The Last Steam Railways

"By 2020 working steam railways around the world were all but extinct, except for in China. Containing exhaustive text and hundreds of stunning colour photographs, The Last Fires Within documents the final days of steam railways throughout China and illustrates their amazing quantity and diversity. In the last half of the 20th Century, China built 10,000 coal-burning steam locomotives across the country. These powerful engines ran in a variety of settings, from an open cast coal mine near the Siberian border to the semi-tropical remote hills of Sichuan, powering passenger trains that stretched 1000 km across Inner Mongolia and pulling the local trains on forestry railways in the countryside of northern China. Then in 2001, Chinese Railways retired almost all its steam locomotives. Nonetheless, some regional, local, and industrial operations continued using steam for another decade or more. The photographs and photo essays in this book are a result of visits to dozens of these often-remote railways where steam was still being used. They highlight the skills of workers as they overhauled and maintained the locomotives and reflect on the lives of the people who depended upon them in a rapidly changing world. The Last Fires Within chronicles the last two decades of China's fascinating and picturesque steam railways in a visually dramatic and authoritative presentation. The first of three volumes take the story of the last steam railways across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. With over 500 original colour photographs, graphics, maps, and tables, this is a spectacular addition to any history collection."--