Thursday, July 9, 2015

Steaming ahead: China's Shixi-Bagou railway, in pictures

Workers service a local coal powered steam train before departing on a trip carrying local villagers at a station in the town of Shixi, Sichuan Province, in Southern China. While China boasts the world's most extensive high-speed rail infrastructure with over 16,000 kilometers of track, the Shixi-Bagou railway is still a primary connection for local villagers between towns and is kept alive by tourist cars carrying passengers for ten times the price. The rail line came into service in the late 1950s and the train was initially used to transport coal from a now-shuttered mine before passenger carriages were added.
Workers service a local coal powered steam train before departing on a trip carrying local villagers at a station in the town of Shixi, Sichuan Province, in Southern China. While China boasts the world's most extensive high-speed rail infrastructure with over 16,000 kilometers of track, the Shixi-Bagou railway is still a primary connection for local villagers between towns and is kept alive by tourist cars carrying passengers for ten times the price. The rail line came into service in the late 1950s and the train was initially used to transport coal from a now-shuttered mine before passenger carriages were added.
Picture: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)