Chinese FD and JF11s at Guilin

China - 1981

This series was short at the eastern end of the main freight yard in Guilin with two less photographed classes seen in action. The mainline was at that time single track and very intensively worked with all freight in the hands of FD class 2-10-2s often in pairs. Passenger trains were totally dieselised. Shunting in the yard and over the hump was in the hands of relatively rare JF11 class 2-8-2s. This JF sub class seemed to be only seen in the south of China and were constructed between 1918 and 1937. The original members of the class came from Alco with later examples being built by Baldwin, more from Alco, plus eight from Nasmyth in the UK. In all the pictures you should note the well maintained track and infrastructure. China's railways saw high levels of investment and were expertly managed and operated. At this point all lines were controlled by colour light signalling. The state of affairs on the railways was often in direct contrast to the poorly managed industrial sector which desperately needed reform.

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