China was the last country in the world to build steam locomotives. The final main line engines emerged from Datong workshops in December 1988 and production of steam locomotives for industrial use continued until 1999. The final few steam locomotives were withdrawn from service in 2003, making China the last country to use steam on its main lines. Total eradication of China's steam programme is set to coincide with the Olympic games in 2008. When this happens, it will be the end of the last mecca for fans of real steam. This is a photo essay detailing the end of this era.

From the British Isles and the Middle East, from Russia and China and the Ocean Islands of Australasia, pictures of the highest quality have been included to present a lavish illustration of living steam. Here are facts and tales about the lines operating today, the landscapes they cross and the cargoes they haul. Here also are detailed commentaries on the world's magnificent engines, documented with a clear guide as to where throughout the world they can be found.

Photographs by Stephen Dupont Introduction by Mark Tully This is an extraordinary photographic record of the last steam trains in India that captures not only the fascination of the steam engine but also the sense of past which will never be revisited. It is not, however, simply a book for railway enthusiasts; these are images of great emotional power that embrace not only just the magnificence of steam but also portrays the dignity of a workforce in an industry on the verge of extinction. 70 duotone plates.

A stunning collection of rare photographs documenting the last years of industrial steam around the world. This first volume focuses on scenes captured in the twenty-first century.

China was the last country in the world to manufacture and operate steam locomotives. By the early 1980s, there were an estimated 10,000 operational steam locomotives in the country, but by the 1990s, diesel and electric locomotives started to replace them on the main lines and the number in service reduced substantially as the millennium approached. The last steam locomotives were finally withdrawn from China Rail in 2003. After that, some continued to operate heavy freight trains on local railways for a short while, but most were deployed for use on the country’s industrial railways, mainly at coal mines and steel works. This trend continued into the first decade of the 21st century, but subsequently, the number of steam engines in service declined substantially and were confined to just a handful of industrial locations. Steam rail operations in China are now facing extinction. The modernization of the railways with the switch from steam to diesel, the closure of unsafe and loss-making collieries and China’s drive to reduce pollution and combat climate change from burning coal, have all conspired towards the demise of the industrial lines operating steam in China. This book looks at the last of the standard-gauge steam operations in China, including Sandaoling, the last steam-worked opencast coal mine in the world; Fuxin, a coal-mining city in Liaoning Province, which until recently, operated the largest surviving fleet of SY locomotives; Baiyin, in Gansu Province, which operated some of the last steam-hauled passenger trains in the world; and Wu Jiu, a remote coal-mining outpost in Inner Mongolia. Beautifully illustrated with over 120 color photographs and a description of the operations, this is a striking portrait of the last of the world’s operating steam trains.

A stunning collection of rare photographs documenting the last years of industrial steam around the world. This first volume focuses on scenes captured in the twentieth century.

This is the finest possible visual tribute to the steam locomotive ever produced. With 224 pages and more than 300 colour photographs, it documents machines of every conceivable shape, size and colour, often framed by some of the most memorable landscapes in the world.