The spectacular slag dump at Baotou steelworks as seen with SY #1676. At one time, Baotou had dozens of steam locomotives in daily service, but by this point in 2008 only seven SY 2-8-2's remained. Already most of these steam locomotives were idle every day, while a massive fleet of new diesels served the steelworks. The once bustling steam shop was already barren of equipment and awaiting demolition. But all of this could be forgotten while watching a SY struggle with 1200 tons of molten steel on the slag tip. Within a six months, the steel mill would be fully dieselized and SY 1676 would be nothing more than razor blades.