This book, "50 Years of the Railroads of the New China," utilizes a large amount of first-hand information for a relatively objective, accurate and complete account of the historical development and glorious achievements of the enterprise of the people's railroad during the 50 years of the People's Republic of China. The request to compile and edit "50 Years of the Railroads of the New China" resulted in the publication of the many characters of text in this book.
From the year 1876 which saw the birth of the first commercial railroad, the Shanghai-Wusong Railroad, to the eve of the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the old China had only built 21.8 thousand meters of track and after passing through many years of conflict and the destruction brought on by the defeat of the KMT forces, the railroad had also suffered greatly. (NOTE: 千疮百孔 literally a thousand sores and a hundred holes. Riddled with gaping wounds.)
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the railroad returned to the warm embrace of the people. Railroad development received a high degree of emphasis from both the Party and the State. During the 50 years of the rapid development of the People's Railroad not only was there tremendous growth and improvement in the operating mileage and the operating rail network but also a qualitative leap in the level of science and technology, and technical equipment. By the end of 1998, the national railroad's operating mileage had reached 66,400 kilometers, three times that of 1949, to rank number one in Asia and number four in the world; double-tracked, electrified railways were continually extended and the operating mileage of electrified track has leapt to fifth place in the world; the rail operations network was initially created as a rational network that provided accessibility, linking Asia with Europe, providing north-south communications and links between east and west. Rail transportation has been transformed from one of shortages to a type that is fundamentally adaptive, taking large steps forward towards the target of speed, large loads and high density. Now, the national railroads have a capacity of about 1 billion passengers, a freight capacity that exceeds 1.5 billion tonnes, amounts that are 10 and 28 times those for 1949 respectively, making a major contribution to national economic development and social progress. After a half century of rapid development, the railroad went from being mocked as the "railroad exhibition of the ten thousand nations" (NOTE: 万国铁路博览会) that could only repair cars and engines that would go on to develop into a railroad industrial system with numerous products, a complete range of services, advanced equipment, able to both repair and to manufacture, capable of its own development that is both large-scale and of a high level. The railroad industry not only can meet the needs of internal development but can also export products to Japan, the USA and more than 30 other countries and regions. The technology and training of the railroads has made considerable progress over these 50 years. A large number of both sceintific and technological achievements in railroad transportation, manufacturing and construction are now widely used, the technological progress of the railroads has been an increasingly significant contribution to the development of the railroads and has served as the primary component of rail development. Railroad education gradually built into a system with Chinese characteristics for higher education, for vocational and technical education, for a system of basic education as well as for the training of staff and the training of cadres, becoming the talent incubator and facilitator of railroad development.
While looking back with emotion at the years of great events, we look forward with pride to future developments. Under the strong leadership of the CCP Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at its core, and through the joint efforts of the entire railroad, united in the struggle, China Railway ---- this speeding train of the East will gallop forward to even more innovation in the glow of a new century.
"Fifty Years of the Railroads of New China", a book written by the Ministry of Railways Archives and Historical Records Center, went through a number of drafts and two major revisions. With this book the cadres and workers of all the railroads will understand and recognize the past and present, the experience and lessons, the successes and the setbacks of China Railways ... and from this come to better know our railroad, better love our railroad, to excite and speed the modernization of the railroad and build enthusiasm and creativity to make a greater contribution to the development of the railway in the next century.
August 1999
When the world celebrated the 50th Aniversary of the People's Republic of China, the railroad enterprise of the New China also closely followed the pace of the Republic, passing through the bright course of a half century.
Within the fifty year development process of the railroad enterprise of the New China, for the people it was not hard to see: during this fifty-year period, they not only experienced the unique development phase from few to many, from small to large, from weakness to strength, moreover the route of its advance alternated from smooth to bumpy, jubilation coexisted with deep sorrow and regret, and experience was interwoven with the lessons learned through that experience.
These 50 years marked a half-century of the difficult creation and self renewal of the railroads of the New China. In terms of the present, 50 years could be said to not be a very short time, but against the long flow of history it is just the blink of an eye. However, during this precious but brief historical moment, the broad mass of the workers and staff of the railroad under the leadership of the Central Committee of the CCP and the State Council (Guo2wu4 Yuan4 国务院), held on to the opportunity tightly, greeted the challenge, did not fear the difficulties but bravely went forward, to create a series of unprecedented brilliant accomplishments. The great achivement they won with 50 years of difficult creation, far surpassed the 70-year record of the railroads of the Old China. In particular the period of the late 70s of the 20th Century not having yet entered into the beginnings of reform, with the guidance of the policies and principles of the 11th Session of the 3rd Plenum of the CCP, was one of even more rapid progress and even brighter achievement.
It would not at all be an exaggeration to say: The current endeavor of the railroads of China appears to be one of even more continuous improvement, whose record is even more prominent and bright, which will continue to emerge in a never-ending stream of creation. Now, in the era of fast trains, with brand new modern features, the socialist market economy speeds along its path with lightning speed, to fly into the future.
With regards to China, the huge beast that is a locomotive originally was an illegally imported good.
The first commercial railroad to appear on Chinese soil - the Shanghai-Wusong Railroad and the agents of England in China - was built without permission and opened to traffic in 1876 by foreign firms using false methods, in secret from the Qing government of China. The appearance of this railroad was one of the requirements Imperialist powers used to invade and plunder China, moreover it was the outcome of a methodical change of methods to invade and expand.
In 1840 following the outbreak of the English invasion of China during the Opium War, Gulao and Fengbi, the gateways to China were all at once opened with warlike methods by the foreign invaders. As a result, the foreign invading powers that came after England arrived in rapid succession. They all viewed China as a rich prize (piece of fat meat) all considering methods to transform China into one of their own colonies. They invaded from the coast using the waterways, but not satisfied with occupying the coastal areas, also coveted the rich resources of the Chinese interior, they wholeheartedly proceeded with a complete political, economic and cultural invasion and infiltration.
In order to realize this ambition, they changed strategy and publicly asserted: "use the new transport and communications rules to replace the old policies of war and territorial annexation". Therefore, the construction of railroads became a means to carry out their invasion, continuously promoting plans to build railroads in China. The English Colonial Governor of India had previously promoted a plan to build a Burma Road (Bamo lu), with construction planned from Rangoon in Burma along the Irrawady River passing through Burma to finally reach the Tengyue () and Dali Railroads () in China. English operate colonial railroad experts also promoted a railroad construction project with Hankou as a center from which to reach out to China in all directions. In particular there were in Shanghai English, Americans and others, the 27 families of foreign merchants who united to request the construction of a railroad from Suzhou to Shanghai. England used a merchant called Tu Lande (??) to build outside the Xuanwu Gate in Beijing a 1 meter small-gauge railroad with the plan to use the railroad as an advertisement to act as a lure.
Against just this sort of background, there was the Wusong Railroad, as England and America schemed together, first using a deceptive name calling the line built from Wusong to Shanghai an "Ordinary Horse Road" (Xun2chang2 Ma3lu4 寻常马路) as a cover, and then later the Wusong Road Company was changed to the Wusong Railroad Company by the representatives of England in China - foreign firms on good terms with the Qing Government, secretly and without authorization built a railroad that belonged to them on Chinese soil. While the Chinese Government requested that they cease operating the line, the cunning English authorities, however, requested China pay 285,000 taels of silver (liang) in three installments; and before the ransom was paid in full operations would continue. It is regretable that the foolish Qing government in October of 1877 after it had paid off the ransom and redeemed the railroad still went on to demolish the railroad.
From 1877 after the Wusong Railroad that had been built by foreigners without authorization was torn up, until the year 1894 in the period just before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War (Jia3wu3 Zhan4zheng1 甲午战争), the invading foreign powers from beginning to end were not able to realize their plans to build railroads in China. Quite to the contrary, the Qing government with the constant advocacy and advice of prominent figures in the Westernizing faction (Yangwu pai) and men of knowledge, finally made the Qing government change the understanding that building rairoads would "remove the dangerous and difficult path (that protects us), harm the fields and villages, hinder the flow of the natural forces (fengshui)" and so to a certain extent produced the acceptance of the requirements of the railroads after which there were built a certain number of self-run railroads (zi4ban4 tie3lu4 自办铁路).
China's first Ziban railroad was the Tangxu Railroad (Tangshan to Xugezhuang), which was built and opened to traffic in November 1881. The construction of this railroad was the result of the incessant struggle between the Westernizers and the Conservatives in the Qing government and was also the product of the first shoots of capitalism in China. At the time the so-called "Westernizing Movement" (Yangwu Yundong) planned to use Western methods to manufacture the latest types of canons and to establish factories, mines and communications businesses, "Seek strength, Seek wealth" (qiu2 qiang3 qiu2 fu4 求强 求富 ). Therefore, the construction of railroads became a part of the Westernizing Movement. Following the appearance of the Kaiping Coal Mining Company joint-stock firm the Westernizing faction thus proposed the construction of a rail line from Tangshan to Beitang, in order to move coal by rail to the sea port of Beitang. However, the Qing government would only allow a rail line from Tangshan to Xugezhuang with the remainder of the journey using a newly-dug canal to complete it.
This almost 10 kilometer long railroad saw construction begin in early 1881, in November of the same year ceremonies were held to signal it was open to traffic. While it was built and opened to traffic, because of the fear locomotives would shake the mountains and tombs the royal family of the Qing Dynasty would only allow the use of pack animals to pull rail cars, until the second year when the use of steam locomotives was allowed. This railroad used to haul coal, people would later call "the formal beginning of the history of railroad construction in China".
The construction and operation of China's self-run (ziban) Tangxu Railroad, although compared to the world's earliest railroad - the Stockton to London railroad built in Englans in 1825, was a half century later, but still gave a certain influence to all levels of Chinese society and to the gentry and merchants of each province to build railroads, which later served as an actual push for the constructin of ziban railroads.
Following this in 1885 the Qing government having learned the lessons of defeat in the Sino-French War, and from the recognition that to strengthen the coastal defense "opening railroads were a remedy for military matters", thus fixing on a policy of building railroads and embarked on railroad construction plans.
In order to continue the growth of the Tangxu Railroad, the first railroad company in China was created - the Kaiping Railroad Company (this was later expanded to become the China Railroad Company), in 1887 the Tangxu Railroad was extended to Lutai and in the fall of 1888 the construction of the section from Lutai to Tianjin completed. At this point, a line that stretched east from Tianjin for 130 km. had been built and opened to traffic.
In order to exploit the Daye iron mine and build the Hanyang Iron Works, in 1894 a main line was built that became the 28 kilometer Daye Railroad.
In order to deal with ??? and the construction of the Guandong Railroad, the Northern Army Railway Bureau (Beiyang Guan Tielu Ju) was established in Shanhaiguan and in 1894 heading north from Tangshan construction reached Zhonghousuo (present Suizhongxian). Because what followed was the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, there was a pause. At this point, the railroads from Shanhaiguan stretched west to Tianjin and to the east reached Zhonghousuo for a total of 348 kilometers.
In order to strengthen the coastal borders and establish commerce, starting in 1887 with soldiers acting as the workforce, construction began on the Taiwan Railroad. With Taibei as its central hub the section going east from Taibei to the port of Jilong was completed in 1891; construction of the section heading southwest from Taibei to Xinzhu was completed in 1893. Altogether the two sections spanned some 107 kilometers.
The desire of the Imperialist Powers for Chinese railroad concessions, although it had begun before the building of the Wusong Railroad, however their large-scale exploitation of Chinese rail concessions in fact took place after the Chinese defeat in the Sino-Japanese War.
From the final period of the Qing government to the Emperor Yuan Shikai the Imperialist Powers had two instances of large-scale exploitation of Chinese railway concessions.
The first major large-scale expoitation of Chinese railway concessions was the period from 1896 to 1903. Following the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, because China lost the war the Treaty of Shimonoseki (马关条约 Maguan Tiaoyue) was signed and territory as ceded as reparations. The Imperialist Great Powers within their separate spheres of influence used various means, such as directly controlling construction and operations, or making use of Chinese foreign cooperation, or by means of the form of payments for goods, to greedily, unjustly profit from their right to build railroads in China. Up to the year 1904 before the Russo-Japanese War, from start to finish over 10,000 kilometers of Chinese railroad concessions fell into the hands of the invaders. The major ones were: France obtained the DianYue Railroad, Germany obtained the JiaoJi Railroad, England obtained the Huning and GuangJiu Railroads, Belgium obtained the LuHan and BianLuo Railroads, Russia obtained the ZhongDong and Nanman Railroads, and America obtained the Yuehan and GuangSan railroads. However, because of the influence of the anti-imperialist, patriotic Boxer Movement (Yihetuan), these railroads were not all completely build and opened to traffic.
The second large-scale plunder of Chinese railroad concessions took shape in the period from 1912 around the collapse of the Qing regime and the naming of the Northern Army Warlord Yuan Shikai as emperor, up to the year 1918 and the conclusion of the First World War.
During this period, Yuan Shikai, the gang leader of the Northern Army warlords who stole the achievements of the 1911 Revolution and inherited the legacy of the Qing government, became a new tool of the imperialist invasion of China. At the time they made use of the so-called popular theory of "opening the regime, take advantage of foreign loans", to dramatically increase foreign loans and the auctioning off of rail rights. Within the space of only 4 or 5 years, the Yuan Shikai regime altogether with the Imperialists signed off on 9 railroad loan agreements, and sold the consessions to 11 railroad lines. Thus on the basis of the line rights already obtained this allowed the Imperialist Great Power to also obtain the railroad concessions for a total of over 10,000 kilometers of track. It was only because of the effects of the First World War, that these various agreements for concession were not for the most part able to be implemented.
Beginning with the Sino-Japanese War up to the end of the First World War, Japanese Imperialism took advantage of the situation to recklessly exploit many Chinese line rights, to not only raise a claim to the construction of a railroad from Fujian to Jaingxi and Chejiang, but also was given the rights to the two railroads Germany had in Shandong, the Gao-Han (from Gaomi to Hanzhuang) and the Xun-Ji (from Xunde to Jinan), and also obtained construction rights in the Northeast for the Ji-Hui (Jilin to Chaoxianhuining), the Chao-Tao (from Changchun to Taonan), the Kai-Ji (Kaiyuan to Jilin) and the Tao-Re (Tao-nan to Chengde) Railroads, as well as the right to control goods payment for the Ji-Dun (Jilin to Dunhua) Railroad.
During the period when the Imperialist Great Powers twice attempted the large-scale exploitation of Chinese railroad concessions, major events took place that aroused the anti-imperialist and patriotic passions of the Chinese people, not only the First Sino-Japanese War, but there was also the 1900 invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance Army (baguo lianjun 八国联军 NOTE: This force from the eight countries of Italy, the United States, France, Austria-Hungary, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia broke the siege of the Foreign Legation in Beijing by Boxer forces in August of 1900, bringing an end to the Boxer Rebellion.) and in the year 1904 the Russo-Japanese War was fought on Chinese soil. Passing through these several events further deepened the recognition by the people of China of the threatening nature of the exploitation of the Chinese railroad concessions by the Great Imperialist Powers, and increased the awareness of the patriotic protection of the railroads.
A wave of sentiment by the people of the country to win back the rail concessions and the privately-run railroads rose up in the year 1903 and the turning point was opposition to the unauthorized transfer of the stock of the Sino-American Joint Development Company (Huamei Hexinggongsi) to a Belgian company (Yin Gongsi?) and the issuance by the Chinese government of YueHan Railroad debt certificates (zhai4piao4). At this time, United States, British and Belgian companies were plotting to seize the Yuehan Railroad concessions, having already colluded and fought among themselves. In this situation where the Belgians took advantage of a situation to enter and the USA was unable to match Belgium, after Belgium seized the rights of the Yuehan Railroad from the USA, the people of the country were completely offended by this serious violation of the terms of the Yuehan Railroad loan agreement between China and the Joint Development Company, as well as being absolutely disgusted with their vile behavior in spite of the Chinese government and the rights and interests of China. In addition, the Belgians who came to China were strange and reckless, with a disregard for human life, who took land by force, and who beat and mistreated workers to even more inflame the fiery rage in the hearts of the people of China. As a result, from this the people of the three provinces of Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei (Yue Xiang E) concerned with the construction of the Yuehan Railroad, which included prominent men and officials from every level of society, one after another demanded that the agreement be terminated and the rights to the right of way be returned. It began in with the gentry-merchants (shenshang - ) of Hunan as spring turned into summer in the year 1903 as they gathered to discuss terminating the agreement, demanding the return of self-control; then the gentry-merchants of Hubei proposed to make the agreement null and void, restoring self-control to Hubei (E); the Guangdong Commercial Bureau (Shangwu Ju) also held meetings where it was decided to work hard for the termination of the agreements and at this time recover their ownership rights. So it was that the high point in the struggle to regain rail concessions and commercial railroads were in this way lifted up. Although the Qing government feared foreign goods and ideas it was, however, hard to defy the will of the people and could not but create the basis of a general administration for the railroads of China, and also opened up the rail concessions to the capital among the people. Four years after this with the objective of defending their own rights and benefits, recovering those rights and benefits and putting an end to the rapaciousness of the major imperialist powers, all 15 provinces of the country one after the other established railroad companies. The tide of railroads run by the people of China ceaselessly rolled forward. The year 1905 saw the struggle by the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong to recover the rights of the Yuehan line and by the two provinces of Jiangsu and Chejiang to protect the rights of the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningpo line (Hu Hang Yong). In 1908 the two provinces of Hunan and Hubei called on the commercial rail lines to refuse foreign investment. And there was still the struggle by people from all walks of life in Yunnan who for several years opposed the construction by the French of a rail line from Yunnan to Vietnam (Dianyue Tielu).
The turbulent times of the movements to recover the economic rights of the railroads aroused the unease of the imperialists and the fears of the Qing government. The four countries of England, France, Germany and the USA were not willing to renouce the railroad concession they had already obtained cooperated to put pressure on the Qing government, and so the deep fear of the Qing government that the situation would expand therefore in 1911 using as a pretext an announcment to nationalize main lines, attempted to transfer track rights and obtain foreign loans. As a result this further infuriated the broad mass of patriotic citizens of the country. In the province of Sichuan a vigorous movement to protect the railroads sprung up, and took the form of an important force to oppose the Qing government and support bourgeoisie revolution.
Within the commercial railroad movement, those that were built and opened to traffic included: Huhang section and YongCao (Ningpo to Ejiang) section of the commercial Huhangyong Railroad in the two provinces of Jiangsu and Chejiang, in Guangdong the section of the privately-run Yuehan Railroad from Guangzhou to Shaoguan, in Hunan the section of the privately-run Yuehan Railroad from Changsha to Zhuzhou and the section from Zhuzhou to Bingxiang built by the Hangyeping Company (NOTE: first steel mill), as well as the Guangdong Xinhui (Xinning????) Railroad that was promoted and money raised for by Chen Yixi, a native of China who had traveled to the USA. (NOTE: Wikipedia entry) These several railroads were all built under the direction of Chinese engineers.
Although not many of privately-run railroads were actually built, but it still reflected the eager enthusiam of the Chinese peoples to build railroads and their strong, patriotic and anti-imperialist determination.
The first state-owned railroad that China itself designed and itself constructed, the Jingzhang Railroad (from Beijing to Zhangjiakou), was opened to traffic in October of 1909. Its construction was managed by the railroad building, pioneering and patriotic engineer, Zhan Tianyou.
When the Qing government planned to build the Jingzhang Railroad, the two countries of England and Russia both competed to interfere in the undertaking, prompting the Qing government to decide to manage it on its own. So it was that in the year 1905 the Jingzhang Railroad Bureau was created, with the railroad engineer Zhan Tianyou appointed to serve as the Huiban (equivalent to Bureau Assistant Director) and also as the Chief Engineer. The cold sarcasm and searing taunts that Zhan Tianyou faced, the heavy burden of building the railroad that he resolutely shouldered, he led China's engineer technical personnel through a process of on-site surveys and careful comparisons, and initially settled on a path for the rail line that for the time was relatively suitable and realistic. And this was the plan: from Fengtai Xizhimen hurrying to Nankou, passing through Juyongguan, climbing Baguoling, passing through Kangzhuang, Shacheng and Xuanhua to finally arrive at Zhangjiakou. The 201 kilometer rail line, the section from Nankou to Chadaocheng, called the Guangou Section, was very difficult and dangerous terrain. Zhan Tianyou led the Chinese technical workers and road builders to overcome all sorts of difficulties, and in the end it became known in China as the railroad that was the most challenging engineering project, successfully built within the space of only four years.
The construction achievement of the Jingzhang Railroad astonished those outside of China, serving as vindication for profound humiliation of the Chinese people and serving as the one independently constructed railroad that suddenly emerged. The classical, national moral principle and patriotic thinking of Zhan Tianyou, as well as the spirit of daring to imagine and daring to act, an attitude of pragmatism and seeking the truth, a very able individual with a bit of technical skill, was able to gain a high level of the praise of men. Zhan Tianyou is worthy of being called the model for those who would build the railroads of China.
After the wheel of history turned to enter the Republic of China (Zhonghuaminguo), the state of railroad construction underwent a change.
At the beginning of the setup of the Nanjing Interim Government, there was
no Ministry of Communications (Jiaotong Bu), and one after the other they
established the China National Railroad Association (Zhonghua Chuanguo Tielu
Xiehui) and the China Railroad General Office (Zhongguo Tielu Zonggongsi).
Sun Zhongshan (NOTE: aka Sun Yatsen) the great forerunner of the democratic
revolution, was extremely concerned with railroad construction and both
inspected railroad work units and proposed a grand plan for railroad
construction. He had previously envisaged a plan that within ten years
would invest 6 billion yuan and complete 100,000 km of rail tracks.
However, except for using the sale of railroad concessions to pay for
military expenses and misappropriating railroad operating revenues, used by
the Beiyang Militarist government to supplement military pay and rations,
(buxie yi ti wai ??? )
only discussing the time beginning in 1928 as the Nationalist government
began to govern from Nanjing, within this period of rule that extended to
over twenty years, although
plans for the large-scale development of railroads had been drawn up,
and in addition one time within the central government on its own created
the Ministry of Railways to unite the administration of the railroad
enterprise of the entire country, however, in the years that followed
this was a government that only represented the interests of the bureaucrat
comprador class (guanliao maiban jieji), day after day reactionary, corrupt
and absolutely unable to either implement the rail development program they
themselves had decided on or administer the existing railroad business.
In the circumstances of a weak nation where the people have no way to make
a living and year after year of war and conflict, there were really not many
railroads that went through each stage of construction. With regard to the
realization of Sun Zhongshan's hope to build railroads, it proved to be
nothing more than empty words.
In the ten-year period from 1928 to 1937 the year of the 7-7 Incident (NOTE: This is what the Chinese call what we in the West know as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937 that ushered in the Second Sino-Japanese War.) the Nationalist government only built 3,600 km of railroad in Guannei (NOTE: Land Within the Pass, here it means the area of China south of the Shanhaiguan or pass where the mountains meet the sea at the eastern end of the Great Wall, the gateway to the Northeast also known as Manchuria.) The authorities in the area of the three Northeast provinces (NOTE: Jilin, Liaoning and Heilungjiang), from 1928 up to 1931 the year of the 918 Incident (NOTE: Known in the West as the Mukden or Manchurian Incident on September 18, 1931 that served as an excuse for the Japanese invasion and occupation of the three Northeastern Provinces of China.) only 900 km of track had been built. During the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Nationalist government in the rear areas of the Southwest and Northwest using the forced conscription of workers, cannibalizing old track, and printing excessive amounts of money along with other methods, could only with great difficulty build 1,900 km of rail line.
With the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the railroads that had been built are from start to finish: the section from Lingbao to Tongshan, and the section from Xi'an to Baoji on the Long-Hai Railroad, the section from Zhuzhou to Xiaoguan on the Yuehan Railroad, the section from Xiaoshan to Cao'ejiang on the Huhangyong Railroad, the section from Hangzhou to Yushan, Yushan to Nanchang, Nanchang to Pingxiang on the Chegan Railroad, as well as the Jiangnan Railroad (Tianjia'an to Yuxikou). At the same time the Shanxi Militarist (Warlord) Yan Xishan (阎锡山), using saved/provincial funds to purchase track materials from Germany, relying primarily on soldiers for manpower, built the Tongpu narrow-gauge Railroad that linked together the entire province.
Following victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, the GMD government that was busy enjoying the fruits of "Xiashan" (下山 come down from the mountain ) victory loot, only focussing on large-scale operations against liberated areas to spark an all-out civil war, with the exception of these specific lines, absolutely did not build any rail lines.
The Japanese Imperialists during the period when they invaded China, in order to invade and wage war made use of a huge amount of money and materials they seized from China, coerced the workers of China and in the three provinces of the Northeast as well as what at the time was the province of Rehe (热河), built some 5,700 km of track; in the occupied territories of North China, Central China and South China they laid 900 km of track.
During the period when the Chinese Nationalist Nanjing Government ruled China, what was important was that internal bureaucratic capital and international monopoly capital combined together, using a Chinese-foreign joint capital style management to build railroads. Because international monopoly capital was used to provide the railroads of China with track materials and engines, rolling stock and other equipment, this provided the Imperialists with yet another opportunity to exploit Chinese railroad concessions.
The railroads of the old China, during the long and suffering course of their development, experiencing one after the other the end of the period of Qing rule, the administration of the Beiyang Militarists and the Nationalist government as well as the rule of diwei?? (敌伪). During this distinct historical period, although the ruling class the those who ruled had different conceptions of the importance and management of railroads, they were all unable to avoid the exploitation of the concessions of the railroads of China by the major Imperialist powers, as the authority over the railroads was always in the hands of the Imperialists as well as the feudalists and bureaucratic capitalists.
Because the old China, from the late period of Qing rule to the collapse of the GMD government, was for the most part in a semi-feudal, semi-colonial social state, as a result its railway system could not avoid having a semi-feudal and semi-colonial quality or character to it. The outcome of this was that the development of the entire railway enterprise was both slow and distorted, with both equipment that lacked standards and an administration that could not move forward (could not keep pace??).
It can all be summed up in three major points.
The first is insufficient quantity, distributed unevenly. China has a vast expanse of lands and a numerous population that for over 70 years only built 20,000 km of railroads. In addition, up to the eve of the liberation of the entire Mainland, only over 10,000 km of line was maintained and open to traffic, a truly small amount indeed. And of this small amount of track, the major portion of it was built and managed by the countries of Japan, Russia, England, France, Belgium, the USA and Germany, while the amount of track built by China itself did not exceed 40% of the total. Moreover, the major portion of it was located in the Northeast and in coastal areas. The large areas of the Northwest and Southwest only had 1,600 km of railroad, which constituted only about 6% of the Nation's total track.
The second is a mix of standards and uneven quality. Because the various Imperialist powers controlled the construction of rail lines in China, they commonly adopted the railroad standards of their own home country or of their colonies. As a result the rich variety of railroad standards of the nations of England, Germany, Belgium, France, Russia, Japan and the USA were transported to the land of China. The width of the track gauge was not uniform for the entire country, and even on the same railroad the limits adopted for bridges and tunnels (), and the standards for curves and grades were not uniform. The equipment each Imperialist sold to China was not only old fashioned and backward, its quality was lacking but the types were extremely varied. For example, there were over one-hundred different kinds of locomotives and steel rails. At the same time the railroad equipment was not the same nor complete, and it was difficult to use as a coherent system, as only about 30% of the stations had signal equipment and about 70% of the track lacked the equipment for block operation. The equipment was inferior and the rails had many defects, so that safe operation could not be guaranteed.
The third is a divided administration and backwardness in operations. Because for the most part the railroads were built with borrowed foreign loans, and there were also guaranteed with assets and business revenues, so that regardless of the length of the line, all of the countries that controlled the investments created separate bureaus, dividing the administration to the point that one railroad area was administered by several bureaus. For example, the Beiping region was administered by the three bureaus, Beining, Pinghan and Pingsui. This kind of situation went on into the late stages of Nationalist rule, when it underwent a change. Divided management was the outcome, as each had to have their own separate administration. This not only resulted in a railroad implementing one kind of rules and system and one kind of management method, but it also allowed for the creation of duplicate train stations as well as locomotive, maintenance, signal and other services, so that operating expenses and staffing levels could not help but see some increase. At the same time, the handling of freight and passengers brought with it many inconveniences.
To sum it all up, the railroad enterprise that the old China passed on to the new China was an extremely worn out organization.
However, despite the railroads of the old China being in this sort of unbalanced and outdated state, they could still serve as a kind of advanced transportation pattern, that from an objective standpoint with regards to the economic and cultural construction of China, and the promotion of social intercourse and progress, it could still serve to promote that affect(sp?). At the same time, passing through the construction and development of the railroad, also contributed and physically conditioned the "special fighting ability" of the workers and staff troops. These troops, under the leadership of the CCP already overthrew the "Three Big Mountains" (NOTE: San Zuo Danshan - The Three Big Mountains are Imperialism, Feudalism and Bureaucratic Capitalism.) pressing on the Chinese peoples, contributed to one's own strength. ????
The red flags fluttered as the ceremonial cannons barked (chirped?) their salutes. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China, the railroads of the old China also experienced a rebirth. From now on the brand new railroad, under the direct leadership of the CCP and the Central Government, removed the old and setup the new, working hard to begin a new venture, gradually and then rapidly growing, expanding upward.
The railroad enterprise of the new China, since it used the technical equipment of the old China as its material base, also took advantage of the situation as the People's political power assumed control and restored the existing railroads, (shui3 dao4 qu2 cheng2 - a canal is formed when water arrives) in a natural course of building up an establishment. ??
As early as before the birth of the People's Republic of China, following on the constant expansion of the liberated areas under the leadership of the CCP, particularly after the shift from rural villages to cities, more and more railroads saw the power of the people assume control, restore and manage them. First in the Northeast and North China followed by Eastern China and South China until at last included nearly all the railroads. The China People's Revolutionary Army Ministry of Railroads (shortened to Army Ministry of Railroads) that was founded in January of the year 1949, and at its initial creation the Minister Teng Daiyuan presided over a meeting called to discuss the task of the railroads, that prominently stressed : unify the organization and leadership of the railroads to adapt to the requirements of the war and of production; unify the the allocation and use of materials to speed up the pace of railroad construction; unify the important regulatory systems and the building specification standards of the management to implement the principles of safety, speed and low cost for the railroad. In addition, using the clear and simple operating slogan "Wherever the Liberation Army strikes, it is exactly where the railroad is repaired" was used to make a broad appeal to the railroad employees to vigorously support the battle of the People's liberation. In order to answer the appeal of the Army Ministry of Railways and implement its request, each department of the railroad and the railroad management bureau of each area one after the other proposed their own way to carry out the the requests. In Beiping on July 1, 1949 a meeting of the National Railroad Employees Interim Representative General Assembly (Quanguo tieluzhigong linshi daibiao dahui), Minister Teng Daiyuan on a topic in the report "The Current Situation and the Policy and Mission of the Task of the Railroads" still specifically proposed the current People's Railroad management policy was "rely on the working class to join forces and all hope to become railroad employees that serve the people, restoring and building the rail network of the People's Railroad, to act as a power that finally destroys the last vestiges of reactionaries, strengthening the struggle for the industrialization of China". At the time, he also promoted through with the "construction of an accurate, fast, safe, economical, with high efficiency and low cost" new People's Railroad as the objective of the struggle.
Accompanying the birth of the People's Republic of China and the creation of the Central People's Government Ministry of Railways (shortened to Ministry of Railways), on the foundation of Military Ministry of Railways that served as a transitional stage, not only highly effective in the completion of the various above mentioned tasks, but also made possible new progress in each of the tasks, including the task of collecting and protecting railroad communications equipment (signals??), unifying the railroad accounting system and increasing the budget, including other kinds of tasks were all initiated. By the end of the year 1949, the original main railroads on the Chinese mainland were controlled by the Ministry of Railways, the major main rail lines had been completely restored and liked together to form a complete system. In the year 1952, with the complete success of democratic reforms, the initial steps to extablish a foundation for the railroads of the new China, better able to accomplish the task of building the production of transportation, creating a very good situation.
Following the beginning of the First Five-year Construction Plan in the year 1953, the railroad enterprise of the new China also entered into a period of major construction planning. As a result, building railroads became a major new focus for the people.
The period of the First Five-year Construction Plan, the workers of all the railroads, under the united leadership of the Ministry of Railways, on the one hand vigorously promoted the experience of the Zhongchang Railroad and launched the "Fully Loaded, Over the Axle limit, 500 kilometers" (Manzai, zhaozhou, wubai gongli) Movement, that enabled transportation production to be taken up to a new level (geng shan yiceng lou); while on the other hand together with the officers and men of the People's Liberation Army Railway Troops (or Railway Engineering Corps??) vigorously answered the daring challenge of Chairman Mao Zedong regarding "celebrate the opening of the Chengyu Railroad to traffic, and continue to strive to build the Tiancheng line", "celebrate the opening of the Tianlan Railroad to traffic, and continue to strive to build the Lanxin line", building one after the other the Chengyu Railroad and after the Tianlan section of the Lunghai Railroad and the Laimu section of the Xianggui Railroad, in one sustained effort in the vast regions of the Southwest and Northwest, launched a large-scale operation to build roads. In a few short years, some of the provinces of the Northwest and Southwest were able to go from a situation of not having any railroads and not merely breaking through having zero to rapidly building within their territory enough lines for the outline of a network, making it possible for steam engines to gallop the vastness of the Northwest and Southwest, allowing the rousing bursts of the steam whistle to wake the people up, waiting to open up/exploit the natural riches of the country (fatherland).
According to statistics, from the construction of the first railroad of the new China in 1952, considered to be the Chengyu Railroad, to the completion of the First Five-year Construction Plan in 1957, within the short space of seven or eight years, 6,100 kilometers of main and branch lines were built for an increase of new operating tracks mileage of over 18%. This was primarily on the basis of the construction of the two railroads, the Chengyu and the Tianlan, but the new construction of two new Baocheng and Lanxin main lines, as well as the Lizhan, Lanyan, Yingxia, Xiaochuan and other lines. Not only greatly increasing the connections between the Northwest, the Southwest and the rest of the country, and also transformed the situation of several strategic coastal defense points and sea ports that had been unable use railroads and inland waterways. The newly built Ji'er Railroad and the Laimu section of the Xianggui Railroad also served to further strengthen international links between China and Mongolia, and between China and Vietnam to create an advantageous situation.
However, the development process of the railroads of the new China was not a smooth process from start to finish, but included mistakes and complications caused by a shortage of available experience, and suffered further damage from both natural and man-made disasters.
As everyone knows the Great Leap Forward (大跃进 Da4yue4jin4) that began in 1958, hoping to explain it as briefly and quickly as possible, was the striving of China to explore its own path of creating socialism, to create a brand new phase, however, history still confirms that the power of this movement was unsuccessful. This was true of the entire country and was also true of all the railroad departments.
Although the Great Leap Forward was a mass movement, however since the railroad had a position on the leading edge of society (xianxinguan - Goes First Office), the influence that it had was still not ordinary. At the time, all economic activity (NOTE: gexinggeye) particularly steel, coal, grain and cotton, became "satellites" of the Great Leap Forward. (NOTE: Weixing is simply satellite but I have seen other places where the word has been translated as Sputnik which was launched in Oct. 1957. Since sputnik itself is the Russian word for satellite this seems reasonable but why translate a Chinese word into Russian for English speakers? Was the Great Leap Forward inspired by the Sputnik launch?) Because the Ministry of Railroads departments had to guarantee that the Army Marshall (Yuanshuai - Steel) could raise his tent, and satisfy the transportation requirements of the iron and steel industry, to guarantee that the national economy can achieve high goals, and so must repeatedly increase the original goals that then become freight plans that were not within their power to reach. This is how it came to be that the Ministry of Railways offices could not but break away from the realistic proposals "build more roads, construct more cars, increase speed" hoping to reach unreachable targets. So the freight capacity at the end of 1957 was short by 300,000 tonnes, and still imagine that by 1959 it had reached 800,000 tonnes and by 1972 it was 3,000,000 tonnes. Based on this rapidly growing need for freight capacity, the plan for new rail construction in the Second Five-year Construction Plan went from 20,000 kilometers to 30,000 kilometers and then to 70,000 kilometers and finally the plan called for 120,000 kilometers of new railroad track construction within 15 years. In order to accomodate the sudden increase in freight volume, required that the manufacture of locomotives and rolling stock be increased by several times in a short period, and the demands on rail transportation were already very intense as there was still the need concentrate transport effort on the "satellite" of loading over 50,000 cars each day. But after this "satellite" had been set the transportation setup dissolved into a chaos that many days of revision could not fix. So as a result daily car loadings fell back to the level of about 30,000 cars. This sort of not proceeding from a realistic situation, not handling affairs according to objective laws, but relying only on subjective desires to set high targets is the consequence of putting into practice blind obedience that forced the basic production units to act blindly and recklessly, piecing together equipment, living off the past, and striking out blindly, which really was a major injury to the willingness to work for the broad mass of workers.
During the Great Leap Forward in order to get more pull quickly, and in spite of the real condition of the equipment and technology, and without realistic testing but only relying on a subjective attitude of struggle, the load factor of the freight trains on the Jingguang, Jinpu, Jingshan, Shenshan, Hada and Jinghu six major trunk lines was suddenly increased from 2,700 tonnes to 3,600 tonnes. What had originally been beyond their power to do was nevertheless done no matter what the cost. As a result, problems with a series of train delays and breaks emerged, with the appearance of collapsed and fractured springs on rolling stock and broken and damaged car axles. Even more serious was the outbreak of "baishuibiao" (the water in the engine boiler boiling away) while running a train (NOTE: white water indication? I cannot find this term in any of the dictionaries I have accumulated. If the water in the boiler does not cover the firebox then the firebox will overheat and collapse to create a catastrophic explosion of steam.) which gives rise to the breaching of the engine boiler or the serious accident of an explosion. Upon reflecting on one of the evils of the state of transport, there was an immediate increase in the number of train operating accidents and an obvious decline in on-time train operation.
In order to ensure that Field Marshall 'steel' could raise his tent the branches of the railroad not only required a rapid increase in the volume of transportation, but also had an increase in 'unreasonable' transportation. (NOTE: buheli yunshu) As the transportation distance increased then so too did the number of kilometers that empty cars traveled, intensifying the contradiction between transport capacity and volume. At the same time, an excessive emphasis on the transportation of important materials like ore and coal led to a drop in the transportation of agricultural and light industrial products, and transportation intensified the serious imbalance of the shares of national economic development. The roalroad in order to resolve the sharp contradiction between freight volume and capacity, not only were engine and rolling stock repair depots inappropriately switched from repair to construction leading to a proportional imbalance between repair and construction, but also under local support and organization hundreds of thousands if not millions of (migrant) workers were mobilized on the road, setting off a giant wave of activity in a complete overhaul of the railroad. However, because of inadequate supplies of steel, concrete and timber, many rail lines repaired the roadbed but could not lay steel rails, or laid steel rails but were missing equipment so the even if there was track it was not open to traffic.
Obviously, the Great Leap Forward was an unprecendented mass movement that also served to stimulate the production of workers and their enthusiasm for working. People promoted Communist ideology, aggressively pursuing socialist cooperation, promoting a spirit of the courage to think and act, whole-heartedly believing that "one day is equal to twenty years" still for the production of railroad transportation it produced many new achievements. In the three years from 1958 to 1960, the railroads all together transported more than 1.4 billion passengers and over 1.5 billion tonnes of cargo, which compared to totals at the end of the First Five-year Construction Plan were over 2 hundred million passengers and over 5 hundred million tonnes of cargo more transported.
In order to consolidate the achievements, overcome the shortcomings and especially to correct the severe negative influence of the Great Leap Forward, the railroads under the unified deployment of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council from 1961 began to implement the policy of "adjust, consolidate, strengthen and improve" in a comprhensive reorganization of the work of the railroad and good momentum for steady development also emerged. By 1965 the freight volume for all railroads had reached over 480 million tonnes, an increase of 39.8% compared to 1962 and an annual growth rate of 11.8%, for two consecutive years in 1964 and 1965 there were good results in train safety and on time performance, in 1964 the major and large accident rate average dropped to 0.19 for every million kilometers of engine operation, (NOTE: Accidents appear to have two catgories: Da Shigu and Zhongda Shigu.) the passenger train on-time departure and running rate was almost 100%, the freight train on-time departure and running rate almost reached 95%. Meanwhile, labor productivity rates increased and transportation cost fell, and in 1965 for every 10,000 yuan of transportation revenue generated a profit of 4650 yuan, creating the best results in history.
Unfortunately, people today retrace the steady development of the railroad business and encounter a serious, man-made disaster, and that is the well-known "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution".
This "Cultural Revolution" that began in 1966, as soon as it started the railroad sector received an unprecedented shock. In a great thread of millions of Red Guards, overcrowded and packed trains that often were late disrupted the orderly operation of rail transportation. The "capitalist roaders" and "rebel factions" that seized the railroad sector entered leadership positions to disturb and destroy the normal operating order of the railroads making it impossible for the cadres to direct the production of transportation. The impact on the railroads was like several major arteries suffering from blood clots, posing a serious threat to the smooth flow of rail transportation.
In order to protect the smooth flow of transportation, the Central Committee of the CCP and the State Council on 31 May 1967 first decided to implement military control of the Ministry of Railways and later also decided to implement complete military control of the national railroads. Thus, all the powers of the railroad were placed under military control, from the Ministry of Railways to the Railroad Bureaus and Railroad Sub-bureaus as well as the basic level stations and depots, the daily routine work was totally controlled by military representatives. Of those who were originally in power, most were overthrown by the revolutionary masses, and a few were grouped into "grasp revolution, promote production" work teams. In this way although from an organizational standpoint it initially stabilized the volatile and unsettled situation of the railroads, however, with the continuous advance of the "revolution", the military control that was implemented could not yet block the disasterous harm of the revolution on the railroad.
As a result of the destruction of the Cultural Revolution, the situation of the railroads during the two years of 1967 and 1968 suddenly took a turn for the worse. When several rail sections are blocked transportation is disrupted and coal and other key goods cannot be transported so the coal used to generate electrical power for cities and the coal used for living is in short supply. At the same time there was a dramatic increase in train operating accidents. The train operating accidents for all railroads suddenly increased 25% from 1966 to 1967, and 1968 saw an increase of 20% over 1967. The safety situation was not good, as every qualitative and quantitative measure also showed a significant decline. The level of railway management also declined. At the end of 1968 the railways sector's production of transportation reached its lowest point.
The rapid deterioration in the situation of the railroads caused serious concern within the state and society. The leaders of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council, Premier Zhou Enlai in particular, became directly involved in the activity of the railroads. The military control commissions at all levels and the broad mass of the railway workers took seriously the instructions of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council, worked hard to turn the tide and to a certain extent reduced the destruction the internal strife had on rail transportation, and this lasted until July of 1970 when the Railway Ministry, the Communications Ministry and the Postal part of the Postal and Telecommunications Ministry were merged to create a new Transportation Ministry, but the railroads still faced serious circumstances and a difficult situation.
Under the direction of Zhou Enlai, Li Xiannian, Yu Qiuli and Su Yu and the leaders of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council, the broad mass of the rail workers under the leadership of the Transportation Ministry on the one hand continued to criticize the extremist thinking of the time, criticize the empty-headed politics, criticize the anarchist thinking, to carry out policies; on the other hand increasing savings, promoting safety, consolidating the management of the enterprise, improving the quality of equipment and other matters with unceasing effort, finally maintaining good momentum from 1969 on that started to increase transportation production. In 1973 for the first time freight volume topped 800 million tonnes; beginning in 1972 the situation of year to year increases in operating accidents started to turn around. At the same time, the output value of the railroad industry began to rise year after year as the major engineering projects of new line construction also received guarantees of human and material resources.
However, the good times did not last. In 1974 the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique used "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius" (NOTE: Lin is Lin Biao who died in 1971.) as a means to turn against Zhou Enlai, and also stirred up feelings with "Legalist rebellion, Confucian production", "To go against the current is revolutionary action", "Not for the wrong line of production", which led to some rebel leaders unrestrained organization of cross-industry and cross-regional focal points to incite some people to stop going to work, not labor, go into the hills (lashantou 拉山头), fight partisan battles, mount political attacks on all sides and persistently criticize and denounce the cadres that lead production, making it all but impossible for the production of transportation to proceed normally. As a result, the country's situation went into reverse, as the production of rail transportation again experienced an overall decline. In this way, during the first five months of 1974 there was 21 million tonnes less cargo to transport. In June of that year the rail hubs of Xuzhou, Changsha, Guiyang and Baotou one after the other experienced blockage. At the end of 1974 and early 1975, the Xuzhou rail hub at the intersection of the Jinghu and Long-Hai trunk lines, also experienced blockages.
In January 1975 after the initial meeting of the Fourth People's Congress, Deng Xiaoping was in charge of the daily work. From the beginning of the consolidation of the railroads, he worked to rectify the country on all fronts. In this year the Transportation Ministry was abolished and the two ministries of Railways and Transportation were re-established. Deng Xiaoping, party secretary of the meeting in charge of industry of each province, autonomous region and directly administered municipalities, convened to address the railroad problems on Febrauary 15 to March 8 by the CCP Central Committee, clearly stated: it is important to boost the national economy, but at this time the weak link is the railroads, the problem of the railroads has not been resolved as production is completely disrupted to the point that the whole project might come to nothing. And proposed that the way to resolve the railroad problem was to strengthen centralization, establish rules and regulations to enhance organization and discipline. As a result, the Central Committee of the CCP issued "Decision Concerning the Task of Strengthening the Railroads", even if contemporary people cannot forget the 1975 Central Committee Document Number Nine. (NOTE: ??) This document provided a series of practical actions and methods to rectify and strengthen the railroads.
As all the railroads conscientiously implemented the "Decision Concerning the Task of Strengthening the Railroads" there was serious congestion in several rail areas, particularly at the congestion-prone Xuzhou rail hub, that were cleared one after the other. During April of 1974, out of all 20 Railroad Bureaus 19 achieved their car loading plan, in the same month the average daily car loadings had increased over 10,000 cars compared to February, the average daily coal car loadings achieved plan for the first time in 58 months, and unloadings also achieved plan for the first time in 57 months. As the Railway Ministry implemented the "Decision Concerning the Task of Strengthening the Railroads", the objectives of "accessibility, uninterrupted, safely on-time appropriately go first", were initially realized.
Deng Xiaoping reorganized the railroads, consolidating the rail and communications front, the Ministry of Railways conscientiously implemented CCP Central Committee Document No. 9, sparking a frenzied rejection and attack by the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique saying that Document No. 9 was the old and new bourgeoisie in support of the central black background (??!! zhongyang hei houtai) engaged in an attempt to recover power, a bourgeoisie reactionary line. Their followers in the railroad were also unwilling to give up, using every methods at their disposal to destroy the work of reorganization. Following the continuously escalating damage and attacks on the reconstruction work by the Jiang Qing reactionary clique, particularly after the the Tiananmen Incicent in April of 1976, under the circumstances of Deng Xiaoping being (innocently??) relieved of all duties inside and outside the Party, the situation in the country quickly deteriorated, the production of railroad transportation also subsequently declined.
In the disaster-ridden year of 1976, because of the mindless destruction of the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique coupled with the impact of the Tangshan major earthquake, despite the energetic efforts of the workers of all the railroads as they worked hard to reduce the disaster losses, but in this year there was 47.3 million less tonnes of cargo compared to 1975, in the entire country more than 8 million tonnes of coal were not shipped out, significant traffic, compared to 1975 major accidents increased by more than 17%, compared to 1975 taxes turned over to the state were reduced by 7.4 hundred million yuan.
After the Cultural Revolution, from 1977 on the railroad industry went through bringing order out of chaos, consolidation, adjustments to gradually restore the original spirit, and thus entered a new period of reform and openness. Especially after the 1980s and 1990s ceaseless development and continuous reform, new things continuously emerged as the new look of production changed with each new day, as the entire rail industry appeared with a brand new look that the past could not compare with.
In the two years following the end of the Cultural Revolution, in order to clear the obstacles to the recovery and development of the rail industry, all of the railroads, according to the relevant guidelines and policies of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council, with great effort brought order out of the chaos, eliminated the influence of "left" thinking to implement the policies of "adjust, reform, reorganize, improve", adopting decisive measures to boost the production of transportation. At the beginning of 1977 with the situation of rail transportation still in a passive state, the State Council in February of that year convened a National Railroad Work Conference to study the problem of how to improve rail transportation. After the meeting, the CCP Central Committee reprinted/produced the "Minutes of the National Railroad Work Conference" saying again that rail transportation should still be implemented according to the provisions of the 1975 Document No. 9 of the CCP Central Committee, and proposed that rail transport be under the unified control of the Ministry of Railways, who would do everything possible to quickly boost transportation. In the two years after this, the leadership of most of the subordinate enterprises were cleaned up, rules and regulations were consolidated, the professional management was strengthened, which led to the emergence of a large number of "Learn from Daqing" Red Flag work units, as the production of rail transportation continued to increase. In March 1978, all the railroads fully realized the "two,three,six" goals, namely: daily coal car loadings of 21,000 cars, freight car turnaround times reduced to 3 days and daily car loadings of 60,000 cars. In May the daily car loadings had reached 65,000 cars and the freight car turnaround times had been reduced to 2.86 days, producing the best results since 1966.
Starting in 1978, the Ministry of Railways in accord with the CCP's Third Plenary Session which shifted the focus of the party's work to the strategic decision-making for socialist modernization and the requirements to solve the problem of the imbalance in the national economy, as well as the "adjustment, reform, reorganize and improve" policies, holding two National Railroad Work Conferences one after the other in Jaunary and May of 1979 to cleanup the influence of leftist ideology as a requirement to shift the focus to railway modernization. And using adjustment as the basis, began the task of solving the problem of the uneven development of the railroads.
The prelude to beginning the railroad adjustment would be shifting the focus of basic construction to the transformation of existing lines. With basic construction investment continuously adjusted, the proportion of investment in the transformation of old lines increased year after year. The locomotive and rolling stock industries were also returned to normal during the readjustment, and the value share of parts production and repair of rolling stock also improved greatly.
Meanwhile, in the implementation of the readjustment policies of the national economy, the role of science, technology and education was further strengthened. The Ministry of Railways issued the "Outline of Plan to Develop Railway Science and Technology from 1979 to 1985", and on the basis of "Ministry of Railways Scientific Research Work on Management Methods", established a Chief Engineer responsible for technology, allowing the task of management of science and technology to begin moving towards the right (normal) track. From 1979 to 1981 the Ministry of Railways began four business management seminars open to leadership cadres at the Railway SubBureau level and higher, that held over 1,000 short courses about the various types of technology services. There were also 5 railroad institutions of higher learning (Univ and Colleges??) that opened classes to train cadre, and to develop railroad academies and colleges setup programs and specialities that proposed adjustment programs.
After several years of comprehensive adjustment and reorganization, a good foundation was laid for the reform and opening of all the railroads. All the railroads under the relevant national policy guidance of proceeding from the actual situation to boldly explore new ways to run the people's railroad, allowing the reform and opening of the railroads to from the start develop in depth.
The September 1982 meeting of the CCP Twelfth Congress made a great call to the entire party and the people of the nation to fully start the building of a new situation of socialist modernization. The railroads implemented the essence of this conference, the reform and opening of the railroads being launched with the focus on the five areas of bao(contract), fang(release), linkages(lian), flow(tong) and more(duo). That is as follows: On the assumption that profits become taxes, various forms of an economic contract responsibility system were implemented; progressively release power, allowing enterprises to have even more autonomy; strengthen the roalroad's internal and external links between the various businesses and departments; ensure safe and smooth tranport; using transportation as the core, do well in many kinds of business.
The Third Plenary Session of the 12th CCP (Party Congress) following the announcement of "The CCP Central Committee Decision Concerning Reform of the Economic System", the railroad authorities quickly in the spirit of this decision, produced "Views Concerning Railroad Reform", that pushed forward the core of railroad reform by having it revolve around the implementation of the economic responsibility system, requiring railroad enterprises to establish economic entities that were relatively independent, able to operate on their own, and were responsible for their own profits and losses in order to strengthen their own activities. And the proposed railroad reforms were advantageous in securing safety, advantageous in making the railroads a custom (creation of a spirit of the railroad??), advantageous in improving economic efficiency, advantageous in mobilizing the enthusiasm of the organization's employees, and advantageous in accelerating the pace orf railroad construction.
In this way, over the span of more than ten years of never ceasing effort, the entire railroad conscientiously implemented the policies and guidelines enacted by the CCP Congress and the National People's Congress, and conscientiously implemented all of the various provisions of the Railroad Law, in accordance with the requirements of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council and and task defined by the Ministry of Railways, one after the other implmented a series of measure to reform, open and revitalize, which greatly contributed to the production of transportation by the railroads, and the constant and rapid advance of modernization.
Over the course of 20 years, the railrods as a whole, in the areas of transportation, infrastructure and industry, implemented a series of measures to reform and open. The main ones are: in the area of transportation, the reorganization and merger of Railroad Bureaus and Sub Bureaus, the expansion of the organization of passenger trains, the implementation of long locomotive routes (NOTE:??) and the Luncheng system (NOTE: a system of crew rotation used for passenger trains.), the start of heavy-haul unit trains (?), development of non-stop transportation and containerized transportation, increase the speed of train transportation, initiate over-night trains, inter-urban trains and tourist trains as well as "public transportation" trains (NOTE: I take gongjiaolieche to mean something like a commuter train.) and express parcel trains, opening of "rail stations without a track" to extend transportation service. With regards to infrastructure, an investment contract system and contract bidding system were implemented, as well as multi-channel fund-raising to build track, gradually changing only rely on national uniform investment, an approach used exclusively by the Ministry of Railways to build railroads. In industry, the development of horizontal integration, to break down the closed structure and explore breaking the boundaries between sectors, regions and industries, carrying out a national collaboration, taking the path of of relying on the professional major collaboration to develop the locomotive and rolling stock industry.
Of particular interest is implementation of industry wide input and output, the economic contract responsibilty system's use a road to build a road, allowing the interests of the state, the collective and the individual to be better linked, mobilizing the production and enthusiasm of the workers, allowing the production potential of the enterprise to create good economic and social benefits; vigorously develop economic diversity and communalism, allowing for the gradual creation of the railroas as a major economic pillar, effectively enhancing the strength and vitality of the railway sector; in order to meet the needs of a socialist market economy, a further conversion of enterprise management structures in some enterprises a modern management system was implemented separately creating a group company (jituan gongsi), limited liability companies (youxianzeren gongsi) and holding companies (konggu gongsi). At the same time, in all of the industries an asset management responsibility system was implemented to serve as a transition to creating a modern enterprise system, to allow enterprises to gradually take the road of "private property, clear responsibilties and scientific management".
All of these reforms and opening measures that have been implemented and that are being implemented, all to different degrees accelerating the pace of the process of reform and opening of the railway sector, were very characteristic of the times and of a certain historical significance. This series of reform measures allowed the old railroad enterprise to begin to show a new vigor and vitality.
The Fifteenth Congress of the Communist Party held at the turn of the century, determined the historical status and significance of Deng Xiaoping's theories and clarified the theory and basic program of the primary stages of socialism, adjusting the structure of ownership and the diverse forms of public ownership as well as improving the distribution structure and distribution methods in a major breakthrough in a series of theoretical problems. This served not only as a solid theoretical foundation for the nationawide reform of enterprise, but also served to accelerate the promotion of the "three reforms and one strengthening" sangai yijiaqiang (reform, reorganization, restructuring and strengthneing the management of the enterprise) to break through the difficult points of railroad reform, establishing new railroad organizations and mechanisms to adapt to a socialist market economy by providing new ways of thinking and areas.(*rethink wording) In order to conscientiously carry out the spirit of the 15th CCP National Congress, in January of 1998 a meeting of the leading cadres of all the railroads was convened that proposed, after three years of resolute study and struggle, by the year 2000 to achieve the separation of the enterprise from the state, strive to gradually create a modern enterprise system for the majority of large and mid-sized state-owned railroads, one group of key large-scale enterprises realized group-ization jituanhua (??rephrase) management, and the vast majority of small-scale enterprises were reinvigorated. Thus using all types of basic forms of market operating mechanisms, service levels and product quality has greatly improved, significantly enhancing business management and economic benefits.
Of course, since the railroad is an old organization and a large organization the historical leagacy of rules and prohibitions was rather large and in particular the universal operations thinking and the entrenched management made reform more difficult and complicated. But in order to meet the needs of the socialist market economy, it had to firmly carry out reforms, and actively clear negative factors that impeded the development of productive forces, breaking out of the traditional mode of transport organization, breaking the closed industrial structure, change the exclusive methods of the roads, using the mechanism of competition and the direction of the market, to complete get rid of the constraints of the old way of doing things ( tiaotiaokuangkuang - social conventions and taboos) and allow the railroad industry to get out of its predicament, bravely moving forward on the broad path of reform, opening up and vitality.
Throughout the half century development process of the railroads of the New China, it did not always go smoothly, and it also was not repeated setbacks, but was from correcting mistakes, passing through twists and turns, meeting natural disasters head on, surmounting difficulties, prevailing against natural and man-made disasters until at last going from one victory to the next.
"Want to get rich, build many roads", "Want to get rich quickly, transportation increases buying and selling". This is the era of reform and opening up, the vigorous development of a socialist market economy of today, with ordinary people on the road to wealth and health, eagerly looking forward to communications and transportation. Today's railroad faces new challenges, but has new opportunities.
Communications and transportation, both past and present, have an important position and role to play in the national economy. In the reform and opening of the present, its position and role not only has not declined, but it has becomes even more important. The railroad is the first of the communications and transportation industries, and it has always been this way. Marx once said the railroads are industrial pioneers (gonye de xianqu), Mao Zedong once called railroads the vanguard of the national economy, and the railroad sector also proposed the slogan: "reaching out in every direction, unimpeded and unobstructed, on point with safety, just right to go first". All of this shows that: by including the railroad within communications and transportation, the railroad in particular, is the leader in construction, rapid development, and can continue to meet the ever growing transportation needs of the national economy, the national defense and the people's lives.
So, entering the period of reform and opening up, as the various modes of transportation develop competition, what sort of situations and tasks do the railroads of China face?
The railroads of today's China are one member of a modern transportation system. As we all know, transportation includes traditional forms such as human-powered carts and animal-drawn carts used among the people up to the present, and also includes modern forms such as trains, automobiles and more. Trains, cars, ships, aircraft and pipelines are modern forms of transportation widely used by the countries of the world, with the way each type is used and combined differing according to country and locality. China is a big country with vast territories, a large population, unequally distributed resources, balanced economic development, that is still in the midst of development. In countries such as this, they only develop one form of modern transportation or from the aspect of various needs develop some various modes of transportation, neither of which are in keeping with the actual conditions of the country or the locality, also making it difficult to satisfy different transportation needs. For this reason it was decided that China must develop, not only railroads, but the five modern transport modes of railroads, highways, waterways, air travel and pipelines. These five modes of transportation need to complement each other, cooperate with each other as well as compete with each other to have the capacity to satisfy and even better satisfy the different ever growing transport needs of the localities and departments, both outside the country and overseas. At the same time, under the unified plan of the state and the effect of the market economy, an integrated transportation system gradually emerged that linked east and west, north and south, that linked the country together, connecting it with the world, on sea and land and air as a unified system of transportation.
Since the establishment of the New China, and particularly since the continuous construction and development that followed reform and opening, now regardless of whether it is the railroad and highways and not water tansport, air transport or pipelines, they all to varying degrees went from small to large, from less to more, or continual development that started from nothing, and expanded, they all became modern modes of transportation of considerable size.
This unified transportation system has the railroads as its backbone, the highways as its foundation, gives full play to the role of water transport and vigorously develops air transport, with policies for the proper development of pipeline transport. Only by creating and developing this mutually supporting and integrated transportation system do we have the capacity to allow the various modes of transport to better shoulder their transport roles, and also the capacity to serve the transportation needs of China's national economy and the world. Now, these five transportation modes all still require continuous development and growth. Therefore, the state, in the implementation of the 9-5 Plan and the plan envisioned for the next fifteen years, the development of the transportation industry is still the focus of building the economy. The railroad is one of the modern forms of transportation and one part of an integrated transportation system, in the future in addition to fulfilling the tasks of passenger and freight transportation, it will also need to more closely complement other forms of transportation, increase cooperation, overcome weaknesses, in order to together build, improve and develop a unified system of transportation.
The railroads of today's China are still playing a key role in transportation. The railroad past was determined by the national conditions and the road conditions of China, now it still serves as the backbone of transportation. The long-distance of bulk freight, whether it is coal moving from north to south or coal moving from west to east, or even grain transported from north to south, ore transported from south to north, as well as cotton traveling from west to east, they first of all have to rely on rail transportation to move them all. Particularly true when talking of middle- and long-distance passenger transport, because of the large train passenger capacity of the rail system as well as the relatively low ticket prices, and especially during the holiday periods of crowded passenger service and transportation shortages, passengers normally choose rail transportation.
Including the railroad in the five modern forms of transportation, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and that is true beyond a doubt. But in a country like China, railroads have a comparatively large transport capacity, relatively fast transport speed, a lower transportation cost, a high degree of safety, is less affected by weather conditions and other advantages, the New China has gone through several decades of continuous construction so that the current rail network already extends north, south, east and west to the entire country, with only the exception of Lhasa, the admiistrative center of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, the administrative centers of all the mainland provinces, autonomous regions and directly governed cities all have direct rail links with the capital of Beijing. At the end of the 8-5 Plan period, the rail mileage of the national railroad (including local/regional railroads) reached 62,600 kilometers. Moreover, the technological level had greatly improved. The rate of double-track construction and the rate of electrification have increased significantly. The original, commonly used steam locomotives have been for the most part replaced by diesel and electric locomotives. At the same time, there was also new construction of another major artery linking north and south - the Jingjiu (Beijing-Jiulung) Line and a major line connecting the Southwest to the sea - the NanKun Line (Nanning-Kunming). It is no exaggeration to say that the railroad serves as the backbone of the modern modes of transportation, it is that which is essential with technical equipment that is more and more powerful, playing a key role as conditions become better and better. Although in recent years, the various modes of transport under the influence of division and competition the proportion of passenger and freight turnover held by rail transport declined, but on the busy lines and sections transport is still in short supply, so the contradiction between transport capacity and transport volume is still quite moderate. Even in this case, at the end of the 8-5 Plan in 1995, rail transport freight turnover volume reached 1.28 trillion tonne-kilometers, passenger turnover volume reached 354 billion passenger-kilometers which still represented 54% and 39% of the national totals respectively. The railroad is a modern mode of transport that plays a key role, which is still plain to see.
The railroads of today's China face a situation of mutual competition among the various modes of transportation. Since the period of reform and opening up, the national economy has experienced rapid economic development, with each of the modes of transportation trying to seize the opportunity to further accelerate development and expand their share of the transportation market. The highway has a clear advantage in short-range transport, passenger flow for air transport has increased sharply for mid-range and long-range transport, water transport even had a definite impact on the railroads in the regions with water networks.
These are pressures and opponents that the rail transportation has never had to face before. In the past, they faced worries about cargo and pasengers that could not be transported and could not be completed; now, they need to worry about reductions in passengers and freight or sources of passengers and supplies of goods where they are unable to meet the required capacity. The railroads of the past were the "iron rooster" (NOTE: tiegongji idiomatic expression for a cheapskate.) - stingy, they were the Iron Boss (TRAN: tielaoda also Iron eldest son.) - the daughter of the Emperor does not worry about marriage, always relying on two rails to become a shopkeeper (NOTE: dang zuo shang ??), only those with passengers and freight find the door, and do not themselves go out. Now, however, it is very different. The Iron Elder Brother cannot afford to be arrogant, and the Iron Rooster also will have his feathers plucked by others. Now it is facing serious challenges, with challenges and competition in a market economy between rail, road and air (tie,gong,ji). Especially in land transportation, the competition between trains and automobiles is very intense. After the split between train and automobile, for short-distance transport the car has the advantages of speed and convenience, if the seats are filled then another starts, there are large air-conditioned rooms, the quality is excellent and the price is not too high. For mid-range and long-range transport, highway travel is not far behind, especially in inter-provincial or inter-city after highways and high-grade highways had been built and put into operation, as travel speed greatly improved together with large, high-end passenger cars with air-conditioning or a sleeper set, to provide service as fast and comfortable as that of a train. After a portion of tourists were attracted to the high level of highway transport, the railroad passenger volume for some lines showed a downward trend, while for others the passenger traffic decreased too much to the point that scheduled train service was halted.
In order to curb the decline in rail passenger traffic, the railroads strengthened their marketing strategies, undertook improvements to increase line speed, improved hardware and software for train service, to develop fast express trains that would leave at night and arrive in the morning or leave in the morining and arrive at night as well as inter-city trains and other measures, thus not only winning back some of the repeat passengers, but also showing that the railroad, not only with regards to railway freight but also with regards to passenger service, still had a definite competitive edge.
The railroad and the other modes of transportation, including the competing traffic of highways and aviation, compete to expand the quality of production and the quality of service, in this market economy and will continue to do so. Especially when the various modern means of transport have made considerable progress, and after the contradiction between transport volume and transport capacity has been eased, it will become a byuer's market and competition will become more intense. Survival of the fittest in all its aspects, particularly benefits passengers and shippers. The time of the "Iron Eldest Son" and the "Iron Rooster", as the socialist market economy continues to improve and develop, will be gone forever.
Today's new China is changing the situation of closed management and large-scale centralization. For decades the basic management and operations of the railroads of the new China were based on Soviet Union railroad models, so its overly-centralized management style has very deep roots. However, the more that things are this way then the more that we should persist in reform and continue to reform. Now, after 20 years of reform, traditional management and business models have been changed; the exclusive rail conditions have been eliminated; closed industrial production engages in professional collaboration with the outside; according to the separate directions of government and enterprise, the Ministry of Railways transformed its role, as the enterprise acted as an agent of the market, with expanded self-management power. And so it goes, all things that the railways of the new China did not have since its inception. It will promote the railway sector according to the requirements of modern business operations and management, while constantly updating its features.
The railroads of today's China still require continuted construction and development. The railrod originally was a business of long standing, and old business and in some developed countries rail transportation is not only a lagging industry but also a backward one. And so it is called a "sunset" industry. In China, the railroad nevertheless has a future of great and rich development. To date there are just under 70,000 kilometers of operating railroad mileage in China, which is still far from sufficient for the needs of the domestic economy (people's livelihood?). Therefore, whether it is the construction of new rail lines or the transformation of older lines, they all have the chance to show their capabilites, and all have a vast future for development.
In order to meet the needs of bulk material transport and regional economic development, a number of new railroads will be completed during the 9-5 period. For example, the new route to bring coal out of the Northwest - the Shenhuang Railroad, the Ankang and Neikun Railroads linking the Northwest and the Southwest, the railroad ferries that span the Qiongzhou Straits (NOTE: Hainan) and Bohai Bay, as well as the Nanjiang (Southern Xinjiang) Railroad to develop the economy of the ethnic peoples and more. At the same time, there will be construction of high-capacity passenger and freight transportation corridors, strong efforts to open up congestion with the aim of strengthening the structure of the rail network by implementing policies to simultaneously improve old lines and build new ones. In this way, in the period of 9-5, in addition to the 6000 kilometers of new track construction, there will be more than 3000 kilometers of double-track, and electrification of over 4000 kilometers. It is estimated that by the year 2000, the total railway mileage for the nation will reach 68,000 kilometers. The technological level of the railway will be significantly improved, while the rate of double-tracking will reach 34%, and the rate of electrification will reach 27%. With the continual progress of the construction of the rail network, passenger and freight traffic continues to increase, railroad technology and equipment production will both undergo large-scale development.
To say it all in a few words: the current railroads of China, since the 50 years following the establishment of the New China, and in particular in the 20 years of construction and development following the beginning of reform and opening, has not only been completely transformed from the past, old appearances were exchanged for a new look, and rising like the sun to its zenith, using a new attitude and a new way of doing things, facing new objectives, advanced in a realistic, rapid and healthy way.
The railroads of the new China were established based on the seizure and reform of the already existing railroads of the old China. The People's Army and the people's political power, guided by the Chinese Communist Party, from the beginning of the management takeover of the railroads to the three years of economic recovery that followed the establishment of the People's Republic of China, closely relied on the working class, completely mobilized the enthusiam and creativity of the broad mass of the workers, to foster the revolutionary spirit of the arduous struggle, quickly healing the wounds of war, and creating a new management system that completely transformed the semi-feudal, semi-colonial nature of the old railroad, allowing for the initial improvements in the equipment and technology of the railroad, and a significant improvement in transportation capacity, creating a new people's railroad with economic prosperity, a stronger national defense and added convenience to the livelihood of the people.
Following victory in the Anti-Japanese War and the development of the War of Liberation, the liberated areas led by the Chinese Communist Party continued to grow in size and the railroad was gradually returned into the hands of the people.
Before the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the vast majority of cities and towns and transportation routes occupied by the Japanese armies that had invaded the territory of China were surrounded by the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians led by the Communist party. The anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in a large-scale counter-attack, quickly liberated a large number of towns and cities, taking control of each of their railroads.
On August 8, 1945 the government of the Soviet Union declared war on Japan immediately sending troops into the Northeast of China that was ruled by the Japanese army. The liberated areas of Jin (Shanxi), Cha (Chahar), and Ji (Hebei) coordinated with the Eighth Route Army to destroy the stubborn resistance of the Japanese and Puppet troops to quickly recover Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Jinzhou, Shanhaiguan and other places, taking control of the railroads in these areas and soon after created the Pingsui Railroad Management Bureau (in Zhangjiakou), the Jinzhou Management Bureau (In Jinzhou) and the Rehe Management Bureau (in Chengde) implementing military control of these railroads. The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from each of the liberated areas sent 110,000 troops and more than 20,000 cadres to the Northeast most of whom arrived after passing along these tracks.
After the Red Army of the Soviet Union entered the Northeast, according to an agreement between the Chinese and Soviet governments, agreed to and signed on August 14th, concerning the joint management of the Chinese Changchun Railroad (shortened to Zhongchang Railroad)(NOTE: ZHONGguo CHANGchun TIELU), the Zhongchang Railroad Management Bureau and the Zhongchang Railroad Company Management Council were setup in Harbin and Changchun respectively, and personnel sent by the Soviet and Guomindang governments (NOTE: you might be more likely to recognize them as the KMT or Nationalist Party) jointly managed the main lines of the original Zhongdong Railroad (NOTE: Chinese Far Eastern Railroad - Manzhouli to Harbin to Suifenhe) and the Nanman Railroad (NOTE: Southern Manchurian Railway - Harbin to Port Arthur/Dalian). At the same time, Chinese Communist Party led forces that had continuously resisted the Japanese in the Northeast and the troops that had entered into the Northeast from Kuannei (NOTE: literally the Land between the Passes - in this case meaning China south of Manchuria), then with the exception of the Zhongchang Railroad, took control of the majority of the railroads, and at Qiqihar, Andong (modern Dandong), Benxi, Meihekou, Tonghua, Yanbian and other places to set up the appropriate management organizations.
During this period, Chinese Communist party led troops still in Kuannei took control of some of the sections of the railroads in the areas of Jin-Pu, Long-Hai, Ping-Han, and Tong-Pu.
Jiang Jieshi (NOTE: who you might also know by the name Chiang Kai-shek) in order to monopolize the fruits of victory in the war against the Japanese, on the one hand had taken on the pose of pursuing peace negotiations with the Communist Party, while on the other hand with the complete support of the American Navy and Air Force, mobilized large numbers of troops to invade North China and the liberated areas of the Northeast, and in November 1945 they attacked and occupied Shanhaiguan, Meizhou and other areas, seizing railroads routes in and out.
From December 1945 to January of the following year the CCP Central Committee Northeast Bureau with regards the instructive spirit of "Build and Consolidate the Northeast Base of Operations", together with the transformation of the situation in the Northeast, proceeded to adjust the railroad management organizations and so at Meihekou established the Dongman (NOTE: Eastern Manchuria) Railroad Managment Bureau, at Zhengjiatun the Ximan (NOTE: Western Manchuria) Railroad Management Bureau was setup, in Beian the Beian Railroad Management Bureau, and in Benxi the Anfeng Railroad Management Bureau, to manage the railroads that belonged to each Bureau.
In March of 1946 the Red Army troops of the Soviet Union withdrew from the Northeast to return home. The Guomindang troops immediately moved to set up a garrison in Shenyang, splittin up to invade the liberated areas. In a little more than two months, they had seized Fushun, Tieling, Yingkou, Benxi, Siping, Zhangchun, Jilin and other places, controlling the railroads to the south of the Songhua River. In June the Guomindang forces also advanced on Chengde and Zhangjiakou to occupy the railroads of that region.
The Chinese Communist Party railroad management organizations that were setup in the areas mentioned above, the staff and workers in these organizations supported the People's Army military resistance against the Nationalist military offensive and after completing the military task of a strategic shift of forces, either stopped working or withdrew to the rear. Following the transformation of the military situation, the railroad organizations of the liberated areas continuously evolved, but control of the 4600 kilometers of track to the north of the Songhua River continued to remain in the hands of the people.
In June of 1946 the Nationalist ruling clique single handedly incited a full-scale outbreak of civil war. The railroad transportation of the liberated areas of the Northeast, however, sustained the strategic mission of fully supporting the struggle for liberation. According to the requirements of the new situation, the Communist Party Central Committee Northeast Bureau produced the "Decision Concerning the Task of Strengthening the Railroads", and on the 25th of July created the office of Northeast Railroad Central Bureau (Dongbei Tielu Zongju) with Chen Yun, the Vice-Secretary of the Northeast Bureau of the Communist Party Central Committee (later succeeded by Lu Zhengcao), concurrently serving as Bureau Chief, unifying the leadership of the railroads of the regions of the Northeast. After establishing the Central Bureau, the administrative organizations were restructured, the transportation order was reorganized and a system of rules and regulations was created, with a management system that could adapt to wartime needs and could be used to effectively support the War of Liberation. At the same time, the Northeast Democratic Allied Army (NOTE: 东北民主联军 Dongbei minzhu lian jun) even organized a rail protection unit (hu lu jun) of several thousand men that controlled 7 infantry regiments and 1 armored brigade, with the task of recovering and protection of rail transportation and communications.
