Map showing the Yinde Mineral railway. The branches from Jingchongjiao and Jintang (pink) meet just west of the river and the standard gauge main line (green) at Donguapu. Also shown is the short line at Hetou further south.

Access to the Yingde Mineral Railway was not easy and it took me a couple of trips to work out the best route. It required travelling on to Dongguapu, a hamlet reached from the main line about 160 km North of Guangzhou. I stayed in a very basic hotel with a balcony overlooking the "main" street which was basically a row of food and merchandise stalls. There was also the attraction of a JF shunting in the nearby sidings. From here I walked to a ferry point to cross to Hejiacun. This was a bit dicey and on one occassion we got stuck for a while on a sand bar! Iron ore from Jintang and Limestone from Jingchongjiao was brought here and then via an overhead cableway to standard gauge wagons on the other side of the river. There was an erratic passenger service and on one of my visits I managed to get to the mines and back in a day (unfortunately diesel hauled). At Gongcun about halfway between Hejiacun and Jintang I was surprised to find two Polish built (local BL class) locos from 1952, one in steam and the other in for repairs. Also, inside the shed were three other C4's, two built in Guangzhou the other in Sanshui in the early 1970's, and behind the shed a derelict Shijiazhuang built C2 from1962. Later visitors have reported that by both BLs were derelict, the mines closed and diesels on passenger service (JL) with steam (presumably C4's) reserved for tourist work (RP).

The main street at Dongguapu with the main line station in the background and the hotel balcony on the right

The river crossing to Hejiacun

Polish built 1952 BL class locomotive no. 50 simmers gently outside the shed at Gongcun

BL class locomotive no. 50 ready for action outside the shed at Gongcun

C2 class locomotive no. 51 built Shijiazhuang 1963 dumped behind the shed at Gongcun

Diesel hauled local passenger service at Hejiacun.

Coaling and watering point at Hejiacun.

Off loading iron ore at Hejiacun.

The Jintang iron ore mine at the end of the line.

Returning from the Jintang iron ore mine with a load of iron ore behind a C4 locomotive.