On a cold autumn morning in 2010, SY 1378 storms past the interlocking tower and through a grade crossing at the Wulong Mine. This train is bound for the spoil tip just 4 kilometers away but over 150 meters higher in elevation. Thus the spoil train was attempting to gather enough speed to make the grade ahead of it.
Like many crossings in China, this crossing is manually controlled. Despite this, I witnessed several close calls between motor-rickshaws and 2-8-2s. The interlocking tower governs all movements in the rather large Wulong Mine railyard which sees dozens of steam movements everyday. Despite this seemingly busy scene, the heyday of the Fuxin Railway was decades ago. Wulong Mine used to be served by both electrics and steam, when several other big mines closed, the electrification was removed, and steam reigned over the remains. This was very unfortunate for the mine company but fortunate for the railfan, as the Fuxin Railway remains a steam hauled operation in 2013, due to the poverty of the local Mining Administration.