The railroads of the Northeast were severely damaged in the war, tracks and transportation facilities were seriously damaged, the materials and equipment for repair were in extremely short supply, making the task enormously difficult. The military representatives of the various cadres sent, relied wholeheartedly on the working class, and to further mobilize the masses engaged in careful ideological work to inspire a sense of awareness in the workers, to set off a wave of enthusiam to quickly repair and quickly ship, and to "bring the dead engines back to life" and "bring the dead cars back to life". "Wherever the Liberation Army strikes is exactly where the railroad is repaired" served as a joint pledge by the many staff and workers of the railroad.
At this time on the almost 5,000 kilometers of railroad track there were only 236 locomotives, 8,707 freight cars and 551 passenger cars and of these there were in service no more than 100 locomotives, not quite 3,800 freight cars and a little more than 100 passenger cars. Given the extreme scarcity of accessories and repair materials, a very large number of the engines and cars considered "dead engines" and "dead cars" were awaiting repairs. The majority of the workers and staff collected or donated equipment and parts, acting like a frugal family to "bring the dead locomotives back to life" and "bring the dead cars back to life", gathered together the "dead engines" and "dead cars" that had been abandoned along the railroad lines and proceeded to dismantle them to use the parts and equipment for repair, restoring no small number of locomotives and rolling stock. First in October and then in November of 1946, the locomotives named "Mao Zedong" and "Zhu De" were refurbished by the Harbin Locomotive Depot using Jiefang 1 type locomotive wrecks numbered 304 and 1083.
Confronting a severe shortage of fuel, grease and other materials, the train crews used the intelligence and power of the group to come up with several methods to help in the emergency. If there was no coal to burn in the boilers then soybeans or chopped wood was used, if there was no axle grease for lubrication then use soap/tallow? as a substitute, a shortage of pipes then take one piece and cut it into two to use, shortage of car cleaning materials then from the family home take old clothes and rags. Under wartime conditions in order for the train crews to satisfy the demands of military transportation, they all had an attitude of being ready for battle anytime they were waiting for orders to be issued. As soon as that happens, they grab their bags and husked sorghum, get on the train, with room and board both onboard, work their shift, trailing the smoke of battle, completing trip after trip of the military transport task, giving strong support to the front lines.
From December of this year to April 1947, the Democratic Coalition army participated in the battles of "San Xian Jiang Nan" and "Si Bao Linjiang" which turned around the military situation in the Northeast. This was followed by a series of offensives in the Summer, Fall and Winter, forcing the pullback of the Guomindang military forces to Changchun, Shenyang and Jinzhou, three isolated strongpoints, extablishing the basis for the liberation of all of the Northeast. Four failed Nationalist offensives San xia Jiangnan - Going South of the River Three Times si bao linjiang - Guarding Linjiang Four Times
Following the developments on the battlefield, the pace at which the liberated areas of the Northeast took control of their railroads quickly increased. In order to repair these railroads in a timely way for the approaching decisive battle, the Northeast Railroad Central Bureau decided to focus their energies on separately repairing: the Harbin Railroad Bureau had responsibility to repairing the rail line from Shuangchengbao to Taozhaolai, the Qiqihar Railroad Bureau was responsible for the repair of the railway to the west of Zhengjiatun, and the Jilin Railroad Bureau was responsible for the repair of the Jilin Songhua River bridge and the long Jilin railway. In February of 1948, CCP Central Committee Northeast Bureau decided to use the rail protection troops as a base, transferred a group of railroad workers and a technical core, to organize two railway regiments to assist in the task of rebuilding the railroad. In July, again with two Railway Army regiments as their foundation, were organized into the Northeast People's Liberation Army Railway Column (the new name for the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army) which controlled four groups (dui) with separate responsibility to repair the railroads: one group was to repair along the Xinyi line from West Fuxin in the direction of Yixian, a second group were to repair along the Jilin-Changchun line in the direction of Changchun, the third group was to mount a major effort to as quickly as possible repair the major bridge over the Sunghua River at Taolaizhao on the Zhongchang Railroad, the fourth group was to repair the railroads in the area of Meihekou, while also making repairs along the Shen-Ji (NOTE: Shenyang to Jilin) line in the direction of Shenyang. In October with the repair of the Songhua River bridge complete, at the opening ceremony, Chen Yun praised the bridge repair teams and railroad workers "for repairing a road to victory for the people of the Northeast."
On 12 September, the Northeast Field Army launched the Liao-Shen (NOTE: 东北野战军 Dongbei Yezhan Jun, 辽宁-沈 ;阳 Liaoning-Shenyang) Campaign, with large-scale military transport by rail starting from September 10th. Troops from the Meihekou area boarded the train, while food and military needs were loaded at Harbin and Qiqihar, to create a troop train that travelled west on the tracks to arrive at the front lines. In late September, there was an attack on Jinzhou with the war proceeding at full intensity, the units urgently needed additional ammunition so the Field Army General Headquarters and the Railroad Central Bureau decided to organize a secret military train that would arrive ahead of GMD reinforcements, as the arms arrived at West Fuxin. The journey was led by Mu Chengbin and Fan Yong, who was the train engineer, with a group of soldiers accompanying special train 3005 as an escort, and they departed from Angangxi on September 28th, hiding to avoid strafing enemy planes that swooped down and experiencing hardship and peril until finally on October 2nd they arrived safely at their destination. This train was therefore awarded the title of "Hero Train", and later the train's engineer, Fan Yong, was allowed to meet with Mao Zedong and other Central Committee leaders. From the start of the campaign on September 12th to the liberation of Jinzhou on October 15th, there were a totalof 631 trains using 19,561 cars that transported 587,000 tonnes of supplies, effectively ensuring the needs of the front. At the time of the liberation of Jinzhou, Changchun and Shenyang, trains would arrive every day or two into the cities fully loaded with food and other supplies.
On November 2, 1948 following the conclusion of the Liao-Shen Campaign, the 11,000 kilometers of railroad track of the entire Northeast was returned into the hands of the people. At this time the Northeast Railroad Department NOTE: tielubu) (in October of 1948 the Railroad Central Bureau became the Railroad Department, and then in May of 1949 went back to Railroad Central Bureau), had under its control the 5 railroad administrative bureaus of Qiqihar, Harbin, Jilin, Shanyang and Jinzhou. The workers of the Jinzhou Railroad Bureau and the soldiers of the Northeast Field Army Railway Column immediately performed repairs on the rail lines through the pass. As they repaired the Gaotai - Xinlitun - Yixian - Jinzhou rail line, pressing to repair the Jinzhou single-track Beining Railroad to the Shanhaiguan section. After that the Railway Column was also ordered to enter the Pass to repair the Guannei Section of the Beining Railroad. In less than two months, 327 military trains flowed out of the Northeast carrying over 9,600 cars with hundreds of thousands of troops with their equipment and supplies, arriving in a steady flow in Guannei, to participate in the launch of the Ping-Jin Campaign in late November.
It was at just this time that an important turning point in the war took place, as the Guannei Liberation forces mounted a counter attack in several locations, liberating towns and villages, and assuming control of the railroads in those places. In 1947 as spring turned into summer, the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army (NOTE: 晋冀鲁豫野战军 ) launched the Northern Yu (Henan) campaign, and took control of the Ping-Han Railroad in northern Henan. The bordering governments in order to facilitate communications between Shanxi and Hebei, also launched the people and the army to build a new light railroad between Cishan and Shexian. Also at this time, the Jin-Cha-Ji Field Army launched the Zhengtai Campaign, taking control of the Zhengtai Railroad within Hebei. And following this, in November the Shijiazhuang Campaign was launched, to allow the two liberated areas of Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu and Jin-Che-Ji to joined together, and then in Shijiazhuang the Jin-Ji Border Area Railroad Management Bureau was established (later renamed the Shijiazhuang Railroad Management Bureau). In September of 1948, the North China People's Government was established in Shijiazhuang, and under it a Ministry Of Transport (Jiotong Bu) was setup with Wu Jingtian, who had led the take over of the Ping-Han North Section and the repair and transport tasks at the Zhengtai, Shide, Nantongpu, Pingxi railroads. The North China Field Army following the capture of Jinan, in October setup the East China Railroad General Management Bureau, to control and repair parts of the Jin-Pu and Jiao-Ji railroads. In the same month, the important Central Plains city of Zhengzhou was liberated, and the Zhengzhou Long-Hai Ping-Han Railroad Joint Management Committee (the predecessor of the Zhengzhou Railroad Management Bureau) was formed, to organize the repair of the tracks of the Ping-Han Railroad from Xinxiang to Luoxi, and the Long-Hai Railroad from Shangqiu to Tongguan that had already been taken over.
By the end of 1948, the railway mileage open to traffic in the railroads of the Northeast had reached 9,619 kilometers, the Guannei traffic mileage that had already been taken over reached 3,049 kilometers, in the liberated areas already under control there was over 60% of the nation's railroads (not including the Taiwan railroads), and they not only directly supported the two major PingJin and HuaiHai Campaigns and after that the battle for the liberation of all of China, but also acted to take over and repair all the railroads on the Mainland and laid a solid foundation for the development that followed.
In order to completely transform the problems holding back the old China, the lack of railroad equipment standards, the separate administrations setup up for the lines, the low efficiency, to create a new kind of people's railroad that could adapt to the liberation of the whole of China and the needs to build socialism, on a foundation of learning from the Soviet Union and a summary of the experience of the military officers from each of the liberated areas, implementing for all of the nation's railroads centralized leadership, unified management, the most important task of the railroads became the creation of a new China.
In early 1949, following the Liao-Shen Campaign, the Huai-Hai and Ping-Jin Campaigns were also about to be brought to a successful conclusion. The China People's Revolutionary Military Commission (shortened to Military Commission) on the basis of a decision by the CCP Central Committee Political Bureau, on January 10 issued an order by telephone to establish the Military Commission Ministry of Railways, and appoint Teng Daiyuan as Minister, "a unified leadership for each of the railroads in the liberated areas for construction, management and transport."
From January 28 to February 7, the Military Commission Ministry of Railways held the very first Railroad Work Conference at Shijiazhuang. The persons responsible for the railroads in each of the liberated areas who attended the meetings had among them Lü Zhengcao of the Northeast, Wu Jingtian of North China, Xu Xuehan from East China, Tian Yumin of the Central Plain, Jia Chiming of the Northwest and Huang Yifeng from the Northeast Field Army Railway Column and others. At the meeting Teng Daiyuan conveyed the Military Commission's telephone order, clearly explaining the need for the unified operation of a unified national railroad, and stressed that they first need to unify the railroad's organization and leadership, to meet the needs of the war and of production; unify the allocation and use of materials to quicken the progress of railroad construction; unify the major administrative rules and regulations, and the specifications and standards for railroad construction to realize the principles of railroad safety, speed and low cost.
On February 20, the Military Commission Ministry of Railways was moved from Shijiazhuang to Beiping. To strengthen party leadership over the work of the railroad, the CCP Central Committee decided to establish the Central Military Commission Interin Committee for the Ministry of Railways, with Teng Daiyuan, Lü Zhengcao, and Wu Jingtian forming the Standing Committee, and Teng Daiyuan serving as Secretary. Then the Military Commission also appointed Lü Zhengcao and Wu Jingtian as Vice Ministers of Railways. The Military Commission Ministry of Railways according to the instructions of the Military Commission, based on the North China People's Government's Ministry of Transportation, from the railroads of the Northeast drew a group of administrative cadres and specialists who were familiar with operations to organize Ministry of Railways agencies, quickly setting up Bureau of Transportation (Traffic??), Bureau of Motive Power, Bureau of Electric Power, Bureau of Works, Bureau of Materials, Bureau of Finance, Bureau of Personnel, Bureau of Public Security and other functional units under the unified command of the Ministry, that divided every task of the national railroad into related activities/functional groupings.
In order to eliminate the shortcomings of the management of separate train lines in the old China, the Military Commission Ministry of Railways implemented the centralization of national railroad leadership and a hierarchical system of regional management. Based on the 5 Railroad Management Bureaus that had already been established under the Northeast Central Bureau, and also based on the victorious developments of the War of Liberation, led to the successive creation in Guannei of the 5 Railroad Management Bureaus of Ping-Jin, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Taiyuan, Shanghai, and Hengyang. For each Railroad Bureau down to the sub-bureau, although there were repeated changes and adjustments, however, the basic levels of Ministry of Railways - Railroad Bureau - Railroad Sub-Bureau - and hierarchical management has not changed much.
On May 16, according to the Military Commission directives, the 4th Field Army (originally the Northeast Field Army) Railway Column was reorganized to become the China People's Liberation Army Railway Corps, which was under the control of the Military Commission Ministry of Railways, with Teng Daiyuan concurrently serving as the Corps Commander and Lü Zhengcao serving as Corps Deputy Commander, making it easier for the Ministry of Railways to deploy a unified force and accelerate the pace of railroad repair.
To strengthen the Party's leadership, carry out the ideological and political work for all of the railroads, ensure the implementation of centralized management, and with the approval of the CCP Central Committee, the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways of the Military Commission was established in May. In the middle of July, the Ministry of Railways held a conference on political work, making clear the policies, tasks and organization of the railroads political work, and methods and other important questions, in order to establish from top to bottom a firm foundation for the political institutions of the railroads.
During this period, the National Railroad Union and the New Democratic Youth League Committee of the National Railway were in process of being created. In early July, the Interim Congress of the National Railroad Workers Union was held in Beiping (NOTE: The name of Beijing before it became the capital.) where they elected a National Railroad Union Preparatory Committee. Mao Zedong the CCP Central Committee Chairman, Zhou Enlai who was the Vice-Chariman of the Central Military Commission, and Zhu De the Commander of the People's Liberation Army along with other leaders met with all of the delegates and produced important directives. Mao Zedong called on the railroad workers to rely closely on the masses to build a people's railway. Shortly thereafter, the Railroad Union National Committee and the New Democratic Youth League Committee of the National Railway were created one after the other. The trade unions and the youth league played an important role in uniting the workers and the youth in the promotion the railroad's centralized and united management and in constructing the people's railroad. On October 1, the birth of the People's Republic of China, with the Military Commission Ministry of Railways acting as the foundation the organization of the Ministry of Railways of the Central People's Government was created following this event, with Teng Daiyuan being appointed as the Minister, and Lü Zhengcao and Wu Jingtian being appointed as Deputy Ministers. Since then, the Ministry of Railways serves as an agency of the national government that with regards to the national railroads brought together the state and enterprise centralized management, the railroad bureaus and every level of administrative organization were continuously enhanced to even further improve the centralized and unified leadership structure.
The Shijiazhuang Railroad Work Conference was held for the first time from January 28, 1949 to February 27, at the same time as the telephone order from the Military Commission concerning the creation of the Ministry of Railways was transmitted and the study of the national railroads undertaken, centering on assisting with the final victory in the War of Liberation and focusing on the national scope of the task of rebuilding the railroads. The meeting recognized the widespread use of the inspiring phrases such as "Wherever the People's Liberation Army strikes is exactly where the railroads are repaired" served as a call to action for the officers and men of railroad workers and railway column, to complete the task of repairing the nation's railroads as quickly as possible.
The task of railroad repair for this year was carried out in 3 phases.
The first phase was from January to April where the focus was on repair of major transportation routes to support military action across rivers. After the two major campaigns of Huai-Hai and Ping-Jin ended in victory, the task of quickly opening the Jin-Pu railroad to traffic became the most urgent priority. The most seriously damaged sections of the Jin-Pu Railroad were, in the north the section from Chenguantun to Sangzi Station, and in the south the section from Caolaoji to Wuyi. The Ministry of Railways sent orders to the Railway Column and on April 1 the northern section was the first opened to traffic. The length of this segment was 330 kilometers with up to 268 kilometers being damaged with the roadbed for the most part dug up, and the bridges and culverts, communications, water supply and other facilities also dug up and destroyed. In the middle the 99 kilometers from Dezhou to Sangzi Station were completely destroyed with only one-third of the steel rails remaining; on the 59 kilometers of track from Lunxian to Dongguang the upper structure of the track was almost completely missing (NOTE: I take this to mean that the ties and steel rails were gone and all that remained was the track roadbed.) The Second and Fourth Unit of the Railway Column, with the strong support along the rail line of the workers and the local people, bravely struggling day and night, every day quickly pushing forward 5 or 6 kilometers, until on March 24 the railroad between Chenguantun and Sangzi Station was finally repaired. At the same time as this, the southern section of the Jin-Pu Railroad from Guzhen to Caolaoji was also repaired. At this point, the trains were already able to travel from Tianjin to Bengbu on the north bank of the Huai River, and continue on to Xuzhou to switch over to the Long-Hai Railroad finally reaching Yancheng, on the southern section of the Ping-Han Railroad to assemble on the north bank of the Changjiang (Yangtze) and provide rapid movement on the main route to each field army that crossed the river to fight. Of the others repaired at this time, there was also the Long-Hai Railroad from Baitabu to Caopu, the Ping-Han Railroad from Zhuoxian to Gaobeidian, the Ping-Sui Railroad from Xiwanbao to Wangguanrentun, and other rail lines. Within 4 months the railroad mileage open to traffic increased by about 1,000 kilometers. In the course of transporting 2 million soldiers of the Field Armies across the river to fight, and only in the 40 days from April 10 to May 20, this means that there were some 378 military transport trains.
The second period ran from April to October, focused on repair and support of the People's Liberation Army's pursuit and destruction of the defeated enemy, liberating the railroads on the mainland of the country. In the middle of April, the Military Commission Ministry of Railways held a meeting on all of the projects of the railroads, to sum up the experience of the first phase of repair and to arrange the second phase of repair work. The People's Liberation Army on April 23 occupied Nanjing, and after declaring the fall of the GMD government, more large-scale railroad repair work quickly started in every direction. The officers and men of the Railway Column and the managers and workers of the railroads in order that the repair work keep pace with the advance of the field armies, went day and night, working hard, heroically conquering difficulties to produce many worldly miracles. The third unit of the Railway Column when it was busy repairing the temporary bridge over the Huai River (NOTE: HuaiHe) on the southern part of the Jin-Pu Railroad, encountered devastating flooding with the officers and men struggling to jump into the water, risking life and limb to steady the wooden bridge piers, to ensure that the bridge was open on July 1 to reopen the Jin-Pu Railroad to traffic after being interrupted for many years. The Number 8 bridge on the western section of the Long-Hai Railroad from Loyang to Tongguan, at that time the tallest bridge in the entire country, but it had been destroyed leaving only five bridge piers riddled with damage. Yang Liandi, a soldier from a detachment of the first unit of the Railway Column, with the assistance of his comrades-in-arms, used the remaining iron straps (NOTE: plywood, clamp or strap, take your pick.) scaffolding on one side of a tower, making the diffcult climb up the 45-meter high bridge piers, using a wooden board for protection, persistantly continuing on for several days and nights, blasting over a hundred times to level the surface of the bridge piers to prepare them for the erection of steel beams. "Yang Liandi, the hero who climbed high" with this his name spread across the country. It was just this sort of revolutionary heroism that inspired the broad mass of the repair personnel, taking on the form of a tremendous physical force to encourage the rapid completion of the task of repair. During this period the major repairs were the southern section of the Jin-Pu Railroad, and the entire length of the Hu-Ning, Hu-Hang and Hu-Wu railroads as well as the eastern section of the Zhe-Gan Railroad and all the tracks of the Nan-Xun Railroad, in support of the struggle to liberate the southern regions; the section of the Ping-Han Railroad from Zhengzhou to Hankou and the northern section of the Yue-Han Railroad were repaired to support the fight to liberate the regions of South China; the west section of the Long-Hai Railroad to support the advance of troops into the Southwest and Northwest regions. With the addition of several other repaired railroads, within the span of 6 months, the total of the nation's railroad mileage open to traffic had also increased by over 4,000 kilometers.
The third period was from October to December, and was focused on each of the trunk lines that connected the country together, completely restoring the railroad traffic on the Mainland. After the founding of the new China, the Ministry of Railways in mid-October reconvened the engineering project meeting to reconsider the new repair tasks. With the joint efforts of the Ministry of Railways Military Corps and the Railroad Management Bureaus, finally at the end of the year finished repairs and opened to traffic the Jing-Han (formerly the Ping-Han), the Yue-Han, Long-Hai, Zhe-Gan, and South Tong-Pu Railroads lines along with the Hengyang to Guilin section of the Xiang-Gui Railroad. At this point, the original main railroads of the Mainland had been repaired and connected to become a complete system.
In the year 1949 a grand total of 8,178 kilometers of rail line was repaired, of which 3,328 kilometers had been completely destroyed and either repaired or rebuilt, and 4,850 kilometers of track that had been lightly damaged and repaired; 2,717 bridges with 90,249 meters of track were repaired, of which 1,365 bridges with 4,672 meters of track were properly repaired, and 1,352 bridges with 43,525 meters of tracks were temporarily repaired.
The lines of the railroads of the old China were already of poor quality, so coupled with frequent wars, serious damage, time for repair and limitations due to conditions many of the lines failed to meet their original standards, many bridges were still temporary and this created several slow sections, which was very ill-suited to the needs of national economic recovery and development.
January of 1950, the Ministry of Railways convened a joint meeting for national railroad project planning, and while assessing the railroad projects during 1949, studied and formulated the distribution and implementation of railroad engineering tasks for 1950. At the meeting it was determined that the main task for the year would be the task of permanently restoring the bridges, and next the permanent restoration of old rail line construction, with the emphasis on the Jing-Han and Yue-Han railroads, followed by the Long-Hai Railroad.
Each railroad bureau and each unit of the Ministry of Railways military force, according to the meeting, was deployed and the work divided, and were immediately put to work in arduous and intense restoration projects. Both the Jing-Han and Yue-Han Railroads were severely damaged after many bridges had been bombed, the ruins scattered and deeply buried in the water and sediment, making the restoration projects extremely difficult. The personnel who repaired the bridges made use of a brave and tenacious battle-like style, pulling the bridge truss pieces out of the water and sediment for repair and assembly, solving the problem of a shortage of steel beams. On the Jing-Han Railroad they used this method to put 60 steel girders to use on 6 bridges providing 60% of the steel girders needed for bridge restoration. (NOTE: What do kong and zuo refer to? Kong is a measure word used for holes and zuo for bridges.) For the repair of the 13 major bridges on the Yue-Han Railroad no small numbers of steel girders went through this sort of solution to the problem. Even before liberation the Yellow River bridge in Zhengzhou was already inadequate and could not bear heavy loads, so the trains crossing the bridge had to be broken into two parts and pulled across with a small locomotive with the speed reduced to 5 km/hr. In 1949 after undergoing structural reinforcement two times, they could use two small locomotives to pull an entire train across at a speed of 10 km/hr. During the restoration project, it underwent a third reinforcement and then a train was able to have one large locomotive pull it, crossing the bridge in one trip, thus reducing the time spent at the station by 30 minutes. On the section of the Long-Hai Railroad from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng there is 31 kilometers of line that more than 10 years ago when the Yellow River flooded was repeatedly destroyed so to restore through traffic a temporary bypass was employed, now during the repair there were several areas where the track roadbed was filled in five or six meters high. The major Yellow River bridge at Luokou in Jinan on the Jin-Pu Railroad and the Qiantang River bridge on the Gan Railroad had both fallen into disrepair over the years and for a very long time had reduced operating speeds but after this restoration were returned to normal operation. At the same time as the successful completion of the above mentioned important main line restoration projects, there were still other operating railroads that had first time general maintenance and upgrading. (NOTE: The word is buqiang and means something like reinforcing or strengthening but here I chose to use upgrading instead with the idea that it means to make better.)
The grand totals for 1950 were 3929 kilometers of repaired track, and 1210 kilometers of track were overhauled, 5.71 million railroad ties were replaced or added, 5.14 million cubic meters of ballast was added, 1,569 bridges and culverts were improved and repaired, the bridge restoration project on important main lines has already been completed, while communications and signalling, and water supply equipment and other facilites were all improved and strengthened. On the basis of these changes, a total of 288 reduced-speed sections were eliminated. Along with the new repairs, a second track on several main lines and other railroads made possible the expansion of operating railroad mileage by 351 kilometers. The completion of the project of post-war restoration and reinforcement, improved the condition of the original railroads, effectively improving their through-traffic capacity.
It was not long after the Military Commission Ministry of Railways was established before a series of special meetings were held, with reference to combining Soviet methods of railroad management with the experience of military railroad officials in the liberated areas, to study and formulate new rules and regulations.
On April 8, 1949 the first meeting of the National Transportation meeting was held. The meeting centered on speedy delivery of the combat requirements of the People's Liberation Army as it moved south, on the development of a new transportation plan, and on how to allocate rolling stock for military transportation, the organization of air defence and counter-intelligence, the repair of rolling stock and other issues, to study and formulate relevant measures. On April 10, the Military Commission promulgated the "Provisional Regulations on Military Railroad Transport," which stated "the Ministry of Railways unconditional implementation of the orders of the Chinese Revolutionary Military Committee, safeguards the safety, speed and convenience of military transport"; "units at all levels must strictly observe the Military Commission Ministry of Railways system for the total military transport plan and the scheduled railroad rules and regulations."
From May 16 to 21, the Military Commission Ministry of Railways held the first national railroad scheduling meeting, deciding to unify the scheduling of the national railroads and to unify the related reporting by establishing a reporting system by schedule and according to grade. On June 1, the "Unified Methods of Railroad Scheduling" was officially announced and the national railroads began to implement scheduling that was unified and planned.
From May 18 to June 7, the Military Commission Railway Ministry of Railways held the first national railroad tariffs meeting, based on the dissimilar transport rates for passengers and freight in each of the areas of the Northeast, the North and the South, provided a unified national grading of freight and tonnage loading techniques, recognized the principle that rates would decline with distance, and discussed passenger and freight regulations and transportation rules. On July 10, passenger and freight transport rules along with freight tariff regulations were promulgated and implemented, in the step by step unification of national railroad passenger and freight tariffs, and transport rules.
At the same time, the Military Commission Ministry of Railways also unified the financial and accounting systems, unified the management of technology for the entire railroad, performing a large amount of work for preparation.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Railways at the same time that it was continuously adding to and improving the already existing rules and regulations, was also producing a new set of rules and regulations. Of particular note is the June 1950 official publication of the "Railroad Technical Management Regulations" that clearly defined the basic organizational principles, work methods and operating procedures of rail transportation, the basic requirements of the design, construction, inspection, maintenance and management utilization of transportation equipment, the main duties of the railroad work staff and the basic conditions they must have to perform their duties, creating for the first time uniform compliance to basic rules by China's railroad management.
In the several years before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Railways put a great deal of effort into implementation of one of the important systems, and that was the gradually emerging practice of the workers of the railroads of the Northeast to regard the working class as the owners, which aligned with the responsibility system that met the requirements of socialist enterprise management. With careful operation and attentive maintenance of the "Mao Zedong" locomotive, from January of 1947 to March of 1949 it had safely traveled more than 139,000 kilometers, and was a banner flag for the crew responsibility system implemented by the railroads of the Northeast. The Military Commission Ministry of Railways would be responsible for implementing the spirit of all the railroad work in the various fields, so in March 1949 the "Mao Zedong" locomotive and its crew were transferred to the Fengtai Locomotive Depot with the reponsibility for guiding the promotion of the crew responsibility system in Guannei (NOTE: Guannei is China with the exception of the Northeast.) The veteran engineer Li Yong who led the Mao Zedong train group, used himself as an example, making the crew responsibility system universal at the Fengtain locomotive depot, and had also been sent to Zhengzhou and Jinan to help, playing a pioneering role in the implementation of the responsibility system. With the success of the responsibility system trial at the Fengtai locomotive depot, it was adopted by the entire Tianjin Railroad Bureau (formerly the Ping-Jin Railroad Bureau), not only in the locomotive repair areas but the responsibility system was implemented everywhere, even in locomotive, maintenance (gongwu), signals and rolling stock along with the plant, water supply and electrical areas the responsibility system was also gradually introduced. Powerful organizations in the Ministry of Railways like the Jinan, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan and other Railroad Bureaus also gradually established the responsibility system in their various departments. The further development of the responsibility system enabled each operating station of all the railroads, beginning in April 1951, to fully implement responsibility for transportation. The responsibility system produced a sense of accountability in the activities where it was widely adopted and developed, sweeping away all of the bad practices and habits of the old railroad, forming a new style of "the People's Railroad for the people" where the workers were proud to serve the people, taking pride in their work, with an attitude of high committment to passengers and shippers, working hard in each of their jobs, receiving high praise from people across the country.
During this period the Ministry of Railways actively promoted another important system and that was the economic accounting system of enterprises. On November 1, 1950, Minister Teng Daiyuan, at the Second National meeting of National Railroad Financial Operations proposed that the central link in railroad financial operations was the implementation of an economic accounting system. From the end of January to early February 1951, a meeting of the heads of the railroad bureaus was held and it was decided that the central task for all of the railroads would be implementing an economic accounting system, with full implementation required within two years. In July of this year, the Ministry of Railways, in accordance with the deployment of the Finance Committee of the Central People's Government, carried out a complete inventory of the fixed assets and the liquid assets of all the railroads, and the task of auditing and determining the working capital, in order to create the conditions for the implementation of an economic accounting system. However, developments of a nation-wide scope, the war to Oppose America and Aid Korea, land reform, suppression of counter-revolutionaries and the "Three Evils" (anti-corruption, anti-waste, anti-bureaucraxy), the "Five Anti" (anti-bribery, anti-tax evasion, anti-stealing work and shorting materials, anti-theft of state property, anti-theft of national economic intelligence) and other political movements that followed one after the other, combined with an accounting system that was still weak, forced the original goal of the railroads for full implementation of this system to be postponed to a later date.
The establishment and implmentation of regulations that were constantly enriched and improved, effectively ensured the realization of the centralized leadership and unified management of the railroads and allowed the new style of people's railroad to gradually develop and become highly centralized, semi-militarized major arteries of the national economy.
Democratic reforms in the railroads took place after the railroad companies had been taken over, by leaders who unleashed the mobilized masses, revealing and denouncing the feudal labor practices and all the various systems used to oppress workers in the old railroad companies, eliminating the hidden forces of the counter-revolutionary elements and feudal remnants in the companies, the democratic revolutionary nature of social reform.
The vast majority of the railroads of the old China belonged to the monopoly assets of the bureaucrat-comprador class. According to the Chinese Communist Party concerning the economic program of the confiscation of bureaucrat's capital that had belonged to the people, in every area that the people's army liberated, the method of using military control was adopted to implement the takeover of the railroads. In order to make good progess and avoid unecessary confusion and the loss of both life and wealth, the "Nothing changes" transitional measures were adopted as the method for taking control, which did not distrupt the original organization or the production system, from the complete takeover of a work unit on down, its members, in addition to the arrest of the obvious counter-revolutionaries, adopted a package (baoxialai) policy of "keeping their original post, their original salary and their original organization."
Since the old China had been directly influenced by Imperialism and their agents who held control, its reactionary rule had deep roots and strong branches. The ruling Guomindang ruling clique in order to control the transport lifelines, always used the railroads as a key control system. Early before the War Against Japan, the Guomindang on many railroads established special party organizations and coerced many workers to join the Guomindang, to make railroads into part of the party. After the War Against Japan was over, again a large number of Guomindang officers were assigned to the railroads as a backbone to strengthen the reactionary regime. With the approach of liberation, the police on the railroad and in the system, the Guomingdang's secret police on the railroad put into action a contingency plan, the so called "the bottom of the leaf conceals an oriole" (ye di cang ying), "two-tier arrangement" (liang ceng buzhi) and other strategies, where a large number of enemy elements would dig themselves in and wait to cause destruction. The long-term emergence offeudal leaders, secret societies, yellow unions run by the government, feudal religious societies and labor contractors also had been riding at the head of the masses of workers as helpers of the reactionary regime.
In this sort of a "nothing changes" takeover, there must be all sorts of reactionary organizations and hidden enemy saboteurs, feudal leaders and various kinds of secret societies and labor contractors, which required not only the utilization of the old relations of productions and systems, but in varying degrees the continued oppression and exploitation of the masses of the workers. Thus after a railroad enterprise was taken over, although there was a fundamental change in the ownership, however, there were still hidden reactionary organizations and enemy saboteurs, and the abolition of the remnants of the feudal relations of production and system to establish the ownership status of the workers in order to completely liberate the productive forces was the task of democratic reform.
The democratic reform of the railway system is guided by reliance with all heart and mind on the ideology of the working class, starting with the inspiration of the class consciousness of the majority of the workers. The military control group sent to take control of a work unit must pay careful attention to the masses, investigate and study, to promote the guidlines and policies of the Communist Party, to organize the mass of the workers to join in to quickly repair and quickly transport, to support the forces of the War of Liberation. After the basics of the task of taking over were ready, generally the unions would step forward to hold rotating classes and organize the workers to study the relevant documents and discuss the transformation of the nature of the old and new railroad, an education that will let hem develop the confidence to become masters. Some work units also organized representatives to go to old liberated areas to visit and ask questions, or asked workers from the old liberated areas to explain the situation using vivid facts to guide everyone to reflect on the bitter and think of the sweet comparing the old with the new, to get a sense of themselves being transformed from the position of slaves to that of owners of the railroad. At the same time, in accordance with the policies of the Communist Party and the People's Government, the fake unions were dissolved, reactionary organizations were banned, and a registration was conducted of the most avid reactionary supporters and enemy elements, to promote the rehabilitation of those among them who truly changed. For the serious evils of the past, the great anger made it necessary to punish a few; towards those who had oppressed and exploited the workers or who had served in ordinary posts that the workers did not deeply hate, as long as they recognized their errors and received understanding they could stay on. While gradually distinguishing the basis of class lines, adjusted some of the organization's personnel, those who the masses did not trust were removed from important positions while the group of activists who emerged during the takeover were promoted. To address the problem of wages that most concerned the workers, an approach of democratic review was adopted, discussing the salary of each position, transforming the old and irrational system of distribution. With regards to the difficult life of the workers, various measures were taken to provide practical help and solutions. There were certain fundamentally good work units that used the democratic form of management, establishing worker representative committees and management member committees, with the workers electing representatives to participate in management and exercise their ownership rights.
In the course of these gradual democratic reforms, the mass of workers were inspired by their sense of ownership to put as their central tasks quick repair and rapid transportation to support the war of liberation in a competitive surge of production and labor. On all fronts a large number of advanced producers and model workers emerged to become the vanguard in the construction of the people's railroad.
In November of 1951, the CCP Central Committee led the people of the nation on the basis of major victories, launching the movements to Oppose America and Help Korea (NOTE: The Korean War), land reform and the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, and issuing "Concerning the Cleansing of Counter-Revolutionaries from Factory and Mining Transportation and Other Enterprises and Instructions on How to Carry Out Democratic Reforms in these Enterprises". At the same time, the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways also issued to all the railroads "Concerning Instructions on Mobilizing the Masses to Carry Out Democratic Reforms". The instructions, the outcome of the initial democratic reform experience of the railroads of the former liberated areas, analyzed the situation of the national railroad at the time, and were respectively: in all the railroads of the former liberated areas that had already carried out democratic reforms still had a number of problems from incomplete reform, individual work units (for example freight handling teams, travel services and others) that had still not been touched should catch up; the railroad systems of the regions that were liberated relatively late were in the process of carrying out democratic reforms, and should lose not time in doing a good job; several project areas, small stations along the tracks, subordinate work units and mobile work units still remained in the same state following the initial "nothing changes" takeover, should be determined through reliance on the masses and starting from scratch do a good job of democratic reform. The required instructions for all the railroads were according to the principles, policies and methods and procedures put forward by the Communist Party Central Committee as democratic reform was an important political task to be completed.
In accordance with the preparations of the Communist Party Central Committee, under the organizational leadership of the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways, a broader and deeper movement for democratic reforms was quickly carried out across the entire railroad. Each work unit, on the basis of the complete mobilization of the masses, took a variety of measures to expose, accuse and struggle against the hidden counter-revolutionary elements, the ringleaders of reactionary secret societies, the feudal heads as well as enemy elements that had been registered after liberation and continued their activities, removing a number of large and small "South Tyrant" and "North Tyrant" sort of bad guys,(NOTE: The Tyrants are from the Red Brigade of Women.) and purified the workforce; organize workers to connect with the reality of the struggle, study related documents, carry out self education, to consciously eliminate the influence of feudal guild and gang thinking, eliminate internal barriers, to increase the unity among workers and between workers and both management and technical personnel; abolished the Batou, Baogong and Shigongzhong contracting systems that exploited and oppressed the worker, enabling the masses to rid themselves of the remaining shackles of the feudal relations of production. In the later part of the movement, each work unit consolidated their general organizations and consolidated their party organizations to establish and perfect the representative assemblies of the workers and management committees, selecting the best workers and trustworthy activists to participate in the leadership and managment of the enterprise, achieving the democratization of management. The entire movement continued on until July of 1952, together with the victorious end and completion of the "Three Anti" and "Five Evils" campaigns.
The deepening development of democratic reform allowed the railroad system that had originally been controlled by the bourgeois Bureaucratic-Comprador class reverted to ownership by the people's of the nation, passed through a complete transformation to become state-owned enterprises that established a new socialist style of relations of production, as the working masses were completely liberated from the remnants of the old relations of production, to truly become worthy of the name of master of the enterprise. As was said by some workers at the time: after Liberation we obtained our liberation but still were only a half master, now the second liberation has arrived and we have become full owners. With the enthusiam of ownership we will build a good people's railroad. Driven by this conscious self of ownership, each kind of railroad work became a scene of vibrant activity.
While the rail workers joined together with all of the people of the nation to heal the wounds of war, restore the national economy and forget our past labors, a Korean civil war erupted on June 25, 1950. U.S. imperialism then manipulated the United Nations into forming the so-called United Nations Army for a large-scale incursion into the northern part of Korea. When the flames of war spread to the banks of the Yalu River, seriously threatening the safety of Chinese territory, responding to the request of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, holding high the banner of resisting America and aiding Korea, and defending the homeland, on October 19 crossed the Yalu River to enter the War to Resist American and Aid Korea (NOTE: The slogan To Resist America and Aid Korea was used to identify what we in the West call the Korean War. That will now act as the primary meaning of that slogan with the exception of a few instances where the actual slogan makes more sense.) Large numbers of railroad workers and officers, and men of the Railway military units joined the ranks of the volunteer army to restore and protect railroad transportation within Korea, and to effectively protect the military supplies of the front lines, writing a glorious chapter in the Korean War victory.
At the beginning of the Korean War, the Railway Ministry, according to the relevant instructions of the Communist Party Central Committee, started with the requirements of wartime transportation to quickly organize two units: the first was made of Railway troops of the Volunteer Army created from Ministry of Railways troops and a head unit of railroad engineers from the railroad engineering departments that were split up and dispatched to every Korean railroad line to handle the job of repair; the second was organized from workers in the railroads transportation departments into a brigade (NOTE: Dadui) in the Volunteer Army, which was deployed to all of the stations and depots of the Korean railroad to jointly manage the work of military transportation with the Korean side. In December of this year, Liu Juying was appointed commander and Yu Guangsheng was appointed political commissar of the Northeast Military Transportation Command, to coordinate military transportation for the front and rear areas. At the same time that the joint Sino-Korean Railway Transportation Command was set up, the management of the transport work within Korea was unified. In January 1951, at the first session of the Volunteer Army Logistics Conference held by the Northeast Military District, it was proposed that on the battlefields of Korea, "combine railroads, highways and waterways, combine trains, autos and hand carts, combine rapid loading, rapid unloading and rapid movement, combine quick transport, quick repair and air defence, combine north-south roads and east-west roads to build a transportation line of steel that cannot be stopped and cannot be bombed." In the service of this overall goal, a large amount of human and material resources from the nation were deployed to Korea to provide the railroad with the capacity to quickly repair and quickly ship to achieve constant strengthening.
The job of building a transportation line of steel was carried out under the indiscriminate bombing and the serious destruction carried out by American forces. The U.S. military used its air superiority to bomb and strafe Korea's major traffic arteries. Within the space of nearly three years a variety of aircraft flew some 59,000 sorties and dropped 190,000 bombs along the rail lines, which was equivalent to 1.5 times the number of various bombs the German forces dropped on England. In particular, the period from June 1951 to June 1952 when the U.S. launched the Operation Strangle interdiction campaign to take on the North Korean air force (which had altogether 1580 planes) with most of its forces, concentrating its bombing on railroad transportation bottlenecks (the important ones were Xin'anzhou, Xipu and Jiachuan delta regions). In the month of November 1951 alone, 8344 airplane sorties were flown and 24,000 bombs were dropped for a daily average of 278 flight sorties and 812 bombs dropped. The bombing by US military aircraft altogether attacked bridges 1600 times, train stations 3747 times, locomotives 1058 times, and railcars 8123 times to put rail transportation in a very difficult situation.
In view of this situation, with the aim of speeding up the job of repair, a series of special measures were created. The first was to first restore traffic and then build on that: that is from the start of the emergency break with the routine and simplify the approval procedures for construction, adopting lower standards to quickly restore traffic, and while traffic resumes to then build on this to constantly increase the capacity to handle traffic. The second was do the easy things first and the hard things later: as when a regular bridge and a temporary bridge were bombed at the same time, it is usually easier to repair the simple construction of the temporary bridge first; when a train station was bombed severely, either quickly reopen one line to traffic or build a simple temporary line in order to maintain the flow of cars. The third was to guarantee important areas: at train stations, bridges and other key sites have numerous resources available to ensure that as soon as there is bombing it can then be quickly repaired. The fourth was advance preparation: according to the characteristics of railroad construction and the patterns of American bombing, make tentative plans for different levels of destruction by preparing beforehand the measurement, plans and constuction materials for major train stations, major bridges and other complex pieces of engineering for rapid repairs; in preparation, using domestic bridge standards, well made girders, beams and wooden trestle parts were stored in reserve; also a number of circuitous and hidden temporary rail lines and temporary bridges were built and disguised to prevent detection by enemy planes to be used when necessary. The result of using these methods together with the brave sturggle of the repair forces put the railroad in a situation of the enemy bombs and we repair, they bomb again and we repair again, they continue to bomb and we continue to repair, this way is closed and that way is open, that way is closed and this way is open, to create the conditions necessary for the work of rapid repair.
According to what was written above, the basis of the task of transportation was to use speed as the core principle, in a race against time and a rush to move goods, in order to achieve even more cars through with lines open to traffic more often and increase car utilization. For this reason, the organization of transport and traffic, with the exception of organizing as much as possible through (NOTE: non-stop??) trains within China to reduce the work at the mid-point (NOTE: did they no longer change engines but just crews or just go straight through??), also adopted one-direction (pianmian) transportation (that is where within a certain time one or several trains in a section all travel together in the same direction), continuous movement (that is when there are two or more trains in a section maintaining a fixed interval for non-stop movement), and merge operations (two or more trains are link together to form a single train) and other special methods that break with standard routine to produce a sudden burst of rapid transport. With the focus of the US military aircraft on interdiction and severe destruction of areas, the response was to have small stations replace large ones as operations were dispersed, indirect temporary line detours, separated secions inverted transport (referring to train-bus-train transporatation methods), "lock horns to cross the river" (dingniuguojiang)(referring to when locomotives did not cross the bridge, with an engine at one end of the bridge pushing and at the other end to pull the cars across) and other emergency measures to move traffic along. The train crews then according to the pattern of US military aircraft activity used the terrain and weather to conceal trains, using clever driving and eliminating pursuit, with danger near having the courage to deal with unexpected events, to send a steady stream of much needed military supplies to the front lines.
In the midst of the grinding struggle to build a Transportation Line of Steel, the officers and men of the Railway units of the Volunteer Army and the railroad workers who aided Korea emerged as a vast number of models of heroism. According to incomplete statistics, over 100,000 persons participated in this struggle from start to finish and over 18,000 achieved merit with over 4,000 being awarded the title of Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and decorations and medals. The well-known Hero that climbed high, Yang Liandi the Deputy Commander of the Volunteer Army, Fan Yong the engineer of No. 3005 the Train of Heroes, (NOTE: Refers to incident during the Civil War.) Du Xianyang the engineer of the "Iron Ox" locomotive, Wang Jikui the proponent of the "500 kilometer Movement" and others who all made new contributions during this struggle. There were more than 2,100 people who sacrificed their lives in the construction of the Transportation Line of Steel, and Yang Liandi will go down in history for his sacrifice and as a typical representative of those who died.
While the Volunteer Army entered Korea to fight, the nation's railroads mounted a vigorous effort to oppose America and aid Korea, with a mass movement to defend the homeland and protect the state. The vast majority of railroad workers on the one hand wanted to actively seek to participate in combat, always prepared to go to the front, and on the other hand to defend their post by carrying out patriotic labor competitions, increasing savings and donating planes and artillery to support the struggle at the front. The Ministry of Railways and it subordinate work units regarded its first duty to be that of transportation to the front lines, sending needed equipment, supplies and all types of personnel to the front from all of the railroads within range, giving it preferred treatment to make all of the railroad become the strong support of the Transportation Line of Steel.
The three transit stations of Andong (modern Dandong), Shanghekou, and Ji'an (modern Ji'an) located on the border between China and Korea, were bases where trains were broken apart and reassembled, bases where engines and rolling stock were inspected and repaired, as well as bases where crews lived as they shuttled back and forth to pickup and receive trains, directly responsible for the difficult task of supporting the front with quick repairs and rapid transportation. The staff of the transit stations showed a great spirit of patriotism and internationalism as they without regard for US military bombing raids, day and night did everything possible to ensure the smooth flow of transportation. In order to adapt to the numerous requirements of one-direction transportation and continuous movement, the staff of the transit stations overcame difficulties in terms of equipment by changing the standard scheduling methods of first-in-first-out and should the first locomotive at any time be dispersed then the task of pulling the return train would be assumed by a later arriving engine that had been moved up in order. In order to improve the quality of the locomotives on the tracks and the crew members, during the layovers when they returned home, the engine depots of the transit stations promptly organized careful maintenance of the engines, so they would not break down on the tracks and quickly created better living conditions for the crews allowing them to get a more complete rest. In the transit stations there were specifically no rolling mills, bridge works and supply depots, had responsibility for the collection, storage and distribution of repair equipment in accordance with the standards and specifications proposed by the front, they prepared materials beforehand processed into completed and almost completed products to provide for a variety of easy repairs.
With strong support from the rear, the emergency repair troops of the Volunteer Army and the railroad transport teams continued to be renewed and strengthened, the former constantly maintained at over 30,000 men and the latter at more than 20,000 men. Within the borders of Korea, more than 300 locomotives were constantly in service along with over 10,000 freight cars, representing respectively at the time one fourteenth and one fifth of the national total. The railroad equipment and supplies transported to the front would fill 34,000 cars, the total of steel rails and fittings could be used to lay 518 kilometers of track, with 2.8 million railroad ties and over 1.7 million meters of double-stranded telephone wire.
Within the span of almost three years, under extremely difficult conditions the railroad, through cooperation with the front and rear areas sent troops and military supplies to the 385,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, provided mobility for the security forces and served as a logistical lifeline to produce a miracle of military transportation in modern warfare. The War to Resist America and Aid Korea was a grim test that confronted the People's Republic of China at its founding, and in this test the railroad whose experience had been enriched and enhanced by the Liberation struggle, produced an affirmative answer for all of the people.
The Zhong-Chang Railroad was the result of the long historical relationship between the two countries of China and the Soviet Union. In the early period of the new China, a decision was made to jointly manage the Zhong-Chang Railroad Company with the Soviet Union as it was advantageous to correctly resolve the historical issue, and also combine the management experience of Soviet socialist enterprises with the situation in China to create railroad management systems and methods best suited to the situation in China at the time, and that would promote the development of the people's railroad.
With the establishment of the People's Republic of China the conditions to again deal with the problem of the Zhong-Chang Railraod were created in accord with the principles of internationalism. When Chariman Mao Zedong led a delegation of party politicians on a visit to the Soviet Union, on February 14th of 1950 the two governments signed the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance" along with the "Sino-Soviet Agreements on the Chinese Changchun Railroad, Port Arthur and Dalian". By the terms of the agreements, the government of the Soviet Union, no later than the end of 1952, would transfer free of charge all of the rights and all of the property belonging to the Zhong-Chang Railroad with the two countries continuing the joint management of this railroad; and during the period of joint management the posts held by the representatives of both sides (such as the Chariman of the Company Council (NOTE: Chairman of the Board??) and the Head of the Administrative Bureau) would use a system of rotation to ensure the principles of fairness and equality.
The original name of the ZhongChang Railroad, the ZhongDong Railroad (the shortened name for the China Eastern Provincial Railroad), was the realization of the quest of Tsarist Russia for territorial expansion, threatening and then bribing the Qing government to agree to and then sign the "Sino-Russian Treaty of Mutual Assistance Against an Enemy" (a Sino-Russian secret treaty), the "Sino-Russian Contract for Joint Operation of the Eastern Provincial Railroad Company" and the "Sino-Russian Port Arthur, Dalian Bay Lease Treaty", a railroad in Northeast China built in the shape of the letter T. A length of 1514 kilometers beginning in the west at Manzhouli, passing through Haerbin in the middle and ending in the east at Suifenhe; a 974 kilometer line going south from Haerbin, passing through Changchun to finally reach Port Arthur. Construction on this line began on 9 June 1898, and began operations on 14 July 1903. Some 70% of the funding for the railroad came from the Russian Tsar of the time asking the Qing government for two compensation payments. The railroad construction standards and management systems all used the Russian model, with all of the power in the hands of the Russians, to make it an integral part of the Russian Trans-Siberian Railroad. Although the Chinese government sent a 'duban' supervisor (an operating officer of the railroad company), in reality it was an empty title with no power and the so-called 'Sino-Russian Joint Management' was an empty phrase whose words had no meaning. In 1917 after the October Revolution in Russia, the railroad was still under the control of White Russian forces. The Soviet Russian government led by Lenin, in 1919 and in 1920 issued two declarations to China, that announced the return of territories that had been occupied by Tsarist Russia and all rights in China, proposing the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and conclude a treaty of friendship, but this was the period of warlords and division that followed the defeat of the Xinhai Revolution (NOTE: the Revolution of 1911) so the matter of Sino-Russian relations and the issue of the ZhongDong Railroad remained unresolved. In 1924, China and Russia resumed diplomatic relations with the government in Beijing and the government of the Soviet Union agreeing to and signing the "Interim Agreement on the ZhongDong Railroad" establishing appropriate regulatory agencies, but the fact was the actual power still remained in the hands of the Soviet Union. In 1931 following the 9.18 Incident (NOTE: the Mukden Incident) all of the railroads of the Northeast came under the control of Japanese militarists, as Sino-Soviet joint management of the ZhongChang Railroad became just a name with no substance.
In August 1945 the Soviet Union issued a declaration of war against Japan, and sent troops into Northeast China, regaining control over the ZhongChang Railroad. On August 14, the GMD government and the Soviet government negotiated and signed the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance" and the "Sino-Soviet Agreement Regarding China's Changchun Railroad" which required the Changchun Railroad become a commercial railroad that was jointly owned and jointly managed by the two countries, that after 30 years would be returned at no cost to the Chinese government. After the Japanese surrender, although the two governments established the organizations to manage the ZhongChang Railroad, as the GMD personnel slowly arrived the real power still continued to remain in the hand of the Soviet side.
At the same time as this, the Chinese Communist Party led People's Army units had already taken control of a great many railroads besides the ZhongChang Railroad. In March of 1946 as the Soviet Red Army withdrew from the Northeast, the officials of the GMD government sent to the ZhongChang Railroad had already been prematurly withdrawn to the south, so the Communist Party Central Committee and the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army dispatched military representatives to be stationed along the ZhongChang Railroad and its various branches to exercise power for the Chinese side on the ZhongChang Railroad. In November of 1948 Shenyang was liberated and the history of GMD joint management of the ZhongChang Railroad came to an end.
In order to implement the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance" and the "Sino-Soviet Agreement Concerning the Chinese Changchun Railroad, Port Arthur and Dalian" signed by the two countries on 14 February 1950, representatives of both governments met in Beijing on 21 April of the same year and agreed to the establishment of a new Chinese Changchun Railroad Company that would act as the management organization before the Changchun Railroad was handed over to China. The two sides agreed in the first year to appoint Yu Guangsheng as Council Chariman, M.S. Ye-luo-guo-wei (NOTE: This is one of those times when I am lost trying to figure out the Russian equivalent of a Chinese transliteration with more to follow.) as the Council Vice-chariman, N.A. Ge-lu-ni-qie-wei as the Secretary of the Management Bureau and Liu Juying as the Undersecretary of the Management Bureau and in the years that followed they would rotate their posts. On 25 April, the creation of the Company and the Management Bureau was announced and on 1 May they began work in Harbin. At the same time, the Harbin and Shenyang Railroad Management Bureau was disbanded and the Northeast Railroad Head Bureau was reorganized to become the Ministry of Railways Special Northeast Commissioner's Office. With this the Sino-Soviet Joint Management of the ZhongChang Railroad entered a new historical phase.
On 31 December 1952 follwing the requirements of the agreement, the end to the history of Sino-Soviet joint management of the ZhongChang Railroad arrived with a ceremony held in Harbin by the Soviet Union to celebrate the occasion. Premier Zhou Enlai of the Administrative Council, Soviet Ambassador to China Pan-you-xin attended the ceremonies and gave speeches. The newly created Harbin Railroad Management bureau was given the authority to manage the ZhongChang Railroad. This railroad that had been through so much finally was returned into the hand of the Chinese people.
When the China ZhongChang Railroad was first established, the Ministry of Railways made it clear that this was a favorable situation to take advantage of by learning from the experience of the Soviet railroad management experience, to make the ZhongChang Railroad the model railroad of the new China that would serve as the classroom of railroad management cadres. With two years and eight months of experience, it was easier to achieve this aim.
During the period of joint Sino-Soviet operation of the ZhongChang Railroad, the Soviet Union sent more than 1,500 experts and management personnel to participate in the various tasks. The Chinese management cadres and workers worked together on the task of the ZhongChang Railroad, using the experience of the Soviet Union combined with the actual conditions of the ZhongChang Railroad to implement management systems and methods that were more suited to the needs of China at the time, so that the operating situation of the railroad rapidly improved. The primary evidence of this was: labor productivity increased every year, with each operations personnel each month on average producing 27.8% more ton-kilometers in 1951 than in 1950, and then 1952 saw a further increase of 22.5% over 1951; transportation cost continually fell, with the operating expense of every ton-kilometer conversion falling by 13.5% from 1950 to 1951, and in 1952 declining another 27.0% compared to 1951; profits increased every year, increasing 110% in 1951 compared to 1950, and further increasing 97% in 1952 compared to 1951.
The advanced operations management of the ZhongChang Railroad served as the school that cultivated the managerial ability of the entire railroad. From the work of a large group of cadres and workers that worked on the ZhongChang Railroad, from the direct study and use of the Soviet railroad experience, railroad management knowledge and ability increased greatly, and created the seed for the creation of the people's railroad. At the same time, as the entire railroad was still undergoing the organizational centralization of the Ministry of Railways and the self-organization of every Bureau, tens of thousands of cadres and workers were selected to visit or learn on the job at the ZhongChang Railroad, to spread the experience of the ZhongChang Railroad in every direction.
As it was pointed out by Premier Zhou Enlai in the assessment of the ZhongChang Railroad in June of 1952: "in the process of promoting the advanced experience of the Soviet Union and starting patriotic labor competition, the ZhongChang Railroad achieved the goal of serving as the railroad model for high efficiency, low cost and big profits and becoming the school to cultivate leaders, in this way playing a huge role in advancing the management of the national railroad."
The railroads left behind by the old China were not only few in number and of poor quality, they were concentrated in the Northeast and the eastern coastal areas while the vast expanses of the interior were very few in number, particularly in the vast territories of the Southwest and Northwest there was no main lines to speak of and no national network, which was very ill suited to the needs of national economic development and national strategic deployment. In order to change this situation, shortly after the founding of the new China, undertaken in the midst of difficult financial and economic conditions, a decision was made to allocate large amount of money with a focus on the construction of new railroad lines.
During the three years of economic recovery, the state invested 1.134 billion yuan in the railroads, representing 14.47 percent of the total national investment in capital construction, of which 431 million yuan was spent on the construction of new lines, which represented 38 percent of total national investment in the railroads. From the initial necessity of the long-term development of the national railroads and the need to build a new industrial base and strategic rear area in the Southwest and Northwest regions, had to begin by concentrating financial and material resources to start the construction of the new Cheng-Yu Railroad and the Lai-Mu section of the Xiang-Gui Railroad.
The Cheng-Yu Railroad started in the city Chengdu in Sichuan, passing through Jianyang, Ziyang, Zizhong, Neijiang, Longchang, Rongchang, Yongchuan, Jiangjin and other cities and counties before reaching Chongqing, a distance of 505 kilometers. Early in 1903, the Qing government had discussions on the Chuan-Han (Sichuan-Hankou) Railroad, of which the Cheng-Yu Railroad is the western section. The Qing Dynasty rulers used the desire of the Sichuan gentry for the much anticipated rail line and in the name of building the road maliciously extorted the hard won wealth of the peopole so because of this the people of Sichuan paid a heavy price, and during the struggle in 1911 to Protect the Railroads many people of high ideals sacrificed their lives. The Memorial Pillar to those who died in 1911 to Protect Railroads stands tall in the Chengdu People's Park as a testament to the memory of the grief of the people of Sichuan. Later in 1936 the GMD government created the Cheng-Yu Railroad Engineering Bureau using foreign borrowing to build the road, spreading the impression that it would all be done in one project, but the work went on in fits and starts up to the founding of the PRC and with the excpetion of a small amount of earthwork, bridges and tunnels, not even one piece of steel rail was laid. In June of 1950, under the direction of the Southwest Army Political Committee, created the Southwest Railroad Engineering Bureau with Zhao Jianmin as secretary, to proceed with the construction of the road. As the mopping up of the remaining enemy and bandits had just ending, the Southwest District of the PLA transferred more than 30,000 troops to act as the primary construction force. The people of Sichuan responded to the news of this by one after the other asking to join the struggle, and the number of persons on the road reached up to 10,000. The people and troops, under the direction of railroad engineering professionals, worked to build the road implementing the policy promoted by the CCP Central Committee to "rely on the locality with a policy of working together, then obtain supplies from the area to build a good railroad", to carry forward the spirit of hard work and thrift to build the nation, mainly relying on the use of horse lanterns and torches for lighting, steel rods and iron pickaxes for digging, shoulder poles and manpower for transportation, and a derrick for lifting, it took only two years to build the entire line and finish laying track. On 1 July 1952 in both Chongqing and Chengdu grand opening ceremonies were held for start of train service. Chairman Mao Zedong was pleased to write an inscription that read: "To celebrate the opening of the Cheng-Yu Railroad, and continue the hard work to build the Tian-Cheng road". The Cheng-Yu Railroad was the first major trunk line in the new China that was self-planned, self-contructed, and built using native materials, to realize the half-century of aspirations of the people of Sichuan, to finally bring an end to the history of Sichuan without a formal railroad.
The Tian-Lan Railroad is the westernmost section of the Lung-Hai Railroad, starting at Tianshui in Gansu, it winds through mountainous regions, crossing the Yellow River six times before reaching Longxi, then continuing on through the rugged terrain of the 'Yellow Earth' (loess) region, passing through narrow river valleys to enter the Wanchuan Valley, then following the course of the Yellow River to arrive in Lanzhou, a total distance of 354 kilometers. On May 1st of 1950 following the Administrative Council's approval, the Northwest Trunk Line Engineering Bureau was created with Yan Kuiyao serving as the Bureau Chief (succeeded by Wang Shitai in January of 1951), using parts of First Field Army units, Railway Corps forces and railroad engineering teams as the driving force, with 14,000 migrant workers from Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, organized into a rail constuction force of 100,000 engaged in construction along the entire course of the Tian-Lan Railroad. The construction was very challenging beause of the complex and changeable geographic conditions along the route, and this coupled with a shortage of materail supplies and a serious shortage of transportation capacity combined to create great difficulties for the project. The construction forces adopted a method that was appropriate for the conditions at the time of doing enough to get traffic moving and then going back to finish up the work, pushing forward with fearless courage and determination, working hard and working smart to come up with no small number of new construction methods, to finally after a period of a little more than two years complete contruction on the entire route and open it to traffic. Up to this point, a train could go from Lianyungang (port of Liangyun) in Jiangsu straight through to Lanzhou in Gansu, and in all of China only the Long-Hai Railroad was worthy of the name. On October 1st, 1952 one-hundred thousand workers and soldiers held a great rally in Lanzhou, to enthusiastically celebrate the third anniversary of the Nation with the triumphant opening of the Tian-Lan Railroad to traffic. Chairman Mao Zedong wrote: "Congratulations on the opening of the Tian-Lan Railroad, continue with you hard work to build the Lan-Xin Line," giving immense encouragement to the people of the Northwest and those who built the road.
The Lai-Mu Section is the southernmost part of the Xiang-Gui Railroad, starting in Laibin in Guangxi, it passes through Litang, Nanning, Pingxiang to end at Munan Pass on the China-Vietnam border (now the Friendship Pass), a total length of 4,164 kilometers. Because the The old name of the Munan Pass was the Zhennan Pass, at this time the section of railroad was called the Laizhen Section, but in 1953 Laizhen Pass was renamed Laimu Pass, and the section was later renamed the Laimu Section. The GMD government started construction of this railroad twice, completing parts of the project several times before they were demolished or destroyed, in addition years of erosion from wind and rain made it dilapidated from early on. In 1950 the Ministry of Railways gave the Hengyang Railroad Bureau responsibility for the construction of this section of railroad. The bureau organized about 200,000 from related units and workers from Guangxi, and began in October to repair existing track and new construction as the construction personnel risked their lives to overcome numerous difficulties, on the one hand fighting bandits and on the other hand building the rail line. On October 30, 1951 the section from Laibin to Pingxiang was completed and opened to traffic. The 14 kilometer line of track from Pingxiang to Munan Pass, because the track gauge in the two countries of China and Vietnam are not the same, required that a freight transfer station be setup in Pingxiang and so delayed until after its completion. The completion of the railroad not only aided economic development and strengthened border defence, it also served as a channel that strengthened relations between China and Vietnam.
The construction of the Cheng-Yu Railroad, the Tian-Lan Railroad and the Laimu Section was the first phase of the construction of new rail lines for the new China. During a period of economic recovery, in addition to the difficult duty of the war to Oppose America and aid Korea, although the country attached great importance to railway construction there were limits to the financial and material resources that could be invested. The demand for skills was weak, there was a shortage of equipment and materials which further increased the difficulty of construction. The majority of road construction workers carried on with a spirit of self-reliance and hard work doing everything possible to find a way, creating no small number of advanced achievements. Senior engineer Lan Tian recommended a change to the Cheng-Yu Railroad, to shorten it by 23 kilometers in order to save the country 1.5 million yuan in investment. The pressure blasting (压引放炮) developed by the workers of the Xie Family Group led to savings of 65% in the use of explosives. The wisdom and selfless labor that came from the scientific and technical personnel and from the masses of workers was a source of strength for the construction of the railroads. The ability to build and open to traffic these three railroads increased the amibition of the peoples of the new China. This indisputable fact declared to the world: the liberated people of China were fully able to rely on their own strength to accomplish the things that the old China could not and go on to build even more good railroads.
The completion of the above-mentioned railroads not only increased the national railroad route mileage but the trunk lines also would extend communications into the far reaches of the Southwest and the Northwest, an important first step to improve the layout of the country's railroads building a rail network that reached in every direction, serving to open up the resources and develop the economy in the areas of the minority groups and allow the creation of a new industrial base and strategic rear area in the Southwest and Northwest.
Even more important was the experience in the construction of new lines gained in the building of the three railroads, learning about something by doing it (NOTE: learning about war by being in a war). As soon as work on a new line started the Ministry of Railways would focus on strengthening control, timely detection and problem solving, being very serious in their summaries. At the time they lacked experience in the design technology and construction organization of new lines, and this coupled with the large volume of projects launched that were urgent, the extensive use of military and civilian labor, a shortage of technical personnel and the many projects at the beginning of their design or even not yet designed, the situation of construction caused much rework and waste. Some work units used the 'Contractor System' (NOTE: Baoshangzhidu) inherited from the past, the contractors were greedy by nature, skimped on the job and used inferior materials, exploiting their workers in a feudal style. There was yet another group of work units that lacked a good understanding of 'Xian tong, hou bei' so that some engineering was left out making it going through and then difficult to prepare. To solve these problems, in July of 1951 the Ministry of Railways produced the "Decision About Strengthening the Future Construction of New Railroad Lines", with requirements to improve the management level of new line construction that emphasized the task of design with strict implementation of the principle of "first comes design and then construction"; with requirements that the Engineering Bureaus put the projects they managed first, and rely primarily on their own construction force, but have step-by-step plans to make use of labor from private contractors, growing their own engineering team to gradually move towards becoming an operations management enterprise. From October 10 to 16, the Ministry of Railways held a National Conference of Railroad Engineers that affirmed the achievements of new line construction and criticized the underlying problems, discussed basic construction procedures, the emerging new line construction enterprise and other problems, and identified construction engineering structure, the proper engineering technology, construction regulations and verification systems. Minister Teng Daiyuan made the point in his concluding remarks that the guidelines for the construction of new rail lines in 1952 should be, straighten up construction and begin design. By straighten up construction is meant to eliminate the Contractor system, create a national construction organization, implement an economic accounting system; by begin design is meant the power of the design staff should be brought together, to engage in survey and design work, firmly implementing the principle of first the design and then the construction. The concluding remarks also gave a limited explanation of "Xiantong Houbei", emphasizing that in design and construction you cannot allow arbitrary lowering of standards under the guise of reason, because the engineering difficulties after the first passthru must be dealt with well in advance. Putting into practice these decisions and the spirit of the meetings not only put the ongoing construction of new lines gradually on the right track allowing them to be successfully completed, but also provided effective experience that played an important role in future, large-scale, new line construction.
From the beginning with the seizure of the railroads until after the three years of economic recovery, through all of the above mentioned tasks, this led to a fundamental transformation of the nature of the old railroads, establishing a system of centralized leadership and unified management that brought the creation of a new form of People's railroad. The original railroads on the Mainland in addition to having all of the individual lines completely open again to traffic, had also been generally strengthened and improved, as well as 1,000 kilometers of new line being built which brought the operating mileage of the national railroads up to a total of 22,876 kilometers. The major types of locomotives, passenger cars and freight cars in use had already all been revived, with 4,180 locomotives in service and 294 held in reserve. The production of transportation was right on track and increased every year with the 1952 passenger totals reaching 163.52 million passengers, a 58.5% increase compared to 1949; freight totals reached 132.17 million tonnes, a 136.5% increase compared to 1949; the volume of freight and passenger traffic reached 8.0224 billion tonne-kilometers, as the various operational indicators all exceeded the highest levels reached before the founding of the new China.
Following three years of economic recovery, the country had already put the main focus of its efforts on the target of socialist industrialization. The first Five-Year Plan to develop the domestic economy (shortened to 1-5) that started in 1953, marked the beginning of large-scale, planned economic construction. Faced with this new situation, improving the management level of railroad operations to explore the potential transportation capacity, in order to adapt to daily traffic volume and the need for growth, with great efforts to strengthen the infrastructure and improve the foundation of the rail network, to cope with a new industrial base and building a foundation for national defense, these became the heart of the railroad's mission during the 1-5 period. With the entire workforce of the railroads working together around this goal, working effectively on all of its aspects allowed the railroad to more effectively serve as the official vanguard of economic development.
Widely disseminating the experience of the Zhong-Chang Railroad to reform production and create a new system of management was an important part of the task of the railroads during the 1-5 period.
During the period when China and the Soviet Union jointly operated the Zhong-Chang Railroad, the Ministry of Railways regarded the experience learned from the Zhong-chang Railroad to be the product of Soviet railroad management principles and methods combined with the specific conditions in China, calling on all the railroads to learn and spread it while using it to obtain preliminary results. However, because at the time the Korean War was in progress, the job of resisting America and aiding Korea was complicated and difficult, the railroads within the Pass (NOTE: China south of Shanhaiguan) were still in the midst of recovering, and democratic reforms had not yet been completed, for this and other reasons there was not enough time for a systematic summary of the Zhong-Chang Railroad experiences and take effective measures to widely promote it.
In June of 1952, at a National Railroad Planning Conference held by the Ministry of Railways Li Fuchun, a Vice Premier in the State Council (NOTE: anachronism ) , talked about the future direction and tasks of future railroad work, since the "Three Evils" (NOTE: San Fan - three against - corruption, waste and bureaucracy) democratic reform has been completed, so in the future in order to produce reform we must adopt Soviet experience to establish a new management system.
So it was in this spirit that the Ministry of Railways quickly sent out inspection (NOTE: survey??) teams that vigorously investigated the achievements and experience of the Zhong-Chang Railroad. The Party group of the Zhong-Chang Railroad Corporate Council in accord with the request of the Ministry of Railways produced a systematic summary of their findings about what could be learned from the Zhong-Chang Railroad, instructing Yu Guangsheng and 29 others who had served in the company or in leadership positions in various departments to provide a comprehensive summary of their management experience while at the Zhong-Chang Railroad. The result of this was the "Several Keys Aspects of the Zhong-Chang Railroad Implementation of Advanced Soviet Practices" whose basic meaning can be summarized in the twelve following points (commonly referred to as the 12 Practices):
<—— At the same time, a summary of the work, plans and directives of the Zhong-Chang Railroad at various times along with other matters were compiled into a book that would serve as an introduction to reference materials about what was learned. With the completion of this work, the spread of the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad to all of the other railroads served as a comparatively complete preparation.
In June of 1953, at the National Railroad Planning conference held by the Ministry of Railways the State Council (*) Vice Premier, Deng Xiaoping, based on the call of Chariman Mao Zedong issued at the beginning of the year that "all across the country there will be an upsurge of learning from the Soviet Union", proposing that the railroads learn from the Soviet Union which in more concrete terms meant learning from the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad that will serve as clear policies that can be grasped and not let go of to formulate specific procedures and methods. In the same spirit this meeting summed up the experience and lessons of the past, and determined that within three to five years the practical learning and spread of the lessons of the Zhong-Chang Railroad would become the operating principles of all the railroads. At the beginning of August the Ministry of Railways made plans for all cadres in active service to study the experience of the Zhong-Chang Railroad and asked all units to realistically set out plans and schedules for all of the cadres and workers to study the 12 Basic Lessons.
In March 1954, the Ministry of Railways, the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways and the National Committee of the China Railroad Union joined together to produce "Decisions About the Further Study and Promotion of the Experience of the Zhong-Chang Railroad". A decision was made after the analysis of the previous paragraph that studied the situation to further suggest that for the leadership cadres of the Ministry and the Departments should fully grasp the set of management knowledge and methods of the Zhong-Chang Railroad while for the other cadres and workers on the basis of the principle of learning whatever you need to do your job, combining to make a specific arrangments the content they needed to learn with time, organization, methods and other aspects. (rework) With this, within all of the railroads and particularly among the leading cadres at all levels, the momentum formed along with solid knowledge of the experience of the Zhong-Chang Railroad for a surge of change in the management of the operation.
In order to implement the spirit of the above-mentioned decisions, the Ministry of Railways, from June of this year to December of 1955, organized three study groups for leadership cadres with each phase lasting four to five months at the Harbin Railroad administration to study on-location the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad. Some of the ministerial-level cadres of the Ministry of Railways particpated in and led the work of these three study groups. Among those who took turns attending were the management heads of various railroads were the Bureau Management chiefs of each railroad and the head of traffic of every department, the department and section heads of each department unit, subbureau heads and station masters, as well as those in charge of the political work departments and engineering and technical personnel, for a total of some 1346 people.
Study groups were organized by the work unit, and led by the work unit leaders who served as group leaders. In each study group there was one unit that carried out a comparative analysis between the Zhong-Chang Railroad experience and the situation of the work unit, uncovering existing problems and proposing practical measures to make a strong connection between learning and application. Those who participated in the instruction viewed materials, listened to introductions, visited the actual sites and asked questions, were involved in real work and other activities, so that by combining theory and practice they came to a clear understanding of the scientific and progressive nature of the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad, in general they examined the work of the past in the medium- and long-term regardless of the costs, only concerned with the figures on completed construction and only to understand the "supply system" thinking of you need money to get things; there were some leadership cadres that were eliminated because they revelled in the achievements of their individual work unit and their subjective experiences, with a mood of blind complacency that other were not as good as they were, and this was done to grasp and make use of the consciousness of the Zhong-Chang Railroad experience.
At the same time this was going on, the cadres and workers in all of the work units that did not participate in study groups organized themselves to conduct on-the-job learning, and the cadres that returned to their work units were asked to introduce the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad that they had seen, heard and felt. The learning in the workplace was based on a complete understanding of the 12 Basic Experiences that was focused on the scope of their business activities to conduct targeted learning. Other business units also according to the system held various professional training courses to complement their learning of the relevant experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad.
After this series of actions, by 1956 the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad had already (??flowered and born fruit) been implemented and produced results among all the railroads. With regards to plan management, each work unit not only produced comprehensive production and financial plans as a corporate goal, they also emphasized the collection and analysis of historical data to strengthen economic investigation and improve the quality of the plans. At the same time technical and organizational measures were developed to implement systems for supervision, inspection and analysis to ensure implementation of the plans. The transportation plan for all the railroads called for a gradual increase from 85.4% for the year 1954 to 91.6% for 1955. On the financial management side, the scope of the economic accounting system expanded each year so that by the end of 1955 it had been strictly implemented in all of the management bureaus, sub-bureaus, motive power divisions, rolling stock divisions, and 80% of the signal divisions and 76% of the maintenance of way divisions, as well as being gradually extended to the workshop and team levels. At the same time, a review system for the management of funds was established and strengthened, with importance given to the cultivation of an atmosphere to recycle old waste and save raw materials which for all of the railroads brought about a large reduction in cost overruns and waste which reduced production costs so that in 1956 the operating expenses for every 1,000 kilometer-tonnes produced were 7.65 yuan, a decrease of 10.7% compared to costs in 1952. With regards to labor and wages, it was generally based on the principle of the responsibility system, the rationalization of the organization of labor, the simplification by merging overlapping organizations, the adoption of new staffing tables, the establishment of rules and duties for the staff at all levels and the widespead implementation of the piecework system which allowed non-production personnal to be streamlined and increased production efficiency with each passing year. Comparing the years 1952 and 1956, the proportion of production workers increased from 69.9% to 78.6%, while the labor productivity of transportation workers increased 64%. In the area of production and administrative management, there was widespread of the one man system (NOTE: yi chang zhi) to strengthen the unified leadership of the enterprise to overcome the situations of too many leaders and no one in charge. At the same time, strong measures were taken to correct instances of lax labor discipline and non-compliance with technical operating procedures. In labor competition, technology management, staff training and concern for the life of the masses, they also in general absorbed and adopted the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad.
