2-8-2 steamlocomotive JS # 8173 of the Sandaoling Coal Mine Railroad is leaving the loading point (blue silo in the background) with another 700 ton train up to the washery.

Shortly after sunset, a 2-8-2 steam locomotive of the "JS" class is pulling another load of coal out of the open pit of Sandaoling, passing Baerzhan (or number 82) station.

2-8-2 steamlocomotive JS # 8225 is pushing an empty train from Dongbolizhan down to the open cast coal pit, near the crossing of Dongbolizhan, with a hand-painted crossing sign.

2-8-2 steamlocomotive JS # 8080 under full steam pressure in the workshop at Dongbolizhan.

This morning, an astonishing large group of photographers and videographers from over the world watched the shift change "ceremony" at the Dongbolizhan station.

Inside the boiler of a 2-8-2 JS steamlocomotive, with tubes removed. View from the smokebox to the firebox. The boiler is stabeld outside the Dongbolizhan workshop.

Chinese built Jordan spreader KT-1 # 6601, built in 1986 and not used anymore, stabled near the Dongbolizhan workshop. This plough was used in the open coal mine for distributing and levelling the... (more)

Attention, steamtrain from the right! Hand-painted traffic sign at the railway crossing near Dongbolizhan.

View from the southern edge of the huge pit to a coal train, pulled by SJ # 8225 on the about 1.0 % grade, with the Tianshan mountain range in the background.

View to the coal loading area in the open cast mine of Sandaoling. The coal is transported up from the deeper pit via a conveyor belt and loaded onto the trains at the blue silo. JS # 8173 is just... (more)

View to the coal loading area in the open cast mine of Sandaoling. The coal is transported up from the deeper pit via a conveyor belt and loaded onto the trains at the blue silo. There is currentl... (more)

2-8-2 steamlocomotive JS (Jian She=construction) # 8167 with another load of coal on the line out from the open cast mine of Sandaoling.

2-8-2 steamlocomotive JS (Jian She=construction) # 8167 is leaving the loading area in the open cast mine with 13 hoppers loaded with coal up for the washery.

At the coal unloading point of Xuanmeichang. Only seconds after this shot, the photographer was in a big black coal dust cloud.

JS # 8190 at the coal unloading point (washery) of Xuanmeichang. The train is almost empty, to go back down to the pit.