Lang'an Railway-Ajing Mine Dedicated Line Starting Point 2021 ©Yang Huanguang
The building in the distance is the transportation operation port of the coal preparation building. When the train arrives at the Agan Town Coal Mine, the car body is removed and hooked up. The empty car body that has been pulled up is left in the coal mine, and the heavy car loaded with coal is mounted on the locomotive and pulled back to Lanzhou. Behind the building is the terminal of the Lan Ah Line - Akan Town Station.
Lan'A Railway - Duty Room 2020 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Interior of Duty Room 2020 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Switch 2018 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Shijing Mine Railway Bridge 2019 © Yang Huanguang
The station originally had a 7-kilometer line leading to Shimen Station, but it was dismantled in 2007 following the closure of the Shimen Mine, leaving only about 20 kilometers of the Lang'a Line still in use.
Langnigou Tunnel - Lannigou Tunnel 2020 ©Yang Huanguang
The only tunnel of Lancai Railway - Lannigou Tunnel, the Lannigou Tunnel is about 200 meters long.
Lan'A Railway - Workers off work 2020 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Structural rails 2018 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Lannigou Railway Bridge 2020 ©Yang Huanguang
The Lannigou Bridge is the largest bridge on the Lan'a Line. It is a concrete structure bridge spanning the Agan River and the Lan'a Highway.
Lan'A Railway - Railway bridge deck 2020 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Lannigou Railway Bridge 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Railway line 2018 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Abandoned duty room 2019 ©Yang Huanguang
Lang Ah Railway - Resting Place for Residents 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'A Railway - Girls and Railways 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Through the Past 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Shifogou Road Class 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway - Caboose 2018 © Yang Huanguang
The most distinctive feature of the Lan'A Line is its caboose. This is one of the few remaining railways in China that still uses cabooses. Due to the extremely steep slope and the fact that there is no turntable or triangle at Agan Town Station, the unique method of "cabobo in front and locomotive pushing" is adopted for the onboard train. In the past, Shimen Station had a triangular line for reversing steam locomotives. However, with the dismantling of this section of the line, the triangular line was abandoned. The caboose is not specially manufactured, but a modified P62NK boxcar. There is a bagpipe hanging on the upper left part of the carriage. The car attendant sits in the caboose, observes the road conditions in front, and uses a console to direct the movement of the locomotive behind it.
Lang'a Railway - Digging wild vegetables 2018 © Yang Huanguang
Lang'a Railway - Daoban 2019 ©Yang Huanguang
Lang'a Railway - Scavengers 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
Lang'a Railway - Residents 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
Lan'a Railway-Hualin Mountain Road Class Puppy 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
Lang'a Railway-Locomotive 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
Lang'a Railway-Energy Flow 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
Lang'a Railway-Train on the Streets 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
After passing the intersection of Lan Gongping Road, the Lan A Line runs parallel to Gong Lin Road. The houses on both sides are severely encroached on. In some sections, the railway has even become part of the sidewalk. The train passes directly by the entrance of the shops and the green belt, forming a strange scene of "trains taking to the streets".
Lan Ah Railway - Cars and Tracks 2018 © Yang Huan Guang
Lan Ah Railway - Railway Residents 2018 © Yang Huan Guang
Lan Ah Railway - Railway Trail 2019 © Yang Huan Guang
Lan Ah Railway - Line Institute 2019 ©Yang Huanguang
The Lanzhou-Afghanistan Railway is the longest dedicated line in the Gansu section of the Longhai Railway. There are also 6 special lines on the Lanzhou-Afghanistan Railway. The summary list of special railway lines in Gansu in 2000 shows that the Lan'a Special Line K0+363 issues the Wuxingping Oil Depot Special Line, the Provincial Building Materials, Chemical and Light Company Xiaoxiping Special Line, and the Provincial Sugar Industry, Tobacco and Liquor Company Xiaoxiping Special Line. There are 47 dedicated lines in the Gansu section of the Longhai Railway, of which 6 are dedicated lines of the Lanzhou-Arabia Railway and its branches. The Lan'a Line takes off from the Lanzhou West Station of the Longhai Line and first passes to the Shangxiyuan Line Station, where the Material Reserve Bureau's 534 Special Line and the Wuxingping Oil Depot Special Line once branched off. With the passage of time, 534 dedicated lines were diverted directly from the Longhai Line . The Wuxingping Oil Depot dedicated line was dismantled in 2009, and the Shangxiyuan Line was no longer in name only.