In the process of learning from the Soviet Union and spreading the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad, there still remained some problems. The important ones were the tendency towards dogmatism where the rules and regulations of the Soviet Union and the Zhong-Chang Railroad were to be absolutely followed with no deviations allowed but the system could not bend and the control was too heavy-handed and to a great extent it constrained the creative spirit of the vast majority of workers causing the enterprises to lack dynamism and vitality.
In 1957 from February 20 to March 18, the CCP party groups of the Ministry of Railways held a meeting of the secretaries of all of the committees (of the party groups) for all Bureaus (companies and institutes) in the national railroad. The meeting reflected the spirit of the Chinese Communist Party Eighth National People's Congress, confirmed the results of learning from the Soviet Union and promoting the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad and also pointed out that problems still existed. Since the basic experience of the Zhong-Chang Railroad had already been spread to the entire railroad, at the meeting it was decided to no longer study and disseminate the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad as the working principles of the national railway.
At the same time as we learned from the Soviet Union and promoted the experiences of the Zhong-Chang Railroad, while creating a new system of operations management, the vast majority of railroad workers in a surge of patriotic enthusiam launched a movement that used fully loaded, exceeding axle limits, 500 kilometers (more simply called the Man-Chao-Wu Movement) as the basis for a production work competition. The two complemented each other in promoting the reform of production, allowing the potential of rail operations to be more fully realized, promoting the completion of the difficult task of transportation.
The Man-Chao-Wu Movement originated and was developed from a program in the liberated areas to increase rail productivity. The railroad workers after their liberation had a strong sense of the responsibilities of ownership, and so there was a surge in donated equipment, voluntary labor, a rush to repair and a rush to ship, in this difficult venture to create a mass movement to aid production. At the time, railroad equipment was in very bad condition, working locomotives were a precious commodity and efforts were made to improve the capabilities of the locomotives so lots of encouragement while ensuring the safety of rail travel became the key to carrying out the task of transportation. The special train group led by Du Xianyang, the lead engineer at the Suihua locomotive depot, used careful maintenance and operation to safely operate for 106,579 kilometers, still passing two maintenance inspections with the locomotive in excellent technical condition, so on February 15, 1949 it received the special designation of "Iron Ox" (NOTE: Tie'niu Hao) train group from the Ministry of Railways Northeast Executive Committee. Among the railroads of the Northest there immediately appeared a movement to learn from Du Xianyang to compete to become an Iron Ox, bringing about constatly new ideas for a safe driving record with the Iron Ox Team gradually expanding in number. On August 18, Zheng Yangkun, a locomotive engineer from the Suijiatun locomotive depot, at the Qingyuan station attached two freight cars filled with vegetables to a train that was already full-axle (had already reached the number it was allowed to pull) and safely traveled to Shenyang to be the first to exceed the number of axles pulled. (NOTE: Trains have limits regarding the weight they can pull behind them. This limit is determined by the weight of the engine and by the characteristics of the track over which it runs. Hills and curves increase the pulling resistance of the cars behind an engine. One way to figure the weight of the cars behind a train is by counting the number of axles on the various cars. There is a safety margin built into these numbers and by increasing the number of axles you are reducing the margin. ) In the following year on May 29, Wang Jikun, from the special train group at the Ang'angxi locomotive depot who was the first to operate trains that averaged 500 kilometers a day, together with dispatchers, car inspectors, car chiefs (NOTE: Chezhang) and stations collaborated to jointly create the initiative for locomotives to every month operate a daily average of 500 kilometers which received a favorable response from all of the concerned personnel. It was at this time that the Iron Ox Movement was also extended from the locomotive units to emerge in other types of work groups, such as Iron Ox road maintenence work areas, Iron Ox train inspector units, Iron Ox shunting units (NOTE: diaoche - switch engine/shunter) along with others.
On June 15, 1950, the Ministry of Railways issued a call to require the railroad management bureaus to the south of the Shanhaiguan Pass (NOTE: Guannei - within the Pass) to study the experiences the railroads of the Northeast had carrying out the Iron Ox Movement and to all launch the Model Locomotive Team Movement. With the aid of the Mao Zedong special locomotive group and other advanced (NOTE: leading edge?) locomotive engineers, the movement rapidly spread to all of the railroads to fully implement the locomotive responsibility system, improve the quality of the locomotives, reduce the cost of producing transportation, and ensuring safe train operation, acting to promote good practices.
The labor production competitions of the railroads of the Northeast already based on the Iron Ox Movement, now developed into the locomotives Every Day Travel 500 Kilometers Movement to thus strengthen the connections and cooperation between the traffic plan and the various business units, reduced the turnaround times of locomotives and rolling stock and increased the production efficiency of transportation. These related departments permeated the first line of production, as in this summation: Zheng Yangkun helped to realize the potential pulling power of the locomotives by continually pushing the limits of the axle load restrictions by manipulating those limits; Yang Maolin, the Harbin Director of Scales, made full use of the load capacity of the rolling stock by making use of loading methods that continually increased the freight load; Li Yangkui, who worked as a shunter at the Shenyang South Station, reduced the time it took to assemble or disassemble a train with faster shunting methods to speed up the turnaround time of both locomotives and rolling stock; Guo Chunlin of the Changchun Maintenance of Way section, used road maintenance methods and other advanced work experience to strengthen preventive maintenance. The promotion and use of these several forms of advanced experience led to the gradual coming together as the single objective of Fully Loaded, Exceed Axles, 500 Kilometers.
The Ministry of Railways, the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways, the National Committee of the Railway Unions and the National Youth League Railway Working Committee gathered together the experiences of several years of labor production competitions and after careful analysis and study on May 1, 1952, International Day they jointly issued "Decisions Regarding the Fully Loaded, Exceeds Axles, 500 Kilometer Movement." With the warm response of the vast majority of workers, Fully Loaded, Exceeds Axles, 500 Kilometers served as the core content of a mass movement, and was immediately enacted throughout the entire railroad.
After the rise of the Man-Chao-Wu Movement, in just six months it showed tremendous vitality and achieved outstanding results. The first was an obvious increase in the efficiency of transportation. The figures for the second half of 1952 compared to the same period in 1951 saw the average load of a freight car increase by 1.7 tonnes, the average turnaround time of a freight car decreased by 0.14 days, the tonnage pulled by freight trains increased by an average of 185.4 tonnes, the distance each freight train traveled increased by an average of 66.3 kilometers which meant that fewer locomotives and rolling stock were required to meet the goal of providing more transportation. The second was to promote the reform of operations management. The emergence of a large number of advanced technical indicators led the leadership groups and relevant departments to insist on a series of reforms in the area of operations management such as coming up with methods to assemble trains with extra axles (chaozhou-exceeds axles), modify the techincal operating procedures used at stations, develop accurate train movement charts (yunxingtu), accurate locomotive traction values, improved traffic organization and control methods, adjusting certain rules and regulations and so on. The third was a welcome change in the attitudes of the work force and the level of business conduct. Just as the movement was starting, a small number of cadres and workers who were comfortable with the old ways of doing things, considered Fully Loaded, Exceeds Axles, 500 Kilometers to be taking too many risks, and that it was a fantasy that could not be achieved. After it had been put into practice for some time, the great number of facts allowed people to see the power of the masses and the potential of the railroad and so they threw themselves into the movement. The development of the movement also required a rapid increase in the worker's level of culture and professional work, creating an atmosphere of consciously seeking knowledge. By the end of 1952, the number of locomotive drivers who had studied the methods Zheng Yangkun used to exceed axle limits has reached 45% of the entire railroad, while the freight train locomotive drivers who were qualified as Exceeds Axle locomotive drivers had already reached 63%; the shunting personnel who had studied the shunting methods of Li Yangkui had already reached 55%, among all of the 106 marshalling yards and 789 shunting units of all the railroads, there were already 66 yards and 636 units that were using the new shunting methods; the agents (shangwugongzuozhe) and freight loaders at many of the Business stations (freight house?? yingyezhan) studied the freight loading methods of Yang Maolin, a compilation of over 60 specific methods to increase the static load of freight trains; the number of workers and staff of all of the railroads who participated in the study of culture and to increase literacy and took various technical classes in their spare time reached up to 95%.
In the initial period of the Man-Chao-Wu Movement, there were also several deviations that appeared. The most important was that after the enthusiasm of the masses rose up, some leaders did not take strong technical and organizational measures to serve as proper guidance which resulted in a one-sided pursuit of the most extra axles, spending a long time assembling rail cars which not only influenced the transportation balance but also sometimes also caused Exceeds Axle trains to be unable to move during their journey and so uncoupled cars from the train leaving them standing alone; some ignored the objective conditions, not acting according to the regulations both blindly and recklessly to the point of causing accidents. While at the time this created increased transportation capacity, there emerged on the one hand extra axles and on the other hand fewer axles with more cars pulled out of the train as well as the phenomenon of abnormal transportation patterns in some areas.
After the Ministry of Railways recognized these problems, they immediately organized the relevant departments to draw up the "Measures for the Marshalling and Operation of Excess Axle Trains" and "Interim Mesaures for Excess Axle Incentives" which was published and put into effect on June 5, 1952. The above approaches with regard to the marshalling and operation of excess axle trains all had specific provisions in them for the material life, labor protection and other issues of the front-line workers. The National Railroad Planning Meeting that was held from mid to late June, while it stressed the great significance of carrying out the "Man Chao Wu" Movement, required that all the railroads under this guiding ideology adopt a policy of balanced development and steady progress while conscientiously implementing the above provisions. While the Ministry of Railways decided to balance and adjust the weight that trains would pull, categories were reduced and shipping schedules extended to directly promote the marshalling of trains, while train sections were reduced and railcar turnover accelerated at the station shunting operations to ease the task of assembling excess axle trains. The telephone conference call with all the railroads held in late August, summed up the situation since the launch of the "Man-Chao-Wu" Movement on the foundation of fully affirming the achievements, pointed out the existing problems and proposed increasing the leadership requirements. Through this series of actions,\ deviations that appeared in the movement were only within a certain range and to a certain extent that could be minimized or corrected. However, because there was no time to keep up with the task of understanding ideology and technical organization measures, there were those who thought that steady progress meant to stand still, and there were work units that felt helpless against the existing problems, thus when leadership relaxed beginning in 1953 the movement became demoralized.
After a period of investigation and study that brought together all aspects of all the observations, the Ministry of Railways on June 19, 1954 issued "On the Main Points of Technical Organizational Measures for the Continued Development of Fully Loaded, Excess Axles, 500 Kilometers". The major points brought up according to the guidelines of requirements, preparation, gradually implementing on part of a line then parts of a section, gradually advancing, on the basis of eliminating not enough axles and guaranteeing safety and punctuality, organize excess axles stressing increase excess (axles) frequently to stabilize tonnage and promote the healthy development of the movement.
Each railroad management bureau, acting in the spirit of this document, took various technical organizational measures such as providing for excess axle sections, carrying out the identification of locomotive drivers and locomotives, determining who could be excess axle locomotive drivers and the capabilites of the locomotives as well as other measures. The departments that were involved in this modified their provisions for excess axle standards and incentives, enacting methods to master the operation of excess axle freight trains. Through various efforts the entire railroad increased track maintenance and renovation, eliminating numerous long-term, reduced-speed sections, and extending parts of the main trunk lines; improve communications and signal facilities and install automatic blocks equipment on some of the busy sections; enhance the repair and maintenance of locomotives and rolling stock, acting to improve it quality, and also added a number of larger (large-scale?) locomotives and freight cars. And all of this was created by the healthy development of the "Man Chao Wu" Movement.
By the end of 1954, over 80% of the freight locomotives on the entire railroad had pulled excess axle trains, and there also emerged a group of train dispatchers that were good at organizing excess axle trains and a group of car loading experts who continuously improved the methods of loading. The Mao Zedong Train group in the space of three years had 180,000 tonnes of excess axles, and a daily locomotive average kilometers traveled that reached 417.7 kilometers, for a total savings of 683 tonnes of coal and with continuous safe operation. The Harbin Railroad Bureau, used many ways taken from the organizational and leadership aspects of the movement to in 1954 have their excess axles tonnage account for 50% of the total excess axle tonnage of the entire railroad, and throught the joint efforts of Zhang Tingyu, an accomplished locomotive driver, and Zhang Yanqing, an equally accomplished dispatcher, to create an high-speed method for excess axles without stopping at intermediate stations.
In the last half of 1955, driven by the socialist transformation and the socialist construction boom, the high-spirited railroad workers one after the other asked to change labor quotas to increase production levels and giving the Man-Chao-Wu Movement a new vitality.
In order to take advantage of the trend and promote the further development of the movement, the leadership of the Ministry of Railways convened informal discussions of with advanced locomotive drivers, dispatchers and those who weighed the freight in the 4 Railroad Bureaus of Beijing, Harbin, Jinzhou and Zhengzhou to listen to the voices of the masses. At the same time a number of cadres were dispatched to the grass-roots level to conduct investigations and studies. Then they integrated various aspects of the situation to produce the document "The Basic Future Requirements of the Fully Loaded, Excess Axles, 500 Kilometer Movement". The document, reviewing the course of events of more than 3 years, pulled together the lessons of both the successes and production problems, listing the large number of facts that indicated the movement once again rising, and for various business sectors proposed new technical requirements that should be taken in order to promote the movement.
In December of this year, Yue Shangwu, the Chief Driver of the Mao Zedong locomotive, with others published an article in the "People's Railway" that proposed an increase in the tonnage ratings of what a freight locomotive could pull. Based on several years experience pulling excess axle, they considered the traction tonnage ratings devised in 1952 were already under what was possible, as it was entirely possible to increase the 2250 tonne limit between Fengtai to the south to 2600 tonnes going to and to 2800 tonnes leaving from. This recommendation immediately received the enthusiastic support from every section of the entire railroad and the request to increase the tonnage rating quickly spread to the freight locomotive drivers of Harbin, Shenyang and 10 other Railroad Bureaus. Based on the suggestion of the masses and after careful study, the Ministry of Railways and all the Railroad Bureaus came to the conclusion that at the beginning of the year they would have a general increase of the tonnage rating for some rail lines while also adopting reliable technical measures to ensure the implementation of the new traction tonnage ratings. Following the breakthroughs and achievements represented by the new tonnage ratings, the Man Chao Wu Movement stepped up to an all new level.
The National Railroad Congress of Advanced Producers that was held in March of 1956, while the huge achievements that were obtained from several years of the labor competition were highly praised and valuable experiences were widely exchanged, all of the workers of all the railroads were called on to continue to advance socialist labor competition and completely exceeded the tasks given the railroads in the first five-year plan. (??) At the meeting they agreed to carry out an initiative suggested by the representatives for the entire railroad to implement goals that each locomotive produce a million tonne-kilometers each day and the record names style of locomotive turnaround chart, uniting the goals of the competition with the composite indicator of daily locomotive productivity by means of implementing the name-style locomotive turnaround chart which not only enriched the substance of the Man Chao Wu Movement but also enhanced the organizational and scientific nature of the movement. The spirit of the conference inspired the majority of the workers to complete the goals of the first five-year plan both ahead of schedule and beyond expectations (over the quotas?), with a sense of greater responsibility and enthusiasm they participated in the production labor competitions with the Man Chao Wu Movement as the focus, to push the movement in the direction of even broader and deeper development.
With regard to the breadth of its application, the extent of pulling excess axle trains was gradually expanded so that not only was it used on rail sections that were good but also in more difficult rail sections, using either a pusher locomotive (NOTE: this locomotive would help the train through difficult sections of track) or by double-heading, using two locomotives to pull the excess axles trains; not only were the major locomotive types used on excess axle trains but all kinds of locomotives and small yard engines (yunzhuan jiche) were pressed into the ranks of excess axle service. What followed was that the operations of all the lines of work adapted to the requirements of the development of the movement, as the members of the shunting team (yard crew) created a competition to increase the speed of car shunting and eliminate accidents, the train dispatchers had contests to assemble excess axle trains, the business workers had contests to ensure that cars were fully loaded and to eliminate errors, train inspectors held competitions to reduce the inspection times of trains and improve the quality of the train inspections, the Maintenance of way crews had competitions to improve the quality of the rail lines and remove the signs for reduced speed operations, the signaling and communications personnel had competitions to improve the display of signals and ensure the smooth flow of telecommunications, making the work of the entire operating system revolve around the operation of fully-loaded, excess axles, 500 kilometers. Meanwhile, spurred on by the Man-Chao-Wu Movement, the engineering departments carried out competitions to make do more with less and try hard to open to traffic ahead of schedule, the planning departments started contests to ensure design documents were produced ahead of schedule, the rolling stock factories had contests for good quality and delivery of cars ahead of schedule, while the other business departments also engaged in contests to improve work methods, and increase the quality and efficiency of work.
As for deepening, it was first of all an in-depth exploration of the potential of locomotives as the tonnage ratings for the major trunk lines (the Jing-Han, Jin-Pu, Shen-Shan, Jing-Shan, Ha-Da and Hu-Ning) were revised in early 1956 from the 1952 ratings of 2,250 tonnes and increased to 2,400 tonnes but these limits were quickly broken by the movement and in May they were again revised to 2,700 tonnes. On the basis of these two increases in the traction ratings, the excess axle tonnage was 25% higher that in the year 1955. At the same time that high speed excess axle traction was being promoted, the daily production goal of 1 million tonne-kilometers was gradually put into effect, taking another step forward in developing locomotive efficiency. What followed this was innovation in related tasks, such as the widespread adoption of qingzhongpinzhuang(轻重拼装 light-heavy mixed) mianmayazhuang(棉麻压装 cotton linen compressed) shengchu duocengzhuang(牲畜多层装 multi-level livestock ) kuazhuang(跨装 straddle load that spans two or more cars) pazhuang(爬装 crawl load??) LTL freight using shipping containers and other new methods of loading that made full use of the loading capacity of the rail car; the widespread adoption of new methods of burning coal, devised by Li Shaoqiang and Sun Shigui, in order to conserve large amounts of (coal) fuel for the counrty; many stations with important industrial and mining campanies and forested areas established joint offices with them to increase their ability to plan transportation, speed up the turn around time for locomotives and rolling stock, increase direct, non-stop transportation and the load make up of rail cars. In addition to this. the scientific and technical personnel with the majority of workers that struggled in planning, construction, industy and other fronts also continued to break through the old labor quotas to set new production records.
The spread and intensification in the development of the Man-Chao-Wu Movement allowed the the potential of the railroad to be further developed, with railroad efficiency seeing significant gains. Freight locomotive kilometers, from the 278 kilometers at the beginning of Liberation increased to 366 by the year 1957, freight car turnaround times were reduced from over 4 days at the start of Liberation to 2.84 days in 1957, the average gross load for freight trains went from 1245 tonnes in 1952 up to 1520 tonnes in 1957, the static load for freight cars was 28.9 tonnes in 1952 and increase to 34.7 tonnes in 1957. From the standpoint of freight traffic density, the railroads of China in 1957 had reached 5,030,000 tonne kilometers / kilometer, putting it in the front ranks of the railways of the world. During the first Five-Year Plan, there was nearly 200 million tonnes of excess axle on the national railroads, and the amount of coal used during this five-year period was a savings of 800 millions tonnes compared with the amount used in 1952. (????) The socialist labor competitions at the center of the the Man-Chao-Wu Movement played an important role in the sharp growth in transporta volume that came with large-scale economic construction and the contradictions behind the serious shortages in transport capacity.
The three years of economic recovery that saw the construction of three new railroads, the Cheng-Yu, the Tian-Lan and the Laimu, brought with it the start of gradually gathering experience and cultivating teamwork. The plans to carry out the large-scale construction of new lines began in 1953 with the First Five-Year Plan to develop the national economy.
The nation, in the midst of the First Five-Year Plan, in order to concentrate on development of heavy industry, and establish the basis for the industrialization of the country and the modernization of national defense, gave their full attention to the building of railroad infrastructure. For the entire 1-5 period (NOTE: The Chinese use 1-5 as a shorthand for the First Five-Year Plan so the Second becomes 2-5 and the Third 3-5 and so on.) the nation invested 6.289 billion yuan in railroad infrastructure which represented 10.7% of the total infrastructure investment for the entire nation; of this 2.957 billion yuan was invested in the construction of new rail lines which accounted for 47% of the total investment in railroad infrastructure construction. This sort of pattern of investment in railroad infrastructure construction, and in particular the construction of new rail lines, provided a very good opportunity for development.
The National Railroad Planning Conference held in June of 1952, on the basis of the proposed draft of the First Five-Year Plan, regarding the needs of railroad development, it was decided to strengthen the leadership of infrastructure construction and enhance the forces of new line construction by organizing three systems, infrastructure, planning and construction, to divide the work and manage the construction of new lines. On December 30th, the Ministry of Railways together with the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways issued "Instructions Regarding the Strengthening of Infrastructure Work", stressing that implementation adapt to the new situation of the First Five-Year Plan, and must, in the construction of infrastructure, recognize the primacy of the work on the railroads, requiring that all departments and work units of the entire railroad should with regard to infrastructure construction, call for the workers to put the construction of new lines first, to promote the development and growth of the forces of new rail line construction. In order to emphasize the importance of new construction, at the time it was also proposed a new slogan - new lines are number one. (NOTE: xinxian diyi) Although this use of words was very one-sided, its degree of intensity toward the strengthening of the entire railroad and toward the construction of new rail lines guaranteed that the composition of the teams in the large-scale construction of new lines played an important role in its promotion. With the beginning of 1953, this mighty force emerged to throw its power into the construction of the new lines. With this in mind, the Ministry of Railways quickly decided to make adjustments in the organization of the railway by setting up a Bureau of Capital Construction, the Bureau of Design (later renamed the Head Bureau of Design), and the Bureau of New Line Construction (later changed to Head Bureau of New Railroad Construction) to create a three-way division of labor to mutually cooperate and also mutually constrain one another in order to strengthen the leadership (control?) of the construction of new rail lines. At the same time, they also created within the railroad 12 Capital Construction Sub-Bureaus, 5 Design Sub-Bureaus and 5 Design Institutes (Sheji shiwu suo), 12 Construction Bureaus and 4 Professional Engineering Companies creating a large team for the construction of new rail lines.
In July of that year, the Korean War concluded and after the Railway Corps of the Volunteer Army returned home, they were reorganized as the Railway Corps of the People's Liberation Army. This tenacious, hard-hitting, hard fighting assault force continued to assume the responsibility for the job of building railroads.
For the healthy development of new line construction, beginning in 1953 the Ministry of Railways drew up one after the other "Draft of Interim Measures for New Rail Line Construction", "Interim Measures to Put Out Contracts for Railroad Capital Construction Projects", "Interim Measures to Monitor the Engineering Technology of Railroad Capital Construction Projects", "Interim Measures for the Completion, Acceptance and Transfer of Railroad Capital Construction Projects" and "The Design and Technical Specifications for Stadard Gauge Railroads" and more in a series of documents on all aspects of the provision of technical standards and handling procedures in order to strengthen the technical management of this central task.
The construction of new lines during the 1-5 period focused mainly in the four following aspects.
The first came from the requirements of creating a new industrial base and a strategic rear area, continuing the construction of railroad main lines leading to the Southeast and the Northwest.
After the Cheng-Yu Railroad was built and opened to traffic, there was an urgent need for the contruction of a main line from the Long-Hai Railroad to Chengdu to have a rail connection with interior regions for them to play a greater role. The railroad built to enter Sichuan from the Long-Hai Railroad was originally to have started at Tienshui in Gansu Province and would have been known as the Tian-Cheng Railroad but after taking into account the economics of the operation, the starting point was changed to Baoji in Shaanxi Province and was called the Bao-Cheng Railroad. This railroad started in Baoji, ran south through Fengzhou, Yueyang, Yangping Guan(Pass) and Guangyang in Sichuan Province, then Zhongbai, Mianyang, Deyang to finally arrive at Chengdu, a total distance of 669 kilometers. On 1 July 1952 when the Cheng-Yu Railroad construction was completed and opened to traffic, the Bao-Cheng Railroad project began from the Chengdu end. In January of 1954 construction began from the Baoji end. After 4 years of effort, the north and south ends of the track met on July 12, 1956 at the Huangsha River, and on New Year's Day of 1958, the operation of the entire line was handed over. The Bao-Cheng Railroad was the first railroad built after the founding of the new China that was a difficult feat of engineering. From Baoji, this road crossed the Wei River to enter the steep mountains of the Qinling, and followed along the Qingjiang River valley, winding through the tall and steep mountains. (NOTE: chongshan junling phrase is from the Orchid Pavillion Preface.Jin Wang) In order to overcome the changing elevations of the terrain, within a very limited space using three horseshoe curves and one spiraling figure-eight the wandering line ascended, crossing over itself three times, over bridges and through tunnels, twisting and turning, in a straight-line distance of 25 kilometers it climbed 817 meters. (NOTE: The represents a 3.2% grade which is very steep for a train.) This was follow by a 2,364 meters long tunnel that pierced the Qinling Pass to enter into the Jialing River basin where it twisted and turned in the valley and among the steep mountains. Among the major engineering works completed along the entire line were 71.16 million cubic meters of earth and stone, 304 tunnels and 1001 bridges with the length of the bridges and tunnels accounting for about 17% of the total length of the line. After the completion of this line, China had the first railroad trunk line to enter Sichuan that overcame the difficulties of the road to Shu, difficulties in the blue sky above (extremely difficult). (NOTE: an old name for Sichuan, a quote from a poem by Li Po aka Li Bai.) When it was connected with the Cheng-Yu line it later served as the basis of the Southwest rail network.
In October 1952 after the Tian-Lan Railroad was completed and opened to traffic, a new Silk Road, the Lan-Xin Railroad, immediately started construction from Lanzhou. This line from Lanzhou crossed the Yellow River, went through the 3,000 meters above sea-level Wushaoling to enter the Hexi corridor, passed through Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan Jiayu Pass and then proceeded to Yumen, the Shule River and the Hongliu River to enter the Uighur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. Those who built the road had to overcome all sorts of difficulties, so the construction schedule was accelerated and the laying of track began in February of 1953, the track to the east of Wuwei was handed over for operation in March of 1956 while in July it was opened to traffic as far as Yumen. Among the Yellow river bridges, it has the first major bridge over the Yellow River that was planned and built by China. (NOTE: The Zhongshan bridge in Lanzhou.) The construction of this railroad, particularly after it extension to Urumuqi in the 60s, was a great value for the development of the natural resources of the Northwest, the construction of an industrial base, the strengthening of national unity and the consolidation of national defense.
Begun in 1954 and completed in 1958, the Bao-Lan Railroad that begins in Baotou in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, passes through the Hui Autonomous Region in Ningxia to finally arrive in Lanzhou, has a total length of 990 kilometers, crossing over the Yellow River three times, and was a relatively difficult engineering project passsing through Zhongwei and Gantang as it skirted the southern edge of the Tengger Desert. Especially during the period of construction, various measures were adopted through a process of trial and error to solve the problems of sand control and sand prevention, accumulating valuable experience that China would use in the construction of railroads in desert areas. After the construction of this road was completed, and it was linked up with the Jing-Bao, Tian-Lan and Lan-Xin Railroads, it formed another important main line to connect the Northwest with rest of the country.
The Feng-Sha Railroad that starts in the Fengtai West marshalling Station in Beijing, passing through Sanjiandian, Yanchi and Guanting, in the Shacheng in Hebei Province joins with the Jin-Bao Railroad, saw construction start in September of 1952 and operational control handed over in November of 1956. This railroad is only 106 kilometers long but was a very difficult project as it winds its way through the Yongding River canyon in a series of bridges and tunnels. With its completion, the transport capacity of the Jing-Bao line was able to avoid the limitations of the Guangou Section and not only was good for the export of Shanxi coal but also strengthened the flow of goods between the North China Plain and the Northwest.
The second is that although the old China was biased towards the coastal areas, there are many coastal defense cities and shipping ports that had to access to railroads to connect them and provide access other than by sea.
From early on the old China had visions of building a railroad to connect Jiangxi and Fujian, and on three occasions started surveys, but over the course of 30 years none of them were realized. After the founding of the new China, it set out to begin to build the Ying-Xia Railroad (NOTE: from Yingtan in Jiangxi to Xiamen in Fuzhou.) and in 1953 started the survey and design, deciding to start from the Zhe-Gan Railroad at Yingtan in Jiangxi Province and going south across the Wuyi Mountains to then enter Fujian Province and follow the Futunxi River south, then crossing the Futunxi and chaninging directions to head southwest and finally reach Xiamen, a total distance of 694 kilometers. In early 1955, under the command of General Wang Zhen, the Commander of the Ministry of Railways Corps, brought together most of the troops and together with 120,000 civilian workers from the two provinces of Fujian and Jiangxi began construction along the entire route, by December of 1956 the track had been laid all the way to Xiamen and on New Year's Day of 1958 operational control was handed over. There was complex terrain along this road as it cut through the Wuyi and Daiyun Mountains with high embankments and deep cuts, bridges and tunnels connected together, engineering that was concentrated and difficult. In order to shorten the length of the line, over 1.5 million cubic meters of stone was used to build from Xinglin to Jinmei and from Jinmei to Gaoqi two five kilometer long and 19 meters wide seawalls used for the roadbed, creating a precedent in China for using a sea embankment as a road. Marshall Zhu De wrote this in praise: "moves mountains and fills in the sea". The Ying-Xia Railroad realized the hopes that the people of Fujian and Chinese living overseas have had for decades which was to connect Fujian with the rest of China and to serve as an important channel for foreign contacts.
With construction begun in June of 1953, the track laid and opened to traffic in December of 1955, put into operation in July of 1956, the 184 kilometers from Lantcun to Yantai in Shandong Province of the Lan-Yan Railroad formed a channel to integrate the port of Yantai with the rest of the country.
Construction began in September of 1954, opened to traffic in July of 1955, running from Litang in the Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi Province to Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province, the 317 kilometers of the Li-Zhan Railroad formed a new communication channel from the south to the sea.
The Xiao-Chuan Railroad was yet another path to the sea from East China, with construction starting in 1953 the section from Xiaoshan (NOTE: in Hangzhou) to Zhuangqiao (NOTE: located in the north of Ningbo) was rebuilt and by 1955 finally reached the port of Chuanshan (NOTE: on the coast northeast of Ningbo), later the end of the line would be changed to Ningbo and the line's name then changed to the Xiao-Yong Railroad. (NOTE: The railroad was dismantled in 1938 during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War to prevent its use by the Japanese. After the war the roadbed was used as a road until in 1953 the railroad was rebuilt in sections to be finally completed in 1959.)
The completion of the routes to the sea described above had a large impact on the development of the national economy, the development of contacts with foreign countries and the strengthening of defenses along the coast.
The third was to adjust and strengthen the requirements for exchanges with the Soviet Union and the Mongolian People's Republic by increased construction of new international jointly-run transport lines.
The Ji-Er Railroad, that started in the south at the Jining Station on the Jing-Bao Railroad going north to the Erlian station at the international border extending for a length 333 kilometers, is the Chinese section of the international main line that runs from Beijing to Ulan Bator in the Mongolian People's Republic and then on to Moscow in the Soviet Union. Construction on this line began in January 1953 and by December of 1954 the track had been laid and temporary operational control had been handed over. The completion of its construction promoted the economic development of the Inner Mongolia region, strengthened exhanges between the three countries and reduced the travel distance between Beijing and Moscow by some 1141 kilometers that by way of Harbin and Manchuria.
Four was in order to develop forest and mineral resources urgently needed by the nation, a number of forest/logging railroads and industrial and mining enterprise rail branch lines were built.
The extremely rich forest resources of the Greater and Lesser Xing'an Mountain Ranges and the Changbai Mountains of the Northwest are China's largest "green" treasure house. (NOTE: lvse baoku) After the start of large-scale economic construction, all aspects of the construction required large quantities of high-quality lumber. It was for this reason that during the 1-5 period construction began on the Yalin, Tanglin, Changlin and other logging railroads. The climate in these primeval forests was extremely cold, desolate and uninhabited, the natural conditions and geographic environment were very unforgiving so railroad construction adopted the 'take a few steps and make a camp' method, proceeding step by step to complete construction of a section and then open it to operations. The Kudouer to Genhe section (NOTE: web ref for Kudou'er - http://yizitong.com/china/baike.php?o=%E5%BA%93%E9%83%BD%E5%B0%94&a=937) and the Yitulihe (NOTE: Ituri River) to Ganhe (Gan River) section of the Yalin Railroad, the Yichun to Wuying section of the Tanglin Railroad, and the Taiyangcha to Wangou section of the Changlin Railroad that were built during this period served as a good foundation for the subsequent completion of the construction of a forest area rail network.
The Shiguai, Maoming, Baiyun e'bo, Hechun to Maoming, Xi'an to Huxian industrial and mining rail lines built during this period all promoted the opening of mines and the developement of industrial enterprises in their areas.
The special characteristics of new line construction during the 1-5 period centered on relatively lower investments, realtively shorter construction times, and relatively more lines built to achieve a good return on investment. During these 5 years, the nation invested a total of 2.957 billion yuan in the construction of new rail lines, building a total of 4879 kilometers of trunk and branch lines for an annual average of over 970 kilometers of new rail construction. For trunk lines, the highest average per kilometer cost for a project was only 1.19 million yuan (the Bao-Cheng line), the lowest average per kilometer was 400,000 yuan, and for the majority the average cost per kilometer was under 500,000 yuan; for branch lines the project cost with the highest average per kilometer was 420,000 yuan and the lowest average per kilometer cost was 180,000 yuan. The shortest period of construction was only one year, the longest was five years, with the majority completed within three years as over 90% of the new lines were completed and operations formally handed over within the span of the 1-5 period.
An important reason for the successes described above was the relative caution of the nation and the Ministry of Railways toward the large-scale economic construction during this period with realistic principles and policies, every year the entire construction plan went through process of careful balancing, continually being adjusted to prevent and correct deviations so that the railroad construction plan was both aggressive and relatively stable. Each project went through a process of careful consideration and once a decision had been made there were very few changes. For each and every project the financial, material and manpower requirements were all put in place to provide what was needed, leaving no gaps in the plan. The job requirements for every project were reasonable by both taking into account favorable conditions and an adequate estimate of unfavorable factors, the progress of the projects being arranged scientifically were for the most part done step by step, completed one after the other. At the same time, attention was given to the management of new line construction emphasizing the procedures for capital construction by taking the implementation of the various rules and regulations seriously to put the bidding of construction contracts, technical monitoring, work inspections (yan gong jijia??), completion, acceptance, transfers and other tasks gradually on the right track to guarantee the successful completion of the tasks.
The main force that built the roads gave full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of building socialism to make it a powerful driving force for the quick and efficient progress of the projects. Among the new railroads of this period were the Bao-Cheng, Ying-Xia and Feng-Sha lines that passed through lofty mountains and over deep, torrential streams, the Lan-Xin, Bao-Lan and Ji-Er lines that flew across the desert wastes and the aird and dry regions, the Yalin, Tanglin and Changlin lines that pierced the vast expanses of forest and snow in the alpine permafrost regions, in these poor conditions for equipment the tasks of survey and design, engineering and construction faced many stumbling blocks. The vast majority of those who built the roads, motivated by the rising tide of socialist revolution and construction, through the difficult struggle, with the courage to push ahead, exhibited an overwhelming spirit of heroism. The leaders of each work unit developed the traditions of the revolution, thoroughly practical and involved in the detailed work of ideology and politics, they emphasized both science and personal abilities to bring out the intelligence and wisdom of the engineering and technical personnel, and also to persist in the Mass Line (NOTE: Mass Line, a CCP policy whose aim is to encourage the cultivation and broadening of contacts with the masses.) to cherish and protect the enthusiasm for labor of the workers and the civilians and military, and emphasize the creative invention that comes from the masses, as the various aspects of power come together a power greater than the sum of its parts. (NOTE: ning cheng yi gu jing - weave together to make a strong. Maybe the last character should be sheng not jing. There is an expression ningcheng yi gu sheng, 'twist together to make a rope' that is used to express the power of cooperation and working together.) At the same time with the combined efforts of the engineering and technical personnel together with the mass of workers, starting with the construction of the Bao-Cheng Railroad, there was a sudden surge of interest in the reform of construction tools and construction methods. The use of numerous small-scale mechanization construction tools gradually transformed the backward state of having men carry loads on their backs using a pole to exponentially increase the productivity of labor. In the course of building the Lan-Xin, Bao-Cheng and Ying-Sha Railroads after the use of blasting technology spread, it became possible to blast tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of earth and rock at one time, where often there would be a loud noise and then the top of a mountain was leveled or a deep ravine was filled. These all played an important role in speeding up the pace of construction and saving money on investment in construction.
After all the nation's railroads had been basically completed, repaired and opened to traffic in 1949, although the track roadbed was refurbished, railroad ties replaced, the bridges strengthened and equipment updated in a major rail line overhaul, there were still deficiencies that made it difficult to adapt to the needs of large-scale economic construction that required a vigorous program of technological transformation.
While drawing up the plans for railroads during the 1-5 period, because of the influence of thinking that considered new lines should be put first, not enough attention was given to the transformation (rebuilding??) of the old lines. An example of this was the May of 1953 Ministry of Railways proposed 1-5 draft plan, where investment used to rebuild/transform old lines could only account for 12.9% of the total investment allocated for railroad capital construction. With the full implementation of the national 1-5 Plan, railroad volumes grew rapidly until in the fourth quarter of this year constant congestion was found on some of the main lines and marshalling yards. Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Railways made it clear during the National Railroad Work Conference held from March to April of 1954 that the technological transformation of the railroads had become the key to the ability to adapt to the development of the national economy and that there must be planned and step-by-step technological innovation in accordance with the advanced standards of the Soviet railroads. At the same time, there were numerous reports sent to the Government Administration Council to revise the allocations for railroad capital construction funding to increase the proportion of investment for techinical innovations in railroad operations. At the National Railroad Work Conference held in February of 1955, while emphasizing that the main use of the funds for improving the operating technology of railroads was to be directed at the current capital construction work, it was also proposed that the principle of combining technical improvements be used to increase the density of trains (NOTE: an increase in train-kilometers which requires more trains be run over a section of line in a given period.), increase the weight of trains, and increase their operating speed. The continuous increase in attention along with the continuous increase in actual investment allowed the 1-5 period's gradual increase in the improvement of old lines to coordinate development with the construction of new lines.
From 1953 to 1957 the management and reconstruction of single-track lines concentrated on the original low standards, or the numerous problems and damage, or the extremely chaotic state of the equipment of the track.
During the building of the Bao-Tian Railroad from 1939 to 1946, because of poor topographic and geologic conditions, but also because it was built during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the supply of construction materials was extremely difficult and in addition there was exploitation by some officials and contractors, so the line that was built had serious problems which coupled with continuous landslides and (tunnel) collapses that cut the line led to a frequent state of paralysis. After vigorous repair efforts by the PLA and the railroad workers, although temporary operations began at the end of 1951, the state of the line had not significantly improved. When the Tian-Lan Railroad was built an effort was put into this line to control landslides by improving the slope of the cut for the track, the construction of river embankments, the reinforcement and construction of more bridges and culverts, and an increase in tunnel lining to control the normal problems and in July of 1954 operations were formally handed over. Going into 1955, improvements to the line were begun and continued on through 1958.
The Shi-Tai Railroad (originally called the Zheng-Tai Railroad), that starts in the east at Shijiazhuang then passes through Yangquan and Yuci to reach Taiyuan, is one of the routes used to transport coal out of Shanxi. No only were the original technical standards of the low but the the entire road was not uniform with an even lower technical standard for the section from Yangquan to Taiyuan which was very bad for a uniform tonnage rating for trains. (NOTE: Before the War, Shanxi was controlled by Yan Xishan and a smaller track gauge had been deliberately chosen to limit trains from outside.) In 1953 the technical transformation of this road began with the first order of business being the improvement of the technical standard of the Yang-Tai section (NOTE: The section from Yangquan to Taiyuan.) to make is as much as possible consistent with the Shi-Yang section (NOTE: From Shijiazhuang to Yangquan.) with the goal of increasing the ability to move coal out of Shanxi.
The Nantongpu Railroad was a 1 meter-gauge railroad completed in 1935 that started in Taiyuan and went through Yuci where it connected with the Shi-Tai Railroad and then went south to the crossing at Fenglingdu (NOTE: Fenglingdu is a major crossing on the Yellow River, uniting Shanxi with Shaanxi and Henan.) for a total distance of 512.6 kilometers. With a maximum gradient of 16.6 for every thousand, a minimum curve radius of 100 meters, about 50% of the steel rails being light rail of 16 kg per meter, a bridge with a very low load level that restricted movement to small locomotives pulling between 400 to 500 tons, the road was not able to directly pass traffic from the Beitongpu Railroad and the Shi-Tai Railroad and was absolutely unable to meet the needs of growing traffic. (NOTE: This railroad had a fairly steep grade, sharp curves, and light track that restricted train size, weight and speed. The bridge further complicated matters by requiring that trains be broken into parts that could safely travel across, pulled by small locomotives. http://baike.baidu.com/view/666394.htm see figure XX.) Its reconstruction began in early 1956 as first all of the lines were widened to standard gauge, and then a comprehensive tranformation followed according to working (class?) railroad standards. (NOTE: gong ji - work level, grade?) After work ended and it was opened to traffic in September of 1957, the weight of a train was increased 2.5 times, the speed of traffic increased by 66% and provided direct through transport with the Beitongpu and Shi-Tai Railroads to form another major route to ship coal out of Shanxi.
Of the single-track technical tranformations during the 1-5 period there were also the Harbin to Nancha section of the Bin-Sui Railroad, the Shuoxiang to Huanghouyuan section of the Beitonpu Railroad, the Kangzhuang to Langshan section of the Jing-Bao Railroad, the Longtan to Ganjiaxiang section of the Hu-Ning Railroad, and the Shimenling to Nanzamu section of the Shen-Ji Railroad. Parts of the projects were postponed and completed later.
(NOTE: The first three years after liberation, 1949-1952, saw an economic recovery quickly followed by the First 5-year Plan, 1953-1957.) During the period of economic recovery, there were also the Yechi Railroad (from Yebaishou to Chifeng), the Mian-Cheng Railroad section from Jinlingsi to Chengde, the Qian-Gui Railroad section from Jinchengjiang to Duyun, the Kunhe 1-meter gauge Railroad secion from Bisezhai to Hekou but there was no time to repair them. The lines that were repaired during the 1-5 period were also done with a combination of restoration methods to produce varying degrees of technological transformation.
At the same time as this, on the Jing-Han, Ao-Han, Long-Hai, Jin-pu and other main lines, station arrival and departure tracks were extended by 650 to 850 meters (NOTE: To handle longer tains?), in sections with weak through traffic capacity more stations were built (NOTE: Could this mean more sidings were built?) and some track sections were replaced with heavier steel rails. These local measures of technical improvement, all more or less increased the through capacity of the line.
China originally had only 866 kilometers of double-tracked line and only a small part of the second track was not repaired during the period of economic recovery. The repair and construction of additional second tracks was an important element in the technological transformation of the existing railroads.
Among the second tracks repaired during the 1-5 period were the Shiqiaozi to Fenghuangcheng section of the Shen-Dan Railroad completed in 1953, and the Xinmin to Shanhaiguan section of the Shen-Shan Railroad completed in 1954. The latter, during the process of repair, reduced the slopes of 7 ruling grade sections (NOTE: xianpo - xianzhipodu ECCERD p.438), while at the same time modifying the throat at station entrances and extending station tracks to make the train tonnage rating of the entire track of the Jin-Shen Railroad both uniform and higher.
Among the second tracks built and opened to traffic during this period there were the two sections of the Jing-Han Railroad from Fengtai to Shijiazhuang and from Lijiazhai to Xiaozidian, and the Dongbianmen to Fengtai section of the Jing-Shan Railroad and the suburban lines in Shenyang as well as the addition of a third track between Tianjin North and Wanxinmen. The Lijiazhai to Xiaozidian section among those when the second track was being built, first reduced the high slope gradient section of 17 per thousand, used the original steep slope as a downhill line, building another with a ruling grade of 6 per thousand and a slope of 12 per thousand with a helper engine (NOTE: A double-track line has a defined side for movement. In China, the trains run on the left side of double-track sections. In hilly areas, each direction of travel will have an up-hill and a down-hill. Liang ji - double-head meaning two engines here taken to be the use of a helper engine when going up the slope.) which allowed the train tonnage ratings to be increased by 34%. (NOTE: 34% increase over 17 per thousand is what slope??) The construction of second tracks (including third-tracks) was completed for several sections of railroads in the three major cities of Beijing, Shenyang and Tianjin to improve access in and out, revlieving pressure on the capacities of these terminal hubs.
The construction of a second line on the Harbin to Nancha section of the BinSui-Nanjia Railroad was the first time that a Chinese railroad transformed an existing line using double-track sections in a project that gradually over time was built into a double-track segment. (NOTE: This is about a construction method that uses short pieces of double-track inserted into the line. I am not very clear about what exactly it means yet. 设计、施工次序 是先会让站、后 区间；先插入段 、后扩建站场。 http://www.zhonghuahun.cn/tushu.php?ac=inlist5&bvid=42449&bid=963 The sequence of design and construction is first allow station and after an interval; first insert a section and then expand station yard. I need to look at the Rail dictionary again and look up huirangzhan. Huirangzhan is a siding station. Maybe it control the signals and switch equipment to control access, similar to a block station, in which case it would be a passing siding or passing loop. The passing siding runs parallel to a section of track and has a station or signals at both ends to control access. This allows one train to enter the passing siding and another train to pass. The length of a passing siding can become so long that it is no longer a passing siding but the second track of a double-track section. ) From 1955 to 1957 one after the other along this 354 kilometer long section of track 13 pieces of second track sections were built, 60 kilometers of track was laid, 17% of the total length, and after more than 6 years the entire double-track was completeed. (NOTE: 17% of 354 is 60.2; Completing 17% each year for six years would add up to 102%. How exactly the 13 fits in I have not yet worked out.) This method not only satisfied the urgently needed transportation capacity at that time, it also avoided the premature expenditure of vast sums.
The additional second-track construction started during the 1-5 Period also included some sections of the Ha-Da, Jing-Bao, Shi-Tai, Jing-Han, Yue-Han, Long-Hai, Jin-Pu, Hu-Ning and other railroads. Among them a small number were completed and put into service, while for a majority the project was put off for later completion.
By 1957, the national second-track rail line had already reached 2203 kilometers, with the proportion of the double-track operating railway mileage increasing from 4% in 1949 to 8.2%.
When the people's railroad was first begun, the workforce spread out in all
directions to recover lost equipment and restore the signalling and
communications system. At the time the basics of every rail line were
open-wire cabling, with dispatching using copper wire, with a telephone
system that used a 3-channel carrier and either a stepping-relay switch or
an electric switch that used an operator.(NOTE: questionable) Trains moving
between stations, with the exception of a small number that used the electric
train staff block system, for the most part used either a telephone block
system or a two-aspect semaphore system, making signal control for the most
part, a decentralized system of track signals and switches.
(NOTE: The Chinese text uses liansuo zhuangzhi,
which translates as 'interlock device'. In the Western meaning of the word
'interlock', indicates the "consolidation of signal and switch control to a
central point at a junction." (p.23 "Railroad Signaling", Brian Solomon) This
is not the system of train control through the block system that the Chinese
text is discussing here. So I try to understand.)
(NOTE: This paragraph needs some explanation. To really undersand it requires
knowledge of phone system technology and how it developed. China was a colony
and foreign technology was brought in to serve transportation needs.
架空明线
http://www.chnrailway.com/news/2008618/200861814275356944347.shtml
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/429759/open-wire-pair
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_pair
3路载波机
three-channel carrier
http://szb.zhenjiang.gov.cn/htmA/fangzhi/dy/1103.htm
www.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol17-1938/articles/bstj17-1-162.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-channel_carrier_system
步进制交换机
http://technology.niagarac.on.ca/staff/mcsele/TelephoneSwitch.html
http://baike.baidu.com/view/4256706.htm
共电式人工交换机
http://baike.baidu.com/view/647424.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone
)
Following the founding of the People's Republic of China and after three years of effort, then based on the preliminary steps mentioned above, a national railway conference phone system was installed using the framework of the dedicated phone network of the railroads and the dispatching system for all organizational levels as a basis. (NOTE: http://sd.infobase.gov.cn/bin/mse.exe?seachword=&K=a&A=41&rec=189&run=13 "At the end of 1949, the Ministry of Railways took advantage of the long-distance telephone channels to all of the Railroad Bureaus, using Talk mode in one direction, to pioneer the first conference phone." ) At the same time that train intervals and station signal equipment were improved, development of the electric train staff, there was also in 1952 at the Hengyang station, the first Chinese developed and manufactured route type all-electric relay interlock (NOTE: ECCERD pp.624-625) was installed.
The Signal and Communications Company was formed in 1953 to make use of the
introduction and assimilation of technology and equipment from the Soviet
Union and Eastern European countries to establish an industrial base for
the communications and signal industry as a first step to quicken the pace of
improving and transforming communications and signal facilities. In the area
of communications, the open-wire pairs were improved, more pairs were added and
the use of 12-channel carrier devices spread and were fitted with new automatic
stepping relay telephone switches and switch-style electric switchboards.
In the area of signalling, with the exception of the wide use of electric train
staffs to control train movement, in 1954 along the 28 kilometers of the
Zhangguizhuag to Xinhe section of the Jing-Shen Railroad where the first
Chinese designed and built automatic block section was constructed, and later
along this entire line either domestically produced or brought in from abroad,
an automatic block system was installed. By the year 1957, there were already
22,648 automatic telephone switches among all the railroads which represent
some 44.4% of the intalled telephone switch capacity, an increase of nearly
100% compared to 1952; the electronic train staff devices had been installed
on 20467 kilometers, accounting for some 76% of the railroad operating mileage,
a 62% increase compared to 1952; the automatic block system had reached 641
kilometers, and the semi-automatic block system had reached 167 kilometers.
(NOTE:
步进制自动交换机
扳动式电话总机)
The railroads of the old China were setup with disconnected lines, each a power unto itself, and it was often the case that they setup their own operating centers and marshalling yards in the important cities where the rail lines intersected so there was no way to realize the full potential of the capacities of the terminals. (NOTE: The rail network had not been designed to rationalize the movement of goods within China and aid the development of the national economy. The foreign powers had created railroads only to move goods out of China for foreign consumption.) During the technological transformation of the existing railroads, it had to be based on development and needs of the current situation so the expansion and renovation of the terminals and stations took place in stages.
When expansion and renovation started during the 1-5 period, there were 14 terminals: Harbin, Shenyang, Mianzhou, Tianjin, Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Datong, Baotou, Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an and Chengdu. These projects all adopted construction in stages as a method of gradual improvement that addressed both long-term development and achieving practical results in the short-term.
For example, the two important marshalling yards at Beijing and Zhengzhou, specifically Fengtai West and Zhengzhou North were selected for the new design and construction of a new bi-directional, three-stage, mechanized hump yard, a project that first built a transtional transverse-type marshalling yard that was completed and handed over for service in 1956, followed by gradual improvements, allowing them to provide good service. (NOTE: three stages - Receiving yard, classification yard, departure yard. Mechnized here refers to the automatic retarders that slowed the cars as they rolled down the hump as opposed to brakemen riding the cars and applying hand brakes to control their speed. When describing the layout of their yards, the Chinese make a distinction between longitudinal (zonglieshi) and traversal (henglieshi) layouts. http://baike.baidu.com/view/3940680.htm http://baike.baidu.com/view/3940680.htm eccerd p.661 The Zhengzhou North station went on to become one of the largest marshalling yards in Asia. )
The construction of a bridge on the rail lines cut apart by major rivers, relieving the burden of breaking down a train to ferry it across, was a very important means of improving the capacity of railroad transportation. Of the major bridges built or repaired during the 1-5 period, the attention of the world was focused on the bridge over the Yangtze at Wuhan and the temporary bridge over the Yellow River at Tongguan.
The long and winding Yangtze River in ancient times was called "Nature's Moat".
The railroad from Beijing to Wuhan to Guangzhou penetrates deep into the
south and the north, and at Wuhan it encounters a river that cuts across the
middle, a major misfortune for China's railroads. From 1913 to 1946, there
were 4 attempts to build a bridge across the Yangtze River at Wuhan but in
disaster-filled old China none of them became a reality. Not long after the
founding of the People's Republic of China, preparations for a Yangtze River
bridge at Wuhan began with the start of a survey and design process. In January
of 1954 the Government Administrative Council held a special meeting to discuss
and adopt the "Resolution on the Construction of the Yellow River Bridge at
Wuhan", and subsequently established the Wuhan Bridge Engineering Bureau,
appointing Peng Min as Bureau Chief, Wang Renzhong the Party Secretary of Wuhan
city also serving as Political Commissar, Wang Juqian as Chief Engineer, and
Mei Yangchun, Li Fen and Shu Shiyuan as Deputy Chief Engineers to be responsible
for organizing and directing the design and construction of the bridge. After
the State Council approved the plans for the technical design of the bridge
in July of 1955, construction officially started on September 1st.
Between turtle Hill and Snake Hill the river was wide, deep and the current was
swift, the construction of a dual-use rail and highway bridge had no precedent
in China and there was no experience to follow in the history of building
bridges in the world.
(NOTE:
Turtle Hill - http://baike.baidu.com/view/64444.htm
Snake Hill - http://baike.baidu.com/view/351662.htm
)
The Soviet expert who came to guide and help the project, Konstantin Sergeyevich
Silin, after performing site visits and in-depth research, suggested using
the "large-scale colonnade foundation process method" to replace the pneumatic
caisson method that was standard practice in the rest of the world, solving the
difficult problem of building bridge foundation piers in deep water, obtaining
the strong support of the leadership of the Ministry of Railways and the State
Council.
(NOTE:
Konstantin Sergeyevich Silin
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/8212/171502/10246659.html
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teng_Daiyuan_and_Silin.jpg
http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E7%AE%A1%E6%9F%B1%E9%92%BB%E5%AD%94%E6%B3%95/525072
)
The engineering and technical personnel worked together with the vast majority
of workers under the strong organization of the Bridge Engineering Bureau,
experimenting again and again to break through obstacles and finally this
program of creativity brought success and opened the way for the smooth
completion of the entire bridge project. The completion of the bridge over
the Yangtze River at Wuhan not only linked together the Jing-Han and Yue-Han
Railroads and the Three Towns of Wuhan (NOTE: Wuhan San Zheng - the three
towns of Wuhan: Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang.) greatly improving rail
transportation and the communications of the Wuhan region, it was also a chance
to learn valuable bridge construction techniques and improves the skills of
bridge construction teams that would serve as a new milestone in the glorious
tradition of Chinese bridge building.
Work on the Temporary Bridge over the Yellow River as Tongguan began in July 1957, it was opened to traffic in December of the same year and created a new connection between the Nan Tong-Pu and Long-Hai Railroads, providing the transportation for the construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir (Samnmenxia Shui Ku).
The locomotives, rolling stock, and other equipment of the railroads of the old China for the most part were from foreign sources with such a confusing mixture of types and models that it was given the name "World Exposition of Railroads". At the time although there were some railroad factories the equipment was very primitive and could only be used for some repairs and replacements, not constituting real production capacity. Following the founding of the new China, while passing through the three years of recovery and the implementation of the 1-5 Plan, the original factories were adjusted, rebuilt and expanded, and additional new factories were built that allowed for a railroad industry that could serve transportation, and take the first step in the creation of a production system that would play an important roles in improving transportation capacity through the construction of new lines and the renovation of old lines.
In the early part of the takeover, each rail factory recovered from near death as the vast throngs of workers, under the powerful organization of the Military Control Commission, energetically resuming production, consolidating factory sites, and establishing a new management system to greatly improve the productivity of labor to repair a large quantity of locomotives and other equipment and devices which made a significant contribution to the creation of the People's Railroad.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, beginning with improving the layout of the rail industry, focusing on the utilization of the capacity of equipment, and technical strength, the closure, merger and transfer of the existing rail factories was carried out with the number of locomotive and rolling stock factories going from 35 to 23 and corresponding changes taking place in the other equipment and device factories.
To implement the first 5-Year Plan, the unified planning and leadership of the rail industry was strengthened with the Ministry of Railways deciding in December 1952 that of the 23 locomotive and rolling stock factories originally controlled by each railroad bureau, 20 of the factories would be directly controlled enterprises while the remaining three, the Liuzhou locomotive and rolling stock factory, the temporary factory at Chongqing and the Kunming factory, would remain under the control of their bureaus (or sub-bureaus). In January of 1953, the Ministry of Railways carried out a reorganization of the 20 subordinate locomotive and car factories, deciding that 6 plant locations, Dalian, Qiqihar, Tianjin, Sifang, Wuchang and Xiaoshan (later moved and merged with Wuchang) become construction factories while the 14 factories in Shenyang, Mudanjiang, Harbin, Tangshan, Changxindian (now Locomotive Factory 27), Nankou, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Jinan, Puzhen, Qishuyan, Jiang'an, Zhuzhou (now Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Factory), Sanqiao (now Xi'an Railcar Factory) become Repair Factories, under the respective centralized management of the Locomotive and Rolling Stock Construction Bureau and the Locomotive and Rolling Stock Repair Bureau of the Ministry of Railways. Other equipment factories were managed either by the relevant business units or by the railroad bureau they were in. In August of that year, based on a decision by the Finance Committee of the Central People's Government, the Locomotive and Rolling Stock Manufacturing Bureau and the six manufacturing plants subordinate to it were to be under the leadership of the First Ministry of Machinery (NOTE: 第一机械工业部) to specialize in the manufacture of rolling stock. The 14 factories with the responsibility for the job of repairing rolling stock, also adjusted their production structure according to their specialized needs and constructed facilities for the production of specialized replacement parts. After the above adjustments, the rail industry that had previously been basically a repair operation, lacking a specialized division of work, was transformed into an industrial structure with a defined production capacity that had a division of labor between repair, construction and the manufacture of replacement parts.
During the 1-5 period while the rail industry was being reorganized, there were also plans and procedures for the original factories to implement several technical improvements and plant expansions. At the time the focus was on strengthening the foundation of production technology of the factories that were given the responsibility for the task of manufacturing locomotives and rolling stock by equipping them with the equipment required for hot and cold processing to improve the production capacity of accessories; augment the underlying technology by adding to the methods of tool and die manufacture and of physical and chemical testing; enhance design strength by actively designing new types of locomotive and rolling stock while at the same time producing copies of the old types of locomotives and rolling stock. For the factories given the task of repairing locomotives and rolling stock, in addition to the expansion and improvement of work places with additional machinery and equipment to expand the scale of production, and special attention was given to enhancing the ability to produce replacement parts by creating a specialized production base for them.
At the same time, to improve the composition of the locomotive and rolling stock industry and to fill in some of the gaps in their production, they also started to build new factories one after the other of the Chengdu Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory, the Changchun Passenger Car Factory, the Changchun Locomotive Factory, the Datong Locomotive Factory, and the Lanzhou Locomotive Factory. Among them the Chengdu Factory began production in 1955 and the remainder were rescheduled for future completion. A number of new equipment factories were also built during the 1-5 period, expanding the scope of the rail industry.
From 1949 to 1957 the railway industry was in the midst of adjusting its layout, transforming old plants and building new plants, gradually increasing production capacity, to provide large quantities of much needed locomotives, rolling stock and all kinds of equipment for railway construction.
In July of 1952, the Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory, in a situation
where they lacked technical information, machinery and equipment, and materials
and parts, with hard work and self-reliance, using the Mikai-1 main line
freight steam locomotives that were remained from the old China as a guide,
built China's first Jiefang-class steam locomotive, that was later mass-produced
in Sifang, Dalian, Qiqihar and other factories, taking steps towards the goal
of the ability to produce their own locomotives. Following this, the Dalian
factory, after passing through an initial technical improvement of the basic
Jiefang-class locomotive, again carried out a modernization of the design to
produce in 1957 the Jianshe-class steam locomotive that after going into
production served as one of the primary main-line freight locomotives for many
years after this.
(NOTE:
ㄇㄎ1
Sifang is located in Qingdao in Shandong.
Mikai-1 used on the South Manchurian Railroad controlled by the Japanese.
http://www.kurogane-rail.jp/zh2/ejf59.html
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A7%A3%E6%94%BE%E5%9E%8B%E8%92%B8%E6%B1%BD%E6%A9%9F%E8%BB%8A
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-8-2
A Mikado-type steam locomotive built by ALCO in the USA; it used a 2-8-2 wheel
arrangment (Whyte notation).
)
From 1954 to 1955, the Sifang factory improved the design of the Paixi-6 (NOTE: Pashii - Pacific or PaiXi ㄆㄒ A 4-6-2 locomotive that had the name Pacific in the USA. http://baike.baidu.com/view/480481.htm?func=retitle ) main-line passenger locomotive, building a prototype in 1956 of the Shengli-class steam locomotive that was followed by a small production run. In 1957, the Dalian and Sifang factories carried out additional improvements in the design of the Shengli-class locomotive to produce a prototype of the Renmin-class steam locomotive in the second year, which went into mass production to become the primary locomotive class for main line passenger service in the period that followed.
Beginning in 1955, with the help of Soviet experts and the collaboration of related work units, on their own they designed and developed a new locomotive, and in 1956 a prototype of the Heping-class (later renamed Qianjin-class) main line freight locomotive whose performance matched that of the advanced steam locomotives of the time. The Qianjin-class was mass-produced at several factories during it lifetime, and it later became the primary locomotive in use for a very long period of time.
At the same time, each Locomotive and rolling stock factory also designed and manufactured large numbers of new passenger cars and various types of freight cars.
From the founding of the new China to the year 1957, all of the factories produced a total of 531 locomotives, 1982 passenger cars and 40780 freight cars, which solved the problem of a serious shortage of locomotives and rolling stock that came with large-scale economic construction.
The repair facilities had to the job of completely repairing and restoring all of the old locomotives and rolling stock, and so took on the burden of regular factory repair and temporary repair tasks as well as providing a large quantity of maintenance parts and equipment to ensure the normal operation of the locomotives and rolling stock for the entire railroad. In a period of 8 years, 14697 locomotives, 17551 passenger cars and 97990 freight cars were repaired, and in 1956 the original Mikai-1 class (NOTE: The Mikado 2-8-2 types engines) locomotives were completely updated and rebuilt.
During this period, the railway equipment factories, while in the process of gradual improvement, produced large quantities of structural steel for bridges, concrete components, creosote-treated rail ties, communications and signalling equipment as well as other items, and also ran trials on a number of new products, which basically satisfied the needs of the construction of new lines and technical improvements in railroad operation.
At the completion of the First Five-Year Plan, the railroad industry had begun to take shape forming a system, and developing into an important part of a railway systen that could not be broken into pieces.
During this period, through the united effort of the workers of the entire railroad, the railroad departments completed about 1 year ahead of schedule, the work milestones set out by the First Five-Year Plan. The new lines that were completed and put into service increased the railroad operating mileage from 22,876 kilometers in 1952 to 26,708 kilometers in 1957. The existing railroads went through varying degrees of technological improvement which led to a general increase in transportation capacity as a result. The locomotive, rolling stock and parts and equipment industries developed their production capacity and were already taking the first steps to satisfy the needs of both railroad construction and the production of transportation. The gradual improvement and strengthening of the operations management system, the continued development and spread of competitions among production labor, better uncovered the potential of the railroads and promoted a rising level in the production of transportation. In 1957 passenger turnover had already reached 36.1 billion person-kilometers, an increase of 80% over 1952, while cargo turnover had reached 134.6 billion ton-kilometers, a 123% increase over 1952. Looking at the relationship between the growthth rate of rail traffic volume and the growth rate of the national economy, during the 1-5 period the average annual rate of growth of passenger and freight turnaround was 16% which exceeded the average annual growth in the value of national industrial and agricultural output of 10.6%, and among these the average annual growth rate of freight turnover was 17.5% which was very close to the average annual growth rate of the value of national industrial output of 18%, illustrating the leading role that rail transportation played in the development of the national economy. During this period, the foundation was also laid for the development of the teaching of science and technology by the railroad. After a series of reorganizations in the upper-level schools of the railway, the two institutes in Beijing and Tangshan strengthened their faculty and increased their teaching equipment to become the base for the cultivation of specialized talent at the railroad. The Institute of Railway Sciences, with the bridge expert, Mao Yisheng, serving as its Director, after undergoing expansion in 1956 became the Academy of Railway Sciences which served as the scientific research center for the entire railroad. Other railway-related institutions also received corresponding development.
In 1954 devastating floods hit the Yangtze river valley and flooded parts of the Jing-Han, Yue-Han, Nan-Xun, Ning-Wu, Huainan and other railroads, for most suspending train service for over 20 days, and for one or two lasting as long as several months, causing serious disruptions to rail traffic. The railroad department employees in the disaster area were mobilized to help in the rescue and as soon as the flood waters had receded, quickly repaired the rail lines and bridges to restore traffice, and took a variety of remedial measures to mitigate the huge losses from the flooding.
The Anti-rightist struggle that was launched in 1957 by the railway system,
the same as other fronts in the country conducted in the case of this movement,
suddenly expanded in scope. A group of patriots, intellectuals and party
cadres were wrongly classified as rightist elements which made them for a long
time feel they had been wronged and were oppressed, unable to play the role
they should, and the enthusiam of even more intellectuals was damaged to a
degree which led to a certain loss in the work of the railroad. (NOTE: This
is the Anti-Rightist Movement that followed in the wake of the Hundred Flowers
Movement. The Hundred Flowers Movement called for a candid discussion of the
country's problems but turned into criticism of the CCP. In July of 1957 Mao
ended the movement and the Anti-rightist Movement began shortly thereafter to
reimpose orthodoxy. Many who had participated in the criticisms were labeled
as rightists and they were persecuted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign
)
In the summer of 1958, the Second Session of the Eighth Party Congress proposed the general party party line of "drum up enthusiam, strive for the best, to quickly and economically build socialism", followed immediately across the entire nation with "eliminate superstition, liberate your thinking", to launch the explosive and violent Great Leap Forward Movement. The railroad, the same as other industries, was faced with rapid development of the Great Leap Forward, faced day after day with ever higher and higher economic development goals, under the domination of leftist ideology and regardless of the objective laws of economics, anxious for results, high targets, blindly giving orders, exaggeration and excess led to disaster inflicting huge losses on rail transportation, construction and production as well as business management resulting in the destruction of the original coordinated development. As a result, there was a sharp increase in the contradiction between a low transport capacity and a high transport volume with a serious imbalance in the locomotive and car industries between construction, repair and parts, infrastructure was overstretched and a serious expansion in the disparity in the deployment of funds, materials and equipment. In this way, the wild frenzy of the Great Leap Forward could not but in the end have a substantial economic impact. After several years of economics adjustment, only then did the railroads recover their original strength as a more fortunate situation of steady development appeared.
Following the start of the Great Leap Forward, the various sectors of the national economy, regardless of what was actually possible, competed in a race to pursue the doubling of the various industrial indexes. The blind pursuit of more output (NOTE: gaosudu here meaning speed of production.) as the economic indicators climbed higher and higher, became the defining characteristic of the Great Leap Forward. The railway sectors, faced with the sudden surge in freight volume, faced with high goals and big plans in all aspects of business, in addition unrealistically proposed to repair more rail lines, build more cars, and pushed for higher targets of all sorts. In 1957 in the entire country the railroads carried only 274 million tonnes of freight, but plans called for 800 million tonnes in 1959 and for 3 billion tonnes in 1972. So within a very short span of time, both transportation efficiency and the production of locomotives and rolling stock had to increase several fold, and within 15 years 120,000 kilometers of new tracks had to be built. These sorts of basically unreachably high targets increased one after the other. In March of 1958, it was estimated that during the 1-5 period some 20,000 kilometers of track were repaired of newly built, when November came, the leaders of the Ministry of Railways wrote in an article: In the Second Five-Year Plan, at least 100,000 kilometers of track will be repaired.
The Great Leap Forward was "with steel as the key, a complete leap forward", that led to more strain on an already strained transportation capacity, in particular, the problem of insufficient locomotives and freight cars was very promninent, and the extremely large mismatch between the daily number of cars requested and the daily number of cars loaded indicated a rail transportation system that was severely overloaded. (NOTE: http://www.picturechina.com.cn/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=11670 ) The vast majority of railroad workers exhausted their energies in their hard work, but it was still a plan that they were far from able to complete. At the time the Ministry of Railways could not but every day have conference calls for all of the railroads, sometimes even having several conference calls in one day, to time and time again try to drum up enthusiam and oppose rightists, and still could not avoid the potentially large and rapid increases in freight volume and the urgent task of transportation.
After 'Make Iron and Steel' all over the country, not only did rail
transportation (especially coal) grow rapidly, but unbalanced transportation
grew as well, as making iron and steel in the Southern part used coal that
came from the Northeast, a very long distance such that for each 8 trains
of coal that were delivered, the coal-fired locomotives consumed 1 train
worth of coal.
(NOTE: The Great Make Iron and Steel Movement
http://baike.baidu.com/view/126015.htm
http://www.staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/MS-English/MS-English.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backyard_furnace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Leap_Forward
)
As the transport distance grew in length, the number of kilometers the
returning empty cars traveled grew in number and this further aggravated the
stress on the transportation system. As a result of the one-sided emphasis
on the transportation of ore, coal and other materials, other goods were
squeezed out and unloaded cargo piled up along some sections of track with
the result that many stations and dedicated lines became blocked. On September
16, 1958, the Ministry of Railways called on the workers of all the railroads
to from this day on increase car loadings from 29,000 to 32,000 cars and
beginning in October each day to load 35,000 cars. On September 23rd, the
CCP Central Committee issued the "Instructions on Strengthening the Current
Transportation Tasks" requiring in areas where transport was strained that
either Transportation Committees or Transportation Headquarters be set up with
responsibility for the uniform use of the various tools and forces for loading
and unloading cars. On September 25th, the Ministry of Railways convened a
meeting of the leadership cadres of all the railroads and called for the
doubling of transportation efficiency. And so freight car turnaround time
was to be 2 days, the station dwell time for cargo operations was to be 6 hours,
with freight car transit times, the entire railroad was to achieve 2-6-2,
railroad bureaus were to achieve 1-5-1 and stations were to achieve 0-5-0.
(NOTE: Terminal Dwell time from railroadpm.org Tingliu shijian
http://www.railroadpm.org/home/RPM/Definitions.aspx
)
It called on all railroads to place a high-production 'satellite'. (NOTE:)
On the day of September 28th, they finally reached 52,132 car loadings.
Even though the average daily car loading doubled over the eight months it was
only just a flash in the pan that not only disrupted transportation but also
in early October the daily car loadings dropped to 28,000 cars. At the time
because of the strains on transportation, each agency, enterprise, military
unit, school and other work unit would often freely organize to use their
transport and manpower to load and unload cars, mobilizing every possible
means to load and unload. The cities of Shenyang and Changzhou were
representative with Party leadership, universal mobilization and big way
transportation. (NOTE: Daban - big way. )
Newcasts of the time called this practice "ants moving Mount Tai". However,
because of inadequate transportation capacity, even universal mobilization
could not carry out the tasks of transportation and by the end of 1958, there
was a backlog of over 10 million tonnes of cargo waiting to be shipped.
The railroad could not keep up with the situation and in 1959 the rail transportation plan was changed 7 times. In 1960 a new 'leap' also started. The Ministry of Railways in 1960 hoped to achieve 8-8-2-1-4 (that is: the completion of 800 million tonnes of cargo, the rebuilding of 8,000 kilometers of rail track, the rebuilding of 20,000 kilometers of earthen railroads, the new construction of 1,000 locomotives, and the new construction of 40,000 freight cars), and proposed the slogan "a trains passing through the counties, and society has a railroad". As events pitilessly proved, this simply could not be done.
In April of 1958 the CCP Central Committee decided to decentralize authority by reforming the system of leadership, reforming the unreasonable rules and regulations, and a deadline for the decentralization of enterprises. This reform of the highly centralized leadership structure that brought out the initiative of both the central and local authorities to change a very rigid management system, was very beneficial. However, in rushing to highlight its usefulness to the Great Leap Forward, in order to adapt to the various provinces, cities and autonomous areas in setting up an independent and complete industrial system, blindly decentralizing without first testing, repealing too many rules and regulations too quickly became counterproductive and played a role in fueling the development of leftist errors.
Based on the instructions of the CCP Central Committee, the Ministry of Railways with the existing leadership system and institutional setting, made several major changes: the first, in order to adapt to the requirements of the established, integral?? (NOTE: coherence??) economic systems of the various provinces, cities, and autonomous regions, decided that each province would set up a a separate Railroad Bureau; the second, the Railroad Bureaus would merge with the Engineering Bureaus, implementing the unity of work and administration (NOTE: gongguanheyi It is my best guess.) and be called Railroad Bureaus. Railroad Sub-bureaus were abolished and set up Railroad Bureau sending institutions - Branch Offices; (NOTE: Banshichu - Branch Office) the third, the decision to put the Railroad Bureau and directly subordinate factories (NOTE: directly subordinate to the Ministry of Railways) under the leadership of both the Ministry of Railways and the local authorities. With this the number of Railroad Bureaus in the entire country went from 17 to 28. These Railroad Bureaus are: Beijing, Taiyuan, Hohhot, Mianzhou, Shenyang, Jilin, Mudanjiang, Qiqihar, Harbin, Lanzhou, Xi'an, Xining, Urumqi, Chengdu, Guiyang, Kunming, Jinan, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Hefei, Fuzhou, Nanjing, Bengbu, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Liuzhou. There was also the Shanghai Branch Office and the two Engineering Bureaus in Hailar and in Qingzang (NOTE: Qinghai-Tibet). Implementing the dual Ministry of Railways and local control, actually transformed the centralized and united leadership structure of the railroad sector and weakened the organization of the transportation of all of the railroad, as well as the unified control of the dispatching of cars. For example, in the area of East China the 3 original Railroad Bureaus, after being expanded to 7, administrative fragmentation increased, undermining the principle of "one unload, two arrange, three load". (NOTE:?? pai as in to arrange or paidui to queue or paikong to deliver empty cars. eccerd p.643) The practical outcome of this was the imperative of establishing a centralized and unifies railroad management agency in Eastern China - the East China Regional Railroad Transportation Command. (NOTE: Huadong qu tielu yunshu silingbu ) At this time, the tasks of transportation and of infrastructure were very complex and difficult, and taking on the business of railroad operations management and infrastructure project management really overwhelmed a Railroad Bureau. It was very difficult to achieve cooperation in uniting ?? (NOTE: It is difficult to understand what is meant by gong guan heyi. From the context we can see that decentralization created problems of coordination between the various administrative units. And the function of the Railroad Bureaus also changed with the mergers with the Engineering Bureaus. The Railroad Bureaus had responsibility for trains operations while the Engineering Bureaus handled jijian, understood as either infrastructure of capital construction. Capital construction is a nebulous term. Here I take it to mean large projects to build or rebuild rail facilities. So while the number of railroad bureaus increased and the areas they controlled became smaller, the bureau was now also responsible for the management of capital construction projects and also responsible, together with the Ministry of Railways, for the rail industries in the areas they controlled. If staff levels were not increased along with training then the work could overwhelm the staff.)
