Please click on the images to see a larger image and a brief description.

 

Introduction:

Shenzhen is home to China's first railway that allows for some public ownership via shares.

The Guangshen Railway Company Limited web site is at: www.gsrc.com

The Guangshen Railway Company Limited stock symbol on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is GSH.

The Guangshen railway is a short but high density railway that connects Guangzhou (Canton) to Shenzhen. The Guangshen is home to a multitude of trains ranging from the X-2000 tilt train to the time honored DF3 diesels.

The railway yard shown in the following images is the yard and good sheds for the Shenzhen area only. Further to the north and located between the stations of Buji and Pinghu is the marshalling yard for the region. Therefore dear reader, please do not look at the following images and go away with the impression that this railway line does not move much in the way of heavy goods and containers.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the Guangshen is home for some of the SS9G electrics (a very good looking six axle mixed traffic locomotive). Unfortunately, the units were delivered just after my visit and I therefore have no images of these fine e-loks.

Please note, my Guangshen train timetable that I sourced from the railway's main office, and the actual train running times, do not match. My timetable does not appear to be valid for trains running during March 2002 and I therefore can not pin down the exact train numbers shown in the below images.

The images shown on this page are ordered by subject and not by the actual time and day that the images were taken.

Shenzhen Station The station area is very active as people are making their ways from/to the border crossing customs check at Lo Wu. It is only a few meters from the Lo Wu customs checkpoint to the Shenzhen railway station and all the hotels. During my visit, the entire area was being dug up for the construction of the new Shenzhen metro. Because of this limitation to pedestrian traffic, I do not have any station front images. Also, as this was my first visit to China, I did not want to push my luck with a camera so near to a customs house.

Walking up along Jianshe Road the pedestrian bridges offer vantage points for photography. Jianshe Road begins at the Shenzhen railway station and parallels the railway line northward past the shops and hotels.

Walking up along the river and Honghu Park.

At the Furong Bridge, looking south and westward.

At the Furong Bridge, looking north and eastward.

Guangshen Railway SS8.

Blue Arrow The Blue Arrow trains are push-pull electric powered trains that can only be found on the Guangshen railway. The trains appeared to be set up such that they pushed southward and pulled northward. The Blue Arrow trains run from Shenzhen to either Guangzhou (the old station) and/or Guangzhou Dong (the new station). The Blue Arrow trains are not stored in Shenzhen. Therefore, once a Blue Arrow train goes south into Shenzhen, the northbound return run toward Guangzhou is guaranteed for the visiting photographer. The locomotives for the Blue Arrows are class DJJ1 and are considered the A end of the train.

DF5D heavy shunting diesel locomotive.

DF11 diesel locomotive. The DF11 class locomotives are usually assigned to hauling the long distance trains from places such as Beijing and Shanghai.

DF4 diesel locomotive. The DF4 diesel locomotive class could be called the standard locomotive of China. These machines can be found hauling passenger and goods trains. They are truly a universal and well liked locomotive. The DF4 class is being pushed aside by the electric units. Therefore, as the DF4s get pushed out, the older classes such as the DF3 and the lingering steam locos are going to get phased out completely. Note, the Guangshen does not have steam loks on their roster. Steam locomotives can still be found in some of the large factories (time stamp March 2002).

DF3 diesel locomotive. I was somewhat surprised to see a working DF3 loco in service on the Guangshen. These old and time honored machines have not much more time for them in this world.

Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCRR) goods transfer. Like clockwork, the Kowloon-Canton railway arrives in the Shenzhen yard with the goods transfer train. The KCRR locomotive shown here is of an EMD design made in Australia but then re-engined by the Chinese. Gone is the nice sounding gentle running of a two stroke EMD diesel engine. What one hears instead is the low rumble of a Chinese four cycle diesel.

Page Revision History: 2003-Dec-28, Rev.00: Initial release. 2004-Nov-28, Rev.01: Images and more text added.