Lan'A Railway-Langongping Railway Crossing 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
To the east of the railway station is the largest crossing on the Lan'A Line - the Langongping Road crossing. All crossings on the Lan'A Line are managed by employees of Agan Coal. Lan Gongping Road is a section of National Highway 212. It is an important traffic artery from Lanzhou city to Lintao, Linxia and other places, with a huge traffic volume. Every time a crossing is closed, it causes traffic jams, causing drivers to complain endlessly.
Lang'a Railway - Railway Childhood 2018 ©Yang Huanguang
Due to historical legacy, there are more than a hundred open crossings scattered along the 0 to 4 kilometers of the railway. "As soon as the door opened, my feet reached the railway line." In order to ensure the safety of people along the line, the operating speed of each train must be strictly controlled at 20 kilometers per hour.
Lan'A Railway - Terminus of Qilihe Special Line 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'A Railway - Longhai Line Entrance 2019 © Yang Huanguang
Lan'A Railway has made great contributions to Lanzhou's industry, economy and city. Part of the railway has been dismantled and is now in intermittent operation. The coal from the Ajing Mine is transferred to Lanzhou Thermal Power Plant and Xigu Power Plant. There are many railway families living in the surrounding area, some of whom are workers of the Agan Town coal mine.
In view of the current situation that the Agan Town coal mine is about to be exhausted and the Langa Railway is about to complete its original mission, we are exploring the transformation and development path of the Langa Railway. We hope that the transformation of the Langa Railway into a tourist railway will be realized soon.
According to the "Gansu Provincial Chronicle of Coal Industry", the Lanzhou-Arakan Railway began construction in 1955 and was completed and opened to traffic in 1956. It has a total length of 27,042 meters and is the earliest dedicated railway line in Gansu.
According to the "Lanzhou Railway Bureau Chronicle", branch lines and dedicated lines in Lanzhou are often built with "miscellaneous rails" composed of rails of different standards collected from everywhere, and the Lan'a branch line is no exception. Over the past sixty years since then, almost all other lines have been renovated, but the Lan Ah Line is still the same, with the "miscellaneous track" still there. The rails are driven directly into the sleepers with spikes , and the joints of the tracks are fixed with old fishplates , and the sleepers are still wooden sleepers . The radius of the curve is also small, with the smallest point being only 250 meters. The technical features of railway construction in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China have been completely preserved, making it a "living fossil"!
Made during the Qing Dynasty Westernization Movement, it witnessed the history of Chinese railways, as well as the rails made by foreign countries in the 1930s and 1940s. Some are still in use today and are known as "living fossils of China's railways."
"Gansu Provincial Chronicle "Railway Chronicles"" records that the Lanzhou-Afghanistan Railway is the longest dedicated line in the Gansu section of the Longhai Railway, and there are 6 special lines on the Lanzhou-Afghanistan Railway. The summary list of special railway lines in Gansu in 2000 shows that the Lan'a Special Line K0+363 issues the Wuxingping Oil Depot Special Line, the Provincial Building Materials, Chemical and Light Company Xiaoxiping Special Line, and the Provincial Sugar Industry, Tobacco and Liquor Company Xiaoxiping Special Line. There are 47 dedicated lines in the Gansu section of the Longhai Railway, of which 6 are dedicated lines of the Lanzhou-Arabia Railway and its branches.
At present, there are many old railway tracks left at Tuzuizi Bridge and Ershilipu Station along the Langa Railway, Tazigou Bridge and Lujiagou Bridge in Xiankouzi Village, and the Agan Coal Mine platform. There are still many old railway tracks left on the dedicated line of the Langa Railway. The earliest ones are more than 100 years old.
Through thematic shooting, we have left behind the Lan Nga Railway, the surrounding environment and the living conditions of the people along the railway during this period. Through documentary, humanistic and folk photography pictures, we hope to attract social attention and bring good news to the early realization of the Lan Nga Tourism Line, the special tourism of Agan Town and the surrounding railway people.
braided hair: Huanguang