Starting in September of 1958, program management implemented a dual track system, where at the same time that each bureau and each subordinate factory would report plans to the Ministry, after sending the balances to the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, would then report to the National Planning Commission, actually forming a "horizontal" leadership. (NOTE: kuaikuai block-block or flat ??)
In August of 1958, with the approval of the State Council, the locomotive and rolling stock factories under the control of the First Ministry of Industrial Machinery were placed under the control of the Ministry of Railways. The Ministry of Railways established a Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory Management General Bureau, that would both manage manufacturing and manage repairs. (NOTE: Jiche cheliang gongchang guanli zongju) In order to solve the problem of inadequate locomotives and rolling stock, each locomotive and rolling stock factory was one after the other switched from repair to construction, the situation forcing every factory to only build and not repair. Comparing 1959 to 1957, the number of factories building steam locomotives increased from 2 to 13; the number of factories building passenger cars increased from 3 to 6; the number of factories building freight cars increased from 6 to 17. In order to adapt to the needs of manufacturing, each locomtive and rolling stock factory one after the other had new steel casting, forging, machinery and other systems, building their own mechanical equipment, carrying out their own transformation. This extension of the capital construction front reduced the supply of repair and maintenance parts for locomotives and rolling stock. These factories that could only build and not repair also were completely inadequate to the needs. Within the span of three years there were still 1378 locomotives purchased from abroad. Because the factories all concentrated their efforts on increasing production, the Locomotive Depot and Car Depot of each railroad bureau had to be asked to take on the major and medium repairs of locomotives and rolling stock and take on the repair tasks of the factories. But in reality they could not and were forced to operate damaged and worn locomotives and rolling stock.
Since May of 1958, using the slogan "break the old taboos", the Ministry of Railways without hesitation carried out a reform of rules and regulations, in a series of the three installment abolition of 1196 articles, and then after decentralization another group of 1013, for a total of 2209. (NOTE: Break Old Taboos - Pochu qinggui jielv - break 'clear' rules and commandments http://baike.baidu.com/view/252626.htm - monastic rules http://baike.baidu.com/view/513251.htm - monastic discipline ) At this time, anything that was binding or mandatory was recognized as somthing that bound the hands and the feet of the masses, senseless rules and regulations that hindered the Great Leap Forward that were to be abolished or delegated to lower levels, and the rules and regulations that were within the scope of technology and the sciences would also be broken. (NOTE: Suggesting that if the law of gravity held back the progress of the Great Leap Forward then maybe it too would be abolished.) The contracting system for capital construction was abolished, approval for plans was decentralized and after the acceptance authority for engineering and production was allowed to flow down, the equipment used for repairs was simplified, procedures for safety and procedures for technical management existed in name only, and so it went. In the midst of reform the slogan shouted out of "big destruction then big construction, no destruction and no construction, first destroy and then build" was in reality only destroy and do not build. (NOTE: This brings to mind the idea of Shumpeter's creative destruction. http://wenwen.soso.com/z/q127798770.htm ) The reform of the system of unreasonable rules and regulations was transformed into a system with no rules and regulations. The people's conception of a legal system and awareness of safety and security faded away. The phenomenon of not having rules that you had to follow and having rules that you could not follow was very serious indeed.
Because of the influence of leftist ideology, railroad management was transformed from the "one-sided" learning from the Soviet Union that began in the 1950s into a complete rejection of the Zhong-Chang Railroad Experience; (NOTE: One-sided or lopsided relationship where the other side has all the power. But here refers to the diplomatic policy of siding with socialism and the Soviet Union instead of the capitalist powers to frustrate their attempts to economically and diplomatically isolate the New China http://baike.baidu.com/view/662018.htm ) used the dominance of the secretary (NOTE: shuji ??) to replace the one-man management system; (NOTE: yizhangzhi - one-man mangement system http://www.nciku.cn/search/zh/detail/%E4%B8%80%E9%95%BF%E5%88%B6/49991 ) used the kuaikuai "horizontal" style of management in an assault on the high levels of centralization; (NOTE: kuaikuai style management. Management by several local levels of government under the direction of the central government. http://book.ce.cn/read/manage/ldgbdjtysj/02/200807/31/t20080731_16350588.shtml) used the power of mass movements instead of scientific management. Following the Great Leap Forward, the organization of the party of the enterprises changed from the role of ensuring oversight to become one where the party committees controlled everything; the factory manager responsibility system under the leadership of the party committees became the responsibility of a party committee with the work being divided up among the members of the committee. (NOTE: fenpianbaogan - http://www.1stenglish.com/eng/55327.html) The reforms and decentralization during the Great Leap Forward were a failure, as what had been actively explored by the Leftists collapsed as a result of their rash actions, delaying further reform attempts.
The year 1958 was a very tumultuous period as the drive and enthusiasm of the people was high, and the mood to quickly change the economic and cultural backwardness of China was very strong. The vast majority of railroad workers exhibited selfless dedication to their jobs and moving scenes of their courage and hard work, their determination to continue on were everywhere to be seen, giving the appearance of vigorous, overflowing energy.
In order to resolve the tensions between transport volume and transport capacity, after the great push to produce more iron and steel, a great wave of the entire party, the entire people big way railroad quickly rose up and on many lines hundreds of thousands and millions of temporary workers volunteered to work on the rail lines. Just during the construction of the Jing-Guang and Jin-Pu double-track, some 1.53 million civilian workers were mobilized over the 20-day period from November 5 to 25 in 1958, completing 380 kilometers of earth and stone (NOTE: the road bed for the second track) and 337 bridges and culverts, at a completely unprecedented rate of speed. Vast numbers of members of the rural people's communes were very enthusiastic about repairing the rail lines and many people offered their labor and materials, pushing small carts and carrying their own shovels and picks, they supported building the nation just like they had supported the struggle for Liberation. In the province of Hunan, a "four searches" for materials was advocated: searching the mountains, searching rear areas, searching work sites and searching homes. The masses found many urgently needed materials in dilapidated temples, old houses, abandoned bridges and graveyards, using the stone steps in front of gates and stone monuments from graves. Some of the elderly even donated their own coffins to use to repair the rail lines. However, this practice became a serious violation of the interests of the masses, a cold blast of the Communist Wind. (NOTE: Gongchan Feng - Communist Wind A serious error during the 1958 Great Leap Forward within the agricultural communes which led to excessive voluntary labor, excessive public accumulation destroying the principle of equivalent exchange by freely taking personal property from the members of the production team. An absolute egalitarianism. http://baike.baidu.com/view/957074.htm)
The result of the vast reservoir of socialist enthusiam in the masses, doing everything possible, daring to think and daring to act, a bold exploration that created many working methods that were adapted to the needs of the time and measures that attacked the problems of transportation.
The Fengtai station made use of the level area of the lead track to ascend (NOTE: p.645 pingmian qianchu xian - flat shunting neck. In the USA this track section would be called either a lead track of a drill track.) the hump while the freight cars used energy of the hump to sort the cars and used iron shoes (NOTE: retarders) to slow the freight cars instead of using hand brakes. (NOTE: This reduced the manpower required to operate the yard and was also a much safer way to slow the cars as they rolled down the slope of the hump. It is a major step in the mechanization of the car switching operations of the hump yard.) This required less investment, less work, was quicker and significantly improved the efficiency of switching (NOTE: shunting) cars and quickly spread to all of the railroads. (NOTE: For earth hump see: http://rmrbw.net/simple/index.php?t241939.html There is a distinction drawn between a foreign 'yang' hump yard and the Chinese 'tu' hump yard. It appears that the foreign version was very mechanized and used more technology to improve efficiency.) In the space of a year or two, all of the various railroads had built over 150 of these 'tu' hump yards (simple hump yard) and these played a very important role given the generally limited station capacities of the time. This was a major change in the switching operations of the entire railroad. These 'tu' hump yards later all went through a conversion from 'tu' to 'yang' hump yards.
Along with the surge in traffic after the Great Leap Forward, there was also a sharp growth in the amount of loading and unloading operations and serious problems in freight handling capacity so on the Long-Hai Line at Xiaoba Train Station located in Xieji Township (xiang) in Shangqiu County (xian) a transportation group was formally established to handle the work of loading and unloading for the railroad; on the Jing-Guang railroad at the Guanting train station located in Guanting Township in Changge County also established collaborative teams that worked and farmed (NOTE: yigong yinong?? dual status as peasants and workers. Here I will use the term worker-peasants. http://define.cnki.net/WebForms/WebDefines.aspx?searchword=%E4%BA%A6%E5%B7%A5%E4%BA%A6%E5%86%9C) with a task of a similar nature. At the station, during periods of large transport volumes they devoted all of their energies to loading and unloading and during periods of light volume the majority of the laborers engaged in agricultural production. In December of 1958 the Ministry of Railways held a meeting in Zhengzhou to summarize this experience and to promote it to all of the railroads. With this, each location one after the other organized peasant-worker freight handling teams, breaking the freight handling monopoly of the railroad employees at the stations. By 1965, on the entire railroad there were over 1,000 train stations with over 90,000 people in worker-peasant freight handling teams, as the Ministry of Railways based on the principle of a complex balance that benefits industry and benefits agriculture, created certain regulations that were still in use after several decades.
At Tangshan Station the station was built on a high platform while the cargo area was below it into order to take advantage the natural power of gravity to load cars, improving freight handling efficiency and reducing the time that cars spent stopped at the station (NOTE: station dwell time). In December of 1958 the Ministry of Railways held a general assembly to observe the operation of a high station platform and a low cargo area and then promoted this concept. By the end of January 1959 among all of the railroads 241 elevated station platforms were built and 233 depressed cargo areas. These native born and bred loading and unloading devices were easy to build, easy to obtain materials for building, simple to operate and their results were easy to see.
There was a sudden surge in rail traffic that followed the Great Leap Forward but the transportation capacity of the railroads was inadequate for in order to guarantee the movement of materials for Field Marshall Steel a large number of the necessities of life for the people and the supplies needed for both industrial and agricultural production were in a constant situation of undersupply and the blame for this was put on the railroads. The workers at Weinan train station created the "hitch a ride" method of transportation (NOTE: shaojue/shaojiao - take along - here translated as hitch a ride.) taking advantage of empty freight cars being returned and freight cars that were not fully loaded to give a lift to some goods and by doing this not only helped to realize the carrying potential of rolling stock but also transported more goods, particularly the small amounts of urgently needed goods which was welcomed by those who owned the goods. In March of 1959, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Commerce and the CCP Shaanxi Provincial Committee held "hitch a ride transportation" meetings in Xi'an to promote this experience. In early 1959 for the entire railroad some 8000 tonnes 'hitched a ride' each day, and by the end of the year this had increased to over 100,000 tonnes a day.
The 'big way' native (NOTE: Another instance of translating tu - earth - for native.) and local railroads shared transportation roles. A native railroad used cast iron rails and used small steam locomotives or a gas-powered engine for motive power (NOTE: qianyin), used small rolling stock that carried under 10 tonnes of freight, so their technology was simple and their equipment was also very basic. At the end of 1959, across the entire country there were more than 400 'native' railroads either built or under construction, for a total length of over 6000 kilometers. Some of these 'native' railroads were dismantled because of the failure of the Great Make Iron and Steel Movement, others developed into local railroads. Local railroads were railroads that were organized locally, carried out by the masses, and built under the techincal direction of the railroad departments. They were self-financed by municipalities and provinces, self-constructed, self-managed and self-financing, with relatively higher standards than the native railroads, they were technically complex and had stronger transportation capabilities. In January of 1960, in Bengbu the Ministry of Railways held on-site meetings for an exchange of experiences. In two years 269 lines with 3706 kilometers of track were laid. These local railroads were not only an important force in short-distance transportation, there were also 34 lines of 729 kilometers in length that linked up with major rail lines to serve as supplements and branches of the major lines. In this way, state run, locally run, run by factories and mines even run by collectives, large, medium and small going on at the same time, local and foreign (NOTE: tu and yang) simultaneously, both steel and iron tracks, this opened up new investment channels outside of state investment, and it was also the first exploration of the possibilities of constructing a rail network. In 1958, the slowdown in freight car turnover as the result of a backlog at some factories and mines created the phenomenon of speeding between, but being held at both ends which was a major waste of transportation potential, making what was at first a shortage of empty cars even worse. In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Railways along with other ministries as well as with local provinces and cities jointly held numerous collaborative meetings with factory, mine and port rail lines. There was a slogan at the time "Rolling Stock through time, Efficiency through Cooperation" (NOTE: xiang shijian yao cheliang, xiang xiezuo yao xiaolv). In April of 1959, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Coal and the province of Liaoning convened an on-site conference in Fuxin to promote the experiences of the collaboration between the Fuxin Train Station and the Fuxin Mining Bureau with quick marshalling and quick direct transportation; in May, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Metallurgy and the province of Liaoning held an on-site meeting for national rail-steel mill cooperation to spread their experiences with reducing the time rolling stock spent at the mill and ensuring the normal production of the steel mills; in October, the Ministry of Railways and 6 other ministries, on the basis of the collaboration experiences at the Qinhuangdao rail port, also spread the major collaborative efforts of mine, railroad, port, ship and receiving work units to work together to implement an integrated one-stop transportation system that could load fast, unload fast and ship fast. (NOTE: Qinhuangdao was the major shipping terminal for coal from Shanxi that was shipped to major ports along the coast. It continues to serve this role.)
At the same time, internal labor cooperation within railroad work units was also developed with the creation of comprehensive transportation operations programs such as the start of the Red Banner Trains. The strengthening of close coordination among the operations of the car, engine, maintenance, signal, inspection, handling and other work units together with reductions in the time spent between the various operational stages played an important role in making this large set of linked tasks of the railroad even more compact and coordinated. In June of 1959 the Ministry of Railways, at the meeting for the plan about the integrated operation of national railroad transportation, an important system was firmly put into place. This was a major achievement in the job of organizing transportation for the employees of the railroads.
On January 30, 1960, the CCP Central Committee issued the call: the entire nation should immediately start a move toward technological innovation and technological revolution centered on semi-mechanization and mechanization. This was in order to adapt to the new Leap Forward following the Anti-Rightist, in order to complete the high quotas for coal, iron, steel and other goods, to again respond to the unique circumstances of the time that were both neither entirely material and organizational nor were they entirely techically driven "human-wave tactics". (NOTE: A reference to the Big Way methods.) At that time, according to statistics there were hundreds of thousands of innovative proposals suggested by all of the railroads but most of these were false reports and exaggerations, and the many meetings held to observe on-site and exchange experience, those that were truly valuable and worth promoting their use or permanently adopting were few in number. Within the two revolutionary campaigns, the grandiose style was particularly serious.
Because the role of human initiative was exaggerated in the mass movements which explained the dominance of the leftist flow of thought such as "eager to seek accomplishment, eager to make the transition". (NOTE: ji yu gan qiu cheng, ji yu gan guotu ) At the same time that the people exhibited a spirit of hard work and pragmatism, there were also those engaged in the folly of blind recklessness that was contrary to objective laws. The man-made disaster of the habits of exaggeration, the communist wind, and blindly giving orders caused great damage to the efforts of the railroad.
Because the emphasis of work moved to economic matters, and also because the broad support of the broad masses of the people and the staff of the railroads, the nation was able to mobilize large human, material and financial resources that were invested in fixing the railroads, building locomotives and in providing transportation, so that during these three years there were several real accomplishments:
First, although not able to realize the high goals of the big plans, they were however, able to take on the task of the rapid expansion of transportation. One the one hand, the staff of all of the railroads fixed more track and built more cars, making every effort to increase the capability of the technical equipment; on the other hand, they did everything possible to increase the turnover of the locomotives and rolling stock to increase the utilization rates of the existing equipment. During these three years the railroad transported a total of 1.444 billion passengers and 1.997 billion tonnes of freight, a sum that exceeded the totals achieved during the 1-5 period by 209 million passengers and 529 million tonnes of freight. Freight volume increased at an annual rate of 34.87% while passenger volume grew at an annual rate of 25.5%. The passenger and freight turnover numbers for 1960 (NOTE: Passenger turnover is passenger carried times distance traveled, while freight turnover is tonnes time distance traveled.) compared to the values calculated in 1957 for the 2-5 period (NOTE: The Second Five-year Plan.) were actually reached two years in advance. In these three years, rail transportation efficiency and economic efficiency increased quickly. Daily production for freight locomotives was 477 thousand tonne-kilometers in 1957, and increased to 687 thousand tonne-kilometers in 1960; the density of freight traffic on each kilometer of traqck in operation was 5.039 million tonnes in 1957, which increased to 8.164 million tonnes in 1960. The total profits paid for the three years reached 10.019 billion yuan, which was 3.579 billion yuan more than the profits paid out during the period of the First Five-year Plan
Second, the successful construction of new lines and rebuilding of old lines improved the status of the rail network. In three years the track length was extended a total of 11,036 kilometers (including new main lines, branch lines, second-tracks, special purpose track and the extension of sidings NOTE: gudao) and in addition to the over 2800 kilometers of new construction for the Lan-Qing, Gan-Wu and other main lines, there was also the repair and construction of 58 branch lines and among these 33 lines with the track already laid, and also 4500 kilometers of various special use lines repaired. The average annual increase was equivalent to 2.3 times the average annual growth during the 1-5 period. In the year 1960, the operating mileage of the entire railroad was 33,890 kilometers, a 26.9% increase compared to the 26,708 kilometers of the year 1957. Prior to 1958, Ningxia, Qinghai and other provinces and autonomous regions all did not have railroads, but by 1960 with the exception of Xicang (NOTE: Tibet), every province and autonomous region of mainland China had railroads. The operating rail lines in the Northwest and the Southwest rose from 11% to 19.4% as a proportion of nation's lines, bringing an improvement in the imbalance of the distribution of railroads. The number of design surveys completed in these three years was the equivalent of four times that completed during the First Five-year Plan, accumulating large amounts of technical information that created favorable conditions for survey designs and planning preparation that followed.
The emphasis during these three years was on improving the operating lines, with 3.34 billion yuan invested in railroad operations, an amount that exceeded the investment in new rail construction. 2,761 kilometers of second-track were newly built along the Long-Hai, Jin-Pu and Jing-Guang lines for an increase that was 1.4 times that of the last part of the 1-5 period, 18 marshalling yards were newly built or expanded, rail sidings were extended by 698 kilometers; 1,132 kilometers of automatic block track were built, and 4,899 kilometers of semi-automatic block track. The scale and the quick progress of some of the projects was really quite amazing. The major bridges built during this period include the Nanchang Gan River Bridge (work begun in October of 1958, construction completed in June of 1959), the new Yellow River Bridge at Zhengzhou (work begun in may of 1958, construction completed in March of 1960), the Chongqing Baishatuo Bridge over the Yangtze (work begun in September of 1958, construction completed in October of 1959) and the Pearl River Bridge in Guangzhou (work begun in October of 1958, construction completed in June of 1960). Of particular note is China's first major passenger terminal - the Beijing Station, a work of indredible engineering and technical complexity. If they had used conventional designs and construction then it would have required at least two years, however, this huge project, whose design started in December of 1952, was completed only ten months later with the actual construction taking only seven months.
Third, the production capacity of the railroad industry was enhanced. During the Great Leap Forward, the State Council had decided that the production of locomotives and rolling stock be classified as an essential mechanical product, requesting that all relevant departments that supplied materials and equipment, and that provided cooperation be directed to guarantee their priority. In order to build more units, many factories updated their equipment to switch from repair to construction. Within three years, a total of 1678 locomotives, 57097 freight cars, and 2210 passenger cars were built, numbers that exceeded the totals from the previous eight years.
The surge in traffic required that locomotives develop in the direction of more power and higher speeds, while rolling stock develop in the direction of more tonnage. The key to the modernization of the railroad lay in the modernization of motive power. After the fall of 1958, some factories went down the path of combining their own designs with an existing model, and with the help and collaboration of research institutes, professional training institutes and other industrial sectors, after a series of prototypes succeeded in producing the first new type of locomotive. On September 6th, the Changxindian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory produced China's first electric-transmission diesel locomotive; on September 22, the Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Plant built China's first hydraulic-transmission diesel locomotive; on September 26 the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Plant built the Julong-class diesel-electric locomotive (later designated the DongFeng-class to become a Chinese-made first-generation diesel locomotive; on December 28, the Tianxin (later renamed Zhuzhou) Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory with major assistance from the Xiangtan Electrical Machinery Plant, the Institute of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Railways along with other work units, produced of prototype os China's first electric locomotive. (NOTE: Changxindian is in Beijing in the Fengtai district close to the Marco Polo Bridge. Name changed to Changxindian and then Feb. 7th after Liberation. The name Feb. 7th commemorates the strike of Feb. 7th, 1923 when the workers of the Changxindian Factory and the Jing-Han Railroad carried out a strike against the French and Belgian owners. 二七大罢工 Erqi Da Bagong http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E4%B8%83%E5%A4%A7%E7%BD%A2%E5%B7%A5 http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E4%B8%83%E7%BA%AA%E5%BF%B5%E5%A1%94 http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E4%BA%8C%E4%B8%83%E8%BD%A8%E9%81%93%E4%BA%A4%E9%80%9A%E8%A3%85%E5%A4%87 The diesel was the Jianshe-class diesel-electric. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_locomotives_in_China#Diesel-electric_transmission The hydraulic-transmission diesel was a prototype that went into production as the Weixing or NY-1, and then later called the Dong Fang Hong-class of diesel locomotives. http://news.workercn.cn/contentfile/2009/09/15/020634542952552.html For the first electric locomotive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Railways_SS1. This went on to become the Shaoshan series of electric locomotives, named after the birthplace of Mao Zedong. ) From this point on, the prologue to the reform of railroad motive power began. This was the "let a hundred flowers bloom" period of exploration, research and trials, each plant experimented with close to 10 types of diesel locomotives, using high-speed and medium-speed diesel engines, each with a different cylinder and stroke, high-power and low-power, the transmission types used both electic and hydraulic transmissions, however, starting from scratch they finally were off to a good start.
During these three years, the other industries of the railroad also saw major developments. The communications and signals plants, the bridge plants, the railroad tie preservative plants, as well as other specialized equipment plants grew in number from 113 to 249 and many plants were either expanded or renovated. (NOTE: Creosote was used to preserve wooden railroad ties. One of the sources of creosote is the coking process used to carbonize coal that will be used in the process of smelting iron. It is derived from coal tar, which is a by-product of coking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal-tar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosote. Creosote is also produced from wood tar, a by-product of the charcoal making process. ) The value of the output of these plants increased 2.6 times.
Fourth, there were improvements in both technical equipment and the overall level of technology used. The technical condition of the rail tracks changed significantly. Not only were the double-tracked lines increased, the proportion of track laid with 43 kilograms per meter of steel increased from 42.6% to 63%, allowing the permissible speeds on many lines to be raised. (NOTE: ) Prior to 1958, within the entire rail system there was only one hump yard for car classification but by 1962 there were already 159 simplified hump yards. (NOTE: jianyi tuofeng diaoche chang) In December of 1959, the Sujiatun Station, the first three-stage, four-yard automated hump marshalling yard in China was built, and after that an automated hump marshalling yard was also built at Fengtai West Station. Both both marshalling yards installed centralized control equipment with 24 manual switches to pre-select paths through the hump turnouts, and a mechanized braking system that maintained proper intervals between the rolling cars. The operational efficiency of the mechanized hump was 30% to 50% better than that of a simplified or non-mechanized hump, making this a one-time major change in the car sorting activities of the entire railroad.
Comparing the end of 1957 to the end of 1960, the number of locomotives increased from 4,251 to 6,953 with all of the new construction being of new models and large models. The number of freight cars increased from 90,249 to 136,379 with 99% of the newly built cars having a carrying capacity of over 50 tonnes. The trial production of new types, when compared with the year 1957, saw an increase to 18 new types of locomotives, 40 new kinds of freight cars, and 20 new types of passenger cars. Special cars types used for the shipment of oversized freight and bulk cargo were also manufactured. China Railways successfully designed and built a bridge girder erecting machine with a 26-meter span and a lifting capacity of 130 tonnes which was a relatively large lifting capacity in the world at that time. The mechanization of materials handling, road maintenance and construction also saw various degrees of improvement. The mass manufacture and use of containers also started. Signals and communications also advanced a step forward as the electrification of the Bao-Feng section saw the first time that shielded symmetrical cable was laid, and the railroad-produced electronic tube three-channel and 12-channel carrier devices gradually replaced the old, Japanese-style carrier devices. (NOTE: This was for the phone system used by the railroad. PERSONAL: Google "12 channel carrier telephone system".) The equipment for section blocks went from the electric train staff (or tablet) to the development of a semi-automatic block system. (NOTE: p.498 tabletblock)
Railway scientific research and education grew and expanded. The number of engineering and technical personnel, and sceintific researchers went from 83,000 in 1957 to 145,000 in 1960. For the entire railroad, the Ministry of Railways had one Institute of Science and Technology, five Design Institutes, and four professional Institutes for locomotives and rolling stock. Among the newly created educational institutions, some had a better faculty, teaching standards and conditions for running the school, such as the Shanghai Railway Institute established in 1958, the Changsha Railway Institute established in 1960 and others, that trained a large number of technical personnel who helped develop the projects of the railway.
With the expansion in the scientific and technical ranks, and with improved technical equipment, China Railway was able to independently solve a number of relatively complex scientific and technical problems. In the practice of engineering, overcoming the difficulties in the construction of major bridges, long tunnels and large-scale construction led to increases in the overall level of design and construction. The construction of rail lines in the desert, the cold of the high mountains, the permafrost, in soft soils, in salt lake regions, in land reclaimed from the sea and other zones with special challenges all represented breakthroughs and the accumulation of experience. During this period the China's first section of electrified railway was built - the section from Baoji to Fengzhou on the Bao-Cheng Railroad. The Bao-Feng section is the choke point (NOTE: yanhoudiduan) of the Bao-Cheng Railroad, as it winds for a total of 91 kilometers among the numerous caves and steep slopes of the Qinling Mountain range. Along the 45 kilometers from Baoji to the Qinling station, 20 kilometers have a slope of 3% (NOTE: here given as a rise of 30 over 1000. Since trains are very sensitive to slopes it is common to see them expressed this way. A .5% slope can require much more power from a heavily loaded train.) When this railroad used steam locomotives to pull the trains, for the journey down the line the uphill climb used three engines that could only pull 900 tonnes while the trip downhill used two engines to pull 265 tonnes with the speed limited to no more than 25 kph. After electrification, the speed of a train could reach up to 51 kph, and on flat sections up to 75-80 kph. As a result of the use of resistor braking by electric locomotives, at high speeds a strong braking force was available allowing trains to safely run at constant speeds while operating on the long downhill routes at high speeds, with the transport capacity increasing from 2.62 million tonnes to 13.2 million tonnes per year, reducing locomotive operating costs by 60%, and significantly improving the working conditions for employees. (NOTE: Resistor braking is a form of dynamic braking that is also known as rheostatic braking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_brakes )
1). The high goals and big plans simply could not be met, bringing chaos to all of the various projects. During these 3 years, there were only 9 months to complete the monthly plan for car loadings, only 3 months to complete the monthly plan for freight car turnaround times, the expected freight volume for 1959 was 800 million tonnes, in reality only 540 million tonnes were transported. According to the plan 120,000 freight cars were to be built in 1959, a ten-fold increase over 1958, but in reality only 20,000 cars were completed. During these 3 years, the quota for infrastructure investment was for more than 171 projects but only 42 were completed. These kinds of high targets that called for all-out efforts but were also impossible to meet, seriously dampened the enthusiasm of the masses.
The impact of the Great Leap Forward created a very serious predicament for the transportation, infrastructure and industry of the railroad and that was the precipitous fall in transportation volume, the fall of equipment into a state of disrepair, and the abandonment of infrastructure projects, bringing the operation of this large enterprise into a chaotic state. What emerged were three large ups and downs: the first was the boom and then bust in railroad construction. In 1957 a total of 473 kilometers of track was laid for both main and branch line, and in 1960 it was 1,818 kilometers but by 1962 it had fallen to 231 kilometers. The second was the great boom and bust in the locomotive and rolling stock industry. For the construction of steam locomotives, in the year 1957 167 were built, in 1960 803 were built, and in 1962 none were built; in 1957 454 passenger cars were built, in 1958 the number was 970, and in 1962 it was 79; in 1957 6,846 freight cars were built, in 1960 the number was 26,080, and in 1962 it was 1,635. The third was the great rise and fall in railroad traffic volume. After the pressures of targets for all trades and industries, railroad traffic volumes had a corresponding reduction, in 1962 producing only 346 million tonnes of freight volume, an amount that was 326 millions tonnes less than in the year 1960. This sort of a situation with such large increases and large decreases is extremely abnormal. This is the punishment people receive from the objective laws of the economy.
2). In violation of science, contrary to obejective laws, taking risks with the equipment and its potential loss with the result being equipment in a state of disrepair and of lower quality. (NOTE: pin shebei chi laoben - My best approximation of the meaning.) During the Great Leap Forward, without any experiments or investigations, the tonnage rating of six major trunk lines (Jing-Shan, Jing-Guang, Shen-Shan, Jin-Pu, Ha-Da, and Hu-Ning) was successively raised from 2700 to 3200 to 3400 to 3600 tonnes (NOTE: tonnage rating that a train could safely and efficiently pull on these lines.) Other lines also implemented this model blindly exceeding the axle limits, and as a result often had trains that could not climb a hill or were very slow. A serious problem was ignoring science while eliminating supersition, and violating technical management procedures to raise the water pressure in the boilers by one kilogram leading to 'white water indication' while operating (indicating the boiler water was below the lowest level), causing two water boiler explosions, accidents that destroyed equipment and injured people. The boiler plates could crack and buckle, the boiler tubes would leak, the firebox supports would be damaged, and other problems would continue to occur. Unilateral extension of the kilometers traveled between inspections for locomotives, simplifying repair procedures, reducing the efficiency of inspection and repair, in reality this is risking the loss of equipment and seriously damaging the quality of the locomotives. According to the results of the Fall 1961 equipment qualification, besides the 612 locomotives that were in storage and out of service, there were still 132 locomotives that did not meet standards. At some railroad bureaus, the excellent and good rated locomotives did not reach 40%, and for the entire railroad the total rate for inspection and repair went from 8.4% in 1957 to rise to 19.9% in 1961. Given the decline in the quality of the locomotives, a large number of spare locomotives were put into service (for the entire railroad, in 1958 the number of locomotives retained as spares was 16.9%, which was reduced to 5.3% in 1961). To address the problem of not enough freight cars, since they were unable to rely on construction of new cars the measures taken to counter this were to overload the cars in use. Some overweight loads were actually more than doubled, exceeding the permissable range of the vehicle structure with the result that many freight cars had bent supports underneath, car fittings were split and broken, and the springs were compressed and broken. The use of high platforms to push slabs of rock and other heavy material into cars below also smashed and broke numerous freight cars. Vehicle maintenance was also "placing a satellite" (NOTE: setting a goal.) which was in reality just simplifying repair in order to speed up trains and so some train inspection was not carefully carried out and then given the inspection mark and released, some train inspections were only inspect and no repair, and even no inspection and no repair, some stations only gave two or three minutes for train inspection so there was not way to carry out the necessary checks, even to the extent that they could not handle damaged vehicles that posed a threat to traffic safety. In order to speed up the trains, Motive Power, Rolling Stock, Maintenance of Way, Signals and Communications, Train Inspection and Freight Handling all reduced the times of their own work activities. Some train dispatchers even issued orders without the technical inspections. In order to mount a major effort to transport coal, 2000 boxcars were pressed into service. Of the cars badly damaged, in addition to the existing 24,000 damaged freight cars, there were about 10,000 freight cars that were in need of repair but still hauling freight. There were also very serious problems with track in need of repair and at the end of 1960 some 40% of the steel rails were damaged, about one-third of the track bed of main line tracks was less then 25 centimeters thick, and 37% of the bridges in bad shape. There were numerous failures of communications and signal equipment due to the wear and tear on the various kinds of machinery and equipment with an overall decline in its reliability.
The extremely run down state of the locomotives, rolling stock and track combined with the anxious pursuit of results by transportation organizations brought with it negative consequences: operating accidents suddenly surged and the train on-time rate fell. During these three years there were 1,378 major and large operating accidents. By 1960 the total number of operating accidents was six times that of 1957 with a 1957 passenger and freight train on-time rate of of about 90% which by early 1961 had fallen to 60% or 70%.
3). Power was blindly handed out, rules and regulations were abolished that should not have been abolished, people blindly followed orders, a senseless struggle, with the standards of management falling so that the losses and waste were serious. After implementing one railroad bureau for each province and 'the unity of work and control' (NOTE: gong guan heyi), the decentralization of labor management, planning management, technology management and financial management went too far and not only was it unable to allow enterprises to corrrectly carry out operational autonomy, quite the opposite happened as the enthusiam of the enterprises was transformed into blindness and in many aspects created a loss of control. Because of the decentralization of the approval of capital construction and the relaxed oversight of capital construction, all of the localities started projects and the financial, human and material resources were divided and broken up. During these three years the investment in capital construction increased 45% compared to the First Five-Year Plan, and the supply of raw steel increased by only 12%, the supply of timber increased by only 7.1% and the supply of cement increased by only 36%. On some projects the roadbed had been fixed but there were no rails to lay on it, if the rails were laid then because there was no other equipment then it was not possible to hand over control of operations. During these three years projects where only the earth and stone work had been completed and work halted comprised some 21% of the total investment. During the period of adjustment, there were 15 main rail lines where work was completely halted and 11 where work was partially halted; there were 20 branch lines where work was suspended and 17 where it was partially suspended; work on 23 rail hubs was halted leading to the formation of an investment backlog of unfinished projects. There were already too many capital construction projects in the plan and many unplanned projects were arranged so during these three years there were 320 million yuan worth of self-financed construction for all the lines, diverting both materials and manpower from the plan. While making these plans there were no good regional priorities but just a rush into action and launch projects, and althought at the time it seems that the situation was excellent but it was not long before the unfortunate consequences were quickly apparent. The capital construction departments abolished the constract system so there was no design budget to serve as a basis which created a situation where money was spent but there was no discussion of the economic benefits. (NOTE: problem) For the construction of new rail lines the survey was done during the design and the construction until the design was changed, then the cycle repeated with the result being a major waste of labor and effort. According to the statistics of the Chengdu Bureau, during these three years the construction teams mobilized over 160,000 persons, the approximate equivalent of 37,000 people not working for an entire year. (NOTE: ??) The Chuan-Yu (NOTE: 川豫) line, because 73% of the track line from Chengdu to Daxian was changed, the cost of the abandoned work was 4.37 million yuan. The Chuan-Yu line was later changed to the Xiang-Yu (NOTE: 襄渝) line for a loss of 46.539 million yuan. In the case where all of the traction power was provided by steam locomotives, the too rapid end of the the Bao Cheng system (NOTE: 包乘制) of assigning crews to locomotives and its replacement with the Lun Cheng system (NOTE: 轮乘制 )of crew pooling where for long routes the men were rested but the horses were not represented a relaxation of locomotive maintenance practices. (NOTE: Bao Cheng Zhi - crew is assigned to a designated locomotive Lun Cheng Zhi - locomotive crew pooling system Source: Railway Master Mechanic, Vol. 34, Aug. 1910, p. 357. Google books, provides a description of the crew pooling system as practiced in the late 1800s in the USA.) The production sequences and work sequences of the enterprise were fairly chaotic, and the planning discipline, financial discipline and labor discipline were relaxed. Workers were recruited without careful selection, projects were started without careful planning. In the year 1958 there were 990,000 people recruited by all of the railroads. The number of people in the infrastructure sector at the end of 1958 was over 1.5 times that of 1957. The proportion of non-production personnel increased and in some work units they actually accounted for more than 25% of the total number of employees. The acceptance system was destroyed and became instead one of trusting accpetance, handing off to others (NOTE: zhengzhi jiaoban) where no one is responsible. The system of economic accounting existed in name only, not calculating figures and not discussing economic effects. A system to train employee was nonexistent, with more than 50,000 engine firemen recruited in 1958 who were not trained how to light fires. To enhance the impression of the train engineer, workers were upgrade without testing, the intense study of the work of the occupation was cast aside to become a journey on the "white professional" road. (NOTE: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E4%B8%93 During the Clutural Revolution, the term "white professionals" was used to refer to people who focused on academic research with no concern for politics, these people tended to be denounced at the time. Accordingly, the focus on academic research without concern for political behavior became known as the path of the white professionals. ) During the reform of the rules and regulations, it was all removed with nothing to take its place, as numerous regulations to protect and adapt to production were all done away with, but this was still subject to the punishment of objective law. (NOTE: The idea that reality could not be ignored.)
4). Exaggerated and false reports destroyed the good tradition of seeking truth from the facts. The Great Leap Foward had layer upon layer of goals (NOTE: Satellites literally.) and month after month there was another goal, some rail bureaus, in order to increase their number of freight car loadings went out in search of shortened transport runs, at some stations the same kind of freight would be loaded and unloaded twice in one day, at others they would load furnace ash and loess (NOTE: a yellow, sandy soil that is typical of northern China) to fill in the missing car loadings and while this went on large stockpiles of Shanxi coal waited to be shipped. Placing "satellites" destroyed the normal working order, often resulting in a situation of "one day of sun, ten days of frost". (NOTE: From Mencius, meaning to work for a while and then stop, a sporadic effort. 一曝十寒) Every day each station rushed the 18 points (NOTE: ??) and the habit of false and exaggerated reports grew worse.
The flood of the culture of exaggeration led to disaster, the right thinking, good habits and good traditions that were developed after years of effort and training were all lost, every day the teams hit their gongs and beat their drums to deliver the good news to the leadership, and they all went "running into communism". (NOTE: 跑步进入共产主义) At the 1958 national rolling stock meeting it was proposed that the rolling stock departments should not only repair cars, not only produce machinery and also engage in the big push to smelt iron and make steel, but that at the same time they should develop the various small tools needed so that the rolling stock section would become the factory that could do everything.
In the areas of the revolution in technology, the diversification of the economy and in culture and in education, there were also a number of unrealisticly ambitious plans such as the one that required all of the railroads within one or two month's time to universally install baffles to aid fire combustion, (NOTE: Not quite sure what is meant here. Are they baffle walls under the fire grate and over the ash ashpan, or are they the fire brick wall built above the fire to increase the efficiency of the fire?? I need to know more about Chinese firebox and engine design at the time.) the elimination of the black smoke from the engines, and the mechanization of freight handling, road maintenance and construction. The Ministry of Railways approved and forwarded many of the following technological changes and the planning for a variety of businesses, and the larger the plans became the greater the support they required which led to a major waste of human, material and financial resources. They also required each bureau, factory, hospital and school within a year or two to setup an educational system with advanced studies, college, secondary, primary, kindergarden, work, teaching, medicine, sports and art, and within 8 to 10 years the entire rail system would offer universal access to advanced education and more. (NOTE: needs work ) From April of October of 1958 the railroads setup 31 new institutions of higher learning, but in reality this was not the case as they were for the most part they had the name of university but the course work was that of a techinical secondary school with a serious shortage of teaching personnel and poor teaching conditions, which were later during the period of adjustment one after the other demoted to technical secondary schools and technical schools. (NOTE: 中专或技工学校)
During these years work and rest was not talked about, the more bitter the struggle then the less time for rest so that the masses had no opportunity to pause and recover, and some of the accidents were the result of the excessive fatigue of the workers.
In short, during the Great Leap Forward all the railroad work emphasized quantity and ignored quality; emphasized speed and ignored the best use of resources (NOTE: hao sheng 好省 good save?? ); emphasized what was needed and ignored what was possible; emphasized mass movements and ignored scientific management; emphasized speed and ignored balance. The initiative of the people was overly exaggerated while objective economic laws were either ignored or violated. The result was in trying to go fast we did not reach our goals, in wanting to go fast we went slow instead and this greatly damaged both the enthusiasm and creativity of the masses. This lesson was a very painful one.
By New Year of 1961 the problems of the Great Leap Forward were already starting to come together and be recognized as the running order of rail transportation was becoming disordered, serious accidents were happening and on many segments of track there was a situation of blockage or semi-blockage. At some railroad bureaus the freight car turnaround times had reached 12 days or more, some trains were not hours late but were instead days late, on some segments the locomotives were so close together that is was almost impposible to get one out. At the beginning of 1961 the CCP Central Committee proposed the eight character policy of "adjust, consolidate, augment, improve" and the railroad authorities took immediate action. (NOTE: 调整、巩固、充实、提高 The CCP General Secretary, Deng Xiaoping, personally took charge of the railroads. After comprehensive correction of the problems, the task of the railroad became vigorous and vital.
On 26 January 1961 the CCP Central Committee on the basis of the Ministry of Railways Party Leadership Group "Report on Establishing a Political Works Department and Improving the Railroad Management System of the Railroad System" instructed: "The railroad is the main artery of the national economy, it is a business with a high degree of concentration with a semi-military nature, so all power must be concentrated in the Ministry of Railways. The direction of the production of transportation, the allocations of supplies and funds, the mobilization of equipment, the arrangement of cadres and the mobilization of workers and other aspects are all entirely the responsibility of the Ministry of Railways." These clear and penetrating instructions made clear the nature and characteristics of the railroad, made clear the necessity of concentrating all power in the Ministry of Railways, making clear that this was the direction to take in the task of reorganizing the railroads. They instructed that the CCP Ministry of Railways Leadership Group be changed to the CCP Ministry of Railways Committee and that political departments be re-established in the rail system, and, with the exception of the Party's political ideology work and organizational work, that the dual leadership of the Ministry of Railways and the localities be discontinued. The railroad bureaus, the construction bureaus, the design institutes and their affiliated factories implemented vertical leadership of their subordinate units, correcting the practice of agreement with layer upon layer of local leaders.
In order to implement the directive of the CCP Central Committee to strengthen a centralized and unified leadership, on January 27 the Ministry of Railways held a meeting of the leadership cadres of the entire railroad, and Deng Xiaoping met with some of the delegates and spoke at the meeting. He pointed out that the operating system of the railroads was not good and the main reason for this was because the existing rules and regulations had been done away with but that there were no new rules and regulations established; you can get rid of superstition but you cannot violate the laws of science. He stressed that the railroad must adjust regulations and build systems to reorganize transportation procedures. At the meeting it was decided that there would be a deadline for the restoration and improvement of the various responsibility systems for locomotives, rolling stock, track and other equipment, for the inspection systems for locomotives, rolling stock and infrastructure and for the economic accounting system for the section (station) teams. With regards to other rules and regulations, steps were taken to correctly reinstate them, to merge where appropriate, to supplement where they lacked, to add what was absent, along with other measures, at first rough and then smooth, (NOTE: xian cu hou xi - to gradually work out the rough parts) in order to resolve the problems of where what was abandoned and what still remained was not clear, where the regulations were overly complex and hard to follow. The Party Committee of the Ministry of Railways emphasized that the three major systems, the responsibility system, the acceptance system and the economic accounting system, were the basic systems of the railroads, and the "Regulations Managing Railroad Technology" was the basic regulation that governed the technological aspects of the railroads. And must be conscientiously implemented by the employees of the entire railroad. At the meeting is was determined that the overall mission of the railroad be adjusted to become: to increase the centralization and unification of the leadership, to coordinate the correct balance of internal railroad and external collaborative relationships, reduce the scale of capital construction, for locomotives and rolling stock first repair and then build new, strengthen the inspection and maintenance of equipment, reduce labor, and reorganize operations and management. (NOTE: Here I am going to translate zhixu as operations, meaning the sequence or order of activities.) After the meeting, every work unit in the railroad quickly implemented the decisions of the leading cadres of the national railroads, and the effects of the changes were seen immediately. By the end of March, the situation of the production of transportation was starting to improve.
On March 23, 1961 the Bureau of Railways party Committee released the "Certain Regulations on the Improvement of the Railroad Management System" (NOTE: Guanyu gaijin tielu guanli tizhi de ruogan guiding) regarding the planning of enteprise and project work units, and the management system of transportation command, personnel, finance, materials, the setup of organizations and other aspects, making the corresponding provisions to remedy the excessive permissiveness of past decentralization.
With the chaotic situation of decentralized leadership and political fragmentation brought on by the Great Leap Forward, the government changed the practice of each province having a railroad bureau, with the area a railroad bureau controlled determined by needs of transportation and the ease of controlling transportation which was not always the same as the administrative regions (NOTE: the boundaries of a province) and whose bureau location was also not necessarily located in that province. In 1961 the five railroad bureaus of Nanjing, Hangzhou, Changsha, Guiyang and Xining were disbanded and also the Hailar Engineering Bureau, in addition 38 institutions of higher learning were closed. Northeast, Northwest, North China and Southwest Engineering Bureaus were established as were the four North China, Northwest, Southwest and Bridge bidding groups. (NOTE: fabaozu) In 1963 the five railroad bureaux in Mudanjian, Bengbu, Wuhan, Nanchang and Taiyuan were eliminated and then in 1965 the Fuzhou Railroad Bureau was also eliminated. Seven waves of shutdowns followed one after the other and 112 enterprises affiliated with the railroads stopped production.
At the time of the three railroad bureaus of Lanzhou, Hohhot and Harbin two and a half were paralyzed and this brought transportation on all of the railroads to a halt so the Ministry of Railways sent the three Deputy Ministers Wu Jingtian (武竞天), Yu Guangsheng (余光生) and Guo Lu (郭鲁) to lead working groups in the three bureaus of Hohhot, Lanzhou and Harbin respectively to focus on correcting the situation and help restore the normal operational procedures, and the situation quickly improved. After this initial period of consolidation and adjustment at the end of 1962 the three major system had been re-established and the eight major procedures had been continuously revised and published for the entire railroad; under the leadership of the party committees, established and improved the factory director responsibility system (NOTE: 厂长 负责制) and unified the production administrative command system, corrected the assignment of party members through the practice of 'cutting the task into slices' (NOTE: fen pian baogan 分片包干 - cut slices work allocation. Hard to find much on this. The work is broken down into tasks or components and then work assignments are given out. http://www.ichacha.net/%B7%D6%C6%AC%B0%FC%B8%C9.html), established and improved by having a chief engineer in charge of the techinical responsibility system, and a chief accountant in charge of the economic responsibility system, the job responsibility for the departmental functions and the personal responsibility of the workers, restored the piecework an incentive systems, established the Eight Members (NOTE: ba da yuan http://baike.baidu.com/view/2232300.htm) in small groups with the content and claims of team management falling to the individuals. (NOTE: ???)
A number of rules and regulations were developed on the basis of the lessons learned from this experience and the Ministry of Railways codified them into the "Railway Work Regulations" (NOTE: 铁路工作 条例 tiely gonzuo tiaoli) also known as the "Railroad Sixty Rules" (NOTE: 铁路六十条 Tielu liu shi tiao). On the basis of the trial of the central authorities "70 Industry Rules" (NOTE: gonye qishi tiao), the "Techinical Management Rules for Locomotive and Rolling Stock Plant Production" (NOTE: jiche cheliang gongchang shengchan jishu guanli gongzuo xize), "Work Rules for Operations Management" (NOTE: Jingying guanli gongzuo xize), and 10 measures to reduce manufacturing costs were drawn up. At the same time the system for inspection and acceptance was restored and the the "Service Rules for Inspection and Acceptance Personnel" was revised and the work of inspection and acceptance gradually returned to normal with the quality of locomotives and rolling stock progressively improving. The capital construction sector also established a well-designed sequence and system for the tasks of survey and construction. In order to bring serious changes to design and budget discipline the "Interim Measures for the Change of Design and Budget of Railroad Capital Construction Projects" (NOTE: tielu jijian gongcheng biangeng sheji he yusuan zanxing banfa ),the acceptance system was restored, and the power to inspect and approve capital construction projects was returned. In December of 1961, the Ministry of Railways decided to restore the contract system (NOTE: Cheng fabao zhidu) for capital construction and continued the publication of "Interim Measures for Railroad Capital Construction Contracts", "Interim Measures for Tripartite Committee Railroad Capital Construction Projects", and "Interim Measures for Monitoring Railroad Capital Construction Projects" as well as a series other rules and regulations, reversing the disordered state of capital construction work during the Great Leap Forward.
During the reorganization and consolidation, the basic systems of railroad transportation were adjusted several times and improved a little each time. 1961 was basically a year to restore, to reaffirm, to revise and to publicly announce. In 1962 there was additional concentration of power with the combined organization of specialists with the mass of workers, the investigation into the weak links in the system of enterprise management and on the basis of the lessons learned, relying on the professional staff, it was corrected and supplemented to take a further step forward to improvement. In 1965 the Ministry of Railways went further and sent a task force for an extended stay at Tianjin where they made further modifictions to the rules and regulations for the transportation sector, and this revision highlighted "transportation responsibilities" (NOTE: fuze yunshu 负责运输) and requirements to improve the quality of passenger and cargo service, emphasizing the writing of accurate and concise terms and other issues.
At the beginning of 1961 the trains were always late and the railroad had a bad reputation. On the entire railroad each day 2000 to 2500 trains were delayed, each day three to four hundred engines were inspected and needed repairs, a situation that had to change as soon as possible. On 1 February 1961, after the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways was re-established, it proceeded to issue its first instruction to mobilize the staff and family of the entire railroad that launched a safety and on time campaign to insure the safety of rail operations and restore the proper order of operations. This movement later added the 'four loves' (love cars, love the track, love equipment and love freight) and it was renamed the Safety, On Time, Four Loves Meritorious Movement. (NOTE: Anquan Zhengdian Si Ai Ligong Yundong, 安全正点四爱立功运动) Because of the focus of the leadership and the positive action of the employees, the Safety, On Time, Four Loves Meritorious Movement rapidly expanded across the entire railroad and operational order quickly improved. The March On Time rate for passenger trains increased 70% from the January rate to 96%, while the On Time rate for freight trains increased 60% from the January rate to 92.4%. In September, the State Council had a special announcement "An Emergency Notice to Seriously Fix the Operational Order of Passenger Traffic" (NOTE: 关于认真整顿客运秩序的紧急通知) that promoted a deeper development of the Safety, On Time Meritorious Campaign. The vast majority of transportation workers competed to provide good service to passengers, worrying about what passengers would worry about, thinking about what passengers would think about, and so one after the other the Xinmin Station, the second crew for the Guang-Shen train and 10 other major examples of passenger service quickly emerged, as the Ministry of Railways promoted the summary of their experience. In 1962 passenger and freight train on time rates remained below 90%, and slowly inproved in the years that followed.
In Tianjin the Ministry of Railways held a forum for locomotive drivers from the Northeast, North China and other railroad bureaus. A number of technical measures to ensure safety were developed that specifically were specifically targeted at issues that affected safety and on time performance. At the same time the Ministry of Railways improved the working and living conditions of the locomotive crews by reorganizing their crew quarters, provide a supply of specific parts and materials, and correct problems with locomotives in order to ensure safe operations.
In November of 1961 the Ministry of Railways held a work safety meeting where it also consolidated on time performance, proposing requirements to "focus on work safety, to ensure a good winter", by concentrating effort on five aspects of safety: train operation, physical safety, cargo, baggage and parcels, and equipment. The entire railroad instituted a contest to go 100 days without an accident, and promoted the 13-year accident free record of Zhouwangmiao train station's "three transformations and one fixed" which were: the work safety experience of the standardization of terminology, the standardization of operating procedures, the unification of systems and the fixing of responsibility. After over a year of hard work, the safety situation showed significant improvement. Comparing 1962 with 1961, there was a 55% reduction in major accidents and injuries, worker injuries and death fell by about half, and freight accidents fell by over one-third. Traffic safety and personal safety approached 1957 levels. At the time 17 of the 23 railroad bureaus had over 100 consecutive days without major injuries or traffic accidents. Of the 25 locomotive and rolling stock factories, 20 of them had over 100 days without any accidents. In 1964 the traffic safety of the entire railroad was very good, for each 1 million kilometers a locomotive traveled there was an average of 0.2 major injuries or traffic accidents which was an 83.3% decrease compared to 1960 and within a few years the goals were reached. In 1963 for every 1 million yuan in freight revenue the damage claims dropped to 1.65 yuan which was also the best result ever.
In April of 1962 the assessment and determination of the traction rating for the various main lines began. Using the three locomotive types, Youhao, Jianshe and Jiefang, using different grades of coal, over 150 traction tests were carried out until finally the traction ratings were adjusted for 6 major main rail lines and the Long-Hai line to 3000 tonnes, the basic rate for the Northwest region was set to 2200 tonnes, and the unified target for the Southest region was set 1500 tonnes, correcting the exceed axle (NOTE: chao zhou) phenomenon of the past of blindly overloading cars. (NOTE: A 2-10-2 steam locomotive imported from the USSR for use in China. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Railways_FD)
In the period from 1963 to 1965, the daily task of transportation entered a very favorable situation with operations according to the plan, order and stability, and a high level of efficiency by basically carrying out the the time honored sequence of arranging the cars according to the train formation plan, loading the cars according to the transportation plan and working according to the program for transportation and the plan for the work shift. The plan fulfillment rate for the month, the ten-day period and the day continually increased. (TRANS: xun can be translated as week but the Chinese traditionally have a ten-day week with three weeks for every lunar month. wiki) Attention was given to balancing transportation as it was unbalanced from quarter to quarter, month to month, ten-day period to ten-day period, the first half of the day, the second part of the day, it was a situation of loose and then tight that needed to be improved. In 1963 the total fulfillment rate for the planned daily schedule reached 90.6%, for night operations for the entire year for completed loadings were 43.7% of the plan for the entire day and the completed unloadings were 41% of the entire day, 分界口站排空前半昼夜 都在45%以上。 (TRANS: This sentence fragment has me stumped.) There were new developments in the organization of direct trains, as in addition to insisting that through trains be organized at the bulk cargo originating station, all of the railroads promoted the experience of the Jinan Bureau, Zhangdian Train Operations Depot (TRANS: Chewu duan http://baike.baidu.com/view/1530119.htm) and their experience organizing direct trains from the nine stations on the Boba Branch Line (TRANS: 博八支线 Boba Zhixian - Boba Branch Line - Part of the Boshan Railroad in Shandong Province. http://baike.baidu.com/view/3976809.htm) as well as the experience of Daxie train station (TRANS: 大协车站 http://baike.baidu.com/view/8524328.htm) in creating high quality direct trains, serving the mines, serving the freight collection work units, serving the receiving station, serving the classification yard at the head of it. By the year 1965, for the entire railroad the proportion of through trains had reached 31.3% of the total number of freight trains.
At the same time that operational procedures was being straightened out, the links between the railroad and various enterprises were being strengthened. 219 joint offices (lian he bangongshi) were established by the railroads as timely solutions to the daily problems of transportation, as railroads and the enterprise sector jointly prepared month, ten-day and daily work plans to bring about close cooperation between production and transportation. At each junction station, railroad-mine, railroad-factory, railroad-forest, railroad-port competitions were held to be the first Junction station to reduce the freight handling time. (TRANS: 联轨站 Lian gui zhan - Junction Station - ECCERD p.276) The railroad with the petroleum, metallurgy and other enterprises agreed to and signed the "Love Car Mutual Guarantee Agreement" to ensure that state of the rolling stock technology was adequate for the railroads and the enterprises. (TRANS: 爱车互保协议》， Ai che hubao xieyi )
In view of the lessons of the past that the front line of capital construction was too long, was imbalanced and was not a coherent whole, in 1961 the Ministry of Railways in the course of setting out a plan for work clearly proposed from the viewpoint of transportation services to implement a policy to gather forces to fight a battle of annihilation by fixing the principles of first repair and then build new, first the old lines and then the new lines, first the branch lines (including special lines) and then the main lines, first the coal branch lines and then the other branch lines. And so they resolved to quickly cut engineering projects that had been hastily launched and that were not needed. Absolutely now allowing again unplanned national unification construction projects. Projects in the plan required that both manpower and resources be concentrated with the priority being given to unfinished works in progress to bring them up to the same level. (TRANS: ?? cheng long peitao tian ping bu qi ) To achieve, repair one to protect one, to turn one over to use one, to make the best use of the equipment. (TRANS: yi fahui shebei zuoyong ) In February of 1962 the Ministry of Railways annual plan to determine the investment in capital construction was reduced by 73.6% compared to the performance in 1961. After research and investigation, the 127 major capital construction projects for the entire railroad was cut by 80. (TRANS: ?? 127 ge ... kandiao 80 ge) In August of 1962, in order to ensure the laying of track on the Lan-Xin line to Urumqi, the Ministry of Railways decided to dismantle the track already laid for the Northeast link of the Beijing hub that could not be used, the Datong West, Yangquan and Xi'an hub station lines and others, were gathered together to be used to lay track on the Lan-Xin line so the Lan-Xin line could be completed on schedule.
Because of the emphasis on having a coherent system, the emphasis on return on investment, even though there was less investment in 1962, the results were better. In 1961 engineering costs were 85.46 million yuan and by 1962 they had dropped to 67.133 million yuan. In 1962 there were a total of 219 major and general construction either fully or partially completed which represented 45.1% of the total number of construction projects. These projects to increase railroad transportation capacity played a positive role in assisting industrial and agricultural production. A system for inspection and acceptance was put in place and according to the statistics of the 7 railroad bureaus of Beijing, Jinan, Lanzhou, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Shanghai and Xi'an, for the period from the beginning of 1962 to the end of October 730 new, small projects had been inspected and accepted, accounting for 95% of the already completed projects.
As the capital construction tasks were reduced, the capital construction agencies were also adjusted accordingly and for the entire railroad the 54 that existed in 1961 were consolidated into 32, the 39 field survey teams at the beginning of 1962 had been reduced to 29 by the end of November. The capital construction sector went through a period or reorganization during which it streamlined its workforce so that by the end of 1962 the completion rate of the work quota had increased to 43% of the plan and the quality of the capital construction work also improved, the initial acceptance passing rate for completed projects increased steadily, while the high quality rankings increased from 40% at the beginning of the year to 83%. By 1964 the initial acceptance rate reached 99.9%, the highest level ever recorded.
Construction of the Nanjing Yangtze River bridge began in January of 1960 and when the scope of capital construction was reduced this project was retained. At a critical moment during the construction, the Soviet Union tore up their contracts and halted the supply of much-needed steel beams. In the face of intense pressure, the Chief Engineer of the Bridge Bureau, (TRANS: daqiao ju 大桥局 ) Wang Xusen (TRANS: 王序森), personally went to the Anshan Iron and Steel Mill with a technology proposal for the Anshan workers to study, a test to produce a kind of high strength manganese alloy steel to make a vital contribution to the construction of the Nanjing Yangtze River bridge and also to lay the foundation for the domestic production of high strength manganese alloy steel bridge beams. (TRANS: The Nanjing Yantze river bridge was the third major bridge to cross the Yangtze and is also the longest, spanning some 4 miles. The bridge has nine piers to support the steel frame work. It is a double-decked truss bridge with cars on the upper deck and trains on the lower deck. It also has the distinction of being the first major bridge to be designed and built by the Chinese without foreign assistance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Yangtze_River_Bridge) The engineering for the foundation of the Nanjing Yangtze River bridge after the tenacious unyielding efforts of the bridge workers was basically completed in the first half of 1965 and in October work began on the truss framework. Only later after the effects of the Cultural Revolution had passed and much delay was the bridge finally completed and opened to traffic in 1968. The technology used to build the Nanjing Yangtze River bridge was much more complex than that used on the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the engineering was much more difficult, but it was done relying entirely on the efforts of the Chinese bridge contruction workers themselves.
A reduction in the scale of the construction of new lines and a corresponding increase in the investment to transform existing rail lines by 1965 had wiped clean the debts from overhauling rail lines and track renewal.
At the beginning of 1961 the Ministry of Railways, in order to deal with the poor state of equipment in the industrial sector and the serious imbalance between repair and new construction, proposed as guidelines 'repair first and then build, with repair as the main focus, putting quality first', determined the priorities between 'gather, repair and build' (TRANS: pei xiu zao), with the entire railroad launching the 'love the car, love the rail line, love the equipment' mass movement as the vast majority of factories stopped new construction and turned to repair. After these adjustments, the number of factories building new locomotives fell from 11 in 1960 to just 1 in 1962, while the number building freight cars fell from 17 to 7. The pace of locomotive and car manufacture declined rapidly while the number of rolling stock inspections and repairs rose sharply. The general office for factory administration (TRANS: 工厂管理总局 gongchang guanli zongju) of Ministry of Railways organized 50 groups to inspect for repairs that took materials and tools with them to locomotive depots and to car depots to speed up the repair of rolling stock. Each railroad bureau also took action to improve their maintenance work by reorganizing the responsibility and acceptance inspection systems. (TRANS: zerenzhi yanshouzhi) In all of 1962 a total of 2423 locomotives were repaired (this includes 320 that were repaired by industrial and mining enterprises) which was a 24.3% increase over 1961. In 1962 80% of the locomotives in use by the railroads had gone through at least frame repair, while the majority of bureaus and sections eliminated the phenomena of 'super wash repair kilometer' (TRANS: 超洗修公里 chao xi xiu gongli ??? flush the steam boilers to remove scale and ?? ) , gradually reducing the temporary repair of engines. The rolling stock used for passengers and freight continued to undergo periodic maintenance.
In 1962 the actual profits of the Factory Management General Office (TRANS: 工厂管理总局 Gongchang Guanli Zongju) were 135% of the plan, in a complete reversal of the loss-making situation of 1961. The production work order of the enterprises was gradually put back on the right track. After 1963 output continued to grow and by 1965 2471 locomotives had undergone complete overhauls, and 26000 freight cars received major overhauls as the refurbishment of equipment attained a major victory and cleared up all of the deferred maintenance that had accumulated. It was a profound lesson that the 3 years of deferred maintenance took 5 years of concentrated effort on repairs and only then was it possible to take locomotives and rolling stock out of storage. With the renovations, the quality of major equipment in use improved. For every 100,000 km the number of damaged engines went from 1.38 down to 0.17 and the number of temporary repairs went from 121 down to 1.7. The time spent on maintenance work was also correspondingly reduced, comparing 1965 to 1961, the time spent repairing locomotives frames was reduced from 14.5 days to 5.5 days, the time spent to flush and clean the steam boilers went from 54.6 hours down to 19.7 hours. (TRANS: xi xiu - boiler washout ??? The scale had to be removed from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahnbetriebswerk_%28steam_locomotives%29) From this state of pervasive lack of equipment maintenance a turn for the better emerged as the Ministry of Railways decided that beginning in 1963 the production of locomotives and rolling stock would concentrated in fewer factories whose production would be organized by vehicle type and vehicle class.
The industrial system of the railroads saw the implementation of the "Industrial 70" (TRANS: 工业70条 Gongye 70 tiao, Industry Bill 工业条例草案 Gongye Tiaoli Cao'an. http://www.globalview.cn/ReadNews.asp?NewsID=28472. Refers to the Regulations for the Management of State-owned Industrial Enterprises (draft) 《国营工业企业管理工作条例（草案）》 which had a total of 70 articles or sections and was published in 1961. It is commonly referred to as the Industry Bill or the Industrial 70.) a major effort to reorganize the task of managing the enterprise. To quickly summarize, the advanced experience of the Qiqihar Rolling Stock Factory, "focus on the factory, service to the team", was promoted to increase the level of management. Factories that were organized to produce similar products could conduct comparative analysis using economic and technical indicators, using benchmarking methods to help maintain the pace of progress by bringing the lower performing workers up to standard, stimulating and driving the awareness and enthusiam of the majority of workers to manage the enterprise well, inspiring them to push themselves to learn and to push forward. (TRANS: 抓两头带中间 zhua liangtou dai zhongjian To grasp both ends to bring along the middle. Helping those who have difficulties as a way of encouraging others in order to maintain the pace of progress. http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E6%8A%93%E4%B8%A4%E5%A4%B4%EF%BC%8C%E5%B8%A6%E4%B8%AD%E9%97%B4/56562) To deal with the weak links at work, plans were developed for practical technical measures, with the majority of factories utilizing the various economic and technical indicators all showing significant improvements.
Following the pressure to reduce the production tasks in transportation, capital construction and industry, there was a general decline in the productivity of labor. The labor productivity of the transportation personnel of the Beijing Bureau fell 17.8% between 1960 and 1961, and fell a further 8.3% between 1961 and 1962. The other railroad bureaus were just about the same. The labor productivity of the locomotive depots, the car depots, rolling stock, inspection and repair, freight handling, and capital construction and industrial production all saw significant declines.
In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Railways in February of 1962 established a group to direct reductions in the amount of labor, with Deputy Minister Wu Jingtian (TRANS: 武竞天) serving as the group leader, (TRANS: 组长 zuzhang) and each railroad work unit establishing a corresponding organization. With the reductions, at the end of 1962 the total number of railroad workers had been reduced to 1.28 million from the 2.15 million in the year 1960, which was more than 20,000 fewer than the number in 1957. Some 80% of the personnel reduction returned home to participate in agricultural production and also took their families with them. The results of this reduction not only increased the labor power of agriculture but also forced the railroad workforce and the production tasks of transportation and capital construction during the period of adjustment to adapt. Beginning in the second half of 1962, the productivity of labor began to rise.
During the adjustment, the management of authorized manpower was strengthened and each work unit asked to prepare labor staffing tables based on the tasks for the current year and to strictly follow the tables when allocating equipment and personnel. The planned workforce numbers specified by the Ministry of Railways were not to be exceeded by any work units. Without the approval of the Ministry no secret recruitment was allowed. In the second quarter of 1962, the Transportation Administration announced the job titles of the station management personnel, reducing them from 41 to 18, unifying the composition of all the grades of stations for all of the railroad by tightening the organizations and reducing the staffing levels.
During the adjustment, major efforts were taken to increase the technical education of the workers, with plans and organization to carry it out with the "Regulations for Railroad Technology Management" providing the core content to study technology. In 1962 all of the bureaus, stations and sections of all the railroads together held over 1700 training courses. With the adjustment, the professional classes of the workers improved the learning system to carry out the daily routines of business. (TRANS: ??) The content of the education was not based on quantity but on quality, with study centered on basic business knowledge, basic operations technology and the necessary technical theory. A major effort was made to train workers in basic skills with technical competitions in both individual and comprehensive types of work, expert competitions that were used to set procedures and benchmarks, periodic testing of what should be known and what should be done with the basic rules and how to use technology, advocating a consistent application of what to do and what to learn, providing a solid grasp of basic work that would gradually increase the technical quality and business level of the workforce.
With the Alignment, the push to consume less manpower and material paired with the completion of more transportation projects led to a significant imporvement in economic efficiency. Comparing labor productivity for the years 1962 and 1965, the transporation system improved 22.4%, industrial systems improved 85.13% and capital construction improved 158.5%.
In 1962 the piecework and incentive systems were restored, (TRANS: 计件工资和奖励制度) in 1963 the wages of most workers were also incresed. During the Adjustment period special attention was paid to improving the life of the workers.
During the Adjustment period, the nation decided on the general policy "using agriculture as the base and industry serving as the leader" of economic development, adjusting the balance between agriculture, light and heavy industry, firmly shifting the task of the industrial sector to a path in which agriculture served as the basis for growth. (TRANS: The policy was first brought up by Zhou Enlai in December of 1949 and then reinforced by Mao Zedong during the 1962 10th Plenary Meeting of the 8th National Party Congress. 中国共产党八届十中全会 http://hxd.wenming.cn/hxd/content/2008-12/22/content_13603.htm http://dangshi.people.com.cn/GB/146570/147953/8899994.html )
In December of 1962, the Ministry of Railways issued the "Decision to Support Agriculture and to Support the People's Social Collective Economy", (TRANS: 支援农业、支援人民社会 集体经济的决定) which identified the policy of the railroad as "regarding rural areas, to support agriculture and the promotion of industry, to safeguard the flow of raw materials and guarantee the needs of national defense, taking into account the needs of both cities and villages, passenger and freight transportation, the important of both full-car and less-than-carload freight, the importance of both long and short-distance runs" changing the guiding ideology of railroad work to one the made agriculture the foundation, one that put the needs of agricultural transportation in first place. This was a major change in transportation policy.
For a long time, the railroad focused on the transportation of coal, iron, wood, oil and other materials that were large volume, bulk, long-distance, paying little attention the transportation of goods that were infrequent, scattered or short-distance. Most of these goods were agricultural goods. In order to support agriculture, the Ministry of Railways drew up the "Thirty Measures for the Railroad to Support Agriculture" and implemented them to do a better job. (TRANS: 铁路支援农业三十条措施) In practical terms, work was focused on the 7 product categories, agricultural machinery, fertilizers and pesticides, refined foods (TRANS: 精食 jing shi), cotton, other cash crops, regional specialities, and fresh, live and perishable goods, along with less-than-carload trains which strengthened the ability to support the products of agriculture. A daily, ten-day and monthly statistical evalutation system was established together with the "one day three checks" system (check the car request, check the car, check the loading). (TRANS: 一日三查制度 yi ri san cha zhidu) The necessary changes were made to the existing rules and regulations for sporadic agricultural supplies, goods that were scatterd, that were seasonal, were time sensitive, and general characteristics that were not easily included in plans. By simplifying the procedures for unplanned cars, by relaxing the approval authorization for unplanned cars, and by making prioritization plans and organizing priority loading the transport time for agricultural goods was reduced by 30%. A mass survey of rural areas was carried out that improved the fulfillment rate for the supply of goods. "The Transportation Rules for Fresh and Live Cargo" were revised again to provide the best service and made it possible to provide many previously unavailable long-distance, perishable goods following a successful trial run. Food from the South was shipped to the North which allowed the people of North China and the Northeast to eat fresh vegetables from the South during winter. In 1962 high-speed freight trains with a fixed number of cars, a scheduled train line, a fixed content grouping, and fixed arrival stations began regular service to Hong Kong carrying the fresh, live and perishable agricultural goods of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Henan and other provinces. One after the other, fast freight train lines were opened from Wuhan to Guangzhou, from Shanghai to Guangzhou and from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou with much shorter average transport times. In the past direct trains required 4 to 5 days while those that were not needed 7 to 8 days, with the fast freight trains only needing 52 hours to move the goods the mortality rate of livestock, poultry and other perishables was greatly reduced. On these fast freight trains between Shanghai and Guangzhou some 6000 live pigs were transported and not one died, and the proportion of spoiled vegetables and fruits also dropped considerably. These three train lines, whether in the early 1960s or during the period of the Cultural Revolution, did not stop and continued on for several decades, and these three trains were the good start of a political task undertaken to provide our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao with the long-term, balanced delivery of fresh and live rural goods.
In order to meet the passenger and freight transportation needs of africulture and adapt to the sporadic and scattered features of agricultural supplies, great effort was put into the task of strengthening the stations inbetween. At the start of the period of Adjustment, due to the large decline in rail traffic, when the train operating diagrams were being prepared several passing stations and operations stations were successively closed and shut down. (TRANS: 会让站 huirang zhan. A station at the end of a passing siding or loop section of track that controls the entrance and exit of trains from the passing track. The text does not explain if the sidings were closed or if the stations were closed because of automatic signals or double-track was built. ECCERD P. 612. 营业站 yingye zhan. An Operating station. A station that handles external business activities, that is a station the handles the daily business operations for the transportation of passengers and freight. A business office that handles freight shipping orders and sells tickets. ECCERD p. 349, 688.) After implementing the decision to support agriculture, the Operating Stations that were already closed were gradually reopened according to the size of the volume of business. By the end of 1962, 31 less-than-carload trains had been added, 260 trains to pickup and drop off less-than-carload along the lines had been added, the station dwell time for cars at the inbetween stations was increased, and 46 offices to pickup and drop off passengers were added. (TRANS: 零担摘挂列车 lingdan zhai gua lieche; 旅客乘降所 lvke cheng jiang suo) By the end of 1963 on the entire railroad there were 127 stations added to handle freight shipments, 66 stations added to handle passenger business, and 258 stations to handle the transportation of chemical fertilizers and agricultural pesticides. The capital construction construction work unit by the end of 1962 had returned 11,000 mu of excess land (TRANS: 亩 mu. The mu is one-fifteenth of a hectare, or about 66.67 sq meters. http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E4%BA%A9.) to the people's communes that had been often requisitioned but seldom used, requisitioned early and used much later, or requisitioned but never used (TRANS: Zheng and in zhengdi 征地, to requisition land.) and also participated in a large number of projects to aid agriculture. In 1963 a total of 459 projects to aid agriculture were planned with a total investment of 11.31 million yuan, a total of 20 bridges were added to help agriculture, 9 bridges were widened or made higher, 428 rivers were dredged to lower the channel, 156 sidewalks were added to bridges, 362 drainage culverts were built or rebuilt, and 9865 train crossings were rebuilt. Each railroad bureau play an important role in several projects to aid agriculture that improved farm irrigation, and communications and transportation. Such as the 10 agricultural drainage projects already handed over and put into use by the Lanzhou Bureau, providing irrigation benefits to an area of 17,000 mu. The railroad industry experimented with the construction of compartmentalized less-than-carload trains, compartmentalized fertilizer trains, ventilated livestock cars, and five types of freight cars. (TRANS: 分格零担列车 fenge lingdan lie che. ) These measures all strongly aided agriculture.
The volume of railroad freight that supported agricultural supplies grew year after year and in 1965 reached 42.06 million tonnes, a 46.8% increase over 1962; the volume of textile supplies reached 28.95 tonnes, an increase of 61.7% over 1962.
