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"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."--
About the author
Robert D. Turner has been researching, photographing and writing about transportation history for over forty years. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Canadian Railroad Historical Association¿s Lifetime Turner Achievement Award and the American Association for State and Local History¿s Award of Merit. A retired heritage consultant and a curator emeritus at the Royal British Museum, Turner has travelled widely around the world photographing the last steam railways and early industries while documenting the people, places and stories of this disappearing history and culture. He is receiving an honorary doctorate degree from Simon Fraser University in June 2022. He lives near Nanaimo, BC.
Summary
A spectacular, historical perspective and photographic gallery of the last working steam railways in China—the world’s largest major concentration of steam locomotives in the 21st century.
In the last half of the 1900s, China built ten thousand 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 one thousand kilometres 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 Steam Railways: Volume One chronicles the last two decades of China’s fascinating and picturesque steam railways in a visually dramatic and authoritative presentation. This is the first of three volumes that take the story of the last steam railways across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. With over five hundred original colour photographs, graphics, maps and tables, this is a spectacular addition to any history collection.
Foreword
Review in Railroad History magazine, Fall 2023
