
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Probably the most picturesque of all the lines was the Yingde Forestry Railway. This runs from Lojiace a 6 km south of Pingshi and is connected to it be the Pingshi Coal Railway a standard gauge line serviced by JS class locos. In order to get a trip back to Lojiace the same day I approached the line from the other end early in the morning and intercepted the train at the village of Da Qiao (= big bridge) close to its southern terminus at Wanbei. Da Qiao is a most pictuesque location in a river valley notable as the name suggests for a large bridge. At this point the line is reached by a steep flight of hundreds of steps which lead to a small halt adjacent to the line which is cut into a notch in the hillside way above the valley. This line operated a passenger service and and we caught the returning train to Lojiace. The train hauled by a Harbin built C2 class loco comprised mainly loads of timber but there were also a couple of small passenger carriages. There were numerous stops to let people on and off and for taking on water. The train worked hard as it wound its way through some beautiful mountain scenery before reaching Lojiace some 3 or 4 hours later. The shed here concealed two other C2's in for repairs and another C2 was dumped in the adjacent yard. I have since heard that this line closed in 1991 (JL).