In the summer of 1964, in response to the international situation at the time, the CCP Central Committee attached great importance to the problem of the economic tasks required to prepare for war. The beginning of the layout of the construction for a large-scale, strategic rear area (known as the Third Front) began. (TRANS: The Ministry of Railways has their own way of seeing this phrase as we will quickly see in the text that follows. See also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Front_%28China%29. ) Chairman Mao Zedong proposed the rallying cry of 'prepare for war, prepare for natural disaster for the sake of the people' for a war-preparedness movement that would rise up in all parts of the country to dig bomb shelters, train militia and mobilize resources to prepare for war. The Central Committee decided that the policy for construction in the first and second lines would be stop (stop construction on all new projects), reduce (to reduce current construction projects), move (move a portion of enterprises and institutions to the Third Front), divide (break some enterprises and institutions into two parts and move one of them to the Third Front), help (aid the Third Front enterprises techonological, equipment and other aspects with help from their counterparts). For the railroad the Three Lines of the Southwest were a part of the large-scale construction of a strategic rear area. These three railroads were, one, the 1090.9 kilometer long Cheng-Kun Railroad which starts in the north at Chengdu and connects with the two lines, Bao-Cheng and Cheng-Yu, and ends in the south at Kunming where it joins with the Gui-Kun and Kun-He lines; two, is the Chuan-Qian Railroad which extends 423.6 kilometers from the Xiao Nanhai station on the Cheng-Yu Line to the Guiyang Station, its northern section the hub of Chongqing where it converges with the Cheng-Yu and the planned Xiang-Yu railroad, the southern section entering the Guiyang hub and the connections to the Gui-Kun and Xiang-Qian railroads; three is the Gui-Kun Railroad, 639 kilometers from Guiyang South Station to the Kunming West Station, the Guiyang section links with the Xiang-Qian, Qian-Gui and Chuan-Qian lines while the Kunming section links with the Cheng-Kun and Kun-He lines. These three railroads are the important trunk lines in the Southwest rail network.
The three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan are very promising as an industrial base, an important interior area for economic construction and a strategic rear area for creating a more effective national defense. It does not matter if the resources are metallic ores and non-metallic ores or agriculture, forestry or irrigation, the provinces were all very rich. The mercury from the Tongren region of Guizhou, the tin from Gejiu in Yunnan and the copper of Dongchuan are all known throughout the world. The Panzhihua district in Sichuan Province with 9.28 billion tonnes of proven reserves of vanadium, titanium and magnetite ore. (TRANS: 钒钛磁铁 fan, tai, citie. Vanadium, titanium, magnetite Vanadium and Titanium are used as alloys in the making of steel. Magnetite is also used in steel making.) The Liupanshui coalfield of Qianxi can be called the 'ocean of coal' of the Southwest, with very high quality coal. The phosporous reserves in Central Guizhou and the area around Dianchi Lake in Yunnan are the highest in the entire country. (TRANS: Phosphorous is used in agriculture as a fertilizer and is also used in steel production. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Applications) The rebuilding of the Three Lines in the Southwesr had great significance for the increased effectiveness of the national defense, strengthened national unity, opened the resources of the Southwest for development and promoted the economic development of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.
In August of 1964, the CCP Central Committee decided that the central project to speed up the construction of the Southwest Rear Area would be "two bases and one line", the two bases being Chongqing serving as the industrial base for conventional weapons and Panzhihua serving as the industrial base for copper and iron while the one line was the rebuilding of the Cheng-Kun Railroad. Chairman Mao Zedong issued a call that "it is vital to quickly repair the Cheng-Kun line" and "it is also vital to quickly repair the Chuan-Qian and Gui-Kun railroads", as Premier Zhou Enlai personally made deployments of troops and commanders. (TRANS: http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E8%B0%83%E5%85%B5%E9%81%A3%E5%B0%86) On September 10th, the Southwest Railroad Construction General Headquarters was created (in Chengdu), with the First Secretary of the CCP Central Committee Southwest Bureau, Li Jingquan (TRANS: 李井泉), serving as General Director with Lü Zhengcao (吕正操), Liu Jianzhang (刘建章), Guo Weicheng (郭维城), Peng Min (彭敏), Zhang Yongli (张永励) and Xiong Yuzhong (熊宇忠) serving as Assistant Directors. It consisted of the Southwest Railroad Construction Site Headquarters (in Anshun) and a technical committee. At the Headquarters Site, Lü Zhengcao served as the Chief Officer (siling) and also as the Political Commissar, with Guo Weicheng as the Deputy Chief, Liu Jianzhang as Deputy Political Commissar, Li Guang (黎光) as Deputy Political Commissar and concurrent head of the Political Department (zhengzhibu zhuren), and Peng Min as the Chief Engineer as a unified leadership for the Railway Corps units, railroad workers and civilian workers that participated in the construction, specifically to direct the major "Three Lines/Third Front" campaign in the Southwest. Practice proves that: in the great Southwest Three Lines/Third Front campaign it is possibiel to concentrate forces to fight a war of annihilation, but in addition to central determination, harmony and the support of the entire country, the most critical part is at the very start to create structures of command that have the responsibility and power to centralize leadership, that have the ability to respond quickly, to decide quickly and obtain victory.
Acting Minister Lü Zhengcao, because of the illness of Ministry of Railways Minister Sheng Daiyuan (勝代远), presided over the ministry tasks and also concentrated on the "Three Lines/Third Front" construction. The responsibility for the everyday work of the Ministry of Railways was handled by Vice Minister Wu Jingtian (武竞天).
On September 12th of the same year, the Ministry of Railways produced the "Instructions Regarding the Speedup of Repair and Construction of the Southwest Railroads, Mobilize the Power of All the Roads to Support Survey, Design, and Construction Along with Related Issues", requiring the full support of the national railroad work units, so that before the end of October the engineering, and technical cadres and the workers had been qwuickly deployed to the work sites to complete the construction work together with the units of the railway corps. At the end of October there quickly gathered 181,000 people at the work sites to start construction.
The main forces participating in the campaign were the 2nd Engineering Bureau of the Ministry of Railways, the 1st, 5th, 7th, 8th and 10th Divisions of the Railway Corps, the Independent Mechanical Group and the Automotive Group, together with the 3rd Department of the Ministry of Railways 4th Engineering Bureau, the Bridge Engeneering Bureau, the Electrical Engineering Bureau, workers from the Chengdu and Kunming Railroad Bureaus, and other support groups, a large construction unit of 300,000 civilian workers along the rail lines, the image of a large-scale, organized, mechanized group of forces that was a first for the railroad.
In the terms of survey and design, the resources of the railroad were concentrated as the 2nd Design Institute was increased in size with the addition of over 4800 people organized into 3 Survey Lead Teams (TRANS: 勘测总队 kance zongdui), 17 Comprehensive Survey Teams (TRANS: 综合勘测队), 4 Geology Teams (TRANS: 地质队), 1 Precision Measurement Team (精密测量队), 4 Hydrology Groups (水文组), and 8 Site Design Groups (现场设计组). Among them were over 1,000 geological exploration personnel sent by the Ministry of Geology (TRANS: 地质部), who were responsible for parts of the Cheng-Kun line and the task of geological exploration for bridges. In terms of scientific research and technology, more than 1,200 scientific research and technical staff were brought together in the many national scientific research institutions, design, construction, machinery, manufacturing and operations work units that served as the building blocks of technical groups which studied and solved the separate technical problems of survey, design and construction.
The construction of the railroads of the Southwest, under the direct leadership of the CCP Central Committee, received strong support in all areas. From the army to the countryside, from the central ministries to the work units of the railroad, all supported the construction of the Three Lines/Third Front as an urgent political task, giving both their personnel and their resources with great determination and quick response. (TRANS ?? yao ren gei ren, yao wu gei wu) The three provinces of the Southwest established Support Committees and Offices at all level of local government that mobilized vast amounts of human and material resources; the materials sector prioritized the village materials and equipment; the Ministry of Coal, the Ministry of Metallurgy, the Ministry of Geology sent strong construction and geological teams; the Ministry of Water and Electrical Power (TRANS: 水电部 Shuidian bu) and the Fourth Department of Mechanical Industry (TRANS: 四机部 a shortened form for 第四机械工业部 For more information see http://123.125.115.53/view/4736340.htm ) each gave their support with phones for the trains, communications equipment and other needed supplies; the Railway Corps units of the PLA rapidly concentrated a superior force to put into battle, the General Logistics Department of the Central Military Commission transferred a large quantity of cotton clothes and dispatched the staff needed for radio transmitters and recording devices for both survey and design. (TRANS: The meaning of recording devices is problematic. The Chinese is 机报 jibao, for which I can find no translation. This is my best guess.) The Ministry of Railways held emergency meetings and established support offices to mobilize the forces of the entire railroad to support the Three Lines/Third Front construction. After several of the railroad bureaus received a transfer order, the bureau chief would immediately send people to help and oeversee the unit being transferred so that the hundreds and thousands of people being transferred had all shipped out within a week. (TRANS: ????) All of these measures made it much easier to quickly begin the projects.
Construction on the three railroads all started in 1958 but because of the
influence of the Great Leap Forward, financial and material resources could
not be guaranteed and so the work was halted. Before the construction campaign
the Cheng-Kun line was started three times and abandoned three times. During
the campaign, in order to complete a very tight schedule on time, hundreds of
thousands of road construction workers, military officers and men of the
Ministry of Railways Corps and civilian workers, with an attitude as if they
were preparing for battle, for one long year after another endured life in the
wild working night and day against the clock, paid with their hard labor.
(TRANS:
常年累月 chang nian lei yue - Taken from the historical
novel, "Xiao Cheng Qunqiu" by Gao Yunlan. http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E9%AB%98%E4%BA%91%E8%A7%88.
风餐露宿 feng can lu su - literally, eating
in the wind and sleeping in the dew. Taken from a line in the 18th Century
novel, Rulin wai Shi, translated as "The Unofficial History of the Scholars".
It both describes and satirizes the life of Confucian scholars during the
Qing Dynasty. See http://www.zdic.net/c/e/2b/68596.htm and also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scholars_%28novel%29.)
In order to ensure the financial and material resource needs of the construction of the Three Lines/Third Front, in April of 1965 the Ministry of Railways issued the "Decision About Strict Control of Railroad Capital Construction" that with the exception of the Three Lines/Third Front construction projects, provided that all other capital construction projects should no longer be added. This then allowed the financial and material resources for the construction of the Three Lines to be concentrated and deployed to the battlefield more rapidly and very quickly produced results. But this had an even larger impact on the transformation of existing lines.
The results of the campaign: on July 8, 1965 construction on the Chuan-Qian line was completed, on March 4, 1966 construction on the Gui-Kun line was completed, and one after the other handed over to begin operations. Because of the influence of the Cultural Revolution, the Cheng-Kun line had work halted and it was not until 1970 that construction was completed.
This large campaign with the Cheng-Kun line as its central component that account for about 80% of the work of the entire campaign, was the first dieselized railroad that China designed on its own, built on its own and used it own technology and equipment.
The Cheng-Kun line is an outstanding examples of optimized rail line design and won national awards for design excellence. For such a detailed design, the survey and design personnel had a large amount of geological work to perform. Over a vast expanse, they conducted geological surveys of about 1,500 square kilometers, drilled about 212,000 meters in geological drilling, excavated about 13,000 meters, and physically explored some 500 sites in a variety of over 10,000 engineering geological tests in both the lab and in the field, proposing one design optimization after another until finally one for the line that was to be repaired was chosen from over 300 proposals. For example, the route from Jinkouhe (金口河) to Daolinzi (道林子) was originally designed to meander along the Dadu River (大渡河), a long and winding route that extended for 16.6 kilometers passing through over 8 kilometers of a section of land with great geological complexity. After a construction unit of the 2nd Engineering Bureau performed site surveys, analysis and comparisons, they recommended the use of the 6,107 meter long Guancun Dam tunnel (关村坝隧道 See http://bike.baidu.com/view/905082.htm.) to reduce curves and straighten the line, shortening the rail line to 10.1 kilometers, eliminating 25 curves and a station, straightening the line in a single project that both avoided the difficult terrain and ensured construction and operational safety. To cross the fast flowing Dadu and Jinsha Rivers (金沙江 Jinsha Jiang) a design was produced that called for a 192 meter long steel girder bridge with a main span of 144 meters. For leap across the Ying River (迎水河) and the steep valley of the Anning River (安宁河) they utilized a bolt welded steel truss bridge with a main span of 112 meters. In order to overcome the dramatic changes in terrain height, in Naituo, Lewu, Fala and other places there were 7 rail line designs that went around the mountains. (Naituo zhen http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%83%E6%89%98%E9%95%87 Lewuzhan http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%90%E6%AD%A6%E7%AB%99 Fala Bridge http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B3%95%E6%8B%89%E5%A4%A7%E6%A1%A5) Designing the line to avoid areas with difficult geology, the Niuri River was crossed 13 times, the Sunshui River was crossed 3 times, the Anning River was crossed 8 times and the Longmen River was crossed 47 times and other tributaries, using bridges, tunnels, retaining walls and other engineering methods to guarantee the stability of the rail tracks. (牛日河 Niu'ri River 孙水河 Sunshui River 安宁河 An'ning River 龙门江 Longmen River ) With the construction of the Cheng-Kun railroad, the technology of railroad design ascended to a new level.
At the start of the campaign, the worksite headquarters (TRANS: gongdi zhihuibu) specifically produced the "Decision Regarding the Adoption and Development of New Technology on the Cheng-Kun Line" (TRANS: 关于成昆线采用和发展新技术的决定 Guanyu Cheng Kun Xian caiyong he fazhan xin jishu de jueding) determined to transform the backwardness of Chinese railway technology, equipment and construction technology in the areas of traction power, signals and communications, track construction, the earthwork of bridges and tunnels, as well as various aspects of rapid construction with the deliberate use and adoption of new technologies, new devices and new methods of construction. In order to utilitze the new technologies, over 1,200 scientific and technical personnel from the entire country were organized into over 40 groups to conduct research on 65 new technology projects. They relied on these highly trained scientists and technicians, who in the end had the ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the seven tasks of research, testing, design, manufacture, inspection, installation and use, and had the responsibility to decide on the necessary funds, materials and equipment with the constuction units for new projects to be included included in the engineering plans. The construction teams also had a high degree of mechanization, equipped during the campaign with a variety of over 20,000 construction machines and trucks, the acquisition cost of which was more than 400 million yuan. And so these two groups (TRANS: scientists and technicians) guaranteed the achievement of numerous technical and scientific advances in a short span of time. Some examples of these are the use in 37 long and large tunnels of the full-face excavation method, shotcrete technology, the laying of monolithic track bed, in the Ming Cave other types of new lightweight construction techniques were adopted and used; (TRANS: \ 全断面开挖法 quan duan mian kawa fa. Full-face excavation method where the the entire diameter area of the tunnel is excavated in many cases by a tunnel boring machine. http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/tunnel3.htm 喷锚 penmao. Shotcrete a method of applying concrete by spraying it on through a pressurized hose. Also known as gunite or shotcrete. In tunnel construction the shotcrete is used to stabilize a tunnel section and line the walls after it has been excavated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotcrete http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels#Sprayed_concrete_techniques http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/tunnel/pubs/nhi09010/index.cfm 铺设整体道床 pushe zhengti daochuang Monolithic or one-piece track bed. http://www.yourpaper.net/article/20090331/113770.html http://www.scientific.net/AMM.405-408.3081 Cannot find references for 明峒 Ming Dong, Ming Cave. ) in the area of bridge construction, there was the use of the cantilevered assembly of prestressed concrete beams, light-weight bridge piers, long spans and other new techniques; (TRANS: 预应力混凝土梁 yu yingli hunningtu liang. 轻型墩台 qingxing dun tai.) in the area of equipment, there was the dieselization of traction power for the new high efficiency engines and locomotive depots for inspection and repair, train stations were equipped with centralized eletrical equipment, large integrated 300-channel carrier telephone systems with small coaxial cable; in traffic control, there was a gradual process of installing advanced, centralized electronic control equipment and wireless train control, (TRANS: 无线列调 wuxian liediao http://baike.baidu.com/view/3627028.htm) with the construction of a network of high-voltage transmission lines and mutually supporting power stations to generate, transform and distribute power. The Cheng-Kun lines utilized various new technologies and was the first Chinese railroad to do so.
During the construction process, to overcome all kinds of unimaginable natural obstacles all kinds of technical measures were called up in what was a great episode in the human conquest of nature. In order to overcome the tremendous changes in mountainous terrain ensuring the line has a large transportation capacity, long tunnel momentum grades and appropriate method combinations for line improvement were adopted. (TRANS: jia li po - afterburner slope - http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1948975310 A momentum grade used to assist a train in ascending a grade. It is a short, steep slope used as a line improvement to reduce the ruling grade of a section of track. "Railway Track and Track Work", E.E.R. Tratman, 1908, p.386 Google Books ) Within the 120 kilometer segment from Ganluo (TRANS: 甘洛 Ganluo County in southern Sichuan Province.) to Xide that (TRANS: 喜德 Xide County in southern Sichuan Province.) passed through the watershed of the Minjiang River and the Yalong River, (TRANS: 岷江 Minjiang 雅砻江 Yalong) there were 4 line improvements to move around mountains, 66 kilometers of tunnel reapirs, 10 kilometers of bridges, a 50 kilometer detour and ascended to an altitude of over 2200 meters. From Xide south to enter the Anning River valley descending the Jinsha River valley at an elevation of 1000 meters, then line improvements around another three mountains to then ascend to an altitude of 1900 meters and the Yunnan Plateau. The Jinsha River valley is an area famous for its geologic faults, an earthquake zone with quakes from 7 to 9 on the Richter scale, there are rock slides, piles of loose rock, landslides, mudslides, areas of fine gravel and more. Because of the complexity of the geology it was called a 'geological museum'. There were many diseases and hidden dangers along the way, for example the old landslides at Ganluo, Biewula and other places, (TRANS: Ganluo Ganluo County in Sichuan province Biewula - Cannot locate.) the ancient talus slopes of Lianchi, Laimaoshan and other areas (in general, the talus was several hundreds of thousands of cubic meters), (TRANS: Lianchi - Lotus Pond Laimaoshan - http://geology.about.com/od/geoprocesses/ig/mechweathering/talus.htm) the mudslides of the Heisha river, the Baisha ravine and other areas (when they occurred, each slide could pour down 100 cubic meters of debris), (TRANS: Heishahe Baishagou) for large projects with complex technology, when the road must be built these must all be properly taken into consideration and dealt with. Blasting technology progressed from Cast Blasting to Directional Blasting, Balanced Volume Blasting, Bidirectional Fixed Quantity Blasting and other techniques, as a single blast could move up to hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of earth, moving mountains and filling valleys to immensely improve the efficiency of labor. (TRANS: 抛掷爆破 Cast Blasting 定向爆破 Directional Blasting 体积平衡爆破 Balanced Volume Blasting 双向定量定向爆破 Bidirectional Fixed Quantity Directional Blasting It is difficult to find the correct English technical terms. Blasting technology is a very specialized field and also very difficult to find references for. These terms were suggested by Chinese references found on the web. )
During the rebuilding and construction of long, large tunnels, due to the variety of the terrain and the impact of complex geological conditions, during the construction this inevitably led to a wide variety of unanticipated geological formations. For example, in some sections layers of broken and loose rock was encountered that could lead to a large number of landslides; in some tunnels rock bursts occurred, with pieces of rock and fine dust-like powder shooting in all directions endangering personal safety; in some places large amounts of water would gush out and with the sediment would have an impact on construction; there were high temperatures in some of the caves and harmful gases or gas explosions posed a major threat to the construciton workers; some tunnels went through areas of soft rock and created problems with the uplift of lower rock layers or sinking and other problems; and in still other tunnels underground caverns were discovered in the limestone rock, underground rivers, voids in the foundation or openings in the ceiling of the tunnel and other situations. The workers and engineers who built the tunnels, through teamwork, and overcoming difficulties accumulated a wealth of experience that improved their technical abilities and in project after project surmounted the daunting technical complexity of tunnel construction.
The most difficult construction task is digging tunnels and building bridges in
the complex geology of mountains. On the mountain slopes as the rail line
criss-crossed from east to west, the rock layers could be unstable with some
that were as hard as steel and others that collapsed with a single jolt like
a cave of soft rock. The climate was variable with the temperatures varying
wildly, some places as hot as ovens, other places cold as ice, and there were
also cave rivers that surged with spring storms. But as with any construction
task, the officers and men of the Railway Corps, the managers and workers of
the railroad braved the bitter cold and boiling heat to excavate the rock,
sometimes working in waist-deep water, continuously setting new records for
boring the tunnels. In March of 1965, the Guancunba Tunnel in a month
achieved more than 100 meters of tunneling and for this the CCP Central
Committee sent them a congratulatory telegram, and afterwards the numbers
gradually increased until finally they created a new record of excavating
400 meters in a month.
(TRANS:
http://bbs.voc.com.cn/topic-5474744-1-1.html Congratulatory Message
中共中央
关于关村坝隧道创纪录的贺电
西南铁路建设总指挥部转
全体官兵、职工同志们：
看到指挥部13号简报，说关村坝隧道创造了双口各百米的记录，并
且向双口各一百五十米的目标前进，中央看了之后很高兴。望全体干部
和全体兵、工，加倍努力，保质保量，注意安全措施，争取创造新纪
录，为加快建成西南三条铁路而斗争。
The CCP Central Committee
congratulatory telegram about the Guancunba Tunnel breaking a record
Sent to the Southwest Railroad Construction Headquarters
To all officers and men, managers and employees Comrades:
Upon reading Briefing No. 13 from the Headquarters which spoke of the Guancunba
tunnel breaking the 100 meter record for each track,
and of the progress made toward reaching the goal of 150 meters, the Central
Committee was pleased after reading this. It hopes that all of the cadres
and all of the troops and workers will redouble their efforts, maintain
quality and quantity, pay attention to safety measures, and strive to set
new records,
in order to speed the completion of the struggle to build the three railroad
lines in the Southwest.
See also, http://baike.baidu.com/view/905082.htm. The tunnel runs from Jinshahe
Train Station to Guancunba Train Station on a single line track that was cut
into the side of Xiaowa Mountain, (the exit was two rail lines in a horn-shaped
wye-switch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_switch, see Wye Switch. )
In the struggle with tunnel collapses, many men were injured and some even
sacrificed their lives. Construction in the harsh complex of geology,
topography, climate and other natural environments relied on technology to
succeed, for without a high level of technical guidance, without powerful tools
and technical workers it is a situation in which you cannot do anything. The
Cheng-Kun Railroad was an outstanding technological achievement and showed great
abilities, in 1985 it was awarded a prize for National Scientific and
Technological Progress. The Chinese government presented an ivory carving of
the Cheng-Kun Line as a gift to the United Nations, and up to the present
this work of art is still at the United Nations to show to the world the
wisdom and strength of the Chinese people.
The places that the three railroads of the Southwest passed thru were lands of
high mountains, great rivers and swift streams, the terrain was steep and the
geology and complex, it rained every year and the clouds and fog enveloped the
land in a haze. The vast scale, the demanding engineering, the high degree of
technical difficulty, the troublesome risks overcome were all rarely seen in the
history of railroad construction. The Cheng-Kun line goes through very
dangerous and complex landforms, it goes through the Sichuan basin, crossing
mountains to reach the three geographic units of the Yun-Gui Plateau (TRANS:
The Yunnan Guizhou Plateau.), continuously circling around tall mountains and
deep valleys. Some sections were very dangerous, such as 'a strip of sky',
'the mouth of the tiger', 'monkey climbing rock', 'a step of sorrow' and
others on the banks of the Dadu River.
(TRANS:
一线天 yi xian tian
老虎嘴 laohu zui
猴爬岩 hou pa yan
一步苦 yi bu ku
)
Some people describe it here: "Uphill into the clouds, downhill to river's
edge, two people can speak, one day they might meet."
(TRANS:
http://www.dili360.com/cng/article/p5350c3d65b99f02.htm
http://www.360doc.com/content/13/0816/01/13524232_307470397.shtml
)
The Niupo and Hongfeng Train Stations on the Niurihe River are separated by a
straight-line distance of 7 kilometers but a difference in elevation of up
to 142 meters and the rail line had to have a slope of 16‰ so among
the mountains it wrapped around to form the shape of a pair of glasses.
(TRANS:
牛日河 Niurihe River
泥坡车站 Niupo Mud Slope
红峰车站 Hongfeng Red Peak
The ‰ symbol is the permille and represents per thousand. A slope of
16‰ would rise 16 meters every kilometer.
三叠交叉 san die jiaocha
)
Within the 7 kilometer span that the track connected there were 6 medium and
large bridges, 11 tunnels and these bridges and tunnels accounted for 67% of
the length of the track. The 6379 meter long Shamulada tunnel was at the time
the country's longest tunnel built in the entire nation; the 1817 meter long
Qingyijiang bridge was the longest bridge along the entire line; the 56 meter
high pier of the Mimalong Number 5 bridge made it the tallest bridge on the
entire line and in 1978 it won the National Science and Technology Award;
the 54 meter long 'a strip of sky' stone bridge was the stone bridge with the
largest span in all of China at the time, was built in only 99 days and was
named the model engineering project for the entire line; the 192 meter span
Jinsha River bridge had the widest span for a steel truss bridge on China's
railroads at the time.
(TRANS:
沙木拉达隧道 Shamulada bridge - Samut lada ??
Also called Shamalada.
青衣江大桥 Qingyijiang Daqiao
密马龙5号桥 Mimalong 5 Hao Qiao
http://baike.baidu.com/view/259141.htm Yi xian tian Qiao.
)
Along the 58 kilometers of track from Jinkouhe to Aidai
(TRANS: 埃袋 Aidai)
there were 44 tunnels, making it into a veritable underground railroad or subway
train. With the construction of tunnels and bridges representing 65.8% of
the project investment, this was unprededented in the history of Chinese
railroad construction. According to incomplete statistics, on the entire
line there were more than 180 locations of relatively large landslides, over
300 landslide debris flow gullies, more than 500 dangerous rock fall locations
and over 2000 rock piles. These all represented tremendous construction
problems. In several places because no location could be found for a station
the station had to be built on a bridge or in a tunnel and of the 122 stations
on the line there were 41 such stations.
The two railroad projects, Chuan-Qian and Gui-Kun, were also extremely difficult. The track along the Chuan-Qian route was geologically complex, in Sichuan the karst limestone areas were common, in Guizhou there were several mountainous areas and steep terrain with the fast flowing waters of the Wu River and the Chishui River cutting deep valleys between the slopes of the Dalou Mountains, a rugged and wild area that since ancient times had blocked communications. (TRANS: 乌江 Wujiang. 赤水河 Chishuihe in the Southwest, not to be confused with the Chishuihe in Shaanxi to the north. 大娄山 Dalou Shan, the Dalou Mountains that run northeast to southwest on the Yunan-Guizhou plateau. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalou_Mountains) After the Chuang-Qian line passed through Mengdu, because of the sharp rise in the elevation of the terrain at Maanshan the line slowly climbed and then went through a 4270 meter long tunnel in the Liangfenya watershed, and after passing through Tongzi, again went through a 2147 meter long tunnel through the Loushanguan watershed. (TRANS:蒙渡 Mengdu Station in Mengdu Xian, Guizhou. 马鞍山 Maan Shan 凉风垭 Liangfengya http://baike.baidu.com/view/150689.htm http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E5%87%89%E9%A3%8E%E5%9E%AD%E9%93%81%E8%B7%AF%E9%9A%A7%E9%81%93 桐梓 Tongzi 娄山关 Loushanguan) The Shrimp Cave Tunnel passes through the most limestone caves and has a total length of 1411 meters. (TRANS: 虾子洞隧道 Xiazidong Suidao) When an underground river was found inside a cave during construction and a section was for the most part parallel to the centreline of the tunnel or the body of the intermittenly intersecting or tangent this resulted in tunnels where some had sections where the sidewalls were problems, some where the underground river passed below the tunnel creating tunnel floors that were too thin and could not in normal circumstances meet the strength required for rail foundations. After repeated studies the construction and design personnel came up with several special approaches: at some the voids in the side walls and the bottom were filled in with mortared rubble, at some reinforced concrete beams of different lengths were placed over over the underground river or a stone arch bridge was built over the underground river and then over the arch bridge another bridge frame was built. The special engineering project was if there was a river inside the cave then over the river an arch was built, and on the arch a bridge was built, and on the bridge the track was laid.
The Gui-Kun line wandered through the Wumeng Mountains with their steep terrain, numerous cliffs and precipices, a complex terrain and many undergound rivers in limestone caves, especially so with the Yanjiaozhai, Meihuashan and other tunnels that went through coal seams containing large amounts of gas, limestone caves proliferated with vast amounts of gushing water so the engineering here was also extremely difficult. (TRANS: 乌蒙山 Wumengshan http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%8C%E8%92%99%E5%B1%B1 One of the important mountain ranges of the Yunnan Guizhou Plateau. 岩脚寨 Yanjiaozhai http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B2%A9%E8%84%9A%E5%AF%A8%E7%AB%99 梅花山 Meihuashan http://baike.baidu.com/view/1229723.htm )
The Cheng-Kun Railroad captured the attention of the world. When it was completed a total of 96.88 million cubic meters of earth and rock had been excavated, with 427 tunnels with a total length of 344.7 kilometers, 9 of which were over 3 kilometers long, and 2 over 6 kilometers. Along the entire line there were 991 bridges with a total length of 106.9 kilometers. The total length of the bridges and tunnels was 451.6 kilometers, representing some 41% of the length of the total track. The completion of this ambitious and difficult engineering project was a singular feat in the history of China's railroads.
To complete the Chuan-Qian line required the excavation of 49.49 million cubic meters of earth and rock, 115 tunnels and open cut tunnels that had a total length of 34.3 kilometers, 125 bridges with a total length of 10.1 kilometers with the main line having 389 kilometers of track laid. (TRANS: 明洞 Mingdong - Open cut tunnel. http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E6%B4%9E) The key engineering projects were the bridge on the Baisha branch of the Yangtze River, the Wujiang Bridge, the Liangfengya tunnel and the Shrimp Cave tunnel. When completed the Gui-Kun line excavated 65.51 million cubic meters of earth and rock, had 187 tunnels with a total length of 80 kilometers, 301 bridges with a total length of 20 kilometers, and a main track of 644 kilometers. The key engineering projects were the Yanjiaozhai and Meihuashan tunnels.
As early as the late 19th Century when the Imperialist Powers were attempting to carve up China, the English wanted to build a railroad from Shanghai to Sichuan to Burma. The two countries of the USA and France also sent men to conduct field surveys but both failed to act. Later during the 1930s and 1940s, the Nationalist government also sent men to carry out surveys, but because of the tall mountains and steep valleys the complex geology and difficult engineering it was brought to a halt. The Imperialists and the Guomindang government for several decades hoped for a Third Line engineering project in the Southwest but gave up, now in a great campaign victory was achieved!
At the same time the pace of construction on the Three Southwest Lines was stepped up, in order to promote the technological transformation of the railroad and meet the needs of national economic development, the reform of motive power was included in the urgent agenda.
The "Twelve-year Plan to Develop Railroad Science and Technology" developed by the Ministry of Railways in 1956 proposed: "The central link in technology policy is the transformation of motive power with the quick step by step transition from steam locomotives to electric and diesel locomotives." The electrification and dieselization of motive power was to be the foundation of railroad modernization. The modernization of railroad motive power would influence traffic systems, command systems, road maintenance, construction, freight handling and other aspects to promote the comprehensive development of new railroad technology. The first attempt at the reform of motive power was in 1958, in 1962 the policy of motive power reform was identified as "pursue both diesel and electric locomotives, with the emphasis on diesel", and with regards the development of diesel locomotives it was determined that the approach would be "high-speed and medium-speed diesel engines simultaneously, electric transmissions and hydraulic transmissions simultaneously" and also determined that the three factories, Dalian, Sifang, and Qishuyan would be the main force to strengthen the testing and production research of the diesel locomotive.
In August of 1963, the State Council approved the creation of the National Power Leadership Team for the Dieselization and Electrification of Motive Power. (TRANS:国家大功率牵引动力 内燃化、电力化 领导小组 http://bbs.tianya.cn/post-333-124898-73.shtml) The Team Leader was Lü Zhengcao, the Acting Minister of Railways, the Deputy Team Leaders were Chai Shufan and Fan Muhan whose members included the National Economic Commission, the National Science and Technology Commission, the First, the Third, the Fifth, the Sixth, Construction, Chemicals, Metallurgy, Oil, Supplies and the responsible persons from other ministries participated. (TRANS: 吕正操 Lü Zhengcao http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%95%E6%AD%A3%E6%93%8D. 柴树藩 Chai Shufan 范慕韩 Fan Muhan First - http://baike.baidu.com/view/2137375.htm Third Machinery Industry Ministry - Aviation Fifth Machinery Industry Ministry - Armaments Sixth Machinery Industry Ministry - Shipbuilding ) The leadership of the Team was responsible for the formulation of technology policy and research and development of diesel and electric locomotives to help solve the problems of development. After the creation of the leadership group, the pace of development quickened. At this time the National Economic Commission decided that diesel and electric locomotives would be classified as the key projects of national new product trials. In order to ensure the supply of raw materials, the National Planning Commission put the annual diesel and electric locomotive test production into the National Production Plan. In 1964 the Ministry of Railways, regarding the construction of the Three Lines, and the diesel locomotive trials and the rapid implementation of mass production, made this the priority for future work, concentrating all energy in the "Three Lines, One Machine" campaign.
(TRANS: Maybe changed National Econ Comm to State Econ Comm???) In early 1964, the National Economic Commission approved the organization of a campaign to produce diesel locomotives with the main battlefield being the three factories of Dalian, Sifang, and Qishuyan. Because of its central importance all aspects were given strong support and the leadership team strengthened the organization and the leadership while those who participated in the trials, the researchers, workers and cadre, promoted self-reliance and the spirit of hard work to solve scientific problems one after the other, and to conquer technical difficulties one after the other. At the end of 1964 a total of 4 types and 9 diesel locomotives were completed and the research and development resulted in breakthroughs. The first was a prototype developed by the Dalain factory with a 2000 horsepower, electric transmission diesel locomotive that could be used as a main line, freight locomotive; the second was a 1200 horsepower, electric transmission diesel locomotives with the main trials at the Qishuyan factory, that was suitable for switching and short-distance transportation; the third was a 2000 horsepower, hydraulic transmission diesel locomotive that could be used for main line passenger service; the fourth was a 600 horsepower, hydraulic transmission diesel that was suitable for switching and for special use in industry and mining. (TRANS: Dalian Diesel-electric 2000 hp DF series 1540 Kw qishuyan diesel-electric 1200 hp 925 qishuyan diesel-hydraulic 2000 hp DFH1 series 1540 sifang diesel-hydraulic 600 hp DFH3 460 ???) These four types of diesel locomotives beginning in May of 1964 were one after the other were put through tests and the perfomance of the engines was basically good. The campaign to build diesel locomotives was victorious, going from imitation to their own design, from research and development it was about to enter into mass production. (TRANS: China bought foreign diesels to study their design. Russia Eastern Bloc)
Diesel locomotives are a type of large, precision product, with a highly integrated technology, and a complex architecture that requires collaboration in the organization of production, scientific research and technology. At the start of the campaign, the National Economic Commission and the National Planning Commission quickly organized national collaborative meetings that organized 9 ministries and over 100 enterprises and scientific research work units to implement designated research projects according to a unified schedule. The National Science and Technology Commission would develop motive power for the railroads by integrating a focus on research planning, the organizing of technical cooperation and help with the introduction of new technologies. In the course of the research process, to closely integrate scientific research and the production of prototypes, the Academy of Railway Sciences, the various locomotive and rolling stack institutes and researchers from professional institutions left their Ivory Towers to participate in the campaign. (TRANS: 下楼出院 Xia lou chu yuan. Went downstairs to leave the hospital. I took this to mean that they left their academic focus to get involved. So 'left their Ivory Towers' seemed a good way to convey this idea.) Thus the Beijing Industrial Institute and the Sifang factory together spent 8 months performing hundreds of tests on 8 types of starting torque converters were put through hundreds of tests that resulted in 123 performance curves to ensure the quality of the torque converter. (TRANS: 起动液力变扭器 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_converter) The diesel engine crankshaft casting technology was an important aspect of the testing as metallurgy workers and technicians spent day and night studying both before and after trials of over 30 iron alloys, analyzing 1200 test bars and after performing thousands of tests were finally successful.
After two years of the great campaign, the locomotive trials and production base were almost completed, nearly ten thousand had been chosen and trained, with motivation, ambition and high spirits possessing a level of understanding of trial production, maintenance and the use of teams, collaboration items on over 100 mechanical and electrical products had been implemented, a nationwide collaborative network was organized for product cooperation and three-pronged technical integration, with breakthroughs in the testing and development technology of key components, the campaign's progress greatly exceeded the original concept and in another year mass production would begin. (TRANS: Long, long sentence.) In 1965 the monthly production capacity for diesel locomotives went from 2 at the start of the year and increased to 7, 48 diesel locomotives being built during the entire year and 50 large diesel engines which greatly exceeded the requirements of the campaign. These locomotives officially served in transportation and their performance was generally good. At the same time mass production began, the goal of "march to the world's advanced level" was proposed and so began the prototype production of a diesel locomotive with a new type of high speed diesel engine with hydraulic transmission and 4000 horsepower, and a diesel locomotive with a new type of medium speed diesel engine with an electric transmission and 3500-4000 horsepower. (TRANS: You can increase horsepower by increasing the rpms but I am not quite certain what is meant by high speed/medium speed. Is it the locomotive or the diesel engine that is high speed?) According to this goal, in the days that followed mass production had already been achieved. (TRANS: ????)
This campaign laid the foundation for the further development of China Railroad's locomotive industry.
At the same time as this, the development and production of electric locomotives progressed, from 1958 to 1965 the Zhuzhou Locomotive and Car Works staged consecutive trials on 5 electric locomotives but in spite of this, these locomotives could not enter service because of the existence of serious quality problems but the foundation for mass production in the early 1980s had been laid. Generally speaking, the development of electric locomotives, due to the influence of the Cultural Revolution, energy shortages and indecisive decision-making, led to an unsatisfactory rate of progress in its early development.
After the remarkable economic achievements made following the period of Adjustment, using the national inspiration of Learning from Daqing, Learning from the People's Liberation Army, and especially Learning from Lei Feng to foster new practices, Party Practice, People's Practice, and Railroad Practice, the opportunity presented by the good conditions prompted the Party Committee of the Ministry of Railways to propose: "we want that the railroad workers become a highly conscious, strictly disciplined, modern technological railroad force that serves the people with the whole hearts like the People's Liberation Army, that rail construction becomes championed by the masses, ensuring the high quality and efficiency of national economic development and the need of national defense, a railroad of the people." (TRANS: xue daqing xue jiefanjun xue lei feng Learning from best practice, a popular topic in business. dang feng, min feng, lu feng) To this end the Ministry of Railways, while organizing the nation to learning from the People's Liberation Army, using the power of careful investigation and lessons learned, established models for the sector and with these exemplary role models, accelerate the construction of the railroad teams.
The Ministry of Railways, with great fanfare, established on the national railroads the three models: the Sun Jia Track Maintenance Work Areas, the New People's Train Stations, and the Mao Zedong Locomotive Team. (TRANS: 孙家养路工区 Sun Jia Yanglu Gongqu 新民车站 Xinmin Chezhan 毛泽东号机车组 Mao Zedong hao jiche zu)
The best work area on the Da-Zheng line was ... the Sun Jia Track Maintenance Work Area. In the early Liberation period, the track under the jurisdiction of this work area was in very serious condition and the quality was very poor. In order to solve a serious problem with frost damage the workers conducted a series of tests, studying the moisture content of various soils where freezing occurred, to find the cause of the frost damage, and with the spirit of the "foolish old man, who moves mountains" after seven or eight years of effort the soil was replaced in the damage prone sections. (TRANS: Ground frost can create dangerous conditions on rail tracks by causing the soil to shift and heave. This changes the alignment of the rails which can lead to cars derailing. When frost damage occurs, the section of track will have weight and speed restrictions imposed to decrease the chance of derailment. http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/maintenance/winter_conditions/ground_frost) (TRANS: 愚公移山 The foolish old man who moves mountains or the fool who moved mountains, an idiomatic expression with a meaning similar to "where there is a will, there is a way" in English. Persistence in the face of adversity. http://www.tingvoa.com/html/20100730/24067.html http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E6%84%9A%E5%85%AC%E7%A7%BB%E5%B1%B1/52291) At the same time they added alkali soil along the track shoulders, removed roadside dunes and planted a large number of trees to remedy the severe shortage of grass and sand damage. The maintenance on the line was always deliberate, meticulous, asking themselves to adhere to higher then the highest standards, moved by the spirit of the models. (TRANS: 争取格上格，多做活外活 has me stumped!! p.356 ) Since 1954 there had been 35 quarterly rail car inspections of the track that found zero defects, which remains the best result. (TRANS: Since 35 quarterly inspections since 1954 represents 8 and 3 quarter years so the time span was roughly 1954 to 1963.) Even a nail or a piece of wood that is state property is cherished, more than ten years seems like just a day as they developed the good habits of self-reliance, hard work, difficult struggle, thrift and savings. The family members of the Sun Jia Work Area workers were also frugal in their housekeeping and loved the railroad like their family, looking after the lives of the workers, encouraged them with their whole heart and mind to well maintain the tracks.
In October of 1963, the Ministry of Railways Party Committee produced the "Decision Regarding the Entire Railroad Learning from the Sun Jia Railroad Maintenance Work Areas", and held a Site Meeting at Zhangwu (TRANS: in Liaoning Province) where the Ministry of Railways awarded the Sun Jia Work Area the "Best Work Area on the Da-Zheng Line" banner. (TRANS: http://baike.baidu.com/subview/567792/14521322.htm A red silk, brocade banner that was awarded in October of 1963. http://finance.ifeng.com/a/20131102/10995943_0.shtml.) After the meeting the entire railroad carried out learn from the Sun Jia work area activities, whose high standards and strict requirements became a guide to action for all the rail workers but especially those workers who maintained the tracks.
The best People's train station - the Xinmin Train Station. When the workers of the Xinmin Station created the mindset of putting their hearts and minds into serving the people, honestly becoming the servants of the people, they created the best experience to serve the people. They all had deep feelings for the working people, and everything they did was for their sake and for the convenience of passengers and shippers everywhere. They learned many of the commonly used dialects, collected the addresses of the agencies, businesses, schools, communes and service industries in the entire county, learned the walking routes, office hours and other information in order to answer the passenger questions from the farmers and those who came for the first time to a New People's Station; based on the needs of those who traveled for a living they made their own small tools for the passengers to use; encountering those who wanted to ship goods but did not understand the procedures they would help them with the procedures; if they saw unqualified packaging then then helped to fix it, if it was found that something at the station was unreasonable they then took the initiative to propose a change at the station. They took the problems of the passengers and cargo shippers to be their own problems, always working tirelessly to try and help. If they saw elderly or frail passengers they would then lend a hand to get them on the train or off at the station; ill passengers were treated with enthusiastic care; for blind passengers there was an warm welcome and send off; in order to solve the challenges of deaf and mute passengers who traveled by rail car, they also learned sign language. For the deaf-mute, they produced passenger tickets and selected station tables. They respected the people's property (TRANS: The station was the people's property.) with the supplies required by the station, not matter if it was day or night, wind or rain as well as whether or not delivery procedures were carried out, all was handled with care. In the handling of luggage and freight things became scattered but they were all gathered up one by one and returned to their owners. They loved the work and loved the team, worked diligently and considered the station to be their home. This is the Xinmin station - a spirit of love for the people, pleasure in helping others, wholeheartedly serving the people which fully reflect the new realationship between people under the socialist system, reflecting the ethos of a new era, and the purpose and nature of the people of the railroad. On June 16, 1964 the Party Committee of the Ministry of Railways issued the "Decision Concerning the Entire Railroad Learns from Xinmin Station", on June 18 the Ministry of Railways held an assembly in Xinmin County in Liaoning Province and awarded Xinmin Station the "People's Best Station" banner. The Ministry's Party Committee called on all of the railroad workers to diligently study Xinmin Train Station and the spirit of wholeheartedly serving the people, becoming loyal servants of the people, do a good job of running the people's railroad, promote the further development of the Bi-Xue-Gab-Bang Movement by means of the goals of the "Five Goods" allowing the railroad to even better meet the needs of industrial and agricultural production, the construction of the national defense, and the people.
The Assigned Crew Team of the Mao Zedong Locomotive that is forever at the forefront. The Mao Zedong locomotive for 18 years had carried out its transportation role every year being faster and more economical. After the sixth time the traction quota was increased, they were able to maintain the axle overloading and carry a total of over 680,000 tonnes of extra axle weight; (TRANS: The tonnage quota a train could pull on a route. A load rating.) with over 1.63 million kilometers of safe operation, while saving coal, oil and supplies for the country as it supported the War of Liberation and the cause of socialist construction which made for an excellent contribution. They dared to sturggle, dared to believe in victory no matter the difficulties or dangers, they were forever at the forefront. With their high sense of responsibility, no matter what they did, they were serious and never careless. For a long time they had insisted on implementing the responsibility system, training hard in basic skills for what was a hard life. They looked at the big picture and when collaborating with other work units they always took the difficult for themselves, leaving the easier for others. This Assigned Crew Team not only passed the test of hardship but also passed the test of honor. In July of 1964 the Party Committee of the Ministry of Railways issued "A Decision Concerning the Entire Railroad and the Continued Promotion of the Advanced Experience of the Assigned Crew Team of the Mao Zedong Locomotive",\ and granted to the Assigned Crew Team of the Mao Zedong Locomotive a banner bearing the phrase 'continuing to adhere to the revolution, forever at the forefront'. (TRANS: 坚持不断革命，永当开路先锋)
In the movement to have all the railroads study the Assigned Crew Team of the Mao Zedong Locomotive, the Xinmin Train Station and the Sun Jia Track Maintenance Work Areas, there suddenly emerged a group of new models, and the most prominent among them was Daxie Train Station. (TRANS: 大协车站)
The Daxie Train Station, located on the Ci-Lai (from Ciyao to Laidong) branch line of the Jinan Railroad Bureau, is a coal handling station. (TRANS: 磁莱 Ci-Lai 磁窑至莱东 Ciyao to Laidong) This station's primary achievement was: overcoming the difficulties of a small mining station and the small number of yard lines, and doing everything within its power to make trains and facilitate outbound shipments; (TRANS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_yard A small station would have a small switching yard where switch engines move cars to assemble or make a train that will be sent out.) they did study and research to understand the cargo area, cargo location and cargo consignee requirements, and took the initiative in arranging high quality direct trains in order to serve the coal mine (users), in order to serve the receiving work unit, in order to serve the sorting yard, in order to serve the destination station. They in this way preferred to endure their own hardships in order to make it easier for others. The Daxie style was acclaimed by the entire railroad and became the model for united labor cooperation. In August of 1965 the Party Committee of the Ministry of Railways issued the "Decision Concerning the Railroad Learning from Daxie Train Station", and also named Daxie Train Station as the "Outstanding Station that Serves the People with their Whole Heart and Mind".
Against the political backdrop of the powerful ideas of the Works of Chairman Mao, Learn from the People's Liberation Army, Learn from Daqing, Learn from Lei Feng and others at the nation's universities, the railroad, by means of strong advocacy and the promotion of various advanced models, pushed the continuous, comprehensive launch of the Bi-Xue-Gan-Bang Movement. These advanced models were obvious, tangible and easy to learn. The work of training for a model had units inplementing "a gang of one, a pair is red" activities and the "Three Old Four Strict" that was so typical of the time, and paid close attnetion to the practical commonly used "Three Ji Movement" of Grass-roots Work, Foundation Work, and Basic Training". (TRANS: 一帮一，一对红 yi band yi, yi dui hong 三老四严 San lao si yan Part of the Daqing spirit meaning honest in words and deeds with strict standards. http://www.usagaa.com/ch2en/3530.html 基层工作 Jiceng gongzuo 基础工作 jichu gongzuo 苦练基本功 ku lian jibengong )
Chairman Mao Zedong wrote instructions to "strengthen mutual learning, overcome the urge to rest on your laurels, to be proud and cenceited" giving a strong ideological motivation to the Bi-Xue-Gan-Bang Movement as each work unit used 'One divides into two' to examine and analyze their own work, with modesty learning from good ideas, good work habits and good methods of other work units and other people, striving to overcome backwardness and catch up with advanced levels. Organizations at all levels constantly directed their attention to what emerged and established advanced role models, looking for the difference between models to setup a template for the basis of the work unit. (TRANS: 两分法 liang fen fa. A dichotomy.) (TRANS: The last sentence is problematic.) (TRANS: First try at Bi-Xue-Gan-Bang : Compare Study Overtake Help )
In the Bi-Xue-Gan-Bang Movement where the Five Good were stressed as the goal, in discussing the Five Good the 'Good Political Thought' was used to lead to the other four Good, summarizing and popularizing advanced experience and to initially promote advanced ideas, competitions to determine progress and also to lead with ideology. Because of the powerful ideological force, the easily-defined goals, the clear-cut examples and the specific implementation measures, many work units forged hundreds of pairs on the basis of "a gang of one, a pair is red", and in the competitions between the pairs saw who was good at helping, who was good at learning and together raced forward, together created the Five Good. These activities, carried out in both a vigorous and firm manner, inspired the motivation of the workers and expanded the advanced teams. The right standards for factories, the right rules for the transportation sector, practicing basic skills and technical performance matches all were closely integrated with the "Bi-Xue-Gan-Bang" activities to bring about goals for learning, a direction to strive towards, models for comparison and a partner to help. (TRANS: The Five Good ??) (TRANS: These are the four elements of the campaign: Bi, to compare; Xue, to learn; Gan, to strive; Bang, to help. So the name of the campaign can now be called the 'Compare-Learn-Strive-Help' campaign.)
Through the Compare-Learn-Strive-Help activities good morale and work ethos took shape among the rail workers that was manifested by: one, each layer had an example to follow, everywhere there was models to emulate, every action had model groups and individuals that would lead to success, every work unit had their own Compare-Learn-Strive-Help targets to exceed. Among individuals a large number of Five Good workers emerged, among enterprises a large number of Daqing-style enterprises appears; two, the quality of the spiritual culture and the political, cultural, business and moral qualities of the workforce improved with a solid work style, a work habit of respect for passengers and care for cargo, high standard and strict requirements, and a (????) spirit of ownership, developing a collaborative style of taking on difficulties to make it easier for others, taking on the task at hand as an honor, a fine tradition of seeking the facts to recover and then rise to a higher level; (TRANS: 力争格上格，多作活外活 One day I hope to know what this means. ) three is because of hard working attitude of the railroad workers along with their 'three old four strict' style of work, they have won the praise of the community, the reputation of the railroad for safety and punctuality, and their respect for their passengers, their care for cargo and their quality service, establishing a good reputation among the people and receiving the praise from their passengers and shippers.
During these three years of the Great Leap Forward and five years of Adjustment, the railroad saw both remarkable achievements and huge losses, bold exploration and reckless frenzy, mindless activity but also steady progress. During these eight years despite the twists and turns in the activites of China's Ministry of Railways there was development and progress. The experiences and lessons learned were profound.
A large portion of the material and technical foundation of railroad modernization was built during this period. During these 8 years 9698 kilometers of newly built railroad trunk lines, 2309 kilometers of newly built branch lines were formally handed over for use. The new railroad construction in the six provinces of Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi brought about significant changes in their transportation situation. During these 8 years the double-track line increased 3385 kilometers as the perecentage of double-tracked line increased from 8.2% in 1957 to 15.4% in 1965. The construction of 17 new hubs began and together with the continuation of 13 unfinished hubs from the First 5 Year Plan, a total of 30 hubs, these hub projects have begun to take shape. The low technical capability not suited to the development needs of South and North Tong-Pu and six other trunk lines was transformed. Existing tracks were changed to heavier rails, station lines were extended with continuous welded track, and there was an overall improvement in the communications and signalling equipment. (TRANS: Tong-Pu Railroad. The Datong-Puzhou Railroad, a major trunkline in North China located in the province of Shanxi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datong%E2%80%93Puzhou_Railway)
In a situation where the role of transportation was constrained by backward technology and equipment, and a low rail network density, a relatively higher efficiency in transport was achieved. 8 year averages: the efficiency of passenger car utilization, that is the annual production of each passenger car, was 5.969 million passenger kilometers; the efficiency of freight car utilization, that is the annual production per freight car, was 1.672 million tonne kilometers; the efficiency of locomotive utilization, that is the annual production of each locomotive, was 4.764 million equated tonne kilometers, making them quite good. (TRANS: Passenger kilometers is the number of passengers times the number of kilometers traveled. It is equivalent to revenue passenger kilometers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_passenger_mile) (TRANS: Freight equated ton kilometers ECCERD p. 193 Passenger kilometers x 1 + freight tonne kilometers.) The freight car turnaround time was 2.87 days, a level higher than the Soviet Union at that time. (TRANS: Which is not so good. The lower the number, the better the turnaround time.) Comparing 1965 and 1950, train speed increased from 20.9 kph to 28.2 kph while locomotive full turnaround times decreased from 19.4 hours to 14.5 hours.
Technical equipment and technology level improved. Research by the railroad opened up many new areas. Carrier telephone technology achieved localization as the entire railroad in 1965 was 967 various types of carrier telephone equipment. (TRANS: http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E8%BD%BD%E6%B3%A2%E7%94%B5%E8%AF%9D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_system) In 1964 the China-designed AX Series Safety model Relay, with its small size, light weight, stable performance, well designed, as well as a high degree of commonality among its components, reached the advanced level of the world at that time, receiving a National Science and Technology First Prize Award. (TRANS: http://www.chnrailway.com/news/2008612/200861214183421885770_0.shtml http://wenku.baidu.com/view/9001157ef46527d3240ce0fc.html ) Railway industrial manufacturing developed many new products and in July of 1964 the railway had 21 new products winning national awards. The prestressed concrete beams and the steel beams, including the large steel beams on the Wuhan and Nanjing bridges over the Yangtze, used to build bridges were all made by the bridge companies, the machinery used to equip the automatic block and semi-automatic block sections relied on machinery and equipment made by the railroad and there was more.
The technology used on railway equipment was improved. On 6 October 1958 China laid the first solid concrete track bed on the Beijing Line Tangshan Station. (TRANS: 整体道床 solid concrete trac bed ECCERD p.696 唐山站 Tangshan Zhan ) In 1959 the maganese steel frog was successfully developed, and in 1961 its mass production became widespread. (TRANS: 辙岔 （辙叉） Zhecha This might be one of the rare instances where I find an error in the text - the 'cha' character. A frog is part of a track switch that is subject to wear from use. The use of manganese steel is very common for this component as the added strength of manganese-alloyed steel extends the working life of the component enough to offset the higher cost of its use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_switch ) On 12 December 1964 on the Jing-Shan line between Wanchong and Langfang a 1 kilometer section of track was welded using contact welding making this the first time this type of long continuous rail was used. (TRANS: 万庄 Wanchong 廊坊 Langfang 接触焊钢轨 Contact weld steel rail. From the description, this appears to be comparable to flash butt welding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welded_rail#Continuous_welded_rail) The weight of domestic rail weight went from 43 kg/m and 50 kg/m to 60 kg/m. (TRANS: Heavier rails could carry heavier loads and heavier locomotives increasing train efficiency.) In 1965 7087 kilometers of track had rails of 50 kg/m and above, accounting for 17.7% of track. The length of new domestic rails changed from 12.5 meters to 25 meters. On 31 May 1965 continuous welded rail was laid on the Jing-Shan line from Beijing to Tianjin. Semi-automatic block sections reached 7488 kilometers by 1965, accounting for 20.3% of track.
The first steps in the application of computers began in 1959 as the Ministry of Railways Academy of Sciences used the first-generation of domestically produced computers beginning studies on their ability for optimal solutions in applied research. After 1963 research was carried out on developing prepared train diagrams and other projects. (TRANS: A train diagram, a time-distance diagram used in management and planning.) In 1965 they were used to prepare passenger and freight transport statistics and railroad transportation plans for the Ministry of Railways. At the same time the survey and design of railroad capital construction also began using computer technology with each major design work unit one-by-one installing a mid-sized general purpose digital computer as computer application gradually spread to the various survey and design professions.
During this period, there were many fundamental achievements and seminal events on the railroad, among them was the breathtaking Cheng-Kun line, forbidden to foreigners, a monument to the human conquest of nature. The electrification of the Bao-Feng section and the mass production of diesel locomotive represented a major step forward in the modernization of China Railway. The scientific and technology level of the Nanjing Yangtze River bridge proved that the bridge construction technology of China Railway had already stepped into the most advanced ranks of the world. All of these were displays of the intelligence and creative spirit of the scientific and technical personnel, and the vast majority of the workers of China Railway.
While going through the Adjustment, there emerged in the actitivities of the railroad a period of smooth development, the gradual improvement of economic efficiency and a general increase in the overall productivity of labor: for the transport system in 1952 it was 4718 yuan and in 1965 it was 5778 yuan; for the industrial system in 1962 it was 3270 yuan and in 1965 it was 6054 yuan; for the capital construction system in 1962 it was 1158 yuan and in 1965 it was 2994 yuan. (TRANS: I assume here that we are talking about labor productivity so the numbers become yuan of annual production per employee.) In 1965 the profit on each 10,000 yuan of transportation revenue generated reached 4650 yuan, the highest level in history. The non-policy-related losses of primary enterprises had been basically eliminated. The primary consumption quotas for materials and working hours had already reached or surpassed the best levels in history. The cumulative profits of the entire railroad during these 8 years were 11 times those of the previous 8 year period. Rail transportation output profits margins and capital profit margins were both rather good.
In summary, the eight years from 1958 to 1965 were eight years where China Railways explored the path forward to obtain a wealth of both positive and negative experience, eight years of experiencing twists and turns but still achieving remarkable achievements, eight years that laid the initial technical and material foundation for railroad modernization.
The Cultural Revolution Movement that began in May of 1966 and ended in October of 1976 brought tremendous damage to the institution of the railroad. It not only halted the healthy development process that appeared after the railroad implemented the "adjust, consolidate, enrich, improve" policy, it also fundamentally undermined the foundation of railway business management, created serious internal imbalances as the production of transportation experienced three overall declines, important trunk lines were several times on the verge of paralysis, there was a dramatic increase in train accidents, a severe slowdown of economic development and a severe impact on the everyday lives of the people.
In the various stages of the Cultural Revolution, even at critical moments for the party and the state, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and other party and national leaders always gave great care to the institution of the railroad. Their sacrifice and hard work to adopt a series of measures to mitigate the damage caused by the counter-revolutionary group headed by Lin Biao and Jiang Qing to avoid having the railroad being trapped in complete paralysis. It was because of the strong support of the Party and national leaders, the tenacious hard work of the majority of railway workers in the face of adversity that rail transportation continued under extremely difficult circumstances and the institution of the railroad achieved some remarkable achievements.
The task of adjusting China's economy was basically complete in 1965, with the production of railroad transportation and construction seeing rapid development with good momentum. Entering 1966, transportation and production continued to rise as in the first half freight volume increased 14.7% over the same period in 1965 completing 51.5% of the annual plan; the rail construction projects in the Southwest proceeded smoothly following the completion of the Chuan-Qian line in 1965 all of the track for the Gui-Kun line was laid in March and the Cheng-Kun line rail construction forces were strengthened; (TRANS: Check Gui-Kun completion times??) the Nanjing bridge project over the Yangtze River successfully completed the most difficult stage with 7 bridge piers in the water finished in April; for industrial production every month saw the completion of another project.
On May 16, 1966 the CCP Central Committee Poliburo at the expanded conference passed a 'CCP Central Notice' (that is the 5-1-6 Notice) and the Cultural Revolution began full mobilization. At the time, the departments of the railroad were scheduled for deployment to fully carry out the Socialist Education Movement (referred to as the Four Cleans Movement). The rail ministry dispatched 33 working groups (zu teams), some 2653 people, plus each railroad bureau and engineering bureau also deployed their own forces as the entire railroad engaged cadres with over 14,100 people in the Four Cleans. (TRANS: The 5-1-6 Notice or the May 16 Notice was one of the documents that began the Cultural Revolution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution#The_May_16_Notification) (TRANS: Si Qing Yundong, The Four Cleans Movement. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%9B%E6%B8%85%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8) After the 5-1-6 Notice was issued, the Ministry of Railways linked the Cultural Revolution and the Four Cleans Movement as the work units implementing the Four Cleans Movement, under the leadership of the work group, alternated with implementing the Cultural Revolution; the units that did not carry out the Four Cleans could organize workers to learn about the documents of the Cultural Revolution and the criticism of Three-family Village; units that had already completed the Four Cleans Movement could, under the leadership of the local work unit, could then go back and proceed with the Cultural Revolution. (TRANS: San Jia Cun; Three-family Village. Three-family Village is used to refer to what later commentators called a literary inquisition that occurred in 1966. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%AE%B6%E6%9D%91_%28%E6%96%87%E9%9D%A9%E7%94%A8%E8%AA%9E%29 http://baike.baidu.com/view/1693563.htm The Cultural Revolution and the Attack on the "Three Family Village", Stephen Uhalley, Jr., The China Quarterly No. 27 (Jul. - Sep., 1966), pp. 149-161. ) But as soon as the Cultural Revolution Campaign was launched, the working groups were dismissed as hampering the campaign and were subjected to criticism and attacks so the Ministry of Railways had no choice but to withdraw them.
On July 2 and again on July 22 the CCP Central Committee and the State Council twice issued notifications stipulating that the Cultural Revolution of the industrial and communications companies, and capital construction work units be gradually phased in by the leaders in a planned way, and were not to rush into action or harm construction or production. Thus for most of the work units in the railroad system, the production of transportation could still proceed normally. On August 8 the 11th Plenary Session of the 8th CCP Central Committee passed the "Decision Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". It stipulated that the objectives of the movement were to struggle to defeat the capitalist roaders in power and criticize the academic authority of the reactionary capitalist class to return political leadership to the hands of the proletriat. With this the struggle against the capitalist roaders and the criticism of the bourgeois reactionary line continued to escalate. The impact of all this was that some of the cadres of railroad work units were denounced with the workers splitting into different factions, some workers left their jobs in production to ride the trains to petition for action. In July the freight plan for the entire railroad was not completed. In August volume of freight continued to decline. The capital investment for these two months was only 77% of the plan. At some rail factories production was intermittent or halted. In August the plan for new freight car construction and the production plan for some parts was not met, and the quality of locomotive reapir declined.
In order to maintain the production of rail transportation, with Zhou Enlai presiding, the CCP Central Committee and the State Council on September 2 issued a notice on the launch of the Cultural Revolution Campaign by rail companies and consolidate station and train operations that stated: (1). the work units of the national railway will carry out the Cultural Revolution in stages, with plans and with leadership; (2). during the campaign launch every railroad management authority will organize special leadership teams that are responsible for transportation and production work while work units sub-bureau and below will suspend the launch of the campaign; (3). the movement in the rail factories should proceed in stages in order to ensure that the task of building locomotives and rolling stock is completed and work continues in the winter cold; (4). reorganize the station and train procedures. On September 14 the CCP Central Committee also issued "Notice Concerning Grasping the Revolution and Promoting Production" which reiterated the spirit of the Notice twice on July 2 and again on July 22. Immediately the Ministry of Railways carried out in full the notice of the CCP Central Committee and State Council for the entire railroad, requiring rail workers to maintain their production jobs and not to halt production and disturb the revolution; the movement would be carried out in stages according to the provisions; all work units were to strengthen control over production operations; the movement was to strictly adhere to party policies and firmly support the interests of the nation. The CCP Railway Ministry Committee (referred to as the Ministry Party Committee) believed that most of the railway party organizations and cadres were good and not all of them were bourgeois headquarters and capitalist roaders that were to be overthrown. (TRANS: 资产阶级司令部 ziben jieji siling bu) The Ministry of Railways also considered that the arrangements made at the time for production in transportation, capital construction and industry were required to carry out the national plan. In spite the intention of the CCP Central Committee and State Council to carry out the deployment in stages was not fully accomplished, the implementation of the notice did however, to a certain extent limit the damaging effects of the Cultural Revolution on the railroad and delay the onset of the paralysis and semi-paralysis of rail transportation. Thus the rail sector even in the current difficult situation, could still take measure to organize transportation and production. The majority of rail workers were still able to remain at their posts and so basic transportation and production temporarily remained stable.
The rapid development of the Cultural Revolution had an ever increasing impact on the rail sector. The 50 million students and teachers who used the railroad for the Great Linkup exhausted the rail sector and threw transportation into disarray; the rebel factions seized power amd there was a prolonged great battle between the rebel organizations with brought rail transportation to the brink of semi-paralysis. The railroad at the beginning of the movement had already been brought to the threshold of disaster by the shock of the Cultural Revolution. (TRANS: 大串连 Da Chuanlian, the Great Linkup.)
On the same day that the 11th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee began, Mao Zedong wrote a letter to the Red Guards of a high school affiliated with Qinghua University, expressing strong support for their rebel spirit. (TRANS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China The Plenary Session ran from 1 to 12 August 1966 and was held in Beijing. Mao sent the letter on 1 August.) The result was the immediate and rapid rise of the Red Guard Movement throughout the country. (TRANS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Guards_%28China%29 For impact of 1 August letter, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Guards_%28China%29#Role_in_the_Cultural_Revolution) Soon after the CCP Central Committee and the State Council issued a notice that required all parts of the country to organize their university and high school students or student representatives and faculty representatives to travel free of charge to Beijing to participate in the Cultural Revolution. This allowed the Big Linkup between the Red Guard and the teachers and students of schools to move toward a climax. (TRANS: The Great Linkup http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%A8%E5%9B%BD%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%B2%E8%BF%9E)
The railroad is the main tool (TRANS: primary means??) of national transportation. And it was the railroad that bore the brunt of the Great Linkup between the Red Guard and the school teachers and students. From August 18, when Mao Zedong first met the Red Guards and the teachers and students from schools, until the end of December, a period of more than four months, the railroad transported a total of 56.4 million Red Guards and teachers and students, during this period in October 13.6 million persons and in November 21.6 million persons were carried. (TRANS: The 8-18 Rally, the first in a series of rallies held in Beijing to launch the activities of the Red Guard in the Cultural Revolution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Guards_%28China%29#Role_in_the_Cultural_Revolution) The Red Guards and teachers and students of the nationwide Great Linkup each traveled an average of 568 kilometers, more than 3.6 times the normal travelers per capita mileage in 1966. In February of 1967 after the CCP Central Committee and the State Council issued a notice to halt the nationwide Great Linkup and to take the revolution back to the schools, the wild whirlwind that was the Great Linkup officially came to an end.
To ensure the movement of Red Guards and school teachers and students in the
Great Linkup, the railroad adopted the stance of maintaining normal passenger
traffic and where appropriate, adding several cars to expand transport capacity
to organize organize transport. Beginning in September as the Cultural
Revolution deepened, the number of people in the Great Linkup gradually
increased, particularly along the Jing-Shan and Jing-Hu lines showed strains
in a case where normal operations could not be arranged and so gradually
special temporary passenger trains were provided for the Red Guards and the
school teachers and students. In mid-September the Linkup quickly on a
national level came to a rapid and violent climax. On the Jing-Shan, Jing-Hu
and Jing-Guang major trunk lines the contradiction between tranportation
capacity and traffic volume became more prominent. The rail workers adopted
the method of concentrating superior forces to fight a battle of annihilation
and using 20 pairs(??) of direct and local trains that entered Beijing,
converting them all into transport for the Red Guards and teachers and students.
At the same time some local passengers trains of railroad bureaus were halted
and their fixed consists withdrawn from service to be concentrated in Beijing
for use.
(TRANS: 车底 Chedi. This was very difficult to translate. In the
ECCERD, p. 365 there is an entry for 旅客列车车底
which they render into English as 'passenger train stock'. But the definition
is better described with 'fixed consist', with consist being a word that is
part of US train terminology with the meaning: the set of vehicles forming a
complete train. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
In the UK the equivalent for consist is the word 'formation', as in train
formation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consist#C
I am puzzled by the use of the word stock in the Chinese dictionary.
Do not confuse this fixed consist with the word trainset which refers to
articulated cars that are permanently attached to one another and operated as
a single unit that is known as a trainset.
Here is the definition provided in the ECCERD p.365.
旅客列车车底
由客车车辆、餐车和行李（邮政）车等
组成的固定编组。
在每次运行图
实行期间，
旅客列车的
编组一般不变动。
这里固定编组包含三层含义：
一是每对列车的编组辆数固定；
二是每对列车的编组结构固定，
即组成车底的车辆类型及每种类型的车辆数不变；
三是
每对列车的车辆
编挂顺序固定。
Passenger Train Stock
A fixed grouping composed of passenger cars, dining cars and baggage (postal)
and others cars. During the implementation period of each train diagram, the
passenger train grouping generally does not change. Here fixed grouping
includes three meanings: the first is where each train is organized with the
same number of cars; the second is where the structure of every train is fixed,
that is car type composition of the fixed consist and that there are the same
number of each type of car; the third is where the cars of every train are
arranged in the same fixed order.
)
195 sets of fixed passenger car consists were transferred one after the other
and then the passenger car plan was re-grouped among the four major trunk lines,
Jing-Shan, Jing-Hu, Jing-Guang and Jing-Bao, to operate as 60 pairs of
fast passenger trains as additional transport for the Red Guards together with
the teachers and students, and prepared 14 groups of fixed consists that would
provide the flexibility to maneuver. Just between September and October for
the entire railroad there were 6996 additional special trains added for the
Red Guards and the school teachers and students of which 5496 started or ended
their journey in Beijing. On 16 September when the new train diagrams were
implemented, the division of operations was also revised for Beijing Train
Station, Yongdingmen Train Station and Xizhimen Train Station.
(TRANS:
北京站 Beijing zhan
永定门站 Yongdingmen zhan
西直门站 Xizhimen zhan )
Beijing Station became the boarding station for transporting Red Guards,
teachers and students, and the departure and arrival station for
international trains, Yongdinmen Station became the where the Red Guard,
teachers and students disembarked, Xizhimen Station served as the station for
general passenger transport services and strictly controlled that trains for
students did not carry passengers and that trains for passengers did not carry
students, that is to determine who got on a train and which train. Regarding
the supply of food and drink, with the strong support of the local province,
city and concerned departments, the basic necessities were guaranteed.
The railroad departments and the railroad workers, through their effective measures and their hard work, guaranteed that the Red Guards and the school faculty and students could participate in the Great Linkup.
However, the railroad paid a huge price for this. In order to transport the ever increasing numbers of Red Guards and school teachers and students they had to add a large number of temporary passenger cars this could not but reduce the line availability for freight trains which affected the transport of goods. For two months the railroad did not meet its freight transportation goal, especially in October with 31000 fewer car loadings. Among these was a 25900 car shortfall in coal which had a large impact on the industrial production in Guangdong, Shanghai and Hunan. Since the destination of the Linkup by the Red Guard and school teachers and students was relatively concentrated, for this reason it was very difficult to maintain the orderly procedures of stations and cars. On every line situations frequently occurred that blocked the line or students in the car would refuse to get off for other students to board which caused disputes that resulted in train delays, and incidents would continue to occur where even trains were surrounded and window glass in the cars broken; some students would board short-distance trains and after they had reached the final station would refuse to get off so the railroad authorities had to either continue to the next station or change directions; some students forced their way onto passenger trains, some even hung onto freight cars which had an impact on the normal operation of passenger and freight cars. These all seriously disrupted the operational order of the railroad, causing trains to often be late as on-time rates declined further. In October, for example, the on-time rate for the entire railroad was 84% for the first ten day period, 79% for the second ten days, and 72% for the third ten days with the worst day reaching only 66.9%, and in the Beijing Railroad Bureau, where most of the passenger traffic was located, the lowest was only 39% and in the Shanghai Railroad Bureau it was 51%. A result of this loss of operating order was the increased frequency in injuries from falls and being run over among the Red Guards and the school teachers and students.
Following the sudden rise of the Great Linkup Movement, the State Construction Committee, of the at that time centralized leadership of the Ministry of Railways, instructed the the Red Guards and school teachers and students of the Great Linkup who arrived in Beijing were the invited guests of Chairman Mao and deserved a good reception and proper arrangements made for their food and shelter. (TRANS: 国家建委 Guojia Weiyuan, State Construction Committee. Created in 1954 and led by Chen Yun. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E5%BB%BA%E5%A7%94) The State Construction Committee at once assigned the Ministry of Railways to receive 30,000 people and it indeed greatly exceeded this 30,000 number. In order to welcome the Red Guards, the cadres of the rail agencies needed the capacity to do the reception work. A large group at the ministry agencies poured in and then poured out, completely disrupting the normal work flow of the agencies. (TRANS: 涌进涌出 yong jin yong chu, poured in poured out.) In particular, some of the railroad academic institutions strongly opposed the great variety of requirements and problems the students created, nagging (blocking) and attacking (besieging) the leading railroad cadres from all sides. The ministry leadership already could not work in the ministry office buildings. After the middle of October, they had transferred to 'underground' offices. The CCP Railway Committee would hold meetings and these were also held sometimes here, sometimes there with no fixed place. At the time the leadership of the railroads used these special methods to avoid the endless annoyances of the rebels, continuing to command transportation and production for the entire railroad.
