This video features steam locomotives at work in an iron and steel works in China. Beitai is 14 km south-west of Benxi and Benxi is 84 km south-east of Shenyang.

Beiying Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd is the holding subsidiary of Beitai Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. This company is located in Beitai Town, Pingshang District, Benxi City. It is an iron and steel complex incorporating mining, ore dressing, coking, power generation, sintering, iron-making, steel-making and rolling. Its annual production capacity of pig iron is 8.5 million tons, steel billet 9 million and finished steel product 10 million tons. The company has blast furnaces with total volume of 6100 cubic meters and steel converters with gross tonnage of 560 tons. It annually produces 1.5 million tons of steel bars , 3.5 million tons of wire rods, 1 million tons of medium strip and over 4 million tons of hot rolled coil.

The Beitai steelworks is located alongside the Chinese National Railway line from Liaoyang to Benxi. The site consists of two separate plants. To the east is the blast furnace area and about five kilometres further west is the steel making plant. A fleet of SY class steam locomotives is employed in and around the two plants, shunting raw materials into the blast furnace area, taking trains of molten iron to the steelworks and bringing back trains of raw materials, and dumping hot slag. Exchange sidings with the CNR exist at both sites.

Official visits are now possible in organised groups, at least when you have the right contacts. Security is tight, so illegal entry is strongly discouraged.

There are 3 groups of blast furnaces, two groups are served by steam. There are numerous diesels. Steam will probably be phased out slowly.

The steam site at Beitai is quite small compared with the former steam fleets of works at Anshan, Panzhihua, Benxi or Baotou. But Beitai remains a rare survivor of industrial steam in the steel industry. Go there before it is too late!

With thanks to Tanago tours. This video may not be seen in Germany for music copyright reasons. The music is Industriial Revolution part 1 by Jarre.

MARCH 2012 UPDATE

The Beitai steel works is currently building a group of new blast furnaces at the new plant, just aside the old steel mill. Once the new blast furnaces are operational (planned for end of 2012), the steel works will have enough capacity to shut down the old plant. As the new plant will use automated transportation and diesel locomotives, it will also mean the end of the use of SY steam locomotives.

Tanago has visited the steel works four times now, establishing an excellent relationship with the local management, that even allowed us to visit the mill´s running shed.

Tanago will return to Beitai later this year for a - most likely - last visit of the steam locomotives at the blast furnces, the slag trains, and fantastic night photography opportunities.

Please see part 2 here:

[ Ссылка ]

Copyright Stephen Wolstenholme

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