On November 9, Wang Hongwen from Shanghai and others violated the provisions of the CCP Central Committee by founding in Shanghai rebel organizations that linked different industries. But the CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee refused to recognize them. That night, Wang Hongwen incited several thousand people to storm the Shanghai railroad station and forced their way onto a train to go to Beijing and present their grievances. On the morning of the 10th, the Shanghai Railroad Bureau, based on the State Council's on the spot solution to the problem, did not allow the train to go to Beijing and halted it at the Anting Station in the suburbs of Shanghai. (TRANS: 安亭车站 Anting Chezhan) Wang Hongwen and others unexpectedly gathered a group to lie on the tracks of Hu-Ning line at Anting station, blocking the arriving and departing trains to create the momentary shock of the Anting Incident. (TRANS: The Anting Incident http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%89%E4%BA%AD%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6 ) This incident prevented 35 trains from leaving the Shanghai train station while hundreds of trains were forced to stop at various stations along the the lines and transportation on the Hu-Ning line was interrupted for over 30 hours. Zhang Chunqiao, who was sent on behalf of the Central Cultural Revolution Group to deal with this event, went so far as to back the Central Shanghai Municipal Committee in admitting that the evil actions of Wang Hongwen were the Cultural Revolution Movement. (TRANS: 中央文化革命小组 Zhongyang Wenhua Geming Xiaozu, the Central Cultural Revolution Group. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%A4%AE%E6%96%87%E9%9D%A9%E5%B0%8F%E7%BB%84 张春桥 Zhang Chunqiao Considered one of the Gang of Four. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BC%A0%E6%98%A5%E6%A1%A5 ) As a result, the evils of attacks on the railroad and the interruption of transport began. After this in Wuchang, Jinan, Shenyang, Pukou, Chengdu and 13 other regions one after the other saw the outbreak of incidents involving the blocking of trains and the interruption of transport. The two most serious of the train stoppages were in the Bengbu region particularly on 25 and 29 December. Since the Bengbu Locomotive Depot and a few bad people at the station caused both incidents, the impact on the two railroads, the Jin-Pu and the Huainan was a total of 83 hours that transport was interrrupted, on the line from Beijing to Hangzhou and the line from Zhengzhou to Lianyungang there were 177 trains held and 200 trains delayed at the stations. (TRANS: 连云港 Liangyungang, on the coast in northeastern Jiangsu province. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BF%9E%E4%BA%91%E6%B8%AF%E7%AB%99 )
From December 4 to 6, Lin Biao chaired an expanded meeting of the Politburo to listen to a report of the State Council Operations Group regarding the original provisions and Zhou Enlai's instructions and "Several Provisions to for Industry and Transportation to Conduct the Cultural Revolution" (referred to as the Fifteen Articles) drafted with the intent to prevent even greater destruction to the national economy. Jiang Qing attacked the Fifteen Articles as "engaging in that plaything of revisionism"; Zhang Chunqiao attacked within the report "the industry and transportation system is basically the implementation of the party's general line of socialist transformation and socialist construction", "the cadres and workers of the industry and transportation system are basically a good team", these two items were "untenable" and "reflect the emotions of the part of those in power taking the capitalist road". Lin Biao stressed the if you do not strike at these two items "then the Cultural Revolution does does not matter on the industry and transportation front lines", let the Cultural Revolution "sweep every field before it" and be directed at the railroad and other industry and transportation sectors. Following this the restrictive provisions of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council regarding the launch of the Cultural Revolution campaign were cancelled. And so on the railroad, from the Ministry of Railways to the depots, from the education system to the transportation, capital construction and industrial systems, all rushed into action and comprehensively carried out the Cultural Revolution campaign. As the turmoil in the rail sector intensified, many workers left their work for the Linkup, forming groups and gangs carrying the rebel banner, they boarded trains to flock to the railroad bureaus, the engineering bureaus and other leading institutions as well as the Ministry of Railways. Their demands could not be met so they denounced others as "upholding the bourgeois, revisionist line" and "suppressing the revolutionary rebels". They chased after the leading cadres of the departments and bureaus, unjustifiably harassing them. They occupied the conference rooms and office of the Ministry of Railways, publicly flying the banners of the so-and-so rebel units, assuming a posture of "not yet to the goal, do not abandon your oath". According to incomplete numbers over 3000 people, both rebel members and petitioners, occupied the bureaus, institutes, factories, schools and the stations and depots at all levels, the agencies of the Ministry of Railways, at this time. For a time the entire organization of the Ministry of Railways was in a complete uproar and transportation, production and control were severely disrupted. In that same month on several lines there occurred a series of transport blockages and transport disruptions, as the operational structure of passenger and freight trains declined, the freight plans could not be achieved, average daily car loadings decreased from the previous month, the number of partially filled coal cars increased causing a shortage crisis in the two regions of Shanghai and East China.
The two counter-revolutionary groups of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing manufactured unrest that damaged production and transportation by the railroads but instead of admitting this they instead tried to shift the blame to others. On January 11 in 1967 Jiang Qing and others, on behalf of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, falsely said that the interruption of rail transportation caused by the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution was instead the "killer mace" used by the leaders of the Ministry of Railways used to destroy the Cultural Revolution and publicly named Lü Zhengcao and Wu Jingtian as unrepentant capitalist roaders, ordering an investigation for an account of the problem. Lü Zhengcao and Wu Jingtian were then seized and continuously publicly humiliated by the rebels. (TRANS: 揪斗 jiudou, to seize and to struggle. A euphemism for the public humiliation of right-wing capitalist roaders during the Cultural Revolution. Sometimes this involved being publicly paraded wearing placards listing their crimes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struggle_session)
After the Shanghai January Storm the rebels in the Ministry of Railways organization gathered together the rebel students that did not go to the various institutes and schools of the railroad along with some rebel groups from the various Beijing railroad work units and on January 21 after they stole the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Railways Office stamp with the minister's signature stamp, the next day announced that they had seized the Ministry of Railways leadership's authority.. (TRANS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_People%27s_Commune http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E6%9C%88%E9%A3%8E%E6%9A%B4 ) (TRANS: yinzhang mingzhang name stamp or name chop. ) Each unit of the ministry's organization also was seized. The Ministry leaders and the leaders of each office and bureau of the organization were criticized and denounced publicly for their errors and the work of the organization came to a halt.
In what followed, all the railroad bureaus, engineering bureaus, design institutes, factories and even the railroad sub-bureaus, stations and depots were all seized by the rebels and the original leadership cadres endured criticism and public denunciation, and persecution.
In the meantime, railroad operating accidents continued. The day after the seizure of the Ministry of Railways, at the Shenyang station passenger train 308 advanced before the signal and struck the side of passenger train 54 that was just going through causing an accident that killed 29 people, seriously injured 17 and lightly injured 81, interrupting the uptrack traffic for 11 hours and 22 minutes, and the downtrack traffic for 3 hours and 15 minutes. At some stations, the operating staff during their working hours would engage in debates and disputes, forgetting to set a switch delaying traffic, or they would blindly accept a car causing a collision with a train creating many accidents.
Zhou Enlai was very concerned about the difficult situation in transportation and production after power was seized at the Ministry of Railways. The day after the rebel groups seized power, he then requested that the masses and rebel organizations of the Ministry organization and subordinate units come together to create Ministry of Railways Temporary Traffic Monitoring Units to monitor the Ministry organizations those in power grabbed control of to deal with the daily tasks of transportation and production and to ensure uninterrupted transportation service. (TRANS: 铁道部临时业务监督小组 http://www.wxyjs.org.cn/wxzj_1/dbzb/201309/t20130905_144252.htm) After this, Zhou Enlai repeatedly met with representatives of the railroad rebel organizations, stressing its important role in the national economy and the need to focus on the features of a unified command, criticized factionalism, requiring them to ensure management of the railroad and that the every day tasks to provide transportation be carried out. But some rebel groups did not listen and advised against cooperating, with "seize and criticize the capitalist roaders" as their cry, they launched several attacks on the Ministry of Railways organization and on the strategic roles of dispatching and command to disrupt the normal tasks of transportation and control. On the instructions of Zhou Enlai, the Ministry dispatched armed daytime guards. This better maintained the normal operations of the strategic tasks of scheduling and command. (TRANS: traffic control - dispatching)
The Ministry of Railways Operational Oversight Group, under the watchful eye of Zhou Enlai, initially, in conjuction with the various bureaus of the Ministry organizations, in early February established in each bureau a temporary Production Team so that the production tasks of the various departments would continue to proceed under the new circumstances. (TRANS: 铁道部业务监督小组 Tiedao Bu Yewu Jiandu xiaozu - MOR Operations Oversight Group?? 临时生产班子 Linshi Shengchan banzi - Temporary Production Team.) Then there was a major effort to correct the situation in the educational institutions of the Ministry. The Ministry departements organized reception committees, publicly announcing, in the spirit of the Central Committee notice, a deadline requiring teachers and students to return to school and make revolution, workers to return to their work units grasping revolution to promote production, mobilizing the teachers, students and workers who petitioned or rebelled to return to their schools, return to their work units, and that the reception committees do a good job of arranging transportation for their return. The number of rebels and petitioners in a very short time rapidly fell to fifty or sixty people. With the start of the Operation Oversight Groups, coordinating with every department in the Ministry, they became a major force in the task of handling transportation and production. They formed an important link as they communicated with all the railroad bureaus, on important matters they reported to the On-duty Office of the State Council and received timely instructions from the leaders at the State Council. (TRANS: 国务院值班室 Guowu Yuan Zhiban Shi http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2006-04/30/content_271547.htm ) Under very difficult circumstances, the railroad's work of transportation and production was maintained. In the Kunming, Chengdu, Xi'an and Shanghai Railroad Bureaus military control was implemented, the Harbin Railroad Bureau established a Triple Alliance Revolutionary Committee which played a role in the stabilization of the transportation and production situation for all of the railroads. (TRANS: 三结合的革委会 San jiehe de Ge wei hui, Triple Alliance Revolutionary Committee of rebel organizations, the army and CCP cadres. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Committee_%28China%29 http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9D%A9%E5%91%BD%E5%A7%94%E5%91%98%E4%BC%9A ) With this the transportation and production of the railroads rebounded.
The railroad is a highly concentrated, main artery and paramilitary enterprise, railroad transportation must have a high degree of concentration and unity of control. However, after all the railroad organization had been seized by the rebels, the centralized command system was disrupted and the power of the agencies, from top to bottom, could not be established in a timely manner. The fragmented situation of the railroad bureaus was very serious with disputes between the bureaus and a lack of cooperation increasing with each day, within the bureaus there was also a state of affairs where superiors scheduling was a failure and the subordinates did not obey directions. In addition, after seizing power, as a result of the distribution of benefits and the differences in opinion, there were factional struggles between rebel groups which in some places resulted in repeated outbreaks of violence as railroad transportation came under constant attack. The group originally in control at the Ministry of Railways supposedly work half a day under the supervision of the masses and half the day investigating and explaining problems but in reality they spent their days being criticized and humiliated so there was absolutely no way for them to work effectively. With it dictated composition, the Ministry Operations Oversight Group had done much work and achieved much since its inception, but this group was not after all part of the centralized command authority of the railroad and its members had come from the rebel ranks, nor did it have the authority or capacity to deal with problems that arose on the railroad. As a consequence the growing anarchy withing transportation could not be promptly addressed. After the start of May, a faction in the Chengdu Railroad Bureau, because the Bureau Military Control Committee rejected their unreasonable demands, without authorization occupied and blocked 26 kilometers of the Cheng-Kun line between the Chengdu South Train Station and the Baijia Station which affected traffic for several days creating severe backlogs of passengers and freight at Chengdu that was going out on the Cheng-Kun line, which led to avoidable interruptions to the Cheng-Kun railroad project. (TRANS:局军管会 Jun Guan Hui) (TRANS: 成都南站 Chengdu Nan Zhang 白家站 Baijia Zhan ) With this the Jing-Guang, Jing-Bao, Jin-Pu, Zhe-Gan, Bao-Cheng, Long-Hai, Zhang-Da, Ning-Wu and other lines one after another experienced 15 instances where transportation was interrupted, seriously impacting the entire transport system. In May the transportation plan was not met, the average daily car loading declined with each new ten-day period, and the on-schedule rate for passenger and freight trains significantly decreased.
On 31 May of 1967 the CCP Central Committee and State Council issued the "Decision Concerning the Implementation of Military Control of the Ministry of Railways (initial draft)" deciding to immediately create the Ministry of Railways Military Control Committee to implement the military control of the Ministry of Railways. (TRANS: 铁道部军事管制委员会 Tiedao Bu Jushi Guanzhi weiyuanhui ) Su Jing was appointed Director of Military Control with Yang Jie and Zhu Huning as Deputy Directors (after Su Jing was removed Yang Jie presided over the work). (TRANS: 苏静 Su Jing 杨杰 Yang Jie 朱互宁 Zhu Huning 军管会主任 Director of Military Control ) On 12 June the CCP Central Committee and the State Council additionally implemented full military control for the entire national railroad. With this, the railroad entered into the second period of military control after the Liberation.
The railroad is the transportation lifeline of the national economy, to stabilize the railroads is an effective way to stabilize the overall situation. At the same time the railroad was implementing military control, the CCP Central Committee issued "Order Concerning Adherence to Maintaining the Revolutionary Order of the Railroad and Transportation> which strove to stabilize the situation of the railroads. The order required the guarantee of the unhindered flow of transportation and opposed the work slowdowns that impacted the transportation order, even behavior that interrupted communications and transportation; it prohibited the destruction of railroad and transportation facilities, and other types of national production; a person is not allowed under any pretext to force their way onto a car or boat without a ticket, not allowed to catch a ride on a freight car and not allowed to block trains, automobiles or ships, not allowed to lie on the rail tracks or by any other means restrict car traffic. The order decreed that the serious perpetrators and the few who incite protest and undermine the order of transportation, railway traffic facilities and transportation tools must be made subject to legal sanctions.
The two counter-revolutionary groups of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing again totally disregarded the three prohibitions and, following the imposition of military control of the railroads, created even more frenzied distrubances, inciting railroad employees, especially those in the traffic department, to abandon their posts and take their grievances to their superiors; instigating local rebels to become involved in the railroads to provoke unrest. In July Jiang Qing proposed the slogan "Attack with Words, Defend with Force" to the rebels in a public incitement to the use of force. (TRANS: 文攻武卫 Wen gong wu wei, Attack with words, defend with force. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%87%E6%94%BB%E6%AD%A6%E5%8D%AB) Following this in Shenyang, Changchun, Siping, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Xuzhou, Nanchang, Jinhua, Changsha, Luoyang, Chengdu, Liuzhou, Guilin and many other railroad areas there were large-scale outbreaks of violence. The violence had distinctive characteristics, one, the railroad violence for the most part involved local rebels especially the large-scale violence where it was often manipulated by rebels; two, when resorting to violence they often began at a train station or locomotive depot or at other key traffic units and then spread to the entire area; three, when resorting to violence the scale frequently expanded to a thousand or several thousands of people, in some areas there was even the use of guns and other weapons often resulting in many deaths and injuries; four, when resorting to violence for the most part in occupying the railroad they controlled vital traffic sections to threaten to interrupt transportation and force the Bureau Military Control Committee, the provincial and municipal leaders and even the central government to take sides or mobs would intercept trains to board cars and travel to petition and complain; five, the effects of the actions always resulted in harm to the railroad, traffic interruption and transportation congestion. The Jing-Guang, Zhe-Gan, Xiang-Gui, Bao-Cheng, Hu-Ning, Chang-Da and several other trunk lines were all as a result of the mass organization of the two factions subject to outbreaks of violence and repeated interruptions of transportaton. On the northern section of the Cheng-Kun railroad worksite there were outbreaks of violence which threatened the personal safety of the construction workers and forced a large number of them to leave which brought work on the project to a halt. The daily car loadings for the entire railroad fell in each period, in the first period in July over 31,700 cars, the middle period about 28,000 cars.
On August 10th, the CCP Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Revolutionary Group issued the "Order Concerning the Dispatch of National Defense Forces to Maintain Railroad Traffic". (TRANS: 《关于派国防军维护铁路交通的命令》 Guanyu pai guofangjun weihu tielu jiaotong de mingling ) With the National Defense Forces stationed in railroad areas, the situation began to gradually stabilize but in some areas there were still serious violations with thefts and seizures from railway warehouses, freight yards and of goods being carried on trains. The CCP Central Committee and the State Council for this reason issued a Notice, ordering every location to ensure the safety of transportation goods.
At the beginning of 1968, in some areas a few bad leaders tried to incite and manipulate and ordered the criminal activites of destroying railroads, blowing up bridges and attacking trains, so the CCP Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Order to Resolutely Combat the Counter-revolutionary Elements Who Destroy Railroad Transport", emphasizing the dictatorial measures and resolute suppression that must be taken against the counter-revolutionary elements. After entering into April, with the incitement of the Lin Biao, Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group's opposition to the "rightist revisionist winds", the previous period of restraint was replaced by a new anarchist frenzy as factional struggles among the rebels and outbreaks of violence re-intensified which caused even more damage to the railroads. (TRANS: 右倾翻案风 Rightist Revisionism http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/64164/4416085.html ) In the two months of May and June, in Liuzhou, Guilin and Nanning, deceived by a handful of bad people, the masses seized supplies to aid Vietnam that were held at Liuzhou station, followed by armed attacks on trains, stations and bridges were blockaded and railway facilities destroyed. (TRANS: At this time, China was providing support for North Vietnam in their war against South Vietnamese and US forces.) They also had a continuous impact on military authorities as they seized weapons and killed both civilians and PLA memebers in a series of counter-revolutionary events. The two factions of those from the Liuzhou area and the railroad also engaged in massive outbreaks of violence that brought transportation in the Liuzhou area to a complete halt. On 3 July the CCP Central Committee and the State Council had no choice but to issue a notice that stressed the need for an immediate end to the violence, the unconditional and rapid restoration of rail transportation as well as the punishment of the revolutionary elements who had destroyed rail transportation. In the same month in several areas of Shaanxi Province there also were violent outbreaks directed at the railroad, interruptions of transportation and other events. And so the central authorities on 24 July again issued the 7-3 Notice.
At the beginning of January 1969 there were violent clashes between two large factions in Xuzhou, and the operation of the Xuzhou station halted, the locomotive depot could not send engines out which lead to paralysis on the Jin-Pu and Long-Hai trunk lines. The city of Xuzhou, with the support of Premier Zhou Enlai, arrested the criminal leaders, who incited and ordered the violence, in a blow to the faction's power and the state of transportation began to improve.
After over a year of hard work by all the provinces, cities and autonomous regions and the railroad sector the Orders and Notices issued by the CCP Central Committee and the State Council were gradually implemented. By cutting the links between the rebels in the railroad and the local rebels the violence of the mobs was curbed and struck a blow against the criminal activities that had hit the railroads and damaged transportation, expecially after the railroad work units had achieved Grand Coalitions and Triple Alliances, the railroad situation stabilized. (TRANS: 大联合 Grand Coalition 三结合 Triple Alliance)
The Bureau Military Control Committee, from it first being stationed at the Ministry of Railways, followed the advice of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council by first focusing on encouraging all the factions to organize into coalitions.
The administrative organs of the Ministry of Railways are the command center of the nation's railroads. The two rebel factions, that organized in the Ministry organs, because of their conflicting views about the basic questions of the revolution, and also because one faction had seized power in the distpure, had contradictions that were relatively large. The various factions of the subordinate Ministry railroad departments and the two factions in the Ministry administrative organs had extensive ties so that the influence of the Cultural Revolution campaign on the institution was not inconsequential. Zhou Enlai, to organizae a coalition of the two factions in the Ministry, met several times with their representatives with the sincere hope that by uniting it would facilitate the free flow of transportation. So the two Ministry factions, under the instruction of Zhou Enlai, took the lead in uniting the entire railroad. On 21 September 1967, the two factions signed an agreement about grasping the revolution and promoting production, and ensuring the unhindered flow of rail transportation and then created the Big Coalition Committee. (TRANS:大联合委员会 Da Lianhe weiyuanhui) The two factions announced the cutoff of contacts with railroad work units organized outside of the Ministry administrative organs and that the personnel from mobilized rail work units who had remained in the capital would return to their original units. In order to protect and expedite the decision to act, both factional organization, during the discussions that led to the coalition agreement, and under Military Control Committee, each sent out Mao Zedong Thought propaganda teams to help promote joint production at the grassroots level.
After the two factions organized within the Ministry organization completed their joining, the Military Control Committee under the direction of Zhou Enlai, focussed on addressing the problems of the entire railroad. A Ministry of Railways transportation work meeting was held in October 1967. It was the first work meeting of the national railroads since the Cultural Revolution. The meeting emphasized the upswing in rail transportation and ensuring unhindered access but the most important issue at the time was achieving the grand coalition of every work unit and every factional organization. The meeting issued a written proposal to every railroad work unit to take the initiative to achieve the revolutionary coalition as soon as possible, setting off an upsurge in transport and production. However, in the 10 railroads bureaus including Guangzhou, Liuzhou, and Urumqi the contradictions between the two factions were very large and after the meeting the representatives of these 10 bureaus remained behind to attend Mao Zedong Thought classes and help solve the problems of the coalitions. In order to encourage the Great Coalition of the rail system, Zhou Enlai spent all his efforts not only to several times call for unity at various rail meetings to protect the unhindered flow of transportation but also to personally deal with the disputes of the two factions. In the less that 40 days between October 29 of 1967 and December 2, five times he received the representatives of the rail workers and listened to the reports of the two factions from the Liuzhou, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Harbin, Jilin, Chengdu, Urumqi and other railroad bureaus, criticizing their factionalism and urging they work together. In November after 7 work units of the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau and the entire Xi'an Railroad Bureau separately realized Great Coalitions, Zhou Enlai, in the name of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, added comments to a Ministry of Railways briefing that were forwarded to the entire railroad. In January of 1968 as the Ministry of Railways held their 'Grasp the Revolution and Promote Production' meetings, and after the 18 railroad bureaus of the entire railroad and numerous basic construction and industrial production work units, within their respective spheres, took the initial steps to realize the alliance of the two factions, Zhou Enlai once again warned the rail workers that the railroad occupied a pivotal position within the national economy, and that they needed to focus on centralizied and unified command. For the railroad to flow freely, they must establish a sense of the overall situation and think like a chess-player, they must continue to attempt to come together and not allow troublesome factionalism to divide them, they cannot each go their own way. After the meeting the Ministry of Railways sent out more than 180 people from cadres from the Ministry offices organized into Mao Zedong Thought Propaganda Teams to split up and travel to the Jin-Pu and Jing-Guang lines and several of Northwest rail bureaus to publicize the latest instructions from Mao Zedong and the comments of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council on the railroad's implementation of the Great Coalition agreement, as well as important instructions from Zhou Enlai to promote its implementation by the various work units. This propaganda teams were, after the joining of the two factions within the rail organization, created from a mix of cadres and the masses taken from several tens of low level stations and sections. These were for the most part stations and sections where the struggle between the two factions was more intense and the problems with the production of transportation more numerous. After over a month of propaganda, attending classes and thorough ideological education, most of the units achieved cooperation, some also were able to implement a Triple Alliance, and the production of transportation saw a turn for the better. The masses and cadres of the Ministry that participated in the propaganda teams further deepened their awareness of the dangers of factionalism and thus were even more conscious of the need to safeguard the cooperation that the departments of the Ministry had already achieved.
In order to promote the development of the production of railroad transportation the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on March 5, 1965 convened a national railroad transportation conference. Among the railroad system components that participated in the conference, there were all the Railroad Bureaus, Railroad Sub Bureaus and transportation work units equivalent to the Sub Bureaus as well as important stations and sections, and Railroad Engineering Bureaus, Railroad factories and others for a total of some 1300 work units. Proceeding in the top to bottom way, the method of going down to the lowest level, was well suited to solving the problems. (TRANS: 一竿子插到底 yi ganzi cha daodi, stick a bamboo poll down to the bottom. Has the meaning of either carrying something through to the end or to carry on down to the lowest level. http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E4%B8%80%E7%AB%BF%E5%AD%90%E5%88%B0%E5%BA%95/49720 ) The numbers of those who attended the conference reached over 6000, including the representatives of several ports and other units in the traffic system. At the conference partisan bickering was not allowed so consolidation of the Great Coalition, achieving the Triple Alliance, and ensuring the unobstructed operations of the railroads and ports along with other issues were repeatedly discussed. The meetings went on for over two months and finally ended on May 12th. In reality, this was a chance to study Mao Zedong's instructions, to link them to reality, a great classroom to promote the Triple Alliance. On May 8 Mao Zedong met with conference delegates and Zhou Enlai met 4 times with members of the meeting's leading groups and some of the delegates. Through both study and consultation, during the conference either Revolutionary committees or Triple Alliance agreements were established for 1191 of the railroad work units, representing some 88% of the work units that participated in the conference. Fifteen railroad bureaus were 83% of all the rairoad bureaus; 59 sub-bureaus were 95% of all the sub-bureaus. (TRANS: So there were 18 rail bureaus and 62 rail sub-bureaus.) Of the 78 capital construction work units, 66 had established either revolutionary committees or had reached agreements. (TRANS: Agreements to establish a Triple Alliance structure.) Although among these units there were some revolutionary committees that were later embroiled in controversy and turmoil, this conference stabilized the situation of the railroads and played an active role in promoting transportation and production.
The two years of 1967 and 1968 saw many trunk lines on the verge of paralysis due to the destruction caused by the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary groups, the unchecked spread of extreme leftist thought, the serious rise of anarchism and non-stop mass armed struggle, resulting in the blockades of numerous rail hubs and the interruption of transportation. The Railway Ministry and the Military Commission of every rail work unit concentrated on organizing the factions into larger units in order to stabilize the situation, and the hard to organize traffic control to maintain constant operation, seeking to avoid widespread paralysis of transportation. For these two years there was still the first overall decline in the production of transportation since the Cultural Revolution. The freight traffic for all the railroads in 1967 was only 421.4 hundred million tonnes, a decline of 22.1% compared to the year 1966. And in 1968 it declined another 2.8% compared to 1967 with 409.7 hundred million tonnes for the entire year, a total that was only 84.7% of the year 1965. There was a sudden spike in the number of operating accidents. The number of accidents in 1967 suddenly increased 25.9% compared to 1966, and then in 1968 further increased by 21% with major and large accidents at 5.1 times greater than those in 1965. Other quality and production indicators also decreased significantly. During these two years there was only 323.7 kilometers of track laid for new lines, only about a small fraction of the mileage completed in the single year of 1963. The index of rail industrial output for 1968 was still well below that of 1964. There was a general decline in the economic indicators for average returns on 10,000 yuan of fixed assets in the rail sector, and in 1965 the index for taxes and profits was 154.2 but it had dropped to 100.9 by 1986 as the level of operations fell.
In 1969 after all the rail work units had achieved their Grand Coalitions and Triple Alliances, the situation stabilized the Ministry of Railways Military Control Committee quickly drew conclusions from the experience to strengthen centralized and unified control of transportation and continue the policy of "1 - Unload, 2 - Sort, 3 - Load" (TRANS: 一卸二排三装 yi xie er pai san zhuang) to improve the workflow of transportation. In order to adapt to the disruption of the railroad trunk lines during the periods of turmoil, when there is a blockage in a local area then follow the principle of proper discrimination and flexibility (TRANS: qubie duidai, luanhuo anpai a rhyming couplet), where there are open routes then increase their use, where routes are congested or blocked then either reduce the flow of shipments or halt them altogether. In the first half of 1969, the rail congestion in the Xuzhou area had been dealt with and the ability to move through the area improved significantly as the State Planning Commission took measures together with the Railway, Coal, Metallurgy and other ministries to focus on the task of unloading cars, and adjusting the flow of cars to deal with the backlog of freight cars in the southern provinces directing them to the northeast for distribution. The urgent task of loading cars with the wood and food of the Northeast region required almost historic effort to achieve its results. For the areas where traffic flow was not fully restored it required a combination of increased control over loading and increased focus to ensure the loading of urgently needed supplies on cars to be sent to Inner Mongolia, Guizhou and Sichuan. In 1969 the entire railroad organized groups of trains for direct service from 15 major coal mines including Datong (大同), Yangquan (阳泉), Kailuan (开滦) and Fengfeng (峰峰). In December they accounted for one-third of all coal shipments by rail, combining loading, transportation and unloading to guarantee the steel and power generation needs of Eastern China, Beijing and other areas. With respect to key national projects and supplies that were needed everywhere special trains were created and shipments were prioritized. To ensure that the construction schedule for bridges, rails, cement and other supplies of railways such as Jiao-Zhi, Cheng-Kun and Yang-An were maintained special train shuttles were organized. Railway transportation plans and other successful technical and organizational measures that had been abandoned a few years before were resumed in 1969. The annual freight volume was 5.178 billion tonnes, and increase of 22.89% and 23.54% respectively compared to 1967 and 1968; passenger and cargo turnover reached 3549 billion tonne kilometers exceeding that of the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, an increase of 26.4% over 1968; locomotive and car utilization rates both saw significant improvements. The first half of 1970 saw further developments in the production of transportation.
In capital construction the Ministry of Railways concentrated on key projects. The Nanjing Yangtze River bridge construction team overcame the interference from the turmoil and the bridge was completed on 9 February 1968. The bridge is a road-rail bridge with a length of 6772 meters, making it one of the longest road-rail bridges in the world at the time. The design and construction of the bridge utilized the tube caisson bore hole method (guanzhu zuan kong 管柱钻孔) (see Wikipedia for Wuhan bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuhan_Yangtze_River_Bridge ) used to construct the deep water foundations of the Wuhan Yangtze River bridge and for this won the National Science and Techonology Progress Award. In August of 1969, after two years of the northern section of the Cheng-Kun Railroad being put on hold, Zhou Enlai speaking for the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued a call that "the Cheng-Kun Railroad must be completed by 1 July 1970" and so the tens of thousands of rail workers who had left under armed threat now returned to the construction sites and construction resumed by 1 September. The railway corps, after completing their constuction tasks in the southern section, moved on to add their strength to the constuction of the northern section and so the Cheng-Kun Railroads was able to be opened for traffic on schedule. Phase I of the Beijing underground rail project (from the Beijing Railway Station to Apple Orchard [Pingguo Yuan] was completed on 20 September 1969 and Phase II of the project (from the Beijing Railway Station to Dongzhimen, Xizhimen, to Fuxingmen to link up with Phase I of the project) started construction immediately. The completion of the Beijing rail section unveiled the prelude to the construction of China's underground railroads.
In early 1969 the United States further expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia (Jianpuzhai, Kampuchea??) and Laos (Laowo) and intensified the indiscriminate bombing of Vietnam, particularly increasing the bombing of the transportation lines between the north and the south. The United States domestic pro-war party threatened to bomb China's main supply lines to the conflict - the Jing-Guang line and the Xiang-Gui line. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council made the decision to accelerate the construction of lines that ran parallel to the Jing-Guang line - the Jiao-Zhi (from Jiaozuo to Zhicheng) and the Zhi-Liu (from Zhicheng to Liuzhou South) lines. (NB: page 109) The Jiao-Zhi line began construction in November 1969, followed by the Zhi-Liu line in August 1970 with the Xiang-Qian (Xiangtan East to Guiding) line in September of the same year with the Xiang-Xiang (Mojianying to Chingqing West), the Yang-An (Yangpingguan to Ankang), and the Jing-Yuan (Shijingshan South to Yuanping) also increasing their rate of progress.
The railway industry declined until it reached the bottom and started to recover in 1969. In April of the year the Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Works successfully produced the Shaoshan 1 class prototype and after the basic design had been fixed started mass production. In September, the Dalian Loomotive and Rolling Stock Factory successfully produced the first Dongfeng 4 type diesel locomotive, the Changchun Passenger Car Factory on their own designed and produced the NJ2, China's first electric passenger car that began operating on the Beijing underground railway. In 1969 the output value of the railway industry increased by 59.4% over the year 1968. But in March of 1969 the Ministry of Railways ordered the cancellation of the Resident Inspector System (zhu chang yanshou yuan zhidu 驻厂验收员制度) making product quality the responsibility of the factory which produced an adverse effect on the ability to guarantee the quality of locomotives and rolling stock. In order to adapt to military readiness needs, the Ministry of Railways in 1969 started to adjust the physical locations of the industries. At the time over 70% of the production railway industry capacity was located in North China, the Northeast and coastal areas while the interior of the country was empty in large part due to the cooperation of the professions to create the products of the railway industry and the extreme concentration it created "one family provides for the entire railroad, and the entire railroad depends on one family" (yijia gong quan lu, quan lu kao yijia) to often create a contradiction between supply and demand so once a war begins it is more difficult to adapt to its needs. The Ministry of Railways plan for the next few years was for some of the important railway industries of the Northeast, North China and along the coast to move to the interior which combined with new construction would make the interior an industrial base for railway equipment. In that year the Sifang, Dalian, Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock factories and the Qiqihar Rolling Stock factory, the Mudanjiang Locomotive factory, the Changchun Passenger Car factory and other factories began large scale reloation work. The Ziyang Diesel Locomotive factory, the Meishan Rolling Stock factory, the Guiyang Rolling Stock factory, the Luoyang Locomotive factory, the Tianshui Signal factory and the Longchang Official Products factory were all built before the end of 1974, adding significantly to the production capacity of interior industry. But for some industry construction projects, such and the Ziyang factory, the site selection process put too much emphasis on sheltering mountains but for a successful workshop (sub-factory fenchang) it must be separated from the mountain tops by a great distance because parts are sent to the location onboard trains which not only wastes construction spending but also increases the cost of production and is not conducive to the production organization of the factory. (TRANS: Trains perform poorly on grades and often require additional helper engines which increases the cost to send parts to the location. Laying out the path for the tracks also involves additional work to devise a scheme to keep the grade level as small as possible, most modern railways keep grades below 2%. This often requires roundabout paths as well as tunnels and fills, which also increase the cost to build the line, to maintain as flat a grade as possible.) This was a lesson learned.
(TRANS: A popular slogan of the Cultural Revolution. An abbreviated form of 斗争、批判、改革 douzheng, pipan, gaige that laid out Mao Zedong's initial conception of the course of the early Cultural Revolution. It was meant to portray the program of the Cultural Revolution as being purposeful, planned and rational. http://baike.baidu.com/view/2799925.htm, also http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=doupigai.)
Following the 9th Party Congress, in accord with the plans of Mao Zedong, the "Struggle, Criticize, Reform" campaign was launched nationwide. Mao Zedong said "build revolutionary committees that unite the three, major criticism and a clean up of classes and ranks, renovate the party and a mechanism to reorder the entire party, reform unreasonable rules and regulations, decentralize department personnel, the general experience of struggle, criticize, reform in the factory is so many stages." Struggle, criticize, reform in the Ministry of Railways followed just these procedures.
The Erqi Locomotive and Rolling Stock factory in Beijing was the one of the national pilot work units for "struggle, criticize, reform". Its outstanding experience was the so-called clean up classes and ranks. The Clean Team (Qingdui) of this factory believed that there were traitors, spies and capitalists holding on to power among the party and government leaders of the Erqi factory, among the workers "the remaining reactionary forces are quite complex with many lines and deep roots". According to this, three-fifths of the party leaders in the factory, the workshop and the departments (NB: office staff) were investigated and prosecuted; most of the older workers who joined the party before the liberation were suspected of political and historical problems; one-fifth of the employees in the factory were classified as subject to investigation with over 200 designated as traitors or special agents and counter-revolutionaries many of whom were persecuted to death. And so this factory became famous at the time as one of the "six factories and two schools".
(NOTE: 六厂二校 These were all located in Beijing and were the: Beijing Knitting Factory, Beijing Timber Factory, Beijing Xinhua Printing Factory, Erqi Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory, Nankou Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory, and the Beijing Chemical 3 Factory; Tsinghua University and Peking University.
http://terms.naer.edu.tw/detail/1302748/?index=9 "The "Six Factories Two Schools" is the abbreviation of six factories and two universities during the Cultural Revolution in the mainland. The six factories are Beijing Knitting Factory, Beijing Xinhua Printing Factory, Beijing Erqi Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory, Beijing Nankou Locomotive and Rolling Machinery Factory, Beijing Chemical Third Factory and Beijing Beijiao Timber Factory; the two schools are Tsinghua University and Peking University. The "Six Factory Two Schools" is a unit in which the "Chinese People's Liberation Army" 8343 troops form a military command team. From 1968 to 1969 under the direct command of Jiang Qing and others, these units "made" a series of three-in-one revolutionary committees, major criticisms, clean-up of class groups, party consolidation, streamlining of institutions, and irrational reforms. The rules and regulations, the decentralization of departmental personnel and other "fighting, approval, reform" typical experience, the Central Committee of the Communist Party forwarded the country as a model. The common feature of these "experiences" is the artificial expansion of the class struggle, which is the product of the ultra-leftist policy." )
Their so-called experience was promoted throughout the country.
The regrettable practices of the Erqi Factory not only had a devastating impact on the employees of the factory but also spread to the rest of the country creating tremendous injustices, falsehoods and legal errors that also had a serious impact on the rail system. Streamlining institutions was first and foremost a matter of streamlining the ministry, although it had been brewing for a long time it was carried out in a way that was too "left" and too extreme. In November of 1968 the Ministry Military Control Commission (bu junguanhui 部军管会) decided that the 26 original departments, bureaus, ministries and ministry commissions would be shut down and reorganized into four functional groups: Political Work (政工 zhenggong), Production (生产 shengchan), Logistics (后勤 houqin) and Services (办事 banshi). The Ministry originally employed 1964 staff which was streamlined down to 288 (including the 17 members of the Military Control Commission). Those who did not become part of the four groups for the most part were decentralized to perform manual labor. The organizational streamlining in this instance was neither based on the particular requirements or needs of the production of transportation nor did it go through extensive discussion by the masses and careful examination by organization specialists, it was just basically according to the military command unit, political department, logistics department and large organizations. (NOTE: ?? What large organizations) It was therefore neither scientific nor practical for the rail transportation industry. In July of 1970 the military office was discontinued and this type of organizational structure was immediately abolished. Immediately after the streamlining of the ministry structure in the 4th quarter of 1969 a number of business work units with intellectuals at their core gradually merged together. The Ministry Party School, the Labor Health Research Institute, the People's Police Academy, the Public Security Cadre School and the Professional Design Institute were were closed, the Fourth Design Institute was merged into the Fourth Engineering Bureau, the Electrical Design Office was merged into the Electrical Engineering Corps, the Railway Publishing House was merged into the Printing House, the faculty of the various railroad colleges and universities were sent down to positions in local leadership. In the complete oeverhaul that followed the Cultural Revolution, some of the business work units were re-established.
The job of reforming and rebuilding the party in the railroad system was carried out under the leadership of local provincial and municipal party committees. The basis for the reform and reconstruction of the party was the "Fifty Character Party Building Plan" (wushi zi jiandang gangling 五十字建党纲领 Mao's program of party building from the late period of the Cultural Revolution was described in the Ninth National Political Report: "The Party organization should be composed of advanced elements of the proletariat who should be able to lead the proletariat and the revolutionary masses as the vigorous vanguard organization fighting against class enemies." This was done in 50 characters and so was given the name: The Fifty Character Party Building Program. https://www.zsbeike.com/hy/20039067.html ) This complete rebuilding of the party did nothing to fundamentally resolve the struggle for power, partisan bickering and other vile thoughts and actions within the party. But by by building the party re-established the organization of the party, restored the life within the party doing this to stabilize the railroad situation to promote the development of the production of rail transportation still played an important role.
Each work unit and organization was streamlined, staffing levels were reduced and excess personnal were reassigned to manual labor. They were sent to basic level depots and workshops, and to railroad construction sites and to the countryside to support agriculture. The primary cadre school for the ministry and bureau organization was the 57 Cadre School (TRANS: May 7 and see https://chineseposters.net/themes/seven-may-cadre-schools.php) . The Ministry of Railways 57 Cadre School was established in early March of 1969 in Huangyangtan, Yongning County, Ningxia but because of the difficulty irrigating and cultivating in December of that year they had to choice but to move to Xiaoxuzhuang, Xi County, Henan to rebuild the school. The 57 (cadre) students were not concerned with the scorching winter sun, building the school while at the same time tilling and planting in the fields, having the experience of an arduous and difficult life at the cadre school. In December of 1972 the Xi County 57 Cadre School suspended operation. The 57 Cadre School was a product of the Cultural Revolution. Its end allowed a large number of cadres to end backbreaking labor and a difficult life to have another chance to utilize their technical expertise to provide opportunities for the country and the people.
On 1 July 1970 based on a decision by the CCP Central Committee and the State Council the three ministries, Railway (tiedao), Communications (jiaotong) and Telecommunications (youdian) (State Post sub-ministry youzheng bufen) were merged together to form the Ministry of Communications (jiaotong bu). This marks the end of railroad military control. During the period of the Ministry of Communications beginning at the end of the period of military control, the Ministry of Railway's transportation traffic began a slow recovery that continued, however, in 1974 it was impacted again by the "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucious" campaign producing the second overall decline during the Cultural Revolution.
Following the merger of the three departments into the Ministry of Communications, Yang Jieren (杨杰任) was the Ministry of Communications Director of the Revolutionary Committee (known to the outside as the Communications Minister jiaotong buzhang) and the Ministry's core party team leader.
The principles that guided the merger were: work units that have tasks of the same nature and business operations the require close contact should be merged to the greatest extent possible with separate units for specialization; in the corporate management system where decentralization is possible then decentralize as much as possible; try to reduce the organizational hierarchy as much as possible, the horizontal can be wider and the vertical shorter which is more conducive for direct leadership; in the preparation we must ensure the focus and the division of labor must not be too fine; in terms of personnel one person has many function, one speciality has many capabilities, strive to streamline. First determine the organization and then determine the work units it directly controls; first determine the organization's task and then determine the personnel. Using these principles the 69 sub-bureau (siju) of the three former ministries (in December of 1972 they were changed to bureau as the organization was adjusted), the staffing level was temporarily set at 750, which was a 78% reduction compared to the original personnel level of 3,404 people. On 6 March 1973 the Postal Service General Office (youzheng zongju) was restored as the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (youdian bu).
The newly created Ministry of Communications faced tremendous difficulties. Although the production of rail transportation rebounded, because of the destruction of the "Cultural Revolution" the centralized command of the railroad was greatly weakened, to a great degree the command structure projecting an image of fragmentation where in many areas the railroad work unit would often act against the interests of the entire bureau, operating trains without regard to the plans, and not maintaining transportation discipline along with other problems. The most serious was the two counter-revolutionaries, Lin Biao and Jiang Qing, who did their utmost to whip up ultra-leftism and anarchism, severly damaging the basic task of the railroad enterprise. During the Cultural Revolution the country started to prepare for war with the Third Front in the Southwest, carrying out large-scale capital construction the scale of which was so large that the existeing rail lines did not get the technical updates they needed which serious restricted the next step in the development of the production of rail transportion.
After the creation of the Ministry of Communications a major effort was put into rectifying the management of the operation in order to improve the efficiency of transportation, improve the safety and quality of transportation; the plans to expand through the construction of new rail lines were cut back which was an adjustment in the problem of the balance with the continued development of existing lines.
Since the Cultural Revolution the two counter-revolutionary groups led by Lin
Biao and Jiang Qing called for "highlight proletarian politics" (tuchu
wuchan jieji zhengzhi &#;&#;&#;&#;&#:&#;政&27835;),
"politics can impact everything" (zhengzhi keyi chongji yiqie 政治可以冲击一切)
extreme left thinking using class struggle to replace economic management and
production labor. At the time, normal production technology management was called
"not highlighting politics"; centralized and unified command of the production
of transportation was said to be "weakening the leadership of the party" and
"a special dictatorship" (条条专政 tiaotiao zhuanzheng);
implementing the necessary rules and regulations was called "not convinced of
the masses control, stop, pressure";
(NOTE: A truly cryptic expression: guan, ka, ya 管卡压.
I found a reference to these characters is an analysis of "Once Again on the
Trade Unions, The Current situation and the mistakes of Trotsky and Buhkarin"
by V.I. Lenin
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1921/jan/25.htm
And the Chinese essay
http://marxistphilosophy.org/HistChinPhil1952_2005/095.htm
The characters are used explain the tactics unions use to control, block and
pressure workers to control production.)
respect for science and learning to master a technology is said to "take the
special white path" (zou bai zhuan daolu &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;)
"
(NOTE: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E4%B8%93 Where white specialist
is described as someone who is unconcerned with politics preferring to focus
on academic research and learning.);
those who dared to stand up and strengthen the management of the production
of transportation were accused of the crime of being "capitalist roaders"
(走资派 zouzipai). The basis for the management of the
enterprise was completely destroyed, with serious consequences for the
production of rail transportation.
"Grasping the guarantee of the revolution, grasping the danger of production"
is a way of speaking for a time. Cadres did not dare to manage and workers
were hesitant to learn technology. New workers would read the Three Old
Essays
(NOTE: laosanpian &#;&#;&#; Three short essays written by Mao before the
founding of the PRC.
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%80%81%E4%B8%89%E7%AF%87
The three essays are "Serve the People" written 8 Sept 1944, "Remembering
Norman Bethune" written 21 Dec 1939, and "The Old Fool Moves the Mountain" Yugong Yi Shan
written 11 June 1945.
)
for a few days and then the train fireman (silu)cannot find the oil gauge,
the linker (lianjie yuan) cannot turn the hand brake,
the rail line worker (xianlu gong) could not hit a spike,
the inspector (xun dao yuan) could not provide protection,
the machine shop worker (jichuang gong) could not set the dimensions on the tools,
the new work foreman (gong chang) cannot organize work assignments alone and
so on, so that strange things would sometimes happen.
(NOTE:
silu 司炉 fireman, stoker https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8F%B8%E7%82%89%E5%B7%A5;
lianjie yuan 连结员 ;
xianlu gong 线路工 ;
Xun dao yuan 巡道员 ;
jichuang gong 机床工 ;
gong zhang 工长 .
)
The quality of transoportation equipment dropped significantly. Under the
influence of the extreme left's slogan "politics can have an impact on
everything" large numbers of skilled workers and maintenance workers were
transferred to long-term assignments in non-work related activities such as
participating in political campaigns, projects and worker propaganda teams
(NOTE:
Worker Propaganda Teams (gong xuan dui 工宣队
http://www.thepaper.cn/baidu.jsp?contid=1293697 )
which had a serious effect on equipment maintenance. According to a 1970
survey, over 19,000 track, bridge and tunnel construction workers did not work,
did not go to their jobsites but instead went to "highlight politics" (tuchu
zhengzhi). In some work zones only one job foreman would direct two family
members at the jobsite to perform maintenance. In addition, the supply of
materials such as steel rails and wood ties could not be guaranteed so damaged
steel rails and wood ties could not be replaced further degrading the condition
of the tracks. In 1970 the track failure rate for the entire railroad was up
21%, four times as much as in 1965 before the Cultural Revolution. Close to
7,700 people were mobilized from locomotive crews to take part in political
campaigns which left the railroad with 689 steam locomotives without a crew
and the responsiility system (fuze zhi) was disrupted. While this was occurring
the maintenance system was upended as overall technical standards, the overhaul
process and acceptance system could not be correctly implemented leading to
an overall decline in the condition of locomotives. From the results of the
fall locomotive assessment, only 76% of the total number of locomotives
achieved either excellent or good evaluations. There were also serious problems
with the condition of other transportation equipment. 70% of all freight cars
were running with defects, the failure rate of trunk line communication circuits
(ganxian tongxin dianlu)
was as high as 31%, the failure rate of control and dispatch circuits
(zhihuixingche de diaodu dianlu)
was 25.8%, the signal failure rate (xinhao xianshi) was 13.4% and the failure
rate for interlocking switches (liansuo daocha) was 19%.
The technical management of industrial production was also impacted as the inspection system was in disarray resulting in the quality of parts declining leading to increased quality problems with newly built locomotives and rolling stock. The yield rate for steel castings was only sixty or seventy percent while the yield rate for iron castings was only seventy or eighty percent. DangfangHong class diesel locomotives built and shipped out in 1967 could operate for 40,000 or 50,000 kilometers before they needed to replace parts while those produced in 1970 operated less than 40,000 kilometers and needed to replace pistons, cylinder linings and bearings. (huosai 活塞, gang tao 缸套, zhouwa 轴瓦 NOTE: Sounds like they are describing a major engine overhaul.).
New line construction was not about science, not about quality and not about economic benefits. The Jiao-Zhi Railroad project, started in November 1969, completed and opened to traffic on 1 July 1970, was typical of this. During its construction this railroad the so-called critical methods of "special dictatorship" (tiaotiao zhuanzheng), "railroad specialist" (zhuanjia luxian) and "big blow people's war" (dada renmin zhanzheng) and mobilized large numbers of local workers from the two provinces of Henan and Hubei, often 700,000 to 800,000 people up to a maximium of 1.15 million, organizing some 30 million over the course of construction as voluntary labor (yiwu laodong). This project was known at the time as the over 800 kilometer railroad built in 8 months by 800,000 people, it was a "miracle of in the history of railroad construction, "a highlight of proletarian politics, taking the mass line to open up a naw path to build a railway faster and more economically." In reality it was a classic example of a disregard for science, reckless leadership, as well as slower and more costly way of doing things. The original was that after the track was laid three more months were needed to complete supporting projects and then hand it over, however, because of problems with the quality of the track in reality it took 5 years to fix all of the defects. It was officially handed over in July of 1975 with still more hidden problems.
Train operating safety is a comprehensive reflection of the management of the business. The management of the business is chaotic, the condition of transportation equipment declines, this inevitably leads to operating accidents. Railroad operating accidents in the year 1970 were serious with the total numbers of such accidents for the entire railroad the largest in the past ten years with 876 serious (da) and major (zhongda) accidents.
Faced with such a serious situation in the production of transportation, the
Ministry of Communications organized using train operating safety as a starting
point
(qie rukou https://www.zybang.com/question/03b6edce1eb0b3162d9fb4a932e3d8ff.html)
as a way to focus on correcting the management of the business to improve the
level of the production of rail transportation. In March of 1971 the Ministry
convened a working meeting. Zhou Enlai was at the meeting and issued a call to
all the employees to strengthen the discipline with the organization to
increasingly combine responsibility with technology and not engage in phony (kongtou)
so-called politics. The meeting comprehensively addressed the production of
transportation by the Ministry and the Railroad along with the job of safety,
proposing a strengthening of the leadership team and building grassroots support
to stregthen the management of the enterprise. To reinforce to cadres at all
levels that they should firmly and resolutely take hold of production and
vigorously take control of safety. Following the meeting the leadership group
had stronger methods to use. By July of 1972 statistics revealed that for
the ministry and subordinate work units before the Cultural Revolution 50% of
the bureau-level cadres, 60% of the department cadres had entered into the
leadership groups at all levels, 70% of the technical cadres had been placed
in technical posts. The Transportation Safety Conference held in June of
1971, using the
In January of 1972 the Ministry of Communications held an emergency meeting on transportation safety. The meeting analyzed the current outstanding issues that dealt with the work of railway safety: the party's unified leadership was not perfect and the criticism of the extreme leftist trend and of anarchism was not very strong, labor discipline was slack with rules and regulations that could not be enforced, the relationship between politics and business was not handled well while management techniques were weak and not firm enough to deal with the accidents, and a failure to learn timely lessons and educate both the cadres and the masses. The meeting came up with the ten missteps for strengthening railway safety. The Ministry of Communications published "Urgent Notice Concerning Increasing Safety in the Production of Transportation" (关于加强安全运输生产的紧急通知 Guanyu Jiaqiang Anquan Yunshu Shengchan de Jinji Tongzhi). What followed was the mass inspection of transportation safety on the entire railway, looking at the ideas, looking at the leadership, looking at the implementation after a year had passed of the CCP Central Committee notifications (tongzhi) concerning the strenghtening of safety, summarizing the lessons that had been learned in order to formulate additional measures for implementation. Paralleling this, the Ministry of Communications started to reform the irrational production and management organization of the existing basic level railway transportation units, abolishing the battalion-company-platoon form (营连排的形式 ying lian pai de xingshi a military form of organization) and setup a production organization by station (zhan duan), workshop (chejian) and team (banzu) with the station organized according to economic function reduce the number of levels to improve the command of produtcion management. Responding to the situation where mass production workers are transferred to non-production work, the Ministry of Communications stated, and reiterated many times, production workers shall not be arbitrarily transferred to non-production tasks; workers engaged in production must always be maintained at more than 85% of the total number of employees; those who has already been transferred to work other than their original task must be returned to the team as soon as possible. After that, every work unit that had locomotive crews engaged in criticism, investigation projects and propaganda teams and other non-work related activities along with Maintenance of Way, Signals, Car and Engine Repair workers, the majority were returned to the front line (di yi xian) of production. In March of 1972 the Ministry of Communications held a national transportation work conference and the conference further exposed the crimes of Lin Biao's destruction of the communications and railroad institutions, deeply criticizing their spread of extreme leftist thought and anarchism. The conference raised several significant issues facing the current railway such as, the efficiency of transportation was not high with many indicators of efficiency below historical high levels; the relationship between loading, unloading and sorting (NOTE: the character used here is pai &#; and here I take it to mean sort) was not adequate and the cargo handling capability was lacking; the basic tasks of transportation were not carried out well, the foundation is weak; the management of the enterprise is in increasing disarray; transportation equipment is in a state of serious disrepair; operating safety is not good with suggestions and methods proposed to address this: strengthen, unify and centralize command to increase the work level of the transportation organizations; strict transportation discipline, continue to operate according to the plan and fix the order in transportation; strengthen maintenance to ensure the quality of transportation equipment; maintain the strength of responsibility system (zeren zhi), the systems for equipment management and maintenance, the economic accounting and other systems to earnestly strengthen the basic tasks of managing the enterprise; strictly enforce the rules and regulations to achieve safety; reduce the main battlefront to reduce project costs. After the meeting, the Communications Ministry also addressed the problem of the chaos in financial management of the enterprises, issuing "Opinions on the Economic Accounting System of Transportation Enterprises" (关于交通企业经济核算制的意见 guanyu jiaotong qiye jingji hesuan shi de yi jian) and also drew up "Measures for Cost Management in Rail Tranportation Enterprises" (铁路运输企业成本管理办法 tielu yunshu qiye chengben guanli banfa) and "On the Subject of Rail Transportation Expenditures" (铁路运输支出科目 tielu yunshu zhichu kemu) and a number of other specific procedures. In May the national railroad began the task of reducing the number of capital investments. In September of the same year, the Ministry of Communications held additional rail safety meetings to concentrate on examining the implementation by the Ministry of measures related to rail operating safety to further promote the work of railroad safety. In 1973 the Ministry of Communications continued to insist on doing a good job in transportation safety, reorganizing the management of the operation and numerous times sent a working group to the basic level to supervise and help with this task.
After three years of reorganization, all aspects of enterprise management were gradually strengthened. The production of tranportation was maintained and showed an upward trend since 1969. The freight volume for the entire railroad broke through 800 million tonnes for the first time in 1973, reaching 81.204 million tonnes. The rail transportation efficiency indicators climbed year after year. Operating accidents declined year over year with the number of accidents declining by 23.2% in 1973 compared to 1970, and among them the serious and major accidents decreased by 41.8%. The value of total industrial output increased annually and in 1973 it was 1.38 time the 1968 value during the Iron Man trough/collapse/slump (铁人低谷 tieren digu). (NOTE: Not a good translation, what is the 1968 tieren digu???)
In 1972 the State Council started to make reductions in the excessive scale of capital construction. The rail system implemented this correct decision to begin solving the problem of an imbalance in internal development.
After 1964 as the country prepared for war, in the Southwest, the Northwest and other areas large-scale capital construction was carried out, which was the construction known as the Third Line. New rail line construction projects such as the ChengKun (成昆), GuiKun (贵昆)(Guiyang 贵阳 to Kunming 昆明), Yang'an 阳安 (Yangpingguan 阳平关 to Ankang 安康) and PanXi 盘西 (NOTE: PanXi Branch Line) had been started. During the four years from 1966 to 1969 the construction of new lines comprised as much as 66.2% of capital construction spending while investment in the rebuilding of existing rail lines only accounted for 12.4%. After the construction of the Three Lines, the traffic volume on the BaoCheng and XiangGui segments still exceeded their capacity even after several attempts to address the situation. In order to expand the capacity of the Three Lines construction started in 1970 on a new line in the southwest, the XiangYu 襄渝 Railroad and construction resumed on the Jinzhushan 金竹山 to Guiding Section 贵定段 of the XiangQian 湘黔 Railroad. Concurrent with this was construction on the TaiJiao 太焦 (Xiuwen 修文 to Jiaozuo 焦作), JingYuan 京原, HouXi 侯西 (Houma 侯马 to Yanliang 阎良), HanShe 邯涉, XinTai 辛泰 (Xindian 辛店 to Taian 泰安) and other new lines along with the Shuicheng &#;&#;, Dongchuan &#;&#;, Yigong 宜珙, Guiyang 贵阳, Kaiyang 开阳, Dukou 渡口 and other branch lines as well as several branch lines for coal, iron, water and oil, representing a significant expansion in the scale of railroad construction over previous years. In 1970 the Ministry of Communications proposed that in the period of the Fourth Five-year Plan (from 1971 to 1975) 12,000 km of new line should be built which when added to the mileage added in 1970 would be an increase of 14,000 km. Under the guidance of this massive plan there were 26 railroads under construction by the second half of 1970, a total of 37 road construction headquarters (xiuluzhihuibu) were setup and more than 3 million temporary workers (mingong) were mobilized. For the entire year investment in new rail lines was 1.77 billion yuan from the beginning of the year then increased to 3.38 billion yuan and finally reached 3.88 billion, accounting for 76.7% of the total of the total capital investment in the entire road. The investment in upgrading existing railroads fell to 6.6%. In this year because laying new tracks took up so much of the existing track materials the result was that only 38.5% of the planned replacement of damaged track was completed. In 1971 the proportion of new line construction again rose this time to 77.4% while the share of investment going toward the upgrading of existing rail fell to 2.8%. The share of investment in new line construction was too large and it inevitably crowded out the share for the rebuilding of existing lines and investment in expanding industrial production capacity. As a result existing lines with heavy traffic could not get the necessary upgrades and the heavy burden on the production capacity of the railroad industry also did not receive the development that it deserved. Even though new line construction took up a lot of investment and more than 2,000 km of main line was added in a year, there were not many railroads that were handed over for operation because of the emphasis on speed and on laying track which led to many problems with the quality of the railtrack leaving a large number of issues to be dealt with even after the rails were laid so that they could not be used for three or four years as they were strengthened, construction continued and support facilities completed. From this it can be seen that when internal development is out of balance it is not conducive to the improvement of the transportation of existing lines and also not conducive to the healthy development of new line construction. Finding the right balance becomes an urgent problem that needs a solution.
Starting in 1972 the rail system reduced the scale of new line construction. In the spirit of build one, open one for traffic, and the principle of creating capacity as soon as possible in 1972 the focus of new line construction was on continuing construction and completing projects where track had already been laid. In 1972 the share of capital investment in new lines was 69.4%. In 1973 based on the 4th Five-year plan the Ministry of Communications proposed that the focus of rail capital construction be "while building the Three Lines, accelerate construction of railroads in coastal areas particularly on the necessity of quickly increasing the rail line capacity in the areas of the first and second lines to relieve congestion as quickly as possible". In this way the share of capital investment construction for 1973 fell to 60.1%. In the years that followed the proportion of investment in new line construction fell year after year. Investment in new lines decreased but more attention was given to financial and material support guarantees for key projects, accelerating the progress of construction and significantly improving the quality of the projects. At the same time the proportion of investment in railroad technical improvements increased each year. In 1972 it was 6.6% and in 1973 it was 10.6%, and later in the 1970s it increased significantly with each year. In this way the rebuilding and expansion of existing busy track sections and terminals could be carried out, improving transportation capacity and to a large extent easing the traffic congestion. Investment also increased each year to expand capacity in industrial production and although the size of the increase was not large the effect was readily apparent.
In 1974 the nationwide campaign to "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius" was launched. Jiang Qing and others used "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius", "Examine Legalism, Criticize Confucius" (评法批儒 ping fa pi ru) as a cover to attack Zhou Enlai. The trends of the entire country were reversed with the national economy once again seriously damaged. The production of rail transportation declined overall.
The Jiang Qing sounter-revolutionary group beat their drums to incite for a
halt to work and production with the slogans: "the legalists produced resistance,
the Confucians produced goods", "not producing for the wrong route", "as long
as you create resistance to leadership, it is the trend, it is revolutionary
action". (NOTE: from p. 117 https://china-journal.org/2016/05/16/mao-zedong-legalism-confucianism-similarities-differences/
https://chineseposters.net/themes/criticize-lin-biao-confucius.php)
Cross-industry, cross-regional organizations such as "stay-in-contact-with stations" (
lianluo zhan 联络站) once again popped up on the railroads in violation
of the regulations of the CCP Central Committee; some in the name of "criticize
Lin, criticize Confucius" to skip the office, stop working, form a clique
(la shan tou 拉山头), and engage in factional fighting (da pai
zhang 打派仗 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%89%93%E6%B4%BE%E4%BB%97/14725919);
the cadres who insisted on leading in production were attacked and criticized
from all sides, what can be overturned was overturned, if it could not be
overturned then it was avoided which led to many leading groups being paralyzed
once again with the production of transportation unable to be carried out
normally. The national railroads in the first five months of 1974 were unable
to move 21 million tonnes of freight. In June rail hubs such as Xuzhou,
Changsha, Guiyang and Baotou were blocked and a large number of trains were kept
along the rail lines such as JinPu, JingGuang, GuiKun and JingBao, blocking
the export of coal from the Jin region affecting the production of 1.95 million
tonnes of coal produced in the various mines in Shanxi with some coal piles
self-combusting
(NOTE: http://coalspot.com/technical/file/SPONTANEOUS%20COMBUSTION%20IN%20COAL.pdf).
Taiyuan Xishan,
(NOTE: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%AA%E5%8E%9F%E8%A5%BF%E5%B1%B1
Name commonly used to identify the eastern slopes of the mountainous region to
the west of Taiyuan)
Lu'an 潞安, Jincheng 晋城 and
other mines could not continue production.
The Shanxi Provincial Coal and Chemical Industry Bureau (meitan huagong ju
煤炭化工局) announced a state of emergency.
The State Council was forced to take temporary emergency measures, ordering that
the Shanxi coal be transported to Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and other
places where coal storage would be increased to reduce the pressure on coal
storage in Shanxi and actively organized special trains to hasten the transport
but this still did not completely solve the problem. Because of the blocked
rail lines, 5 key phosphate mines lin kuang 磷矿
had 640,000 tonnes of ore that could not be shipped affecting the production of
phosphate fertilizer linfei 磷肥 in 22 provinces, cities and
autonomous regions and nitrogen fertilizer danfei 氮肥 production
in several southern provinces was reduced by a third.
To bring an end to the chaotic situation the CCP Central Committee issued a notification (tongzhi) on 10 April that stipulated that the "Criticize Lin, criticize Confucius" movement be carried out under the unified leadership of the party committee and they should not create mass organizations such as the Station Team (zhantou dui) and also should not engage in cross-industry and cross-regional cooperative organizations. On 1 July the CCP Central Committee issued the "Notice Concerning Grasping the Revolution and Promoting Production" criticizing erroneous slogans such as "not producing for the wrong route" and others, requiring workers in industrial and commercial enterprises to insist on production positions, strengthening unity, doing a good job of production and then criticizing the behind-the-scenes manipulators who halt work and halt production. However, because of the destruction of the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group the notice of the CCP Central Committee was not seriously implemented and the production of industrial enterprises continued to fall. For the entire railroad the average daily car loadings dropped by 1% for July compared to June, holding back over 200 trains. In August at the Xuzhou sub-bureau where blockages during the first half of the year affected the entire rail system, the cross-organization "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Contact Station" (pi lin pi kong lian luo zhan) organized a group of people who took turns for three consecutive days surrounding the lead cadres of the sub-branch (fen ju) to cripple their ability to organize and direct transportation making the blockage worse. At the Changsha sub-bureau's " Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Office" (pilin pikong bangong shi) over 700 people were transferred from production to the movement but actuall using the name "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius", arrogant and divisive, to make trouble many workers did not go to work work and did not go out with their trains, causing further train traffic congestion. At the same time that this was happening, at the HengYang 衡阳 sub-bureau also as a result of the destruction of the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius group brought about further traffic congestion. With this the Zhangzhou and Liuzhou railway bureaus held 50 trains and the two mainlines, BeiGuang and XiangGui, were almost completely paralyzed. By the end of August the coal in Shanxi waiting to be transported rose to 2.4 million tonnes and multiple storage piles of coal experienced spontaneous combustion. Power generation for the East China Electrical grid was reduced by one-third due to the shortage of coal. More than 40% of the factories in Jiangsu and Hunan either halted production or substantially reduced production.
In October Mao Zedong issued two sets of instructions, "Stability and Unity" 安定团结 anding tuanjie and "Getting the National Economy Up and Going" ba guomin jingji gao shangqu 把国民经济搞上去 and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee thoroughly implemented these instructions, the leading cadres personally going to the railroad to take part in the work of organizing a major transportation meeting of the Hohhot (NOTE: the capital of Inner Mongolia) Railway Bureau with the situation rapidly improving. This bureau had been devastated in the past by the Cultural Revolution, the leadership team was not united, the level of factionalism among the employees was serious and for quite some time the production of transportation in the entire bureau was in a semi-paralyzed state, daily car loadings were only 400 cars which was half of the plan. The Hohhot Bureau was assisted by the Communist Party of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in touch with practice, they implemented Mao Zedong's instructions to strengthen the leadership of the party, to overcome the party regardless of the party's inclination, give full play to the role of the party's organization and the role of party members as models; overcome factionalism to strengthen internal unity within the working class; had the leading cadres participate in the labor of production to foster close relations with the cadre; did a good job of socialist cooperation. There was a welcome change in the production of transportation in the bureau. In the last ten days of October the daily average was over 1,100 cars which exceeded the plan by 26% and quickly led to a rapid easing of transportation congestion. The central government seized on this example of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and immediately issued a State Council document and published the news in the People's Daily along with a brief comment, praising the practices of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the Hohhot Railroad Bureau, calling on leaders at all levels to participate in labor and solve the problem of production. The Ministry of Communications had reversed the decline in the production of transportation and in early November in response to the situation called a national transportation conference. The leading members of the State Council in the early days of the meeting twice came to the Ministry of Communications to examine and guide the work. In the meeting each railroad work unit promoted the implementation of Mao Zedong's instructions. The majority of railroad cadres and workers with inspired spirits overcame factionalism to work together to seize control of production. The cadres went deep into the situation, within labor, to organize and direct production. Some workers who had not worked in a long time one by one went back to work, fully engaged, quality and quantity, high productivity, fast loading and fast unloading, pull many and run fast, make certain that it flows freely. Provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions along with local government and party officials all went deep into the front line of production, one the one hand participating in labor and on the other promoting Mao Zedong's instructions and the spirit of the State Council documents, to mobilize the railroad workers, establish a bureau-wide perspective, maintaining their focus, guaranteeing smooth flow, striving to push transportation production up. Simultaneously organize each profession, each industry and units quickly unloading freight, mount an assault on moving goods, support railroad transportation. Datong, Hohhot, Wuhan, Harbin, Fuzhou, Lanzhou and many other cities and counties also set up special transportation commands that organized all sorts of transportation forces whenever the needs of loading and unloading and required additional support. In numerous places along the entire railroad appeared groups of cadres united in struggle, cooperating inside and outside the railroad in vivid scenes of hurried loading and unloading to keep the traffic flowing. The seemingly helpless situation of rail transport started to reverse. The average daily car loadings had been stuck around 45,000 cars for a long time but for the first 10 days of November it broke through to 53,000 cars and the daily average for the entire month exceeded 50,000 cars which was a rare bit of good news for the past few years.
However, as a result of the ravages of "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius" movement the results of the transportation production conference could not be built upon. With the start of December, transportation production once again went into decline. Railroad traffic volume in 1974 was down by 43.21 million tonnes compared to 1973 a reduction of 5%, operating accidents increased by 15% and among them serious and major accidents increased by 48%. The amount of new railway tracks for the entire year was 21.5% lower than that in 1973. Industrial production in this year, although there was the achievement of new products such as the Beijing class diesel and despite the expansion of production capacity with the newly built Luoyang Locomotive Factory, Meishan Rolling Stock Factory and the Yongji Electric Locomotive Factory, the total value of output still fell 10.6% compared to 1973.
With the start of 1975 the production of transportation went from bad to worse. The rail transportation in Nanchang, Nanjing, Changsha and other places was frequently subject to severe congestion. In the Xuzhou area in particular, because of the disruption caused by the presence of the "Contact station" lianluo zhan there were 110 engines in the Xuzhou Motive Power division jiwuduan with 54 engines waiting to be repaired leading to fewer trains being created. In early February every day 39 trains should have passed through Bengbu, the average was only 16 trains and the lowest for one day was only 10 trains; every day 10 trains should have passed through Shangqiu and the lowest for one day was only 3 trains. Hundreds of conductors/car leaders (che zhang 车长 also liechezhang 列车长) did not go out consistenly, at Xuzhou some trains left without conductors and agents (NOTE: huopiao freight and tickets so some sort of sort of post responsible for freight and passengers.) in the Shanghai Bureau there were more than 400 heavy freight cars, the Zhengzhou Bureau some 300 heavy freight cars that could not be processed. (NOTE: From the way that it is used here, the che zhang and huo piao seem to be responsible for processing freight cars before they are sent out as part of a train. This could involve both loading the cars and recoding their contents for a freight manifest or bill of lading so the huo piao might also be a reference to a "freight ticket" that records the contents of a freight car) At the end of February there was fighting in the Xuzhou area and the Motive Power Division was occupied which had an impact on locomotive availability putting the Long-Hai line on the brink of gridlock. In many areas such as Nanchang, Nanjing and Changsha, problems similar to those in Xuzhou also occurred. The average daily car loads for the entire railroad was 45,800 cars in January which fell to 43,000 cars in February leading to a large backlog of freight, seriously affecting the construction of the national economy and the people's lives.
The railroad had been so damaged by the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group that there was no way to avoid that is was time for reorganization.
In 1975 Deng Xiaoping, who presided over the daily work of the Central Committee, carried out a complete reorganization of the national economy. In January during the only session of the 4th National People's Congress it was decided to split the railway from communications and reestablish the Ministry of Railways with Wan Li 万里 appointed to serve as Railway Minister.
The railroad was selected to be the first for complete reorganization. The CCP Central Committee issued "Decision Concerning the Task to Strengthen the Railroad" guanyu jiaqiang tielu gongzuo de jueding &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#; (Zhong fa 1975 Document No. 9, referred to as Central Document No. 9). Wan Li led the entire railroad staff in implementing Central Document No. 9 putting all of their effort into the reorganization as the railroad began to appear "unblocked, unobstructed and extending in all directions". A successful reorganization campaign will motivate and promote the the task of reorganization of all trades and all profession in the country.
But the political situation changed as the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group instigated the "counterattack the rightist tilt of reversing verdicts trend" fanji youqing fan'an feng &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#; as Deng Xiaoping was forced out for a second time and Wan Li became the focus of intense criticism. The work of railroad reorganization suffered a setback.
After Deng Xiaoping presided over the daily work of the Central Government he paid very serious attention to the task of the railroads with a 20-day period spanning January and February he twice summoned Wan Li, who had just served as the Minister of the Ministry of Railways, repeatedly emphasizing the need to proceed quickly with the most effective steps to quickly change the railroads.
Following Deng Xiaoping's directions, Wan Li organized personnel on behalf of the central authorities to draw up a draft on the decision to strengthen the work of the railroads. When Deng Xiaoping reviewed the draft after this section
"All the employees of the railroad must all do their jobs well, each should serve the organization, subordinates should follow their superiors, all must listen to commands, the leading cadres, the Communist Party members and the members of the Communist Youth League should be a model of discipline. In the process of grasping the revolution and promoting production, good performance by employees and by work units should be praised; those not performing well should be critical of their education"
he personally added this paragraph:
" For the few bourgeois factions, leading cadres and heads who have not been corrected after criticism and education they should be transferred in a timely way and it is not advisable to delay which will hinder the overall situation. Serious violations of law and order must receive punishment."
The key point of this passage being to raise objections to the bourgeois factions and have them entered into the official files of the CCP Central Committee.
The manuscript was discussed by the political bureau of the Central Committee and then Mao Zedong "circled" it with his approval. On 5 March 1975 the CCP Central Committee issued the "Decision Concerning Strengthening the Railroad".
Document No.9 of the CCP Central Committee stated that the railroad remained a salient weak link in the national economy, one that could not adapt to the needs of the development of industrial and agricultural production, one that could not adapt to the needs of strengthening combat readiness. People generalized it as "one prominent, two not suitable". In order to quickly change this situation in this document the Central government decided:
The history proves that CCP Central Committee Document No. 9 was an extremely important document and acted as a guiding principle in the unfolding of the realroad reorganization in 1975 and also served as a guide in the reform of the various industries of the national economy. The core of railroad reform was criticizing capitalist factionalism and reforming the leadership groups and its essence was the complete rejection of the Great Cultural Revolution.
While drafting the document, the CCP Central Committee on 25 February held a national industrial secretaries conference in Beijing to solve the railroad problem. The meeting ended on 8 March. At the meeting Deng Xiaoping stressed that to boost the economy the current weak link was the railroad. If the railroad problems are not resolved and production remains disrupted then the entire plan will be lost. The solution to the railroad transportation problem is:
oppose capitalist factionalism by cutting the ties bewteen the rail system and the people in local areas who engage in factionalism and for those who do engage in factionalism the leaders must be transferred back to their original work unit, no wages for those who disobey.
CCP Central Committee Document No.9 and the words of Deng Xiaoping highlighted the urgency of reforming the railroads serving as a call to mobilize in support of rail reform. The document and the words are clear, the guidelines for rail reform, the policies, the methods, they are sharp weapons for rail reforms. Guided by the spirit of the document and the wrods, the work of rail reform should quickly and firmly expand.
Following the National Industry Secretary's Conference, the provincial, municipal and autonomous region party committees took their duty seriously to communicate and implement the three instructions from Mao Zedong (The Instruction Concerning Theoretical Issues, Instructions for Stability and Unity and Instructions to get the National Economy Up and Running) and to communicate and implement Document No.9 of the CCP Central Committee with speeches by leading comrades in the Central government which gave it great momentum. Some provincial, minucipal and autonomous region leaders personally went to the railroad to convey and implement these instructions. Many places held mass meeting attended by over 10,000 people. Some provinces had radio broadcast conferences with hundreds of thousands or even one million people. The Ministry of Railways interim party leadership group held continuous meetings to get in touch with the reality and analyze the situation to research how best to carry out the task of rail reform and communicate to the entire railroad as fast as possible the spirit of Document No. 9 of the CCP Central Committee and the meeting of the Secretaries of Industries. Each railway bureau, design bureau, design institute and directly subordinate factory jumped into action, some organized propaganda teams, some of the agencies sent more than half of the cadres down to the rank and file; some sent working groups to key work units and key regions to help solve problems. More than 95% of all workers and their families heard the message. The communication and implementation of CCP Central Committee Document no.9 this time was valued by the leadership, the response was rapid, its influence was great and it became a household name that formed a mass movement.
The first battle of Xuzhou was a hard fought battle. The Xuzhou sub-bureau was hit hard during the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution started there was rebel, seize power and repeat the old (NOTE: The Repeat the Old Movement, Fan Fu Jiu Yundong. A movement prompted by an editorial in Red Flag magazine, 14 Oct 1968, to bring new blood into the party in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%8D%E5%A4%8D%E6%97%A7) which seriously disrupted rail transport particularly after the approval of the "special dictatorship" (tiao tiao zhuanzheng) the centralized and unified control over the production of transportation was seriously weakened and combined with the rapid spread of anarchist ideas rules and regulations existed in name only throwing production into chaos.
Although military control was instituted in 1967, production only improved slightly but there was no fundamental change. During the Cultural Revolution the Xuzhou railroad factions were located in the same place, closely intertwined and had contradictory positions so their struggles never stopped. In 1974 at the start of the "Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius" movement the factional conflict immediately intensified. In February of 1975, the two factions again engaged in armed struggle and the already chaotic state of rail transportation in Xuzhou became even worse. Freight from every part of the country flowed through Xuzhou which experienced a series of stop loading and limited loading orders which pulled the legs from out of the national economy with a transportation plan that had not been met for 21 consecutive months. During the period of military control of the Ministry of Railways and then that of the Communications Ministry, working groups had been sent to deal with the Xuzhou rail problem but they were unable to produce results. The Xuzhou sub-bureau was one of the weak links in rail transportation and was well-known as a "big, old, pain" (NOTE: The Chinese is lao da nan which literally is big, old, difficult but a more free translation of "big, old, pain in the ass" would give a better sense of the phrase.) of a work unit.
Wan Li personally led the staff of the Ministry of Railways to implement Document No.9 of the CCP Central Committee in Xuzhou with the support of the provincial and municipal party and government organization, relying on the masses to carry out the great task and achieve a decisive victory together with the entire railroad.
The basic approach to solving the Xuzhou railroad problem was:
First of all, make use of CCP Central Committee Document No.9 to inform the masses, then mobilize the masses to engage in mass movements. Make the cadres and the masses realize that the implementation of Document No. 9 of the CCP Central Committee will reform the railroad and get it up and running, changing the situation of "one outstanding" and "two unsuitable" to allow the national economy to flourish which is the big picture and the responsibility of every railroad employee. When the masses rise up many problems can be easily solved.
Second, reform the leadership team. Help cadres at all levels to recognize the overall situation, take the lead in eliminating factionalism, enhance party spirit, solve the problem of "soft, scattered and lazy". (ruan san lan 软散懒) For cadres with serious factionalism, correct errors within a set time, for problems that are serious and errors that cannot be corrected, take firm steps to transfer out, and those who are not suitable to work in their original work unit, work can be arranged separately. Urge the cadres to go to the masses, listen to criticism, eliminate misunderstandings and strengthen the unity between the cadres and the masses. At the same time strengthen and enrich the leadership team at all levels, increasing their combat effectiveness. This consolidates and develops the organizational safeguards of the good situation at the Xuzhou sub-bureau.
Third, oppose factionalism, eliminate factionalism. Against factionalism, show them where you stand, criticize it unambiguously. Where the factionalism is serious, seize the leader of the faction. Encourage faction leaders who are willing to peacefully unite, go to the people of the faction and educate them. For dealing with serious factionalism but not with armed conflict that disturbs law and order, adhere to principles, speak clearly about right and wrong, criticize their errors of factionalism urging them to correct themselves. For serious factionalism where they insist they will not change then transfer them out of the work unit. When the evil has mixed itself into the workforce to use factionalism to tear down, use an iron fist to resolutely crack down. Use the Three Educations San ge Jiaoyu 三个教育 (class education, situation education and revolutionary tradition education jieji jiaoyu 阶级教育, xingshi jiaoyu 形势教育, geming chuantong jiaoyu 革命传统教育) and the Five Big Talks Wu ge Da Jiang 五个大讲 (Talk About the Political Line, Talk About the Big Picture, Talk About Party Spirit, Talk About Unity, and Talk About Discipline jiang luxian, jiang da ju, jiang dangxing, jiang tuanjie, jiang jilv 讲路线, 讲大局, 讲党性, 讲团结, 讲纪律) as the content for the masses to educate themselves. In this self-education expose what factionalism has done, discuss the dangers of factionalism, uncover the class roots of factionalism all in order to eliminate the influence of factionalism and realize a general policy of stability and unity.
Fourth, implement the political policies of the party. And in particular, to implement the Qing-cha 5-1-6 (清查 NOTE: 5-1-6 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%85%E6%9F%A5%E2%80%9C%E4%BA%94%C2%B7%E4%B8%80%E5%85%AD%E5%8F%8D%E9%9D%A9%E5%91%BD%E9%9B%86%E5%9B%A2%E2%80%9D%E8%BF%90%E5%8A%A8 ) and Qing Dui (清队 NOTE: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%85%E7%90%86%E9%9A%8E%E7%B4%9A%E9%9A%8A%E4%BC%8D ) political policies, to rehabilitate the cadres and masses that were wrongly injured. The opolicy was implemented, the problem of the masses was solved and the class enemies cannot take advantage. This played an important role in stabilizing the situation at the Xuzhou sub-bureau.
Fifth, strengthen the basic jobs and the weak links of production. Focus on establishing and improving the various job responsibility systems and strengthening teamwork. Emphasize that the leadership cadres need to take it to where it happens, take the work of ideology to where it happens, take the command of production to where it happens, take technical guidance to where it happens, dare to act, dare to take control, breaking through the weak links. Inspire employees to recognize the need to obey rules, strengthen the discipline of the organization, strictly implementing the rules and regulations.
In addition, also to improve order and security along the rail lines, paying attention to improving the style of leadership and methods and showing concern for the lives of employees.
After over two months of determined but orderly reorganization, the Xuzhou rail problems reached a fairly good result with the production of transportation continuously rising. From the middle of March the number of trains passing through increased from 38 to 72, the number of cars handled by Xuzhou station increased from 3800 to over 7700; the sharp increase in the number of cars handled led to the elimination of the Three No trains; (san wu 三无 NOTE: I am still in the process of finding out what this Three Nos means.) Daily car loadings went from 700 to over 1,400; coal transportation, a better situation began to take shape as cars arrived; a locomotive maintenance team from Hohhot Bureau along with 8 locomotives from the Jilin and Liuzhou Bureaus took turns removing the cars. In April after completing the loading three days ahead of schedule for the first time in 21 months the national plan was exceeded.
The solution to the Xuzhou railroad problem was to correct the "big old pain" work unit (NOTE: A reference to the Xuzhou sub-bureau, see above.) and as an outcome also provided the experience and encouraged the confidence needed to reform the entire national railroad system. The facts proved that for the "big, old pain" work unit the key was for the leaders to not avoid conflict but instead to dare to take the lead, dare to unleash the power of the masses, to believe and rely on over 95% of the cadres and the masses, together with the local party committees acting together and in close cooperation and in this way the problem was completely solved.
The victory reports in the first battle of Xuzhou received national attention. Deng Xiaoping on 25 March presided over the plenary meeting of the State Council attended by the leaders of the various ministries and commissions under the control of the State Council. The meeting heard an introduction from the Ministry of Railways. The comrades at the meeting fully affirmed and praised the Ministry of Railways experience in solving the Xuzhou problem. At the meeting Deng Xiaoping proposed the railroad is on the rise so what should we do? Require departments, commissions and offices to learn from the experience of the Ministry of Railways in solving the Xuzhou problem, correct all trades and professions to get the domestic economy up and running.
Under the united leadership of the Ministry of Railways all of the work units objectively implemented Document No.9 of the CCP Central Committee to quickly change the circumstances of the production of transportation. In the middle of March, the average daily car loadings increased during each period (NOTE: xun - a ten-day period as the Chinese will divide each month into three of these periods, shang, zhong and xia.) so that by April several severely congested railroad sections were opened up. In April 19 of 20 railway bureaus across the country completed their car loading plans with a daily average of 53,740 cars loaded, an increase of nearly 10,000 cars over the month (February) prior to the implementation of Document No.9 and an increase of almost 2,000 car loadings compared to the historical record. Daily average coal car laoding were 17,855 cars, the first time in 58 months that the plan was met. The railroad also reversed the 57 month streak of not meeting the plan for unloading cars.
It was a struggle to implement Document No.9 of the CCP Central Committee. The Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group and its followers who worked in the railroad, they proved unwilling to destroy the railroad so they attacked Document No.9 as "the old and new capitalist class hidden behind the scenes in the central government pushing the restoration program", as the "reactionary line of the capitalist class" comparing the implementation of Document No.9 to "a cold current", "holding chicken feathers as arrows", threatening "a bloody battle to the end with the right-wing faction". (NOTE: page 124) They opposed criticism of factionalism saying that it was opposed to the return of power seized by the revolutionary rebel faction (NOTE: A very problematic translation that depends on the meaning of both fandui oppose and daosuan return of confiscated property.); they contested the seriousness of factionalism and adamantly refused to replace faction leaders to clean out the leadership team, threatening to "pull our people out, you will not have a peaceful situation"; they opposed the use of veteran cadres saying that if these cadres enter the leadership team it is "the restoration (of the prior regime)" (fubi 复辟). Thye used these and various means to prevent the implementation of Central Document No.9.
With the firm support of Deng Xiaoping, the Ministry of Railways stood firm against damaging interference, removed obstacles to fully implement CCP Central Comittee Document No.9, grasping control of the problems of several "big, old, pain" work units to continue the struggle.
The Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau was, after the Xuzhou sub-bureau, the top priority in the job of rebuilding the national railroad. The Zhengzhou Bureau is located in the interior of the Central Plains at the intersection of the Jing-Guang and Long-Hai main lines making it an important rail hub. Since the start of the Cultural Revolution, the production of transportation there was disrupted and damaged with the impact felt by the entire railroad, repeatedly requiring the attention of both Zhou Enlai and other leaders of the central government. The Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign once again distrupted the transportation of this bureau, causing it to fail to meet the transportation plan for five consecutive months, while in 1975 the plan was also not met from January to March. The implementation of CCP Central Committee Doc.9 sent a big shock through the entire railroad, however, transportation still declined significantly in the Zhengzhou Bureau in May. The fundamental problem was that the leading cadres at the bureau and some at the sub-bureaus had incorrect ideas that prevented them from genuinely understanding how to implement Central Committee Document No.9. The most salient problem of the bureau was the XinXiang sub-bureau (Xinxiang fenju 新乡分局 Xinxiang prefecture is to the southwest of Zhengzhou). In this sub-bureau the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee dangwei fu shuji also served as the Director of the Political Department zhengzhi bu zhuren snuck factionalism into the party. He rushed to "accept new (members), promote to cadres" (na xin, ti gan &#;&#;&#;&#;) mixed private and party matters and oppressed the masses; engaged in fraud by pilfering goods being transported and engaged in speculation and profiteering (NOTE: the black market); embezzlement, accepting bribes and other serious forms of misconduct. In early June, the Ministry of Railways made adjustments to the Xinxiang sub-bureau leadership team with all of this man's positions within and outside of the party ended and the masses were mobilized to resume the implementation of CCP Central Committee Document No.9. The people of the Xinxiang sub-bureau were overjoyed and roused by the healthy environment so that the production of transportation saw a rapid improvement. In the middle of June the achievement of major transportation indicators surged ahead for the various subordinate sub-bureaus of the Zhengzhou Bureau. The successful solution of the problems at the Xinxiang sub-bureau provided the breakthrough to solve the problem of the Zhengzhou Bureau. The Ministry of Railways with the support of the Henan CCP Provincial Committee and after notifying the State Council for approval, proceeded to implement Central Committee Document No.9 and the Party Secretary and concurrent Director of the Revolutionary Committee who had earlier opposed this was transferred out of the Zhengzhou Bureau and both the Party Committee of the Bureau and the main leaders of the Bureau's Revolutionary Committee were changed. The solution of the Zhengzhou Bureau problem ensured the smooth flow of rail traffic along the two main lines, the Jing-Guang and Long-Hai, and played an important role in the further improvement of the national rail situation.
During the course of reestablishing control over the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau, the problem of "big, old, difficult" was solved for the Nan-Chang, Kunming and other bureaus as well as the Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Plant as the work of cleaning up was carried out in breadth and depth.
In July of 1975, the Ministry of Railways once again held the National Railway Working Conference to investigate how the task of implementing Document No.9 was proceeding. The meeting stated that the struggle to implement Central Committee Document No.9 was far from over and that it was necessary to fully understand the sharpness, complexity and long-term nature of the struggle. The meeting called for further thorough implementation of Document No.9 to overcome interference and resistance, give a free hand to the mobilized masses and continue the struggle against the capitalist faction to completely remove their influence; continue the sturggle against class enemies, carry out the task of the dictatorship of the proletariat at every level; further strengthen the building of the leadership team, do a good job producing transportation as quickly as possible with the goal of "in all directions, unobstructed, with safety a priority, first do good" as the situation of "one breakthrough" "two unsuitable" has fundamentally changed. (NOTE: http://www.china-railway.com.cn/tlwh/tljs/201905/t20190510_94263.html Where it is hailed as the spirit that animates the railroad.) The meeting also worked to fix the railroad by working to further develop what had been accomplished.
In the second half of the year, the Ministry of Railways and each bureau and factory made an effort to solve the problem of soft, loose and lazy (ruan, san, lan 软散懒) among a group of subordinate work unit teams particularly the soft problem and partially changed the leadership teams to strengthen the creation of such teams at all of the work units. At the same time the creation of (party) branches and (party) teams was strengthened. Each basic task was fixed and strengthened, rules and regulations were strictly enforced and the maintenance of equipment was increased and and improved.
In 1975 the task of rectification achieved great results. During the first half of the year when the production of transportation was disrupted in the first quarter, the freight volume for the entire railroad increased by 8.6% over the same period in the previous year with the transportation of key materials such as coal and timber seeing more than half of the mission completed in the first half of the year. In August, the Jing-Guang line was cut by a severe flood and disrupted for 46 days with the Zhengzhou Railway Bureau alone handling 4 million fewer tonnes of cargo but because the results of rectification had been achieved the railroad was able to handle the losses. The freight volume for the entire year of 1975 set a record high with an increase of 12.7% over 1974. In terms of capital construction, because of the firm commitment to reduce the scale of new rail line construction with some projects either suspended or delayed, and although track mileage was less than in 1974, because focus was maintained and more attention was paid to completing projects the addition to operating mileage was 19.3% higher than in 1974. After its renovation was complete, the JiaoZhi Railroad (焦枝铁路) was officially inspected in July, the project to electrify the entire BaoCheng Railroad (宝成铁路) was completed, the Han-Chang 邯长 (Handan 邯郸 to Changzhi North 长治北), Tai-Jiao 太焦, Nanjiang 南疆 (Turpan 吐鲁番 to Korla 库尔勒) and other new sections were opened to traffic after track was laid. (NOTE: Turpan is also known as Turfan and the pinyin is Tulufan, Turpan being the Uighur pronunciation of the city's name.) The railroad industry continued a policy of concurrent construction with the focus on construction, (xiuzao bingju, yi xiu wei zhu p.126) continuing to tap potential, innovate and transform as the gross output value exceeded the historical highs of 1973, reversing the decline in gross output experienced in 1974. The Beijing Erqi Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works officially converted to production of the Beijing class diesel locomotive, bringing to a close the 74-year history of the plant building and repairing steam locomotives.
China's largest foreign aid construction project - the Tan-Zan Railroad was also in 1975 for all intents finished. (NOTE: Tan-Zan Railroad, tan zan tielu 坦赞铁路, also called the Tazara Railroad, a narrow-gauge rairoad that uses the Cape Gauge of 3'6" or 1067 mm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAZARA_Railway) The railroad went east from Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, west to meet Zambia's existing railroad at Kapiri Mposhi Station (NOTE: Kapiri Mposhi is in central Zambia and the current station is called the New Kapiri Mposhi Station which links to the TAZARA Railroad and another Kapiri Mposhi station that is part of Zambia railways and provides links to Lusaka and Livingstone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapiri_Mposhi ) with the main line stretching for 1860.5 km. The Tan-Zan Railroad crossed over many flowing rivers, crossed over the long and wide ravines of folded mountains and hills, passing through the grasping vines of uninhabited tropical jungles and areas with natural obstacles, the temperatures could reach from 40 to 50 degrees Celsius making the conditions for construction very difficult. On 26 October 1970 constuction began with technicians and workers from the three countries of China, Tanzania and Zambia working together with the the track for the entire line finished being laid on 7 June 1975, trial operations began on 22 October with acceptance and control handed over in 1976. The period of construction was 5 years and 8 months, 4 months shorter than was originally planned. The Tan-Zan rail project won praise from countries around the world.
Because the Cultural Revolution lasted for many years the internal and external injuries suffered by the railroad were both very serious and in addition the correction carried out in 1975 was not able to correct all of the errors of the Cultural Revolution making it impossible to solve all of the problems of the railroad in a short period of time. In this year some economic and technical indicators for the national railroad met their goals but while they were better than pervious years when compared to the historical records they still fell short by a wide margin. The most prominent was operating accidents which increased by 284% in 1975 compared to 1964 (the year with the fewest accidents) which was far more than the 110% increase in freight volume during the same period.
The task of rectification in 1975 was essentially a critique of the extreme leftist thought of the period and of anarchism, it was a corrective of the many leftist policies and theories of the Cultural Revolution and was certain to suffer from the furious attacks of the Gang of Four.
At the end of 1975 the " Counterattack the Rightist Tilt to Reverse the Verdict Trend " movement started (NOTE: http://history.people.com.cn/GB/199250/241321/17512589.html https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%B9%E9%82%93%E3%80%81%E5%8F%8D%E5%87%BB%E5%8F%B3%E5%80%BE%E7%BF%BB%E6%A1%88%E9%A3%8E https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%89%B9%E9%82%93%E3%80%81%E5%8F%8D%E5%87%BB%E5%8F%B3%E5%80%BE%E7%BF%BB%E6%A1%88%E9%A3%8E/4875291?fromtitle=%E5%8F%8D%E5%87%BB%E5%8F%B3%E5%80%BE%E7%BF%BB%E6%A1%88%E9%A3%8E&fromid=1020031 Deng attempted to reverse Mao's decision to use Peng Dehuai as an public example during the early part of the Cultural Revolution at the instigation of Jiang Qing. Peng died in detention in November 1974 and Deng wanted to rehabilitate Peng's reputation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_Dehuai ) and the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group engaged in incitement, shouting themselves hoarse to counter their losses from the wide-scale rectification work. They totally rejected the corrections of 1975, they vilified the overall rectification as "the movement to restore the capitalist class", regarding the 1975 rectification as evidence that the capitalists were still active. The national situation began to deteriorate again.
The railroads were first to carry out comprehensive rectification so it was inevitable that they also bore the brunt of the "Counterattack the Rightist Tilt to Reverse the Verdict Trend" movement. The railroad work units, particularly those the had undergone rectification saw the return of factionalism. A few of the seriously split cadres, faction leaders and cadres who had been transferred out and those who had been dismissed either watched to assess the situation or attempted to recover lost ground. The first problems appeared at the Lanzhou Railroad Bureau and the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau. At the start of movement some of the faction leaders at the Lanzhou Bureau laid siege to and attacked members of the Ministry of Railways Provisional Leading Small Group (NOTE: http://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/CLM26AM.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China ) and the Director of the Political Department in charge of the rectification at Lanzhou. In Zhengzhou some of the faction leaders were everywhere fanning the flames and creating trouble. With the support of the main leaders of the provincial party they attacked the Ministry of Railways saying that they wanted to negate the Cultural Revolution, a big gust of rightist, reverse the verdict wind to compel the Ministry to acknowledge that the situation in the Zhengzhou and Lanzhou Bureaus before rectification was proper, the general direction of the leadership was correct and that the rectification of the two bureaus in 1975 by the Ministry was an error. Following this thousands of people from railroad work units in Zhengzhou, Lanzhou along with those from Kunming, Taiyuan, Nanchang and other areas went to present petitions and made a great commotion at the Ministry. They did so under the banner of "the wind countering the right-leaning verdict reversal" but actually many wanted to reverse the verdict. Some among them occupied the minister's office and forced Wan Li to undergo jiudou. (NOTE: A form of persecution during the Cultural Revolution where a person was seized and subjected to struggle, a euphemism for being forced to endure public criticism and humiliation. http://bbs.yhnkzq.com/read.php?tid=86433 and https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=jiudou also https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%8F%AA%E6%96%97.) These chaotic and noisy groups recreated the farce of the early Cultural Revolution.
In March 1976 the slogan "Criticize Deng and his ally Wan" 批邓联万
began to appear in the rail system while at the same time completely dismissing
the reorganization of the railroad in 1975, when Wan Li, the Minister of Railways
was working hard to implement Central Committee Document No.9, attacking "Deng
Xiaoping's evil henchman" Deng Xiaoping de hei ganjiang 邓小平的黑干将
for "spliting the ranks of the working class, destroying stability and unity,
causing great loss to the work of the railroad". In April following the
Tiananmen Incident, Deng was removed from all of his positions.
(NOTE: This Tiananmen Incident took place on 5 April 1976 Si-wu Tiananmen shijian
following the death of Zhou Enlai earlier in January of that year. April is
the month of the traditional Qingming festival that honors the dead and people
honored Zhou with displays in Tiananmen Square. Zhou had been in a power
struggle with the group known as the Gang of Four and the ceremonies to honor
him were also used to criticize the Gang of Four. The Gang of Four still had
power and brought their grievances to Mao who allowed them and the state to act
against the criticism. On 5 April the PLA moved into Tiananmen Square to
remove all the memorials. When the crowds discovered this a riot ensued and
the PLA was ordered to take stronger action to clear the square.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Incident)
The Criticize Deng, Counter the Rightist Verdict Reversal Wing grew and the
situation of the railroad continued to worsen. Many rail work units and many
rail areas that were caught up in the chaos of Criticize Deng and his ally Wan,
Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Lanzhou, Nanchang, Kunming, Chengdu and other areas saw
a repeat of blockages and interrputions.
(NOTE: https://culturalrevolution.pitt.edu/media/cr10-glossary.pdf)
The ones most severely damaged were the major hubs of Zhengzhou and Lanzhou. Criminal accomplices of the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group seized the leadership of Zhengzhou to carry out a comprehensive rollback of the 1975 rectification. Those that followed them were evil people who had been rehabilitated, many of the most partisan cadres who had been adjusted were restored to the previous official positions with the large numbers of cadres who opposed and resisted their sabotage being replaced. They did everything possible to disrupt the production of transportation in Zhengzhou Bureau, enthusiastically proclaiming the it is "better for socialism to arrive late and not for capitalism to be right on time", shouting out "how does production go up call it how to come down", "to pull the production of transportation down that is victory". Work units halted work or shutdown production as a result of the "advanced model" of criticize Deng, cadres that carried on with the task of production were accused of being guilty of the crime of taking the wrong path. Several important work units were paralyzed as a result. In 1976 these bureaus fell short of the national plan by 14 million tonnes. The plan for coal was 11 million tonnes short, the equivalent of four and a half year of coal use by Wugang (NOTE: wu gang, 武钢, an abbreviated form of wuhan gangtie youxian gongsi 武汉钢铁有限公司 Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. Limited, a major domestic Chinese iron and steel producer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuhan_Iron_and_Steel_Co.%2C_Ltd). Some important performance metrics such as freight car turnaround time, locomotive kilometers per day, train on-time rates and others declined to levels typical of the early 1950s. Because this bureau was at the center of the national rail network, severe congestion there created problems moving large quantities of goods, such as the relief food provided by Sichuan for the Northeast. Great quantities of coal had trouble being moved and this caused tight supplies of coal which led to shortages of electrical power generation in 12 provinces and cities with large numbers of factories having to halt their production which affected half of the nation. Because of the blocked rail lines in the Lanzhou Bureau along with other factors, of the 156 key enterprises that included metallurgy, petrochemicals and others in the province of Gansu, 40 were forced to stop production, 33 went into partial shutdown and 80% of the automobiles in the province were immobilized, 60 oil wells in Xinjiang were shutdown and 130 wells in Yumen 玉门.
The Taiyuan, Kunming, Chengdu and Nanchang Bureaus were also severely disrupted. Criminal gangs in the Taiyuan Bureau attacked the 1975 reforms as "the dictatorship of those who returned from the countryside, the capitalist roaders who took power". (NOTE: huan xiang tuan zhuanzheng, zouzipai na quan 还乡团专政, 走资派拿权 the dictatorship of those who returned from the countryside, the capitalist roaders who seized power http://marxistphilosophy.org/Hongqi/76/197606-05.htm I take this to refer to Deng Xiaoping and the other reformers as the huan xiang tuan, the group that returned from the countryside where they had been exiled during the Cultural Revolution. ) They hit the party committees at all levels, for the cadres at all levels "those that could be overthrown were overthrown, if they could not be overthrown they were forced out, if they could not be forced out they were made to defect, if they would not defect make them fear", attack them day and night from all sides, make it impossible for leaders at all levels to hold meetings, prevent them from managing, allow no work to be done so production will not take place. On 23 August criminal elements in Datong injured the key leaders of the CCP Shanxi provincial committee and the heads of the railway bureau and sub-bureau. Because of the disruption caused by the criminal elements the Taiyuan Bureau hub was brought to s standstill with nothing loaded and nothing unloaded, no trains coming in and none going out, transport in 1976 fell into a state of semi-paralysis. At the Kunming Rail Bureau some of the people criticizing Deng formed a faction (NOTE: la shantou 拉山头 to form a faction or a clique https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E6%8B%89%E5%B1%B1%E5%A4%B4 and https://cidian.911cha.com/MXNkenM=.html) coming together to publicly promote "the scraped down should be totally sent up, the scraped down should be totally sent down" with two serious outbreaks of armed violence. (NOTE: A reference to the trial of Liu Yinnong. He was accused of plotting to bring down a group of leading cadres in Kunming. https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E5%88%98%E6%AE%B7%E5%86%9C%E5%8F%8D%E9%9D%A9%E5%91%BD%E6%A1%88%E4%BA%91%E5%8D%97%E7%9C%81%E6%98%86%E6%98%8E%E5%B8%82%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E6%A3%80%E5%AF%9F%E9%99%A2%E8%B5%B7%E8%AF%89%E4%B9%A6 gua xiaqu de yao tongtong shang lai, gua shang lai de yao tongtong xiaqu 刮下去的要统统上来, 刮上来的要统统下去 the scraped down should be totally sent up, the scraped down should be totally sent down. This is in reference to the rectification led by Deng where the more radical members of the leadership were dismissed or sent away. The supporters of Jiang Qing wanted to reverse this with a policy of restoring the positions of those who were purged and dismissing or demote those who had taken their places. Special thanks to Greg and Ken for their help with this.) These people repeatedly assaulted the provincial party committee, the railroad bureau and even detained the party secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee for half a month. The production of transportation was seriously impacted and while the Kunming Bureau had the capacity to load over 500 cars a day but the daily rate had fallen to 155, with the annual tonnage of cargo shipments achieving only 50% of the plan. At the Chengdu Railroad Bureau the criminal elements organized battle teams that created difficulties everywhere, if party committees met then they clashed with them; if the cadres appeared then then assaulted them; when the leaders spoke they were shouted down. For a long time no locomotives went out of the Guiyang Motive Power Division, disrupting the transport of freight for 62 days, preventing more than 1000 freight trains from leaving which meant that phosphate rock could not be shipped out resulting in over 80 phosphate fertilizer plants in 12 provinces and cities having to halt production. Relying on cadres to replace the normal crews just barely managed to continue passenger train operations. The Nanchang Railroad Bureau was also damaged and month after month was unable to carry out their tasks.
At the climax of the "Criticize Deng" and "Wind Counterattack against the Right-leaning Reversal of a Verdict" movements many railroad work units, although they did not encounter any major problems still saw the job of producing transportation subject to varying degrees of disturbance and influence. (NOTE: I think that I found a typo in the Chinese text. The text refers to left-leaning when it should be right-leaning.)
However, the two movements were not popular. For the majority of railroad workers who went through the years of the Cultural Revolution's practice of political struggle, particularly the rectification of 1975, Deng Xiaoping won high levels of respect and trust. While on the other hand the criminal conspiracies and behavior of the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary groups became increasingly clear. Popular opinion had shifted. For the railroad workers the "Criticize Deng" and "Wind Counterattack the Right-leaning Verdict Reversal" movements had nothing left of the wild frenzy of the early days of the Cultural Revolution. The people determined that Central Committee Document No.9 was correct, that the decision of complete rectification was correct, that the achievements of the rectification of the railroads should not be erased. More railroad employees stayed at their posts, insisted on producing, and used practical action to resist the "Wind Counter-attack the Right-leaning Verdict Reversal" movement. A large number of advanced teams and model workers, including the crew of the Mao Zedong locomotive, stood against the "wind" (NOTE: Possible word play here with stand against the wind playing off of the wind of right-leaning. ) to continue to carry forward good traditions, hard work, the drive to keep getting better, in order to realize the achievement of the new ideas of "to reach out in all directions, flowing free without obstruction, safe and on time, doing it right before others". (NOTE: Ministry of Railways ideals) Many of the basic railroad work units, in the midst of this adversity, reamined in accordance with the requirements of Central Committee Document No.9 to strengthen the management of production, increase organizational discipline, strictly implement the rules and regulations to strive to further consolidate and develop the results of rectification. All of these combined to reduce to varying degrees the damage of the "Wind Counterattack the Right-leaning Verdict Reversal" movement on the production of transportation.
The year 1976 was one of both human and natural disasters. With the destruction brought on by the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group the railroads were already in a state of great chaos the Tangshan earthquake (NOTE: tangshan dizhen 唐山地震 Tangshan is an industrial city to the east of Beijing with a population at the time of about one million. The official death figure is 242,419 but some estimates are much larger. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tangshan_earthquake.) without a doubt made things even worse (NOTE: The idiom xue shang jia shuang, 雪上加霜 to add hail on top of snow, to pile one disaster on top of another, to make a bad situation even worse.) increasing the problems of the railroads. With the Tangshan earthquake, the railroads suffered heavy losses. (See https://authors.library.caltech.edu/26539/1/Tangshan/Volume4_Chapter_7.pdf) But the railroad workers in the disaster area showed no fear when the sky fell and the earth sunk with the heroic spirit of Mount Taishan that did not bend, they climbed out of the ruins, unable to bury the bodies of loved ones and friends they put all of their efforts into earthquake relief. Under the unified leadership of the Ministry of Railroads and the complete support of the national railroads, working as one with the rail workers in the disaster area in a united struggle in less that half a month they seized control of main rail lines such as the JingShan (京山 Beijing to Shanhaiguan) and TongTuo (通坨 Tongxian to Tuozitou) along with other important branchlines and special lines to basically restore rail transportation creating a song of triumph about the struggle with heaven and earth.
On 28 July 1976 severe earthquakes shook the region of Tangshan and Fengnan (NOTE: 丰南 the Fengnan district of Tangshan city in Hebei province https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengnan_District) severely damaging the railroad. 523 kilometers of track were damaged, that included 352 km of the JingShan line, 134 km of the TongTuo line, 4 km of the JinJi line 津蓟, 36 km of the NanBao line 南堡, 10 km of the northeast section of the Tianjin circle line with all of them suffering damage to the track roadbed cracking, subsiding or shifting. (NOTE: Strangely if you add together the lengths of damaged track they total more than 523 km. 352 + 134 + 4 + 36 + 10 = 536 compared to 523.) Damage from the earthquake was most severe on the JingShan line from Zhangguizhuang 张贵庄 to Beidaihe and on the TongTuo line from FengRun 丰润 to Tuozitou. Several sections of the trackbed had sunk two or three meters, cracks were more than 0.5 meters wide, the tracks were out of alignment with continuous waves and bends, the rails were distorted with a section near Tangfang 塘坊 where the track went up and down with the steel rails twisted like a pretzel. (NOTE: mahua 麻花 a fried dough twist that is deep fried in peanut oil. A famous Chinese snack from Tianjin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahua_(snack) ) 60 bridges were destroyed among them 18 extremely large and large bridges, the Yongding He 永定河, Hangu 汉沽, Sha He 沙河, Shimen 石门, Yi He 沂河 and other extremely large and large bridge piers had been displaced toward the center of the rivers, some toppled over, broke apart or sank, some bridges were shifted to the side, some had vertical displacements of 3 meters, horizontal displacements of 1.5 meters and some bridge beams fell to the ground. The earthquake damaged 305 km of communications lines, overhead lines were affected and lots of mixed lines, the poles that held the lines sunk into the ground or broke, underground cables were damaged, wires were twisted and bent, line attenuation and crosstalk caused large scale interruptions in communications. The equipment of Tangshan, Guye 古冶 and 6 others communications stations along the JingShan line were destroyed. The signals from 34 stations that controlled electrically centralized and decentralized interlocking along with 228 km of automatic block equipment was severely damaged. Locomotive and rolling stock inspection and repair, water supplies (NOTE: Water facilities for steam locomotives), electric power facilities were also heavily damaged when buildings collapsed and were smashed into rubble. At the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock facility, with the exception of a single steel roof truss from a workshop, all of the plant buildings and equipment were destroyed. Three survey teams kance zongdui 勘测总闅 from the Third Design Institute, the Railroad Police Cadre School, the Southwest Jiao Da (Jiaotong University) caretaker team liushou zu 留守组 and other work units also suffered severe losses. Of the trains operating in area of the earthquake, 7 trains derailed simultaneously as a result of the sudden twisting of the tracks and the huge seismic force, some of the cars overturned among them those on a direct-train and an express train. Both railroad workers and their families suffered heavy losses. The casualties in the two areas of Tangshan and Guye accounted for about 40% of the total number of employees lost. As a result of the earthquake the freight volume of the Beijing Bureau alone fell by 18 million tonnes.
During the Great Tangshan Earthqueke the railroad suffered heavy losses making it the largest natural disaster in the history of China's railroad.
After the earthquake, the Ministry of Railways immediately created leading small groups (LSG) to head the rescue and repair efforts. The leadership of the Ministry of Railways sent advance teams intothe earthquake zone to assess the situation and lead the task of earthquake relief work. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Mianzhou, Jilin, Qiqihaer, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Xi'an, Taiyuan, Wuhan, Liuzhou and other railroad bureaus, the First, Second, Third and Fourth Engineering Bureaus and the Large Bridge Engineering Bureau and other work units organized several tens of emergency repair teams with a total of over 10,000 people and more than 600 people in medical teams who without delay traveled day and night to one after the other rush to the disaster area to throw themselves into the rescue and repair effort. On 28 July the CCP Central Committee sent a message of condolences to the people in the disaster area which served to greatly inspire the fighting spirit of the railroad employees engaged in earthquake relief. On 30 July the Ministry of Railways and the Railway Corps jointly created a repair headquarters on the frontlines to strengthen the unified command on the scene.
With the united efforts of the vast majority of railroad workers and railway troops working day and night they one by one repaired the destroyed railroads. The JinJi line was opened to traffic on 1 August, the TongTuo line on 3 August, one track of the JingShan line was opened on 7 August and both track on 10 August, the North Ring of the Tianjin line opened to through traffic on 7 August. On each line the signal, water supplies and electrical power equipment were repaired in advance. On the eve of National Holiday (NOTE: Celebrated on 1 October.) the two main lines, the JingShan and the TongTuo with the exception of some individual bridge speed limits, had been restored to the pre-earthquake speeds of 115 kph and 80 kph and on 25 September all operations had been restored. Of the 145 private and industrial sidings that received damage, they were extended by 413.5 km and completely restored to service. To restore rail transport in the area of the disaster, the Beijing Railroad Bureau sent over 900 employees to provide additional manpower to provide additional support for the severely affected railway stations.
In the period from 28 July to 6 October following the earthquake, more than 20,000 cars of emergency supplies were sent to the disaster area by rail, more the 28,400 cars of grain and food stuffs, clothes, medicine, daily necessities and construction materials in strong support of the people in the disaster-struck area as they struggled against the earthquake and rebuilt their homes.
The task of rescuing the disaster victions, with the cooperation of local medical teams, was a race against time that had to be carried out with intensity and with order. At the time of the earthquake, three passenger trains with over 2,900 passengers were blocked in the disaster area but were all evacuated without any injuries or deaths. As the medical teams entered the disaster area, they worked day and night to receive and treat the injured. The Beijing Bureau setup shelters in Tianjin, Tanggu, Tangshan, Fangezhuang 范各庄 (NOTE: East of Tangshan and south of Guye, Hebei Province, location of Kailuan Coal mine.) and Fengrun to provide first aid for over 2,300 of those injured. During this period, 183 sanitary trains 卫生列车 (NOTE: http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/index-of-essays/ambulance-section.html ) were placed in operation to transport almost 80,000 injured individuals with some directed to Hebei, Shandong and Liaoning. After the work of rescue was completed the medical teams went on to disinfect the railroad disaster areas, and vaccinated people in the areas to prevent the spread of disease bringing about a significant drop in the incidence of the transmission of intestinal infectious diseases. (NOTE: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%82%A0%E9%81%93%E4%BC%A0%E6%9F%93%E7%97%85 Diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery.) Following this the tempo of the construction of medical bases sped up. Using crude but simple methods, the Railroad hospitals in Tangshan and Guye were rebuilt along with the health centers 卫生所 weisheng suo and health maintenance centers 保健所 baojian suo at the major stations restoring health care for the family members of the workers.
The CCP organizations at all levels of the railroad, especially the party organizations in the disaster area, in the midst of the struggle going through a grim ordeal, enduring a baptism of fire, to fully display their defensive prowess. In the Tangshan area there was no party organization in the rail administrative regions so following the earthquake the Deputy Director of the Tangshan Maintenance of Way Revolutionary Committee, the Director of the Signals Revolutionary Committee and the 3 Deputy Party Secretary members from the Guye Train terminal (NOTE: https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/28359115 che wu duan Also Train Depot also trainmaster chewuduan zhang http://www.ichacha.net/%E8%BD%A6%E5%8A%A1%E6%AE%B5%E9%95%BF.html https://work.chron.com/railroad-trainmaster-20446.html problematic, no entry in dictionary of rail terms and multiple possible translations from the Internet. ) living in Tangshan, after crawling out of the rubble rushed immediately to Tangshan train station and quickly setup a headquarters to organize and lead all of the rail employees in the area to rescue the wounded, protect the freight yard and report the disaster situation to their superiors. After the initial quake, the party committee of the Guye rail district moved quickly and acted independently to unify the command of all of the work units in the area to provide earthquake relief. Five members of the Tangshan locomotive and and rolling factory party committee after crawling out of their collapsed buildings immediately convened a party committee in the midst of the ruins, splitting up to go directly to the scene to direct the rescue effort. The party committee of the Fengrun Railroad District within half an hour of the end of the quake mobilized party members and cadres to begin the struggle to provide earthquake relief. They organized over 400 workers and 14 vehicles and were among the first to arrive in Tangshan to rescue over 800 injured workers and their families. The party branch of the Guye Terminal freight yard immediately after the quake organized workers to protect the freight yard. There was nothing for them to eat even though there was some flour in a storage room they did not make use of it. The station sent a few wowotou (NOTE: &#;&#;&#; wowotou https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%AA%9D%E7%AA%9D%E5%A4%B4 A kind of steamed cornbread that is popular in Northern China.) and the party members insisted that the others eat while the others insisted that the party members eat so no one ate. The branch finally decided that everyone would get a bite. It was raining heavily and there was only one raincoat that no one wanted to wear so it was finally draped over some freight. The Third Design Institute station yard office building collapsed with the party branch secretary killed, four CCP members crawled out of the rubble and immediately held a meeting to setup a temporary rescue leadership team to organize employees to carry out rescue work. For the party branch of many basic work units in the midst of the sudden earthquake, the secreatary would die and others would rise up, party members would die and other party members would rise to the occasion to lead the masses to provide earthquake relief. It was this spirit of those from the rear taking the place of those ahead of them that made the party organization even in the midst of the devastation of the earthquake play a critical role.
Facing a violent earthquake, the majority of rialroad workers, particularly those in the disaster area and their families, struggled against heaven and earth with tenacity and with altruism to produce numerous both inspiring and tragic situations and deeds. Under the leadership of the Communist Party throughtout the entire disaster zone revolutionary pride and great communist spirit were on display.
Express Train 40, Direct Train 129 and 117 were all blocked and unable to move in the disaster area but the train crews were not afraid of the danger, struggling together with the passengers to open a new chapter in the story of earthquake relief. (NOTE: https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2203235571866800268.html tekuai (luke) lieche ECCERD entry, p665 697. It is difficult to determine which of these trains might have been passenger trains and which were freight trains. ) The strength of the earthquake triggered intense strains (grinding?) between the rails and the wheel that made the front gearbox of Train no. 40 catch fire and the smoke (NOTE: Diesels use a diesel-electric design where a diesel engine runs an electric generator that provides power for electric motors that rotate the wheel shafts in the trucks. Sparks and arcing from an electrical motor failure could ignite lubricants in the wheels. The diesel fuel tank is also usually located between the trucks of a diesel locomotive providing additional fuel for a fire. Diesel fuel is not very flamable but it is combustible. China also had and used diesel with a mechnical transmission such as the DFH which was used in passenger service. The text does not identify the diesel locomotive types used by Trains 40, 129 and 117.) billowed as the fire spread endangering both the locomotive and the passengers. The engine and passenger car crews were all ready to sacrifice themselves and were determined to save the locomotive and ensure the safety of the passengers so they rushed to the locomotive to fight the fire. The first few were overcome by the heat and those behind them rushed forward while those who had been overcome recovered and continued to fight the fire. And with the help of some of the passengers the flames were extinguished. In this extremely difficult situation the party branch of the train led all of the trains crews as each fought their own stuggle to organize the passengers and provide their own earthquake relief. Not only did they do everything possible to meet the needs of over 800 passengers but they also took the initiative to aid in the rescue work in the disaster area. They organized the train crew and fifty or sixty of the passengers to join rescue teams that moved across the fissures and mud of the earthquake to rush across the shaking earth toward the center of the quake in Fengnan District fengnan xian 丰南县. (NOTE: The Fengnan District of city of Tangshan. insert link info) They spent an entire day in the ruins to rescue several disaster victims. On 30 July all of the passengers on this train had been safely moved. Passenger Train No.117 from Jining in Shandong to Sankeshu 三棵树 (NOTE: Sankeshu is ... ) at 3:30 am was forced to stop between Beitang and Chadian 茶淀 on the JingShan line. Because of the strength of the earthquake, the locomotive and seven passenger cars derailed and were overturned, tilted up from 30 to 80 degrees. In the heavy rain and the aftershocks, the crew members provided aid to the elderly and the young, safely transferring all of the passengers to the rail station ahead.
In the midst of this earthquake relief all over the country people were worried about the earthquake zone, everyone was concerned about the earthquake zone, if in one place there were difficulties then it received the support of all of those around fully demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system. The rail employees participated in emergency rescue and repair with a single will, a single determination, united in their cooperation, fighting side by side, their revolutionary spirit carrying the people to victory, overcoming all sorts of difficulties and obstacles to make outstanding contributions to earthquake relief. The repair teams of the Third and Fourth Engineering Bureaus set out from Chadian and Jinghai in the heavy rain as the aftershocks continued. They had no communications with no way to contact their superiors, risking their lives in the worst-hit areas to start the struggle, fighting day and night to advance and break thru to the Tangshan to TangFang 唐坊 railroad at the epicenter. (NOTE: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%94%90%E5%9D%8A In Hebei Province and part of Tangshan City. http://www.zgdsw.com/newsx.asp?id=136 ) The First Engineering Bureau pulled a team from a construction site in the second section of the JinPu line and rushed it to the disaster area and they were able to provide emergency rescue services on the third day after the disaster. An emergency repair team from the Beijing Railroad Bureau set off as soon as it learned of the quake and was the first to reach the disaster area where the did not eat and did not drink with heavy rains going forward on several roads to carry out repairs. With the responsibility for repairing key structures on the JingShan line -- for the Ji Canal River jiyunhe 蓟运河 the Bridge Engineering Bureau repair used the fixed task, fixed personnel, fixed time measures and continuous action to complete the repair tasks ahead of schedule. The Qiqihaer Bureau's repair team was at the Luohe Bridge &#;&#; where the workers continued to stand against the almost continuous aftershocks and temperatures of 40° to climb 18 meter piers where they would squat in a narrow area of half a square meter, and the bridge was repaired ahead of schedule. Repair teams from the other bureaus also all suffered great hardships and performed great labors with unending effort which sped up the progress of repair. Among the repair teams in each bureau all had employees in the earthquake zone who did not know of the deaths of their loved ones but none asked if they could go back home, others passed by homes with no inhabitants, their focus only on repairing the damage. They said, "You can only take care of one family if you go home but you take care of everyone when you provide relief to everyone." It was just this kind of revolutionary spirit of working for the common good and forgetting about selfish interests that promised the successful completion of the various repair and rescue efforts.
After the earthquake damaged railroads were opened to traffic, the Ministry of Railways organized new teams to continue the efforts to completely restore rail facilities, and reorder the lives of the rail workers in the earthquake zone by organizing relief workers to promote self reliance and rebuild their homes.
In 1976 because of the mindless destruction of the Jiang Qing anti-revolutionary group combined with the severe impact of the Tangshan earthquake and despite the hard work of the employees, this was yet another year that saw a comprehensive decline in the production of transportation since the Cultural Revolution. Freight volume only reached 91% or the plan, for the entire nation there was 8 million tonnes of coal that could not be shipped and in addition many regions lacked both coal and electricity making the supply to markets very tight. Raw materials such as ore for metallurgy and chemicals were backed up with the results that a large number of factories either reduce or stopped production. Freight traffice in 1976 decreased by 5.4% compared to 1975 but operating accidents increased by 2.7% and among them serious and major accidents increased by 17.8%. Major technical indicators such as car turnaround time, locomotive kilometers traveled and others experienced a general decline. Transportation revenue was down 5.6% compared to 1975 while the value of total industrial output fell by 14.96%. profits and taxes paid on railroads decreased by one-fifth in 1976 compared to 1975 and operating mileage increased by only 270 km, the smallest increase since 1969.
The ten years of the Cultural Revolution were ten years of internal unrest and the railroad as an institution suffered huge losses.
The foundation of the management of the institution of the railroad was destroyed. As an outcome of the incitement and destruction of the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary groups the thought patterns of the railroad workers was thrown into chaos, the teams were broken and scattered, a large segment of the organizational leadership was replaced in factional struggles during this period, the principle of the centralized and unified control of rail transportation was destroyed, discipline was lax, regulations were often ignored and it was this way for a long time so that the management of the business fell into chaos. This is the fundamental nature of the internal injury done to the railroads.
The growth rate of rail freight volumes was delayed. During the Cultural Revolution rail transportation did not flow freely with many sections and hubs often being blocked which seriously slowed the transportation of goods. The rail freight volume in 1976 was 820 million tonnes which compared with 480 million tonnes in 1965 was up by 69.8% for an average increase of 6.27% over 11 years, a significantly lower increase than the average annual growth rate of 13.7% for the 11 year period from 1954 to 1965.
Operating accidents increased dramatically. Operating accidents in 1976 were 3.58 times the accidents in 1965. During the 11 year period the average annual growth rate was 12.3%. Among them the serious and major accidents during the year 1976 were 7.43 times those in 1965 and their severity increased. Based on the average number of serious and major accidents per million miles of operation the numbers increased by times in the 11 year period with the direct economic losses from operation for the entire railroad 8.08 times higher in 1976 than in 1965, which show that the railroads of the New China during the period of the Cultural revolution had the most operating accidents and the worst safety record.
The internal railroad ratios were severely out of balance. New line construction as a proportion of rail investment was 70.8% for the 3-5 period (NOTE: The Third 5-year Plan, 1966 to 1970.) and reached a peak of 77.4% in 1971 but beginning in 1972 it began to decline, however, for the 4-5 period it still reached as high as 65.3% which is significantly higher than the 31.8% of the 1-5 period. The proportion of existing rail construction investment dropped to 10.4% and 10.7% during the same periods which was far lower than the 24.8% and 36.1% during the 1-5 and 2-5 periods. Because of this lack of funding the technological upgrades of existing railroads was slow which affected the development of the rail industry. One result was the contradiction between transportation capacity and volume became increasing sharp with many restricted sections and restricted entrances as some could only meet 40% of transportation (NOTE: xianzhi kou 限制 口 restricted entrance or restricted access.) requirements. The growth in locomotives and rolling stock was much lower than the growth of traffic and maintenance work could not keep up so the quality of locomotives and rolling stock fell with some 70% of freight cars in service having defects.
Economic benefits declined significantly. From 1966 to 1976 when the net value of rail assets increased by 96% the profits and taxes paid only increased by 40% which was far below the rate increase for the 11 years before the Cultural Revolution. The capital profit rate went from 11.1% in 1965 to 5.6% in 1976, passenger and freight conversion tonne-kilometers per 10,000 yuan of fixed assets was 13.58 tonne kilometers in 1965 but in 1976 it was 10.49 tonne kilometers. Transportation income and taxes realized per 10,000 yuan of fixed assets decreased in 1976 to 21.4% compared to 27.7% in 1965, lower than the historical levels of the 1-5 and 2-5 periods. The cost of new railroad projects went higher and higher with the 9055 km of track built during the Cultural Revolution having an average cost per kilometer of 2.37 million yuan which greatly exceeded the average cost per km of the 11,288 km of track built before the Cultural Revolution which was 787,000 yuan per km. Even though prices at that time were basically stable the cost of railroads in similar areas was much higher.
However, thanks to the powerful struggle against the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary groups under the leadership of Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and other party and national leaders and because of the hard work and the struggle of the broad majority of rail workers and railway corps members the railroad was still able to take a few steps forward:
Rail transportation was maintained despite the difficult conditions. During the ten years of internal upheaval and despite the blocking of rail hubs in many regions traffic was interrupted but the complete paralysis of the national railroad never happened. This prevented even greater losses to the national economy and the people's livelihood. The rail freight volume in 1976 still increased 69.8% compared to 1965 to provide the conditions for transportation to meet the needs of industrial and agricultural production and the people's livelihood (NOTE: Standard of living??) while at the same time it provided strong support for the stuggle of Vietnam against the USA.
There were major achievements made in railroad construction. In the period of the Cultural Revolution there were nine main lines completed and opened to traffic that included the GuiKun 贵昆, ChengKun 成昆, XiangQian 湘黔, XiangYu 襄渝, TaiJiao 太焦, JingYuan 京原, Yang'An 阳安 and the TongTuo 通坨 (the ZhiLiu 枝柳 line was originally scheduled to be opened to traffic in 1973 but because of changes in the international situation its completion and opening to traffic was pushed back to 1978). The operating track mileage increased from 36,406 km in 1965 to 46,262 km, and the national rail network density increased from 0.38 km per hundred square kilometers in 1965 to 0.48 kilometers. The road network layout was also greatly improved as the proportion of the length of the railroads in the southwest and northwest to the length of the national railroad went from 20.8% to 24.5%. (NOTE: The Southwest and Northwest were economically underdeveloped.) The completion of the ChengKun railroad and the Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing advanced China's road and rail construction technology to a new level.
Rail transportation technology and equipment underwent major improvements. The number of diesel locomotives increased from 66 in 1965 to 1,478 in 1976, an increase of 21.4 times; electrified rail lines increased from91 to 741 km, an increase of 7.1 times. The number of freight cars and passenger cars in 1976 increased by 64.6% and 29.6% respectively compared to 1965. Heavy rails greater than 50 kg (NOTE: Per meter) used on the main lines of the railroad went from 7,087 km in 1965 to 17,905 km in 1976, increasing by 1.53 times. The proportion of heavy rails in relation to total rail mileage went from 17.7% in 1965 to 34.3%. Auto-blocking track mileage increased by 62% in the 11 year period. The Dongfeng 4 class diesel locomotive, the Beijing class diesel locomotive, the Shaoshan class electric locomotive and a number of other new vehicles were formally put into production. Ziyang, Meishan, Guiyang, Yongji, Luoyang, Tongji and other newly constructed factories were put into production, greatly increasing the stock manufacturing capacity of locomotives and rolling stock.
The completion of the Tanzania-Zambia Railroad was a major achievement in foreign economic and technical assistance which generated a huge response both in Africa and around the world.
These achievements did not come easily. Without the ten years of chaos and the destruction of the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary groups the railroad could have achieved even more growth and development.
In October of 1976 the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group was overthrown and the Gang of Four, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan were isolated and investigated, removing the biggest obstacle to the development of the national economy and the railroad. During the ten years of chaos during the Cultural Revolution, the railroad was one of the most damaged sectors with transportation production and construction getting worse, unable to meet the needs of the national economy and the people's lives. After crushing the Gang of Four, the majority of railroad employees' enthusiasm for socialism, which had been suppressed for a long time, were quickly mobilized to present a wonderful state seething with vitality, (NOTE: reqi tengteng &#;&#;&#;&#; seething with vitality,bubbling with enthusiasm http://www.ichacha.net/%E7%83%AD%E6%B0%94%E8%85%BE%E8%85%BE.html) as the passive situation of rail transportation gradually improved. In December of 1978 the CCP Central Committee opened the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee which made the strategic decision to shift the focus of the party's work to socialist modernization, putting forward a request to solve the imbalances of the national economy. This was the most profoundly significant turning point since the founding of the New China and also for the railroad after wandering to the beginning of a way forward. Bringing order out of chaos, replacing the old with new innovations by the end of the the 6-5 Plan in 1985 the rail industry had made tremendous progress in reducing the gaps that were incompatible with the requirements of the national economy taking the first solid steps on the road to reform.
During the ten years of internal chaos, the highly centralized railroad scheduling did not work, the command over transportation was often paralyzed, the transportation arteries were frequently blocked, the paramilitaries faced resistance that was unorganized and undisciplined as chaos assumed extreme proportions. To change this situation required a lot of effort, solving practical problems one by one in order to take the railroads from chaos to order.
The Gang of Four and their followers did a lot of bad things to the railroad, from the national leadership to many basic-level work units they were all secretly controlled and directly interfered with by gang forces. When the CCP Central Committee went into action on 20 December 1976 the CCP Interim Leading Group of the Ministry of Railways communicated to the ministry agencies and the workers of the work units directly subordinate to them in Bejing the CCP Central Committee's "Notice Concerning the Handling of Incidents by the Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan Anti Party Groups" guanyu chuli wang hongwen, zhang chunqiao, jiang qing, yao wenyuan fan dang jituan shijian de tongzhi 关于 处理 王洪文, 张春桥, 江青, 姛文元 反党集团 事件的通知 then a broadcast conference was held as the rail system lifted the curtain on the prelude for the Gang of Four. The Interim Ministry Leading Group asked all of the work units to carefully organize their learning to expose and critique the Gang of Four's counter-revolutionary crime to conspire to seize control of the party and the power of highest national authorities, to connect with the reality, to expose and criticize what they did to the railroad, and to find out the people and things that were involved. On 23 December, the Central Government decided that Duan Junyi 段君毅 would be the CCP Ministry of Railways Interim Leader of the Leadership Group and the Minister of the Ministry of Railways. Following this, the leadership group adjusted work assignments so that one part could focus their energy on transport while the other part could focus their primary efforts on learning allowing them to inspect and explain serious problems so that errors could be made clear. At all of the railroad bureaus, factories, institutes and schools that were located in provinces, regions, towns and the Ministry of Railways all soon participated in the work or exposing and criticizing.
While they exposed and criticized the activities of Gang of Four that sabotaged the railroads, they focused on adjusting the leadership team and implmented these two apsects of cadre policy. In the course of this ten years of internal chaos, the leading groups at all levels of the railroad were seriously compromised, for some work units the leadership was in the hands of elements of factions, at other work units where power had not been seized there were still many uncertainties as they were periodically challenged and disrupted. At the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau, the transportation hub where east meets west and north meets south, the generals of the Gang of Four sat directing their forces, the line is above and the help is below, (NOTE: shang you xian、 xia you bang 上有线、下有帮 the line is above and the help is below ??) defending allies while attacking opponents (NOTE: dang tong fa yi 党同伐异 defend allies and attack opponents http://www.ichacha.net/%E5%85%9A%E5%90%8C%E4%BC%90%E5%BC%82.html) great power was in their grip, and in addition they sent layer after layer of helpers bangban 帮办, assistants zhuli 助理 and liaisons lienluo yuan 联络员 to exert tight control. Many of the assistants sent to the lower-level party branches were not even communist party members. At many stations and sections the power of the team leader was taken away. There was no shortage of similar situations at other work units. Obviously, the problems of the team were not resolved and not only was the production of transportation difficult to get going but the task of exposing and criticising the Gang of Four was difficult to carry out in an orderly manner with the general public not able to agree. The Ministry of Railways after discussion with the relevant provinces, regions and municipalities began to rectify step by step the leadership team of each bureau, factory, institute and school, clearing out the criminal elements with those with critical errors suspended from their positions and investigated while the incompetent were dismissed. On the basis of clarifying the problem, a policy of giving these people a path, aside from those who had broken the law, gave them all a proper job. Some could be tested and cadres with the ability to work were selected which strengthened the leadership team at all levels. During the Cultural Revolution there were numerous cases of injustice, lying and illegal behavior at the railroad as many cadres and employees were mistreated, some not allowed to work for a long time, some were discharged or demoted and other could not endure the brutal struggles and died cruelly. Within the anti-rightist, anti-right leaning and Gang of Four movements there were also a large number of miscarriages of justice. After the Gang of Four had been crushed, their victims filed complaints to redress the miscarriages and implementing cadre policies became urgent tasks for that time. Based on the priorities of the central authorities the Ministry of Railways organized special teams, their overall planning, and comprehensive arrangements stipulated that all work units were under the control of the party with a hierarchical management of this matter. On 1 December 1978, the ministry agencies and the work units directly controlled by Beijing convened a policy implementation conference with the former Ministry of Railways ministers Lü Zhengcao, Wan Li and cadres, workers and technicians who had been implicated (with them) to rehabilitate and restore their reputations. On 28 November 1979, it was also decided that the former Ministry of Railways Deputy Minister, Wu Jingtian 武竞天, also be exonerated and his reputation restored. (NOTE: pingfan zhaoxue 平反昭雪 http://www.ichacha.net/%E5%B9%B3%E5%8F%8D%E6%98%AD%E9%9B%AA.html) After years of effort from top to bottom, by 1981 a total of 25.4 million cases of various types were reviewed and decided thoughout the entire railroad. Among them, more than 204,000 cases from the Cultural Revolution were reviewed and with 99.5% of the reviews complete more than 186,000 cases of miscarriages and false charges were reversed, accounting for 91.5% of the total number of cases reviewed from the Cultural Revolution. The verdicts of more than 19 thousand rightists (including center-right and those who had been acted against because of right-wing remarks) were corrected, over 8,500 cases against right-leaning were overturned, and more than 9,900 cases from the Four Cleans Movement were reviewed and processed. (NOTE: The Four Cleans Movement siqing yundong 四清运动 also known as the Socialist Education Movement which preceded the Cultural Revolution. The goal was to cleanup politics, the economy, the organization of the bureaucracy and the ideology of the bureaucracy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Education_Movementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Education_Movement) At the same as this more than 12,000 other old cases were also reviewed. After the unjust, wrong and mistaken verdicts had been reversed, over 35,000 cadres and workers from the railroad were sent back to their positions, those who were unable to continue working were properly place, and those who lost wages had them restored in accordance with the policy. By righting wrongs and the cadre policy, solidarity and stability were promoted, the enthusiam of the majority of the cadres and the masses was mobilized which play a significant role in the production of rail transportation and the development of various jobs.
Because of the intereference and destruction of the Gang of Four, several railroad trunk lines were blocked for long period of time and transportation could not proceed. In 1976 the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau suffered 12 bureau-wide blockages that resulted in 14 million tonnes of freight less than the national plan and 10 million tonnes less than the flood disaster in 1975 which was equivalent to no freight cars being loaded for nearly 100 days. In early to mid January 1977, the level of freight car loadings in the Lanzhou Bureau was half of what the normal level was with a freight car backlog that was enough for over 20 trains which seriously interfered with the normal traffic on the LanXin, BaoLan and other trunk lines.
For rail transport to catch up the bottleneck problem had to be addressed first. The CCP Central Committee and the State Council both attached great importance to this. And so in December 1976 the Central Government produced "Decision Concerning Strengthening the Leadership at the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau to Bring the Revolution and Production Up to Speed" guanyu jiaqian zhengzhou tielu ju de lingdao jinkuai ba geming he shengchan gao shangqu de jueding 关于加强郑州铁路局的领导尽快把 革命和生产搞上去的决定 sent three cadre members to serve the bureau as their 1st, 2nd and 3rd Party committee secretaries as well as 400 cadres and a battalion commander from the Railway Troops to help them. In mid January of 1977 the Central Committee also decided to transfer three responsible cadres to the Lanzhou Railroad Bureau to help the work of the leading small group. After they had established themselves in these two bureaus they encountered layer after layer of resistance, eliminated all kinds of interference and carefully investigated the people and events in the plot to usurp power by the Gang of Four and regained control of that part of the leadership taken over by these people. At the same time by vigorously strengthening basic work, adjusting rules and regulations, carrying out equipment maintenance, paying closer attention to operational safety the blockages soon opened up and traffic flowed freely with the production of transportation resuming quickly. In 1977, the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau loaded an average of 3453 freight cars per day, 1023.3 more average car loadings per day than in 1976 and among them were 2160 average coal cars loaded per day which compared to the 1976 average daily car loadings of 842.8, respective increases of 42.1% and 64%, completing the passenger and cargo transportation plan 52 and 31 days in advance respectively. The production of transportation in the Lanzhou Railroad Bureau also increased in 1977 compared to 1976. For other railroad bureaus with more problems the Ministry of Railways faced with different situations and after consulting with the relevant provinces and municipalities under the single aim of exposing and criticizing the Gang of Four adopted different measures to restore the production of transportation. Leaders within some of the work unit leadership teams still had connections with the defeated remnants of the Gang of Four and those who were unrepentant were firmly transferred away. If after these adjustment the leadership team was still not adequate, another effective cadre was sent to strengthen it. For the primary leaders who have different understandings, unity is not enough, help with criticism. In the past some problems were not handled properly such as criminals who should not have been released, the wages of unexcused absentee workers should not have been repaid, and the main leaders who continually announced they would seize production then suspend inspections and other decisions, it was recommended that they be discharged or detained. Solving these problems promoted correctness, mobilized the enthusiasm of the broad masses as the situation of transportation and production gradually improved.
As soon as the transportation jams began to break up the contradiction of the condition of rail equipment and its inability to meet needs quickly became unavoidable. The result of years of deferred maintenance there were more and more problems with the condition of equipment and in 1976 it became obvious. Of the 52,000 km of routes nationawide only 42% met good standards while almost 11,000 km of track needed to be either replaced or overhauled; for over 25,000 bridges only 76% passed inspection; for more than 3,100 tunnels only 39% passed; of the more than 50,000 km of communications lines more than 11,000 km are unable to withstand the serious problem of icicles, and over 17,000 km of mixed lines have severe corrosion; over 9400 locomotives after undergoing certifications were unable to get favorable status; of more than 13,700 passenger cars one out of four had technical deficiencies; out of 230,000 freight cars after random checks some 64% were found to be damamged or inoperable. Historically compared to years with better equipment quality, locomotive damage accidents increased by 77%, car damage accidents doubled in number and the number of temporary repairs for locomotives increased sixfold.
In March of 1977, the Ministry of Railways arranged for the entire railroad to carry out major equipment repair campaign. This campaign had two parts to it. The first phase ran from late March to the end of June, 100 days of battle, in a drive for major improvements in the technical status of major equipment. The primary goals were major repairs of 1,000 km of track and 1000 km of intermediate track repairs; (NOTE: Major track repair, ECCERD p.306 daxiu also means overhaul of coaches Intermediate track repair, eccerd zhong xiu xianlu intermediate track repair p.267 Focusing on the track bed, ballast and sleepers but not replacing steel rails.) factory repair of 800 steam locomotive, 70 diesel locomotives, 350 passenger coaches and 12,600 freight cars; complete one half of the annual plan of division-level repairs of locomotives, passenger coaches and freight cars, and relevant equipment; rebuild 10,000 passenger coaches and 110,000 gondola car bodies. The second part of the campaign was from July to the end of the year with major repair on 1500 km of track, intermediate repair of 2000 km of track, major repair of 1220 km of electric lines, 1450 sets of electric switches in order to make significant changes to the lines and communications and signal equipment of the primary trunk lines with heavy traffic; complete the factory and division repair tasks for locomotives, passenger coaches and freight cars, renovate locomotives, rolling stock and related mechanical power equipment that was in disrepair while also making full preparations for the cold winter. At this time the supply of raw materials such as electricity, diesel fuel, steel, cement and non-ferrous metals was tight and local supplies and replacement parts were lacking, each railroad bureau, engineering bureau and factory did everything they could to increase supply while reducing expenditures NOTE:(kai yuan jie liu 开源节流 open a water channel and reduce outflow) opening up the channels (NOTE: shutong qudao 疏通渠道 literally to dredge channels but in a more figurative sense it is revmoing obstacles to circulation, open up the distribution channels. http://www.ichacha.net/%E7%96%8F%E9%80%9A%E6%B5%81%E9%80%9A%E6%B8%A0%E9%81%93.html), and with the support of the relevant ministries and commissions, provinces, (autonomous) regions and municipalities the campaign went smoothly. At all levels the cadres walked out of their offices to practice the Three Togethers (NOTE: San Tong 三同 tong chi, tong zhu, tong laodong 同吃, 同住, 同劳动 eat together, live together, work together. Mao Zedong zhuanzheng shimo, The Rise and Fall of Mao Zedong's Dictatorship, p. 254 https://books.google.com/books?id=WbS7AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=1976++%E4%B8%89%E5%90%8C++%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87&source=bl&ots=hHnXi-5ZFh&sig=ACfU3U0UwIesuSSEgRbyQ3v90BSsN1eW4Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiR68XhheboAhUGAZ0JHS2fCVkQ6AEwAnoECAoQMQ#v=onepage&q=1976%20%20%E4%B8%89%E5%90%8C%20%20%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87&f=false) with the workers, participating in the battle and leading the battle. Work units with work units, departments with departments coordinated their actions and worked closely together, repairing the blockade, supplying needed materials, transporting materials and more, they achieved every part. After this campaign the condition of the equipment improved significantly. The major track maintenance on 2500 km in a single year was the most in history; locomotive and rolling stock maintenance completed all the plan goals. After the solution of the blocking of transportation was basically resolved, these results continued on without stopping, speeding up and getting better at completing the national plan which was very important.
From February 2 to 15 in 1977, the State Council held a national railroad working conference in Beijing to study how to do a better job of rail transportation. Attending the meeting were all of the ministries and commissions of the State Council and the responsible cadres from the various provinces, autonomous regions, directly controlled municipalities and railroad bureaus. On 22 February the CCP Central Committee transmitted "Minutes of the National Railroad Work Conference" quanguo tielu gongzuo huiyi jiyao 全国铁路工作会议纪要 (that is, Central Government Document No. 6 of 1977). The conference exposed and criticized Jiang Qing's counter-revolutionary group's crime of destroying the work of the railroad, determined the transportation tasks that were faced at the time and studied the railroad's management system. The conference affirmed the "Decision Concerning of the CCP Central Committee on Strengthening Railroad Work" (which is Central Government 1975 Document No.9) whic was a very important document and a very good document. The conference presented the goals of railroad transportation for 1977: March through April, a big up; (NOTE: Not really understanding the context I am stumped by dashang, big up. With a number in front, e.g. Shijiu Dashang, it refers to the 19th National Congress but here when talking about railroad goals I am not quite sure what to make of it. Wo bu haoyisi) May and June, the on time rate for both passenger and freight trains along with the average daily car loading numbers, reach the best level in history; before the end of August finish transporting the coal that had been stored at the coal mine heads. To specifically implement the requirements of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council for railroad work, the various provinces, districts and cities held a series of meetings on railroad work to communicate and to implement. The various railroad work units with the support of the local government and military garrison worked diligantly to study and understand the spirit of the National Railroad Work Conference in order to implement the actions and measures proposed bringing about an uptick in the production of transportation. In March the two railroad bureaus in Zhengzhou and Beijing launched a socialist labor competition with the Beijing Railroad Bureau also proposing the competition extend to all of the bureaus which provoked a strong response throughout the entire railroad. With this a wave of compare, study, pursue, help, excel (bi, xue, gan, bang, chao) quickly spread everywhere. (NOTE: bi,xue,gan,bang,chao 比学赶帮超 http://www.ichacha.net/%E6%AF%94%E5%AD%A6%E8%B5%B6%E5%B8%AE%E8%B6%85.html https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%AF%94%E5%AD%A6%E8%B5%B6%E5%B8%AE%E8%B6%85/6490959 The Baidu entry explains this as: "Bi xue gan bang chao, the management term used is "benchmark management". The basic idea is to help companies find, confirm, track, learn and surpass their competitive goals through standardized and continuous comparative analysis. The literal meaning refers to: compare, learn, catch up, help, surpass. It can also be said that "comparison" is the basis, "learning" is the core, "catch" is the key, "help" is the method, and "excel" is the goal.") The production of transportation advanced steadily with daily freight car loadings for the railroad increased from a level of 38,000 at the beginning of the year to a level of 57,000 cars during the second quarter to establish the highest recorded level in history. In the first half of the year more than half of the task was completed. (NOTE: Assuming here that the task refers to the National Plan targets set for rail freight car loadings.)
In the process of completing the transportation task, remarkable results were achieved in the rapid transport of stored coal. According to statistics from the end of February 1977, there were 8.05 million tonnes of stored coal on the ground at the national mines waiting to be loaded onto trains and of this total more than 6 million tonnes were from the four mining areas of Datong 大同, Yangquan 阳泉 and Jindongnan 晋东南 in Shanxi, Shitanjing 石炭井 in Ningxia. In order to complete the job of transporting the stored coal before the end of August, stored coal rapid transport command centers tu yun cun mei zhihui bu 突运存煤指挥部 were created by the State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Coal and the Ministry of Communications with responsibility for directing and coordinating all aspects of the work. The overwhelming majority of the cadres and workers from the railroad and the coal ministry cooperated closely in an all-out effort, many of them not leaving their posts for days and nights. At some station there was just barely enough equipment but after the masses responded and everyone offered advice, the railroad and the mines cooperated closely together to improve the plan to drop off and pick up freight cars as the number of coal car loadings repeatedly set new records with the job of transporting the stored coal completed ahead of schedule. After a period of difficult labor, the total amount of coal that was stored at each mine was reduced to the normal storage ranges that approached the lowest levels of 1975. From March to August of 1977 the national coal mines produced a total of 148.53 million tonnes of coal which was 8.6 million tonnes more than the plan, the railroad not only shipped out the coal produced for the plan but also the increase and still was able to ship out the large amount of coal that had been stored, thus easing the contradiction between coal production and circulation which created the conditions for the rational arrangment and balanced development of rail transportation.
In February of 1977 in the minutes of the National Railroad Conference on the work of the railroad put out by the CCP Central Committee there was a requirement calling for a mass movement calling for Industry Learning from Daqing (gongye xue daqing 工业学大庆) (NOTE: During the Cultural Revolution Mao promoted the "Industry Learns from Daqing" slogan telling Chinese workers to use the Daqing experience as a model of best practices for industrial production. For agriculture the model was Dazhai. The Daqing Oil Field: A Model in China's Struggle for Rapid Industrialization, Katsuhiko Hama, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1049.1980.tb00410.x https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daqing#Learn_from_Daqing_in_industry) that after three to five years of difficult effort would turn the railroad into a Daqing-style enterprise. The slogan called for the vast majority of employees to come together for the common goal of overcoming difficulties to promote the resumption and further development of the production of transportation. Since the 1960s, the revolutionary spirit of the people of Daqing of hard work and not being afraid of difficulties, the Three Lao and Four Strict san lao si yan 三老四严 (conduct in the revolutionary cause should entail becoming an honest (laoshi) person, speaking the truth (laoshi), being honest (laoshi) in conduct; toward the work of the revolution you need to have strict (yange) requirements, a tightly knit (yanmi) organization, a serious (yansu) attitude and strict impartial (yanming) discipline), (NOTE: dang laoshi ren, shuo laoshi hua, zuo laoshi shi; yange de yaoqiu, yanmi de zuzhi, yansu de taidu, yanming de jilü https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E8%80%81%E5%9B%9B%E4%B8%A5) the Four Same si ge yiyang 四个一样 (dealing with the work of the revolution the night should be the same as the day, bad weather should be the same as good weather, having leaders present should be the same as not having leaders present and having people who monitor should be the same as not having people who monitor) excellent work habits have taken root in the hearts of the railroad workers. From late April to the middle of May, the National Industry Learns from Daqing Conference was at first held in Daqing and then later moved to Beijing once again setting off a wave of various railroad work units studying Daqing. The characteristics of this instance of learning from Daqing were tightly bound to reality, a penetrating investigation and fierce criticism of the criminal activities of the Gang of Four that destroyed the railroad, a clear separation of right and wrong, strengthen the revolutionary construction of the leadership teams, strengthen the order of the organization structure, launch labor competitions, fully complete the national plan. On the basis of in-depth discussion and unified understanding all the work units relied upon the masses together with a pragmatic approach that allowed them to begin finding solutions to existing problems. The leadership teams of many work units went through the process of beginning to rectify their habits, strengthening their solidarity, maintaining a consistent pace, changing their work habits, they went down to the first line of production to implement the Three Togethers with the masses. (NOTE: Eat together, live together, work together.) Rules and regulations were all cleaned up, a Job Responsibility system was created and improved, from cadres to workers from production to logistics the basic division of labor was evident, everyone knew responsibilities, improving the order of production and strengthening the management of the team. Many units learned from their counterports in Daqing according to their industries, the focus was on professional management and good outcomes resulted. Technical training activities were widely offered and according to the requirements of Should Know, Should be Able to Do (NOTE: ying zhi ying hui 应知应会 The basic knowledge and basic skills needed for a position or job. What you should know and should be able to do. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%BA%94%E7%9F%A5%E5%BA%94%E4%BC%9A/8626564) study classes, technical lectures and demonstration matches were organized from which a group of technical experts emerged. The vast majority of employees were trained following the laws and regulations with an improved awareness of the importance of implementing the system of regulations. Socialist labor competitions were more common and their forms were more varied, passing through the evaluation one learned from the experience of others, found out what was missing, and did a better job. In order to speed up the progress of the Learn From Daqing movement and to promote the trouble-free acceptance of the Learn From Daqin plan, the work units of the entire railroad all strengthened the leadership then sent out a large group of cadres deep into the basic levels to provide guidance and assistance, promoting the healthy development of the movement.
In April of 1978 the Ministry of Railways held the National Railroads Learn From Daqing Conference in Beijing that summarized the achievements since 1977 of the rail system learning from Daqing and called for the establishment of Daqing-style enterprises throughout the entire railroad in the next three to five years. At the conference the "Learn From Daqing Red Banner" xue daqing hongqi 学大庆红旗 was awarded to the Mao Zedong locomotive crew, the Guye 古冶 Locomotive Depot, The Xinmin 新民 Station, the Daxie 大协 Station, the Sun Jia Track Maintenence Work Area 孙家养路工区 the Sun Yuheng Group 孙玉恒小组 at the Qiqihaer Rolling Stock Factory, the Guangshen 广深 Pasenger Transport Group 2, some 111 work units in all (collectives jiti 集体). After the conference the preparatory group of Ministry of Railways, the Political Department of the Ministry of Railways, the National Committee of the Railroad Union and the National Railway Committee of the Communist Youth League jointly issued "Decision on the Entire Railroad Further Developing the Learn From Daqing and Catch One Hundred Red Banners Mass Movements" guanyu zai quan lu jinyibu kaizhan xue daqing, gan bai bain mian hongqi qunzhong yundong de jueding 关于在全路进一步开展 学大庆赶百面红旗群众 运动的决定 identifying among the Learn From Daqing Red Banner Work Units (collectives) 35 work units in 25 industries that would serve as the vanguard of all the railroad industries in the movement to learn and win. And so it was that all the work units once again set off another great wave of Learning from Daqing to find what was lacking, setting policies determined to change the circumstances as quickly as possible by following Daqing. The Ministry of Railways solicited a wide range of opinions, putting the emphasis on planning and required that by 1988 the transportation, infrastructure, industry and electrical sectors to transform 170 work units at the sub-bureau level and above into Daqing-style enterprises.
This year (1978), the various industries of all regions in the railroad were widely and deeply developing the Daqing Movement with 320 large and medium-sized enterprises listed as the focus with the request that by the end of the year they must if possible work hard to enter the ranks of Daqing-style enterprises. Among them were 12 from the railroad, 6 railroad bureaus including Zhengzhou, and 5 sub-bureaus including Beijing and the Lanzhou Locomotive Factory. At the beginning of May the principal leaders of the State Council gave instructions that at the work front within a year's time at least 10 Daqing-style enterprises similar to the Anshan Iron and Steel Company anshan gangtie gongsi 鞍山钢铁公司 be formed. The State Council also requested that the Ministry of Railways focus on the Zhengzhou Railroad Bureau this year to make it a Daqing-style enterprise while at the same time decided to organize powerful forces from Daqing, Anshan, Kailuan and other advanced enterprises that together with the National Economic Commission and the Ministry of Railways would help the bureau with inspections. The Ministry of Railways immediately relayed the news of these decisions to millions of employees and their families who were part of a telephone conference broadcast to the entire railroad, and transferred over 240 cadres and employees, including more than 70 persons from 26 work units from the One Hundred Red Banners so in mid-May an inspection team was created to go to the 33 basic work units of the Zhengzhou Bureau to help with the work. Immediately following this a total of 731 employees from Daqing, Anshan and Kailuan who were led by responsible officials from the State Economic Commission, the Ministry of Petroleum, the Ministry of Metallurgy and the Ministry of Coal arrived in Zhengzhou; Henan Province also sent 69 provincial and municipal officials who participated in creating joint inspection teams to carry out inspections in the three sub-bureaus of Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Xinxiang 新乡 along with road bureau organizations, the Luoyang Locomotive Factory and 112 basic-level work units. The China Railroad Cultural Troupe (zhongguo tielu wengongtuan 中国铁路文工团) sent more than 260 people organized into 6 performing arts propaganda teams wenyi xuanchuan dui 文艺宣传队 to publicize and encourage along the rail line. After entering the inspection teams, following the unified operation of the Henan CCP Provincial Committee, embarked on the One Criticize and Two Crackdowns yi pi shuang da 一批双打 battle (continue to expose and criticize the Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group, strike against the destruction of class enemies movement and strike against corruption and theft and the financial speculators and profiteers), carry out comparisons of the routes taken, sum up the experiences and lessons learned and heighten awareness. Then using the CCP Central Committee "Early Draft of the Decision Concerning the Various Issues of Strengthening Industry" guanyu jiaqiang gongye ruogan wenti de jiejue (cao'an) 关于加强工业若干问题 的解决(草案) which is also known as the 30 Requirements for Industry gongye sanshi tiao 工业三十条 (NOTE: 20 April 1978 decision by CCP Central Committee also titled which laid out a framework to put the Chinese in control of the development of industry to speed it up and loosen the grip of foreign actors. http://www.scio.gov.cn/m/wszt/wz/Document/894974/894974.htm ) as their standard, reorganized the management of the enterprises using the job responsibility system as a centerpiece, restoring rules and regulations one after the other, the condition of equpiment turned around, track conditions improved and management tools were strengthened. Smashing the Theory of External Causation, wai yin lun 外因论 (NOTE: In the context of Chinese economic development the theory suggested that China could not develop without external aid.) taking hold of the weak links, tapping the potential of transportation to speed up the development of industry. In the first half of the year this bureau saw average daily carloadings increase over the same period during the previous year by 24%, completing more than half of the passenger and freight transportation in half of the time, in July during the period of continuous high temperatures and heavy rainfall the average number of daily carloadings increased by 3.5% compared to the first half of the year to produce the 6 best results in history of the 8 economic and technical indicators used by the state. At the time of acceptance, it began with self examination and self testing by the work unit and then followed by inspection and acceptance, and help correcting any problems uncovered by the acceptance teams. After the enthusiastic help of the acceptance teams and the active efforts of the work unit, group after group of work unit subgroups passed the inspections and by the end of the year the Zhengzhou Railroad Buread was given the title of Daqing-style enterprise. Although there were still some problems and there were still numerous disparities compared to Daqing, this instance of the Learn From Daqing movement had a definite influence at the Zhengzhou Bureau promoting the development of the production of transportation.
From November of 1978 to early 1979 the Ministry of Railways complied with the regulations of the State Council conducting acceptance and inspection for the Learn From Daqing Movement for the units subordinate to the bureau. These acceptances and inspections were a comprehensive comparison of specific conditions and comprehensive measurements that followed the requirements of "30 Requirements for Industry" along with the standards of Daqing-style enterprises and Daqing-style railroad enterprises. The expose and criticize the Gang of Four (movement), revolutionary leadership, the building of employee teams, enterprise management and other aspects all had to comply with the regulations. Under comparable conditions, the 8 economic and technical indicators must reach the best historical levels in the history of the enterprise while some indicators must reach the advanced levels in similar industries. Two-thirds of subordinate units must meet the standards while the revolutionizing of the structures above the sub-bureau level should be obtain high levels. The ones who meet the requirements receive the name of Daqing-style enterprise; the one with not enough of the conditions undergo inspections, affirm achievements while locating shortcomings, taking reform and improvement seriously, to speed up the pace of Learning from Daqing. The Daqing-style enterprises that have been built need to take it to a higher level and climb new peaks. The Ministry of Railways setup an overall groups for acceptance and inspections organizing the groups into six district and work units directly under the ministry to cooperate with provinces, districts and cities to carry out the acceptance and inspection work. These acceptance inspections were an enhancement of the railroad's Learn From Daqing movement as one after another a group of enterprises won the glorious title of Daqing-style enterprise with the economic benefits and the management level both improving to different degrees.
After smaching the Gang of Four and ending the ten years of civil strife, the business of rail transportation recovered relatively quickly but it was far from being able to meet the needs of national economic development. Speeding up the construction of new lines and the reconstruction of old lines, it was impossible for the country to invest so much at once, the needs were more than could be met with current resources. (NOTE: 远水解不了近渴 yuan shui jie buliao jin ke distant water cannot quench an immediate thirst http://www.ichacha.net/%E8%BF%9C%E6%B0%B4%E8%A7%A3%E4%B8%8D%E4%BA%86%E8%BF%91%E6%B8%B4.html) More realistically it is through the efforts of all employees to make use of the existing transport capacity of existing rail lines to increase efficiency and maximize the movement of goods and people.
In the first half of 1977, of rail transport achieved more than half in the period, accomplished more than half of the task and after a one-time fluctuation in July in the third quarter continued to rise. In light of the precipitous drop in the number of car loadings at the start of the year an important reason for this was that in 1976 winter protection measures were not implemented along with insufficient organization and material preparations, to learn this lesson from the end of September to the beginning of October the Ministry of Railways held a meeting of the leading cadres in Beijing where early arrangements were made for the production of transportation for the winter of 1977 and the spring of 1978 proposing a goal of "Two, Three, Six", that is for the entire railroad to reach 21,000 (NOTE: 2.1 times ten thousand) coal car loadings, a reduction of freight car turnaround time to 3 days and average number of daily car loadings to reach 60,000 (NOTE: 6 times ten thousand) as quickly as possible. At the time the implementation of Central Committee Document Number 6 had produced initial results but they were not steady and it was still far away from the goal of "Two, Three, Six". In early July as a result of the high temperatures and a water crisis (NOTE: The text uses an ambiguous term shui hai 水害 here which I at first wanted to translate as flooding of some sort, however, later I was able to find a news story about a severe drought in plains of Central China and so decided that it would be better to use 'water crisis'. https://pastdaily.com/2016/07/19/july-19-1977-summer-sizzle/) the number of car loadings for the railroad fell to 53,900 cars which was 3,100 fewer than during June; coal car loadings fell to 18,600 cars which was 1,100 fewer cars than in April; the transportation of other key materials was also not completed, wood and phosphate ore both did not achieve the goals of the transportation plan. The freight car turnaround time, freight and passenger on-time rate and the safety situation even after completing the tasks better and with historical record for car loadings in the second quarter still could not achieve the best score in history. The on-time rate for freight trains for some of the railroad bureaus dropped to only 60%. In the area of dispatching there were also problems with loose discipline, weak policies and a large number of loaded cars (zhong che 重车) flowing to the south led the Beijing Bureau to take control of the interior and the Northeast shortage of over 7,000 needed cars and only then resolved to manage the loaded cars flowing to the south, increasing the number of empty cars (kong che 空车) returning to the north but the timing of this was delayed. (NOTE: What is being described here is an imbalance between loaded cars going out and not enough empties coming in creating a car shortage. When the order goes out for a car placement there are no cars to fill the order so freight sits waiting to be loaded. The text gives no reason for this imbalance. High temperatures and a drought are mentioned but that does not explain why empties were not sent back. Maybe it is because there were not enough loaded cars being sent back to the area. But for whatever reason, sending a couple of trains of empty cars would quickly address this issue.) On 11 July the Ministry of Railways held an emergency conference call demanding immediate action to fight the high temperatures, resist the water crisis for a big gain thereby setting off a new upsurge of activity. Two days later the number of car loadings returned to over 56,000 cars, and the transportation of key material such as coal and wood both rose.
For the three months of July, August and September rail transportation continued its upward trend but still could not meet demand. At this time the entire national economy had taken the first steps toward recovery as the situation of long-term stagnation or even decline began to reverse which required more electricity, more coal, more steel and even more transportation. In this situation the urgent task that faced the railroad was to guarantee electricity, guarantee coal, guarantee steel and guarantee industrial and agricultural protection by exceeding the goals of the transportation plans. And since rail capacity was already seriously inadequate and it was frequently in debt, in addition coal and other industries commonly over-produced so that during this time some key materials were not shipped in an ideal way. Some of the mines that had completed the rapid transport storage of coal task still had large quantities of coal stored on the ground. The Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan and Northeast power grids were short of coal and some of the units were being shut down and pull the swtiches to cut off power to limit electrical consumption. Some of the smelting materials and products of the Panzhihua 攀枝花 and Baotou Steel Works were seriously backlogged and waiting to be shipped. If railroad transportation did not take a big step forward then it would seriously hold back the national economy. The goals of Two, Three, Six need to be understood in this context.
Beginning in October of 1977 the labor competition to achieve Two, Three, Six and to exceed Two, Three, Six quickly began throughout the railroad. The enthusiam of the employees was at a high level and they were motivated, everywhere there were scenes of creative ferment as people compared, studied, pursued, helped and exceeded. (NOTE: See Benchmark Management above.) Attendance rates rose everywhere, organizational discipline was greatly enhanced and production efficiency and the various indicators all showed large improvements. In November and December the production of transportation in the six railways bureaus of Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Kunming, Shanghai and Guangzhou fully met the requirements of Two, Three, Six and most of the 16 economic indicators surpassed the highest historical levels. In November the daily average car loadings for the railroad reach over 59,000 cars and by the end of the year broke the 60,000 daily car loading target more than a dozen times. For the entire year 793 million passengers were transported and 928 million tonnes of freight were shipped, completing the national plan 34 days and 24 days in advance respectively. In the first quarter of 1978, breaking the familiar pattern of transportation falling at the start of the year compared to the end of the year, during the Spring Festival (NOTE: This is also referred to as Chinese New Year which fell on February 7 in the year 1978. It is customary for the populace to return home for the holiday.) passenger traffic increased as temporary passenger trains were added over 40 days which was nearly 10,000 trains, the daily average car loadings in January and February exceeded the level reached in December reaching over 58,200 cars. In March while completing the movements of new and veteran soldiers the number of car loadings reached over 61,000 cars. In April average daily car loadings for the railroad was 63,752 cars for the highest level in history. In May it improved again reaching 65,216 cars which was 1,464 more cars per day than in April and compared to the same period in 1975 and 1976 every day loaded 10,000 more cars; the freight car turnaround time was 2.86 days which was the first time since 1966 that the historical record of 2.87 days was broken; among key materials the daily car lodings for coal reached 22,506 cars, which greatly exceeded the plan and stood as the highest coal loadings in history. All of the transportation indicators improved reversing the long-term trend of poor rail transport performance. To this point, the goals of Two, Three, Six were fully achieved and surpassed.
After entering the stage of reform, on the basis of a summary and application of past experience, there have been many improvements in the organization of the work of transportation the result of which was significant and the benefits apparent to all.
Reimplement a plan for transportation. In the early 1960s, the return rate on the transportation plan was high, not only was it beneficial to the stability of transportation work it was also beneficial to the arrangement of factory and mine production, receiving unanimous praise from both inside and outside of the railroad. But during the Cultural Revolution that all came to a halt. In June 1978 the Ministry of Railways once again held another transportation plan experience exchange meeting for all railroads taking advantage of more than a year's time to have transportation plan meetings at each railroad bureau to verify the track capacity and traffic conditions of each boundary access/interchange (NOTE: fenjie kou 分界口 boundary/border access While not completely understanding what is being discussed it appears to have something to do with the freight car famine that occured in North China when empty cars did not flow back into the area to replace those that had been sent out loaded. One thing that I have not encountered yet is a discussion of how CRR handled the movement and tracking of freight cars between bureau, what in the USA was known as interchange traffic.) to restore and strengthen the work of transportation planning and also improve the balance of the flow at boundaries and collaboration between bureaus. This inter-bureau transporatation plan was the focus of the Ministry of Railways and following the implementation of the plan on the important main trunk lines, Jing-Guang 京广, Long-Hai 陇:海:, Ha-Da 哈大, Jing-Bao 京包, Bao-Lan 包兰, Zhe-Gan 浙赣, and Jin-Pu 津浦, the proportion of direct trains to short-haul feeder? trains (NOTE: duantu zhenglie 短途整列) increased from 37% to 40.6%.
Expand the Creation of Passenger Trains. Entering the 1980s the motive power of the important main lines had already for the most part switched over to internal combustion (diesel) locomotives, the departure and arrival tracks at some of the newly built and rebuilt passenger stations had been extended which created the conditions required for increasing the train length. In January of 1982 the Ministry of Railways organized the first trials pulling 17-car express passenger trains on the Jing-Guang line with the result showing that it was possible to increase passenger train capacity by increasing the number of cars in a passenger train. After this the two lines, the Jing-Ha and the Jing-Hu, conducted theirown experiments and investigations. Among the 60 representative passenger stations on the three main lines, the Jing-Guang, the Jing-Ha and the Jing-Hu, only 35% of the stations had arrival and departure lines half of the length to meet the requirements of passenger trains with 20 cars with platforms, rain sheds, water hydrants and other equipment generally unable to mett the requirements of the expanded car numbers. It was therefore decided that it was necessary to invest in the transformation of the related equipment and to use high horsepower locomotives to pull the passenger trains. In 1983 tests continued on the Jing-Bao, Bao-Lan, Long-Hai, Lan-Xin, Hu-Hang, Zhe-Gan and Xiang-Qian lines with separate plans to upgrade equipment and adjust locomotive types that were put into practice one after the other. In this way the number of cars on passenger trains on the above lines increased to 15 to 17. In March of 1984 another experiment was organized on the Jing-Guang line from Beijing to Wuchang express passenger train number 37/38 pulling 20 cars and after successful runs the service officially started operation on 21 September of the same year. This was an important first step in the innovative transformation of China Railroad's passenger service. Following this express passenger trains number 15/16 and 47/48 formally began service with 20 cars on 1 April 1985 on the entire line from Beijing to Guangzhou. As of 1985 on the railroad a total of 151 pairs of passenger trains were lengthened with a total of 198 cars added which was equivalent to more than an additional 66,000 passengers every day, playing a positive role in addressing the contradiction between heavy passenger traffic and insufficient capacity. Meanwhile the type of cars that made up the passenger trains was also undergoing changes with some trains dropping the underutilized baggage car, (NOTE: xingli che 行李车) by adjusting the shifts of the car attendants it was possible to drop the crew dormitory car, (NOTE: suying che 宿营车 eccerd p.663 boarding car, camp car [bunk car, outfit car] crew dormitory car) after improving the method of supplying food and tea the dining car (NOTE: can che 餐车) was reduced in size making it possible to expand the number of passengers on the train.
Begin to Operate Heavy-Haul Combined Trains. (NOTE: zhongzai 重载 heavy haul, zuhe lieche 组合列车 combined train eccerd p.103 " " ) In 1984 the Ministry of Railways proposed the development of China railroad heavy-haul transportation, recommending the start of operating combined trains which was affirmed and supported by the State Council. What is called a combined train is just combining two trains into one train to increase the loaded weight of a train reducing the time it occupies a line, improving the traffic capacity of the section making it an important measure of the potential of a rail line and it was also an important change in the organization of the work of transportation. (NOTE: shanli 澘力 ?? I had great difficulties trying to identify and then find the meaning of this first character, shan, and finally had to settle on a meaning based on the context because it obviously had nothing to do with crying. Most of the dictionaries that I used did not even list the character.) In November of 1984 initial feasibility and pilot testing began between Datong and Qinhuangdao pulling combined trains of 6,000 tonnes, 7,000 tonnes and 8,000 tonnes followed by a series of test between Shanhaiguan and Shenyang and then between Shijiazhuang and Jinan where there was heavier traffic and more passenger trains with the tests achieving their intended purpose and returning good results. (NOTE: Qinhuangdao is a port facility for load coal on ships so the tests there most likely involved comining coal trains while the section between Shanhaiguan to Shenyang would carry more industrial goods while Shijiazhuang to Jinan is on the corridor from Beijing to Shanghai and would probably carry more passenger traffic than the other two.) Using the policy of open while trying, change while opening, improve as soon as opening and gradually improve, in 1985 the combined trains were officially launched on the above three lines and by the end of the year they had added up to 1281 round trips increasing the shipment of freight to over 3.44 million tonnes and producing both good economic and social benefits. In addition to this the main trunk lines saw a general increase in weight hauled (NOTE: qianyin zhongliang 牵引重量 eccerd p. 648), jianshao qian zhou reduce lacking in axles ?? with the average weight of train reaching 2,211 tonnes in 1985, 80 tonnes higher than the previous year and more than double the figure from 1949. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/technical_reports/2008/RAND_TR603.pdf The average converted transportation density went from 14.89 million converted tonne-km / km in 1980 to increase to 20.91 million converted tonne-km / km in 1985, and increase of over 40%. (NOTE: ECCERD p. 515 Tonne-kilometer of goods per kilometer of railway line huowu yunshu midu 货物运输密度 For revenue producing track for a certain section, sub-bureau, bureau or the entire railroad within a defined period of time the average cargo turnover carried on every kilometer of track, it is used as an indicator of the utilization of line capacity. The method of calculation is: tonne-kilometer of goods per kilometer of rail line = cargo turnover / section or railroad track length (t*km/km). Another possible translation would be Freight Transportation Density. What exactly the term converted transporatation and converted tonne-km is not entirely clear but instead of just freight the converted value might represent both freight and passenger traffic. )
The Reform of LTL Cargo (NOTE: lingdun 零担 LTL: Less Than Load. Shipments from multiple locations or shippers that are not large enough to fill an entire box car that are combined to fill a car as much as possible. It is a premium service.) LTL cargo along the railroad had in the past been carried mainly by rail due to the underdeveloped state of highway transportation with the result that most of the intermediate stations handled LTL shipments. However, with the development of highway transportation, in 1984 the Ministry of Railways decided to suspend LTL shipping at some of the intermediate stations and halt a certain number of LTL trains to put into practice a more reasonable distribution of LTL shipments with highway transportation which was, the long distance traffic would be carried by the railroads while the short distance would be carried on the highways. At the same time the organization of railroad LTL transport changed and instead of decentralized handling by all of the original small stations there would now be centralized handling at a limited number of stations. These practices of the rail sector won the approval of the State Economic Commission (guojia jing wei 国家经委 NOTE: Guojia Jingwei is the shortened form of Zhonghua Renmin gong he guo Guojia Jingji Weiyuan Hui, the State Economic Commission of the PRC. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9B%BD%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E7%BB%8F%E6%B5%8E%E5%A7%94%E5%91%98%E4%BC%9A) as well as the support of the local governments. By the end of 1985, on the entire system 2,050 LTL stations had been closed, 59.5% of the original 3,445 LTL processing stations; the distance between LTL handling stations had increased from the origianl average of 14.1 km to 34.7 km; a total of 123 LTL trains were halted which was 73.2% of the original 168 scheduled trains. Through such reforms the delivery capacity of each section gradually increased to 55 million tonnes, the equivalent of 4.6% of the annual traffic volume of the entire railroad.
Rapid Development of Direct Transportation. Direct transportation is an indicator that reflects the level of the organization of rail transport. Direct trains do not undergo car classification when passing through a marshalling station and so the car transportation time can be shortened to expedite the delivery of goods, making it a form of transportation organization the has obvious economic benefits. Beginning in the 1950s direct freight trains zhida huowu lieche 直达货物列车 began to be organized in the Northeast and later it was expanded to the entire railroad but until the 1960s and 1970s the number of direct freight trains hovered around 33% which was showed how little progress had been made. After reform and opening up (NOTE: gaige kaifang 改革开放 This is a term that has political connotations that refer to the reforms led by Deng Xiaoping that resulted in economic development and socialism with Chinese characteristics. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%94%B9%E9%9D%A9%E5%BC%80%E6%94%BE ) the Ministry of Railways adopted a policy of the vigorous development of direct transportation, sound rules and regulations, the use of incentives with a clear grasp of planning developed a plan, implemented measures making responsibility clear with the aim of increasing the number of direct freight trains a larger percentage of loaded cars as it went from 32.9% in 1980 to 37% in 1983 then to 40% in 1984 and finally 45% in 1985. Among them the proportion of the number of cars loaded with bulk goods on direct freight trains to the total number of loaded cars was 70% for coal, 75% for oil and 40% for wood. While strengthening the organization of bulk cargo direct train transportation, for seasonal local specialty and other agricultural products there was a lot of organization work that had also been carried out with direct trains of multiple tyoes and from multiple stations and it also achieved good results.
After smashing the Gang of Four the operations safety situation began to change in the first steps toward containing the increasing frequency of accidents. In 1977 the major and large accidents on the railroad were 9% fewer than in 1976 with the accident rate for major and large accidents decreasing by 17% for every million locomotive miles. After annual decreases by 1985 the number of major and large accidents dropped to 43, a 95% decrease compared to 1976, the rate of major and large accidents went from 1.16 down to 0.04, some of the best results in history. In this year of the 12 major railroad bureaus they had 34 periods where they achieved 100 Days of Safety (NOTE: With 365 days in a year and 12 bureaus you can have a max of three periods for each which gives a maximum of 36 such instances of 100 Days of Safety. So amonng the 12 bureaus there were roughly only two instances where one or two of them failed to maintain 100 days without an accident.) and five that had a Year of Safety, the best among the bureaus at the end of the year was 446 consecutive days without an accident, a situation that had not been seen for many years.
During this period, the Ministry of Railways improved the rail operations safety situation with a lot of hard work being done and various measures being taken. Many effective but but obsolete regulation were restored with some being modified while others were added. In 1977 the "Safety Monitoring Work Plan" anquan jiancha gongzuo guihua 安全监察工作规划 was issued affirming the achievements and utility of the safety monitoring of the past. In 1984 it was revised again to reiterate the importance and necessity of the job of monitoring safety, to delineate the tasks and technical and administrative duties of monitors and to stipulate that annual safety monitoring meetings be held, all of this being done to effectively promote this work. In 1978 the "Four Rules and Sixteen Things to Pay Attention to for Car Classification Operations" diaocha zuoye si xiang jilv shiliu xiang zhuyi 调车作业四项纪律十六项注意 was republished in 1978 to ensure that this regulation from the 1960s play an important role again and greatly reduced the common conflicts in classification movements and derailment accidents. After several years of repeated announcements and implementation by 1983 major and large classification accidents had fallen by 86.8% compared to 1977 while the number of general accidents fell by 63.3%. In 1980 the "Regulations for Handling Rail Operations Accidents" tielu xingche shigu chuli guize 铁路行车亊故处理规则 underwent major changes that modified the conditions of major and large accidents and went on the stipulate that each business department was responsible for the quality of the operating equipment while the response to major and large accidents must be handled personally by the bureau chief and results of the investigation reported to the Ministry of Railways for approval. In order to implement the spirit of reform and opening up in 1985, in accord with the strictness of strict, the leniency of lenience, the increase of increase, the decrease of decrease, the severity of the train accident, the principle that train accidents are different from car classification accidents, (NOTE: gai yan de ya, gai kuan de kuan 该&#;&#;&#;,&#;&#;&#;&#; Described in the article "Combining Strictness and Leniency," this structure is a way of indicating that this balance is being sought in the matter of determining how to deal with operating accidents but here it is written gai yan ze yan. http://www.iolaw.org.cn/showArticle.aspx?id=2262) the Regulations for Handling Rail Operations Accidents were modified again to make the judgement of the nature and level of the accident more reasonable while at the same time maintaining the coninuity and comparability of handling accidents since the creation of the New China. Clear regulations were also established for handling accidents caused by off-rail traffic accidents.
In February of 1979, in view of the inadequate basic work being done on rail operating safety, the relaxation of labor discipline, the widespread phenomenon of ignoring rules and and not knowing the rules, the Ministry of Railways issued the "Order on Ensuring the Safety of Rail Operations" guanyu quebao xingche anquan de mingling 关于确保行车安全的命令 requiring all railroads to firmly establish the concept of safety first and guarantee the safety of rail transportation especially the absolute safety of passenger trains. Leaders at all levels were expected to give top priority to the safety training of all employees for when everyone cares about safety then everyone guarantees safety; where there was no safety management system and although some systems are not perfect they should have a deadline to be setup and provided a firm basis; technical training should be strengthened by holding various training classes, competitions of technical mastery should be launched to promote difficult training in basic skills; improve equipment quality by implementing a system of guaranteed repair, guaranteed replacement and guaranteed compensation, do not allow products that do not meet standards to leave the factory and they may not be delivered for use, those responsible for any accidents will be held accountable; to grasp production we must first grasp safety and the railroad bureau chief must be personally in charge of safety; 100 Days Without An Accident activities must be widely carried out with work units that achieve 100 Days Without An Accident given honors and material rewards while current employees who prevent accidents and advanced teams and individuals who maintain both safety and no accidents for a long period must also be properly rewarded; anyone who negelcts his duty, violates the rules or lacks discipline and causes an accident should be subject to disciplinary action. The release of this document not only showed the determination of the Ministry of Railways to completely reverse the passive stance taken in the creation of safety but also clearly set out the responsibilities of the railroad bureaus, the sub-bureaus and the depots, strengthened the safety authority of leaders at all levels while at the same time increased the safety awareness of the employees to play an important part in the continuous improvement of the safety situation. In that year the accidents for the entire railroad decreased by 25.8% over the previous year with serious and large accidents decreasing by 13.6%, the transportation system had 52 model safety producers, 62 advanced safety work units, 376 advanced safety collectives, 106 advanced safety producers (workers)who were recognized by the Ministry of Railways. The following year, in 1980, the operating accident rate for the entire railroad began to fall below the best levels in history from 1965.
In January of 1980 as a result of passengers carrying dangerous flammable and
explosive goods into stations and taking them into cars numerous fires and
explosions occurred which not only affected the production of transportation
but also directly threatened the lives of other passengers and the safety of
state property. According to one month's statistics from five railroad bureaus
including Beijing more than 70 million firecrackers
(NOTE: bianpao 鞭炮 From personal experience, they are a string of
small firecrackers commonly used during celebrations. They scare the ghosts away.)
were confiscated at stations and on trains, more than 600,000 sheet of lighter
paper
(NOTE: dahuozhi 打火纸 )
more than 1,000,000 lapao and shuaipao
(NOTE: lapao 拉炮 It explodes when it is pulled apart.
shuaipao 摔炮 a small firework that goes off when it is thrown at the ground
or crushed with a foot.
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%91%94%E7%82%AE )
along with a large quantity of
explosives zhayao 炸药,
detonators leiguan 雷管,
fuses daohuosuo 导火索,
gasoline qiyou 汽油,
lacquer thinner xiangjiao shui 香蕉水
(NOTE: banana oil, lacquer thinner https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A6%99%E8%95%89%E6%B0%B4)
camphor oil zhangnaoyou 樟脑油
which were a hidden danger that was
unique to rail transportation and the safety of passengers during the Spring
Festival.
(NOTE: Chinese New Year)
The Ministry of Railways immediately reported to the State Council a proposal
to reiterate the "Interim measures on penalties for violations of the
management rules for explosives, flammable and dangerous materials"
Guanyu weifan baozha, yiran weixian wupin guali guize chufa zhanxing banfa
关于违反爆炸易燃危险
物品管理规则处罚暂行
办法
issued by the State Council in 1961
and the "Notice on Strengthening the Control of Explosive Materials"
guanyu jiaqiang baozha wupin guanli de tongzhi
关于加强爆炸物品管理
的通知
issued by the State Council and Central Military Commission in 1974 and
required that all localities and departments strictly implement them to control
flammable and explosive materials and to strengthen control over the
production of dangerous materials. It was strictly forbidden for social teams
(NOTE: shedui 社队 People's communes and production brigades
http://dict.cn/%E7%A4%BE%E9%98%9F)
and individuals to manufacture dangerous
articles such as Dahuo zhi, Lapao, Shuaipao and other hazardous materials. The
railroad departments were to step up publicity in order to firmly halt
flammable, esplosive and other dangerous goods entering stations and getting
onto cars and in the case of concealing or disguising goods to get them onto
trains the goods will be confiscated after they are discovered and fines or
administrative penalties assesed while anyone who causes an accident and
personal injury or death reaults or state property is lost will be subject
to investigation of legal responsibility according to the law. The State
Council approved the report from the Ministry of Railways instructing the
provinces, regions, cities and relevant ministries and commissions to do more
work in this area and assist the transport work units in spreading the
information and performing investigations. With the support and cooperation
of all parties the phenomenon of passengers entering a station with dangerous
articles will fall rapidly ensuring the safety of travel during the Spring
Festival this year and played on important role in preventing train accidents
in the years that followed.
According to an analysis of the statistics accumulated over the course of the years, a major proportion of the serious and large accidents during rail operations are due to locomotives overrunning a signal (NOTE: 冒进信号 maojin xinhao: overrunning of signal ECCERD p.640. Safety regulations require that a train must come to a complete stop in front of a stop signal and going beyond it for whatever reason creates a potential for an accident.) along with hot boxes and broken axles. (NOTE: ranzhou 燃轴 hot box, p.249 eccerd. A hot box describes a situation where the journal bearings of a railcar fail and overheat as a result.) To prevent locomotives from overrunning the signal and creating conflicts, cab signals (NOTE: jiche xinhao 机车信号 cab signal, eccerd p.616) , an automatic braking device and a wireless train dispatch telephone, referred to as the "three pieces of equipment," had been in development and trials since the 1960s but progress was slow. Previously the trains ran only according to signals located on the ground but because of the influence of terrain and climate it could be difficult for the driver to see the signal correctly which posed a safety risk. With the automatic braking device when the signal shows a red light and the driver does not stop it will be forced to stop. The wireless dispatch telephone enabled the driver, the train conductor, (NOTE: chezhang 车长 also liechezhan 列车长 train conductor, eccerd p.522.) station, and dispatch station to notify each other and immediately report the situation. In 1978 the installation of the "three pieces of equipment" was made a priority with a deadline to greatly increase the guarantee of operating safety. By the end of 1985 there were 6861 locomotives in service that had been equipped with cab signals and automatic braking devices, accounting for some 59.3% of the locomotives in use; along with 38,254 kilometers of trackside equipment covering 73.4% of operating railroad mileage. There were 8,179 locomotives with the wireless dispatch phones installed making up 70.7% of the locomotives in use. Comparing 1985 with 1979, for the entire railroad the major and serious accidents caused by overrunning signals declined by 84.5% while dangerous accidents (NOTE: xianxing shigu 险性事故 but Baidu defines it as a medium accident. They appear to be below the level of major and serious accidents. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%99%A9%E6%80%A7%E4%BA%8B%E6%95%85) fell by 44.1%. In the past checking the temperature of a car's axle was done by hand, was inefficient and hard to do accurately with hot boxes often missed because of mistaken and missed inspections. During the late 70s the use of infrared techonology to detect temperature was strongly recommended to prevent the all to common hot box accidents. By the end of 1985 713 infrared detectors were installed on the entire railroad and used at 373 train inspection stations with the result that every day more than 700 hot boxes were identified and acted on and for this won the third place award for National Science and Technology Progress.
During the period from the end of the Cultural Revolution to 1985, although great achievements were made in operational safety but as a result of the ten years of civil unrest some leaders and employees have not adjusted their loose attitudes about safety and discipline and the development of safety measure has not been able to keep up with the changes so while the total number of accidents and the accident rate have dropped significantly large and serious accidents still occur occasionally and some of them are particularly serious. On 16 December 1978 as passenger train number 368 entered Yangzhuang Station yangzhuang zhan 杨庄站 on the Long-Hai Line, the driver fell asleep and ran through a red light slamming into the through the station to collide with passenger train number 87 as it entered the station creating a major accident with 106 deaths and 47 serious injuries that also closed the tracks for 9 hours. In order to make employees understand the serious consequences of this accident and to remember its painful lesson, the Ministry of Railways designated 16 December as the safety education day for the entire railroad. Beginning in 1980 the Ministry of Railways holds safety month activities every May, requiring the entire railroad to make every effor to eliminated serious and large accidents, minimize all accidents, strengthen management, constantly reinforce, and ring alarm bells to ensure safety. In May of 1981 the Ministry of Railways announced to the railroad the restoration of the "open in all directions, flowing without obstructions, safe and on time, doing the right thing first" slogan to restore the issue of safety to an important position again. In November of 1984 at the Railroad Safety Work Conference the focus was on the theme "Safety is the Lifeline of Rail Transportation" requiring leaders at all levels to continue the difficult tasks of follwoing safety policy and educate employees to emphasize safety and continuously produce good safety outcomes. By means of the constant emphasis and strict requirements of the Ministry of Railways, the leaders of the railroad bureaus, sub-bureaus, stations and depots strengthened safety management, increased the focus on safety and increased the safety awareness of the vast majority of employees to strengthen the idea of "safety first" to prevent accidents and create a safe experience.
In April of 1979 the CCP Central Committee held a meeting to propose the Eight Character Policy bazi fangzhen 八字方针 of adjust, reform, correct and improve (NOTE: tiaozheng, gaige, zhengdun, tigao 调整、改革、整顿、提高 http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2018-12/28/content_5352861.htm http://www.xinhuanet.com/2018-12/26/c_1123909384.htm https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%85%AB%E5%AD%97%E6%96%B9%E9%92%88 ) with a plan to use it for three years to address the problems of the serious imbalances in the national economy and then embark on a path of long-term, rapid development. The imbalances in the rail sector were manifested in three areas: First, the growth of rail transportation capacity was not in the correct proportion to the development of industrial and agricultural production; Second, the ratio between the construction of new lines and the reconstruction of old lines within the railroad was out of balance; Third, the growth and change in rail technology and equipment was out of proportion to the ever-increasing passenger and freight volume. In May at a meeting of railroad leaders, Minister Guo Weicheng 郭维城 announced that as the railroad was being adjusted they would work resolutely to upgrade old rail lines, upgrade traction power and improve the quality of equipment; the first task of rail infrastructure construction in three to five years would be technological transformation of the existing railroad while at the same time planning for the necessary new line construction.
The result of the serious long-term imbalance in the ratio of investment in new lines and old lines, on the one hand the new line construction campaign was too long with the scale of operations spreading too much and too large being unable to concentrate on an annihilation campaign while the investment did not bring benefits soon enough; on the other hand many of the old line rebuilding project were prioritized with those planned often not having sufficient funding and construction resources so the project cycles were too long so there were more weak transportation links making the contradiction more and more pronounced.
During the three-year adjustment, the Ministry of Railways was determined to upgrade and rebuild old lines while also paving the way for new lines. The focus of the transformation of the old lines was to open up the Shanxi (Jin) coal export corridor, the Henan (Yu) and Shaanxi (Shan) eastern transport corridors, the rear transport corridor of the coastal ports, the entrance and exit tranport corridors to Mainland China (NOTE: Guan as in land within the passes Guan nei ) and the Northwest and Southwest transport corridors. The critical (NOTE: qiabozi 卡脖子 to strangle or squeeze the throat, here rendered as critical.) sections of these six transport corridors had to resolved within the time limit. Investment, materials and labor were prioritized for all the key transformation projects and were guaranteed. With the exception of a few main lines and some coal branch lines, investments and work on new line construction were all reduced or delayed. At the time the hope was that after the three year period of adjustment this would change the situation where the railroad could not adapt to the national economy, but due to the limited investment this hope was not realized.
In 1979 in order to solve the problem of the imbalances in the domestic economy and correct the impatience and recklessness of the previous two years of single minded pursuit of quick results and quick success, the state drastically reduced the scale of capital construction and adjusted the plan with investment reduced from over 40 billion yuan to over 30 billion yuan within this the investment directed to the Ministry of Railways was reduced from the 3.24 billion yuan in the original plan to 2.494 billion yuan, a reduction of nearly a quarter. In order to ensure the implementation of the adjustment policies and the national plan, the Ministry of Railways decisively pulled back on the infrastructure front as 63 large and medium scale projects that were already under construction were reduced by 12 to focus on the critical sections of the six major tranport corridors, including Shanxi Coal, and the mileage of new track to be laid was cut in half. In 1980 the Ministry of Railways continued to reduce infrastructure investment to only 1.473 billion yuan plus 800 million yuan in renovation funds to be used for business railroad upgrades and the renewal of rolling stock still below the 1979 levels, and only continued the Henan and Shanxi coal transportation projects and reduced by 6 the numbers of large and median-sized projects under construction. In 1981 Ministry of Railways investment was only 1.003 billion yuan with spending on another 10 large and medium-sized projects suspended leaving only 35 being continued, the Heng-Guang 衡广 (NOTE: Hengyang to Guangzhou) double-track project was also completely halted for maintenance. After many suggestions the leaders of the State Council also visited in person going to the Heng-Guang double-track project including the control engineering for the Dayaoshan Tunnel which were finally able to resume construction with other NOTE: Dayaoshan Tunnel dayaoshan suidao 大瑶山隧道 On the Hengyang-Guangzhou segment of the Beijing-Guangzhou line the longest (14.295 km) electrified double-track tunnels in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_railway_tunnels http://www.crecg.com/english/2745/2788/40313/40396/index.html) key projects that were listed as suspended projects. As investment declined and declined again in these years the scale of construction cam under pressure again and again with even the key projects in the critical sections of the six major rail corridors were affected with the transportation capacity of the main trunk lines not improving by much. The freight density of the Jing-Shen, Jin-Pu, Long-Hai and Jing-Guang lines in 1981 increased from 20% to 40% compared to 1978 and were always busy transportation lines. The number of access restrictions in 1981 increased to 22. Among the 38 primary classification terminals, one third of the terminal capacity was at its limit. Passenger traffic had also seen significant increases with seriously overcrowded trains, The Jing-Ha line was 60% overcrowded, the Jing-Guang line 75%, the Jing-Sheng line 70%, the Zhe-Gan line 85% and the Long-Hai line 60%. Although measures were taken such as adding temporary passenger cars, expanding the number of passenger trains and using hard sleepers instead of hard seats (NOTE: hard sleeper Yinwo 硬卧 hard seats yingzuo 硬座 Hard indicates second class service while first class is referred to as soft sleeper ruanwo &#;&#; and ruanzuo &#;&#; with more comfortable beds and padded seats as well as lower capacity. It would appear from the context that more passengers could be 'seated' on the beds of a sleeper than on a car with the usual seats.?? ) among other measures but this still did not meet the demand. In busy freight sections of main trunk lines the passenger traffic was also very heavy making the passenger freight capacity contradictions even more acute. Railroads did not adapt to the changes in the national economy and in the improvements in the people's standard of living in a still very serious situation.
Beginning in 1982, in order to promote railroad construction, the state increased its investment in railroads. While total national investment did not increase by much, the infrastructure investment by the Ministry of Railways increased from 1.003 billion yuan in 1981 to 1.97 billion yuan in 1982, representing a significant increase. In 1983, 1984 and 1985 the increases continued going from 1.5 to 2.0 to 3.2 billion yuan (including the Railway Corps) (NOTE: Similar to the US Army Corps of Engineers but concerned exclusively with the railroad. More formally the PLA Railway Engineering Corps. http://www.ichacha.net/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E8%A7%A3%E6%94%BE%E5%86%9B%E9%93%81%E9%81%93%E5%85%B5.html) with a proportion of total national investment that was higher than in previous years. The railroad capital construction focussed on Shanxi coal transportation while at the same time taking into account other old line reconstruction projects. For new line construction, In addition to speeding up the completion of projects that had been under construction for many years, a long-term view was taken that arranged for the start of several news projects that included the completion of a double-track electrification and a heavy-haul train operation, the Da-Qin line (from Datong to Qinhuangdao 秦皇岛) to add new power to future rail transportation. By 1985 the Fengshada 丰沙大 line, the Shitai 石太 line and the Taijiao 太焦 line of the Yueshan Zhangzhi 月山长治 section electrification project were completed, the Jiao-Ji double-track was partially invested while the Shi-De double-track automatic block was already under construction, the Jing-Qin (Beijing to Qinhuangdao) line had been handed over the started opreations, the Xin-He (Xinxiang 新乡 to Heze 菏泽) was opened, which greatly increased the capacity of the Jin coal transportation corridor. A number of projects were also completed for the other five transportation corridors. The double-tracking of the line from Zhengshou to Xuzhou and the electrification of the line from Baoji 宝鸡 to Lanzhou were both built and put into service while the electrification of the line from Zhengzhou to Baoji was started. The Hu-Hang, Zhe-Gan, Jing-Guang and Binzhou 滨洲 lines were partially double-tracked. Newly built lines, the Zhi-Liu 枝柳 (from Zhicheng 枝城 to Liuzhou 柳州), Han-Chang 邯长 (Handan 邯郸 to Changzhi 长治), An-Gan 皖赣 (Huolonggang 火龙岗 to Guixi 贵溪), Nanjiang 南疆 (Tulufan 吐鲁番 to Ku'erlei duan 库尔勒段 section from Turpan to Korla), Qingzang 青藏 (Xining 西宁 to Ge'ermu duan, 格尔木段 the section from Xining to Golmud), Fu-Huai 阜淮 (Fuyang 阜阳 to Huainan 淮南) and Mei-Qi 梅七 (Meijiaping 梅家坪 to Qianhe 前河), with a total of more than 2,200 kilometers were completed and handed over. In order to match the capacity of the main line, a number of hub mitigation projects were also completed.
The eastern coastal area were relatively developed economies with a large population, both passenger and freight volumes were large and growing rapidly. Although the rail density in this area was higher then the interior and the carrying capacity was also higher, it was far from meeting the needs of national economic development. After the reform and opening up, the national economy continued to develop and the newly generated traffic was also concentrated primarily in the eastern coastal areas. Starting with the reality of this situation, we had to increase the transformation of the old lines in this area and build new lines as appropriate. The reconstruction of the old lines began with the busy trunk lines and some of the critical sections by with adding double-track and implementing electrification while simultaneously updating lines based on the growth of transporatation volume connecting ports and opening up cities as needed. The first step of new line construction was to build new connecting lines (lianluo xian) and diversion lines (fenliu xian); the second step was primarily to build several trunk lines between the north and the south and between the east and the west with branch lines to the ports. In this way it would make it easy for goods to flow out of these areas and also convenient for passenger travel.
The first step in building new lines was primarily those suitable for connecting lines and diversion lines; for the rebuilding of old linesand in addition continued to speedup the construction of the long-delayed Jin-Pu and Hu-Ning double-tracked lines, it was primarily focused on the double-tracking of the eastern section of the Long-Hai, the southern section of the Jing-Guang, the Jiao-Ji, Shi-De and Huai-Nan lines. Along the Jin-Pu double-track line there are important industrial cities such as Tianjin, Jinan, Xuzhou and Nanjing, important coal production sites such as Yanzhou 兖州, Tengzao 滕枣 and Lianghuai, large oil fields such as Shengli and Huabei, (NOTE: Huabei Oil Field https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%8E%E5%8C%97%E6%B2%B9%E7%94%B0) and important rail links with ports such as Qingdao, Yantai and Lianyunggang 连云港 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BF%9E%E4%BA%91%E6%B8%AF%E5%B8%82 showing the importance of geographic location. After the Jin-Pu double-tracked line was fully opened in 1977, the annual transportation capacity increased from 14 million tonnes to 35 million tonnes as it played an important roles in speeding up the movement of coal from north to south and the distribution of import and export materials. The Hu-Ning double-track line is located in the alluvial plain of the Yangzi river delta starting in Shanghai, passing through Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang and other places finishing in Nanjing with its dense population, rich production and transportation always in short supply. The double-track project had already completed 36 km in the 1960s which was only 11.6% of the total mileage but after starting work again and speeding it up from FEbruary 1978 to January 1983 it was completed and opened section by section as the annual freight volume increases exponentially. The Zhengzhou to Xuzhou section of the Long-Hai line was completed and put into operation in 1983 which greatly reduced the transportation shortages on the eastern Long-Hai accelerated the pace of coal transportation from the west to the east and promoted the economic development of East China. (NOTE: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%8E%E4%B8%9C%E5%9C%B0%E5%8C%BA) The Huainan double-track project to support the Baoshan Steel Plant in Shanghai started construction in October of 1979 and the work was immediately postponed. Following the resumption of work in 1982, construction was accelerated and the section from Huainan to Hefeo was handed over and started operating in December 1989. After the section from Hefei to Yuxikou 裕溪口 was completed, it facilitated the production and transportation of coal in Liang Huai area. (NOTE: 两淮 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%A4%E6%B7%AE The region north and south of the Huai River.) In addition, the Shide double-tracked line, the Jiaoji double-tracked line and others were built to transport the Jin coal (Shanxi) and also increased the new transport capacity of the eastern coastal areas.
With regards to new line construction, several of the rebuilt coal transport lines, diversion lines and connecting lines, included the Wan-Gan, the Fu-Huai, the Da-Sha (Daye to Shahejie) 沙河街. (NOTE: Linked the iron mine at Daye with the city of Dashajiezhen located on the south bank of the Yangzi near Jiujiang. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%84%E7%9F%B3%E4%B8%9C%E7%BA%BF) The Wan-Gan line starts in the north at Huolonggang station on the Ning-Tong 宁铜 line (NOTE: Ning-Tong line) near Wuhu 芜湖 heads south to Guixi on the Zhe-Gan line &#;&#; (NOTE: Zhe-Gan line) a total of 540 km, connecting the Huainan line and the Ying-Xia line, (NOTE: 鹰厦 Yingtan to Xiamen line linking Yingtan in Jiangxi with Xiamen in Fujian. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B9%B0%E5%8E%A6%E9%93%81%E8%B7%AF https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%B9%B0%E5%8E%A6%E9%93%81%E8%B7%AF ) connecting the five provinces of Su (Jiangsu), Wan (Anhui), Gan (Jiangxi) and Min (Fujian) making it a major traffic artery in the hinterland of Hu (Shanghai), Ning (Nanjing) and Hang (Hangzhou) and also an important trunk line in the East China railroad network. Construction started in 1958 and work on the line was suspended twice in 1959 and in 1960 then resumed in 1970. During the three-year economic adjustment period, this line was listed as a key construction project and progress on the line was relatively quick, the southern section (Jingdezhen to Guixi) was officially handed over and began operations in July 1980, the northern section (Huolonggang to Jingdezhen) was officially handed over and operations began in April 1984 easing the transportation shortage situation in East China opening up a new corridor for the coal of Lianghuai to go south and the timber resources of Min (Fujian) and Wan (Jiangxi) to go north, playing an important role in the booming economy along the coastal line and the development of tourism in Huangshan 黄山 (NOTE: Scenic mountain site in Anhui. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%84%E5%B1%B1 New China TV youtube video: Welcome to Huangshan mountain, where modern chinese tourism started. https://youtu.be/kaIvczVIBnA Huangshan Mountain is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.) and other tourist areas. The Fu-Huai line is both the Huainan line and the Shang-Fu 商阜 (Shangqiu 商丘 to Fuyang) connecting line that was built later, in the long-term it connected the three trunk lines, the Jing-Guang, the Jing-Jiu &#;&#; (NOTE: Jing-Jiu Beijing to Kowloon, built in the 1990s to reduce traffic on the Jing-Guang line. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Kowloon_railway https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E4%B9%9D%E9%93%81%E8%B7%AF) and the Jing-Hu to provide another rail line from Central Plains to East China. This line from Fuyang to Huainan was 125 km long and was built the accelerate the development of the largest coal field south of the Yellow River with construction starting in May of 1976 and the line opening in November of 1982 when it began diverting traffic reducing traffic on the Jin-Pu line. The Dasha line is a shortcut linking Central China and East China, west to the Daye railroad's Daye station in Wuchang, east to Shahejie on the Nanxun 南浔 railroad, it spans 129 km. Before the line was rebuilt, to go from Daye to Shahejie you either went along the Jing-Guang line south to the Zhe-Gan line or north to the Long-Hai to the Jin-Pu line, journeys of more than 1,000 and 2,000 km respectively while after completion the journey only took a few hours. Construction began in October 1983 and four lears later in December 1987 the tracks were joined together which not only lead to the development of resources along the line but was also of great significance for the exchange of goods between the two provinces of E (鄂 Hubei) and Wan (Anhui) as well as important for industrial and agricultural production, moreover, it added a convenient path to the main traffic artery that extended from the northwest to the southeast coast.
Shanxi coal is not only widely distributed, has a large output and a large variety with good quality, it has been an important source of energy for the development of the national economy. For a long time because of a shortage of external transportation capability, production was often determined by transportation along with the occasional spontaneous combustion of coal that occurs when coal is stored on the ground this caused a waste of the resouce. Therefore, doing a good job with the outbound transportation of Shanxi coal is an urgent requirement of the country as well as the top priority of the railroad.
There are three main corridors for the transportation of Jin (Shanxi) coal, namely a northern route, a middle route and a southern route. The northern route follows the Bei Tongpu (NOTE: Tongpu Line https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%90%8C%E8%92%B2%E9%93%81%E8%B7%AF The Tong-Pu line runs from ?? to ?? Bei Tongpu Line and Nan Tongpu meet at ?? https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8C%97%E5%90%8C%E8%92%B2%E9%93%81%E8%B7%AF/10970989?fromtitle=%E5%8C%97%E5%90%8C%E8%92%B2%E7%BA%BF&fromid=8047177 line to Datong, along the Jing-Bao line east carrying its cargo for Beijing, Tianjin and other coal-consuming areas or for a port where it would be loaded on ships and sent to the south. The middle route passes through the bottleneck Shi-Tai line, passing along the Shi-De line and the Jing-Guang line to reach East China and South China. The south route has the Nan Tongpu, Tai-Jiao and Xin-Jiao lines providing access to the southeast coast. The capacity of these three transportation corridors needed to be increased.
For the north route this was primarily the electrification of the Fengtai, Shacheng, Datong section of the Jing-Bao line with the simultaneous eletrification of the Bei Tongpu line while the construction of the Jing-Qin was also set in motion. The eastern Fengtai-Shacheng-Datong section of the Jing-Bao line was an important corridor for the export of Jin (Shanxi) coal that was 359 km long, its Datong terminal famous as a production center for thermal coal (NOTE: dongli mei 动力煤 Thermal coal is used as a power source for steam engines as opposed to the metallurgical coal used to make the coke used in steel production. In general, thermal cola has a low energy content and a higher moisture content. Metallurgical coal is low-sulfur bituminous with a high energy content and low moisture content. Metallurgical or coking coal is jiaomei 焦煤 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8A%A8%E5%8A%9B%E7%85%A4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal) with recoverable reserves of more than 2 billion tonnes, a mining area of 2,500 square kilometers and an annual production of about 20 million tonnes. The coal produced here mainly passes along the Feng(tai)-Sha(cheng)-Da(tong) line to North China, the Northwest and East China coastal areas, as well as some exports. The terrain on the section from Fengtai to Shacheng is rugged with steep slopes and bends even after many technological upgrades with a double-track line built with automatic blocks installed thei still was unable to meets the needs so it was therefore decided to electrify the section. The electrification project started in April of 1981 and was completed and opened to traffic in December 1984 producing almost immediate economic benefits. From January to August of 1985, the Datong sub-bureau moved 3.53 million more tonnes of coal than during the same period in 1984. The tonnage rating for trains increased from an initial 3,500 tonnes to 4,000 tonnes so for the entire years 5.42 million more tonnes of cargo could be transported. The freight transportation density increased from 55.3 milion tonne-km/km om 1984 to 62.4 million tonne-km/km in 1985 for an increase of 12.5%. The Bei Tongpu line runs 355 km from Datong to Taiyuan and it an important trunk line running through the northern part of Shanxi Province with a large amount of the coal produced in the northern Shanxi region sent out on it. The line has a steep grade with sharp curves giving it a low tonnage rating creating severe transportation shortages. (NOTE: Grades and curves increase train resistance reducing the number and weight of the cars that a locomotive can pull which reduces the freight tonnage volume a line can handle.) To change the technical conditions of the line to meet the needs of coal tranportation in northern Jin (Shanxi), an electrification project to tansform the line began in April 1982 and to alse double-track a part of the line, by 1985 about one-third or the investment had been completed and was able to fully open in July 1989, improving the line and technical equipment to double the traction tonnage rating and transport capacity with heavy haul trains used on some sections which further developed the production and transportation in the Pingshuo 平朔, Datong, Xuangang 轩岗 and other mining areas. The newly build Jing-Qin line was part of the new situation as a result of the movement to Reform and Open (gaige kaifan 改革开放) to meet the needs of Jin coal export with a double-track electrified line from the Beijing Shuangqiao Hub to its terminus at Qinhuangdao, a total length of 290 km. Another is the 159 km section from Shuangqiao to Langwopu 狼窝铺 which was combined with the Tongtuo in order to increase its double-track section and the newly built 131 km double-track section from Langwopu to Qinhuangdao with another new station built in Qinhuangdao. Construction started in June 1981 and coal started to move in June of 1984. The electrification project started in March 1983 and began operations in December 1985. After one year of operation in the year 1986, the freight transport density was 23.13 million tonne-km / km, an increase of 44% compared to 1984 before electrification. In addition to transporting coal, this line also eased the shortage of transportation in Norht China and played in important role in speeding up the shipping agreements to move goods in and out. From Beijing to Qinhuangdao using the 89 km shorter Jing-Qin line had obvious economic benefits over using the Jing-Shan line. The newly built Da-Qin line was a new line built to transport coal and to develop the Shanxi coal region and played a huge role in both the promotion of the national economy and the development of external trade. This line of 653 km was China's first electrified, double-track, heavy haul, unit train, modernized railroad and its construction was divided into two phases. With a length of 411 km, the first phase of the project from Datong to Dashizhuang 大石庄 officially started in January of 1985. The second phase of the project from Dashizhuang to Qinhuangdao had a length of 242 km. The initial design capacity was for 60 million tonnes and a long-term capacity of 100 million tonnes. The entire line adopted many new technologies and new equipment that signalled that the construction of China's railroad had reached a new level. After it was completed not only could large amounts of coal be transported more easily out of Yanbei 雁北, Pingshuo and other places but the coal produced in Inner Mongolia, Ningxia also easily flowed to the eastern coast to provide support for the Four Modernizations. (NOTE: si hua 四化 the Four Modernizations are 工业现代化 gongye xiandaihua Industrial Modernization, 农业现代化 nongye xiandaihua Agricultural Modernization, 国防现代化 guofang xiandaihua National Defence Modernization 科学 技术 现代化 kexue jishu xiandaihua and Science and Technical Modernization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Modernizations https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%9B%9B%E4%B8%AA%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E5%8C%96/4298043 also https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%9B%E4%B8%AA%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E5%8C%96) Together with the Da-Qin's Datong station built in October of 1985, China's first heavy-haul, combined train yard that had from 2220 to 2395 meters of effective track length (gudao you xiaozhang p 602)that could handle combined trains of 7,400 tonnes, it also created the potential for the later operation of 10,000 tonne combined trains.
The focus of the center route was the upgrade of the Shi-Tai line, the Shi-De line and the Jiao-Ji line. The Shi-Tai line was 234 km long and although at this time it was double-tracked it was still far from meeting needs so the decision was made to electrify the line. The construction was carried out in two stages, started with the Shi-Yang section followed by the Yang-Tai section. Construction on the former began in March 1978 and was completed in 1980 while work on the latter started in September 1979 and was completed in 1982. In the past the Shi-Yang section had often been a bottleneck with an annual capacity of 21 million tonnes when pulled by a steam locomotive but in 1980 after electrification had been completed it achieved 31 million tonnes and in 1982 it reached 39.88 million tonnes so within two years of electrification it had almost reached the near-term design goal of 40 million tonnes and by 1983 it had achieved 41.52 million tonnes twice that before the electrification of the line. After the entire Shi-Tai line had been electrified and put into operation its capacity increased exponentially and the tonnage rating increased to match the 3,500 tonnes of the Jing-Guang and Shi-De lines greatly reducing the train reloading and reconfiguration operations of the Shijiazhuang terminal yard and decreasing the car dwell times. Following the increase in the capacity of the Shi-Tai line, the situation on the Shi-De line connected to it was even worse making its double-tracking even more urgent. The 181 km Shi-De line saw construction begin in March 1975 but due to insufficient investment and other reasons the work was halted at the end of the year. In 1978 the line was re-surveyed and redesigned and in September 1980 construction resumed with quick progress and the entire line opening in December 1982 and handed over to start operation in 1983 when the number of trains increased from 27 to 38 to provide additional capacity for the export of Jin coal. Construction on the Jiao-Ji double-track project began in 1974 but was suspended midway and work on the Shi-De line resumed in 1980. In July 1984 construction on the first phase of the project, the 335 km section from Lancun 蓝村 to Jinan, was completed and opened to traffic. The second phase, the 52 km section from Qingdao to Lancun, was not completed until December 1990. In 1980 after this single line was completed the freight density was 19.2 million tonne-km/km, making it one of the single-track lines with the highest density in China. After the completion of the first phase of the double-track project, in 1986 the freight density reached 28.2 million tonne-km/km.
The main project of the south route was the electrification of the southern section of the Tai-Jiao line, the constuction of Xin-Jiao double-track line and construction of a new Xin-He and Yan-Shi line as well as upgrading the Nan Tongpu line. The area served by the Tai-Jiao line is rich in coal resources with initial proven reserves that reach tens of billions of tonnes, accounting for a large proportion of the reserves of Shanxi Province with an annual output that reaches 20 million tonnes and accounts for one-fifth of the province's mining volume and is also the largest anthracite coal region in China. Work on the line started in the 1950s and line was completed in 1975, later double-tracks were built but it still did not have enough capacity. This was particularly true of the south section with low technical standards with the annual capacity to the north of Jincheng 晋城 of only 8 million tonnes while to the south of Jincheng there was a long 20‰ grade that only had (NOTE: In the USA this would be a 2% grade, a rise of 2 feet for every 100 feet of horizontal distance. A 2% grade is a steep grade especially for a heavily loaded coal train both going uphill and going downhill. The uphill run would require both power and weight while the downhill run would exercise the braking system. https://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/grades-and-curves) a 16 million tonne capacity with two engines pulling restricting the outward flow of Jin coal. In September 1983 the work on the electrification and a second track began and the construction was completed with the track opened to traffic in December 1985. The 154 km section from Changzhi 长治 to Yueshan 月山 had 93 km of electrified double-track and 61 km of electrified single-track which greatly improved its capacity with a short-term annual transportation volume reaching 30 million tonnes that could be increased to 40 million tonnes in the long-term, more than double the volume before the electrification. Construction on the 59 km lone Xin-Jiao line connected to the Tai-Jiao line began in December 1982 and was handed over for operations in December 1985. In order to open a new corridor for the export of Jin coal from Xinxiang to the east the line from Xinhe 新菏 to Heze 菏泽 was rebuilt and passing along the Ji-he line (Jining to Heze) and the Yan-Ji line (Yanzhou to Jining) a new Yan-Shi line was built from Yanzhou east directly to the port of Shijiusuo on the shore of the Yellow Sea to form an east-west trunk line parallel to the eastern section of the Long-Hai line to carry the Jin coal from west of Xinxiang to the sea. The 165 km long Xin-He line passes through the alluvial plain of the Yellow River and the key project was the 10282.75 meter long Changdong 长东 Yellow River bridge, the longest bridge open to traffic across the Yellow River. Work on this line began in February 1983 and the construction was completed and the line opened to traffic in December 1985. The 107 km long Ji-He line was jointly financed and built by the Ministry of Railways and the province of Shandong with construction beginning in 1977 and completed in 1980 when control was immediately handed over to the Ministry of Railways to go through rebuilding to then be handed over to go into service. While the Xin-He line was being rebuilt the Ji-He line was undergoing technical improvements. The west end of the Yan-Shi line connected to the Ji-He line by the Yan-Ji line that went 308 km to the port of Shijiusuo 石臼所 (NOTE: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%9F%B3%E8%87%BC%E6%89%80%E6%B8%AF ) with construction starting in April 1981 and the track laid and open to traffic in November 1984 finally being put into operation at the end of 1985. The deep-water port of Shijiusuo was built at the same time as the Yah-Shi line, designed to transport an annual capacity of 15 million tonnes of coal. When the Yan-Shi line was completed not only did it transport large amounts of Jin coal to the sea, it also created the conditions for the further development of the local Yanzhou coalfield and the Tengzao coalfield. The 219 km Han-Chang line was another corridor for the south route Jin coal could travel to reach the sea, the section from Handan to Cishan 磁山 used an existing line while construction on the 172 km section from Cishan to Changzhi began in 1959 but work was halted for ten years and it was not until 1981 that the entire track was opened to traffic and until May 1984 when it was handed over and operations began. This line passes through the southeastern Jin and southwestern Ji (Hebei) coal production areas linking the Tai-Jiao and Jing-Guang lines playing an important role in the creation of a rail network. In addition, the Nan Tongpu double-track was also under construction and by the end of 1985 more than 300 million yuan had been invested which was close to half of the investment.
After the construction of these three corridors the transportation of coal out of Jin saw major improvements but the improved parts were immediately put into use so there was no extra capacity. The Three-year Period of Adjustment saw the tansportation capacity to move coal out of Jin increase from 60 million tonnes to 81 million tonnes however it was still unable to meet the need. From 1983 to 1985 the nation required that the volume of coal out of Jin increase by 7 million tonnes, 9 million tonnes, 12 million tonnes over the previous year, a total of 28 million tonnes, the equivalent of the capacity of two single-track railroads. Although rail construction focused on improving the Jin coal export corridor, making great efforts to improve the old lines and did the best they could to build new lines it still failed to achieve a major advance.
It was never too late for China to start using internal combustion and electric for traction power. But for various reasons progress had been slow. By 1975 the total power of the locomotives attached to the railroad bureaus totaled 14.749 million kilowatts with steam at 12.074 million kilowatts comprising 83.5%; internal combustion engines with 1.865 million kilowatts with 14.5%; electrical power with 810,000 kilowatts accounting for 2%. In 1980 the proportion of total power of the three locomotive types saw steam reduced from 83.5% to 75.9%, the internal combustion engine increased from 14.5% to 21.3% while electrical power increased from 2% to 2.8%, not a large change. After the reform and opening up, there was a careful summarizing of the lessons learned from not being too late to get off to a good start with repeated studies over the direction of development in a step forward that clarified technical policy accelerating the pace of the reform of tractive power. In October 1977 the National Railroad Science and Technology Planning Conference discussed railroad technology policy and proposed the rapid development of internal combustion and electrical tractive power with electric power getting the major consideration, a view that received support from all parties. In the "Important Technical Policies for the Railroads" tielu zhuyao jishu zhengce 铁路主要技术政策 officially released in May 1983 by the Ministry of Railways it was clearly stated that they should "actively carry out the reform of railroad tractive power using internal combustion and electrically powered locomotives with better traction performance and better thermal efficiency that will gradually replace steam locomotives", "from the perspective of development, the power of railroad traction should primarily be electric traction", and according to the reality of the railroads of China it was also stipulated that "for a period of time, steam locomotives will be an important source of tractive power, so steam locomotives must continue to be used, repaired and upgraded." The implementation of this technical policy accelerated the development of the use of internal combustion and electric powered locomotives as well as the process of the electrification of railroads. Starting in 1982 as the national economic situation improved, the production of internal combustion and electric locomotives increased with each year so that by 1985 it was 2.1 times that in 1981 as the production of internal combustion locomotives increased by 19.3% annually between 1983 and 1985 while that for electric locomotives increased by 41.9%. In 1985 there were 285 internal combustion locomotives and 100 electric locomotives produced, a total of 385, exceeding for the first time the production of 361 steam locomotives. From 1981 to May 1985, the electrified track that had been completed and opened to traffic represented 75% of the total mileage that was electrified. At the same time that this was happening and after continuous improvement, the internal components of the internal combustion and electric locomotives saw significant changes that represented another big step forward to modernization. The Dongfeng 4 class internal combustion locomotive that was built in the Dalian Locomotive and rolling Stock factory saw the continuous power rating of the diesel engine increase from 2425 kW to 2646 kW to 2940 kW. (NOTE: 特续功率 texugonglü continuous power ECCERD p120, http://www.ichacha.net/%E6%8C%81%E7%BB%AD%E5%8A%9F%E7%8E%87.html also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_rating The improvements were most likely the result of the replacement of the troubled 16V240ZJ diesel engine with the improved 16V240ZJA. Dongfeng 4 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%9C%E9%A3%8E4%E5%9E%8B%E6%9F%B4%E6%B2%B9%E6%9C%BA%E8%BD%A6) The third-generation Dongfeng 4C model had its first successful trial-run in September 1985. In 1983 the Zhuzhou Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory started the small batch production that was based on improvements to the Shaoshan 1 and Shaoshan 2, the Shaoshan 3 with a continuous power rating that increased from 3780 kW to 4800 kW. In 1985 there was also trial production of the Shaoshan 4, a dual-unit locomotive with 6400 kW of power. The Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory successfully trial-produced the Dongfeng 8 high power freight locomotive and in October 1984 started small batch production, with 3310 kW of power installed it could pull a 4500-tonne freight train on a straight line, reaching a speed of 80 km per hour making it the locomotive with the largest single-engine power in China at the time. (NOTE:??) There was trial production and small batch production of the Dongfeng 7 diesel locomotive at the Beijing 2-7 Locomotive Factory and the newly designed Dongfeng 5 locomotives that were jointly produced by the Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory and the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory, both new products of this period.
In the seven or eight years since the reform and opening up, the production of diesel and electric locomotives not only saw a large variety of production and an increase in capacity but also the maturing of production technology and continued improvements in the quality of the products.
When the ten years of civil strife ended, the construction and repair facilities for diesel and electric locomotives included Dalian, Sifang, Beijing 2-7, Qishuyan, Ziyang, Chengdu, Shenyang, Zhuzhou Electric (then known as Tianxin 田心) and other factories reached a certain level of production, the management of production technology and various basic task also reached relatively good levels, new technologies, new equipment and new processes have been gradually adopted, a number of new production lines have been built, a large number of factories have been newly built or upgraded which has resulted in the formation of a relatively complete system to manufacture and repair internal combustion and electric locomotives. However, the product type is complex with a wide variety and the distribution is not reasonable, upgrades are slow and in many places the level of industrial art lagged behind and the conditions of labor need to be improved. After Reform and Opening Up, including the Period of Adjustment, the state invested part of their funds to renovate and expand factories, and to introduce advanced foreign technology and equipment to bring relatively rapid increases in production capacity and ability, creating a series of internal combustion and electric locomotives each with its own characteristics implementing fixed point production. (NOTE: fixed point production, dingdian shengchan, 定点生产 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AE%9A%E7%82%B9%E7%94%9F%E4%BA%A7) The primary class of electric drive internal combustion locomotive (NOTE: A diesel-electric locomotive with an internal combustion engine with an electric transmission where the diesel engine powers an electric generator that provides the current to power electric motors that turn the wheels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_locomotive#Diesel%E2%80%93electric) was the Dongfeng series which was produced at factories in Dalian, Qishuyan, Ziyang, Tangshan, Sifang and Beijing 2-7. The main types of hydraulic diesel locomotives are the Dongfang Hong and the Beijing series with the Dongfang Hong type produced at the Sifang, Ziyang and Qishuyan factories and the Beijing type produced at the Beijing 2-7 factory. Electric locomotives are still produced at the Zhuzhou factory who original purpose of repairing steam locomotives ceased in 1979 to focus instead on the specialized field of manufacturing electric locomotives. Most of the above mentioned factories have undergone improvements and expansion. The Ziyang factory for example, in March 1983 was approved for the production of 100 Dongfeng 4 locomotives and the rebuilding and upgrade of 250 diesel engines per year. trial-produced the first Dongfeng 4 locomotive in November of the same year and started to mass-produce it in 1985; after the earthquake, the Tangshan factory was relocated and rebuilt to increase annual production to 100 diesel locomotives with work on this project beginning in 1984; the Taiyuan factory originally repaired steam locomotives but in July 1984 it received approval to switchover to perform annual maintenance on 150 locomotives and perform upgrades. After the completion of these projects their production and maintenance/repair capabilities underwent a large expansion.
The diesels produced during the 1950s, such as the Dongfang Hong, the Dongfeng 2 and Dongfeng 3 belonged to the first-generation of products whose techology was not mature enough and could not readily adapt to the needs of development. The second-generation of diesels that were designed and developed in the mid-1960s had undergone great improvement. By the 1970s the primary performance and technical indicators of the locomotives had reached the design requirements. As their road miles continued to increase and after a long period of use and experience, some problems were uncovered. The response of the factories to these problems was to organize a technical drive to overcome them, adjust the design elements, improve the manufacturing process and thoroughly repair the locomotives that had already left the factory to achieve a level of locomotive stability and reliability while also making improvements on several other parts. After going through evaluation tests and trial runs to prove the success of the improvements not only was there an increase in traction capacity and the running speed but also with the interchangability of primary components and the extension of the service life, improved working conditions and an increase in the smoothness of travel along with other aspects of the locomotive were all quite good. The tractive force and braking resistance force of the Shaoshan type 3 locomotive were both superior to those of the Shaoshan type 1 which made it easier to maintain higher speeds descending grades, the dynamic performance (NOTE: dongli xue xingneng 动力学性能) saw improvement, the cab noise was reduced and it became the primary mainline electric locomotive for passenger and freight service replacing the Shaoshan type 1 locomotive. In October of 1983 an agreement with General Electric in the United States was signed for the purchase of 220 diesel locomotives and a techonology transfer to manufacture 10 kinds of key diesel locomotive components and in 1985 signed a trade agreement to purchase a further 200 locomotives and technology trade transfer that would expand total traction capacity taking another step forward in dieselization to improve the equipment and technology of each factory on the Chinese side using the strength of the people to make up for weaknesses and could help catch up with the advanced levels of the world. (NOTE: ND5 is the designation given by China Rail to the GE C36-7 diesel electric AC-DC locomotive exported to China in two groups. The first group was known as the ND5 I and a second batch with some improvements as the ND5 II. https://www.ge.com/news/press-releases/first-china-mainline-locomotive-assembled-country also http://www.trainfanz.com/en/series_info.aspx?Series=31&msg=203) In April 1984 the Chinese government and the International Bank for Reconstruction (ie. the World Bank) signed the first tranche of railroad loan agreements in the total amount of $220 million dollars US part of which was used to upgrade the Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Factory in another measure to improve traction power. By the above efforts, the manufacturing technology of internal combustion and electric locomotives made great progress as the quality of products improved as inspection and maintenance rate (NOTE: jianxiulü, 检修率) and temporary repair and damaged parts was significantly reduced. The inspection and maintenance rate of internal combustion and eletric locomotives declined significantly. The inspection and maintenance rate of internal combustion and electric locomotives in 1975 was 17.8% and 5.5% respectively. in 1980 they were 11.9% and 7.8%. in 1985 they dropped to 8.3% and 6.6% respectively; the number of damaged parts per 100,000 km in 1975 was 1.92 and 2.7 respectively, in 1980 they were 0.5 and 0.84 respectively while in 1985 they had dropped to 0.16 and 0.33 respectively; the number of temporary repairs per 100,000 km in 1975 was 6.3 and 12.5 respectively, in 1980 they were 3.6 and 8.24 respectively and in 1985 dropped to 2.01 and 3.46 respectively. With the exception of the inspection and maintenance rate for electric locomotives between 1980 and 1985 which exceeded that of 1975, the remainder all declined over time. This shows that during the seven or eight years after Reform and Opening Up, big step and steady progress began to change the passive situation of not adapting and set the necessary foundation for the next stage to improve the capability, quality and level of internal combustion and electric traction.
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CCP Central Committee, the Ministry of Railways based on the ideology of Deng Xiaoping with regard to "science and technology are the primary productive force", "respect knowledge and respect talent" and in the spirit of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council, attaching importance to scientific and technical education and the work of intellectual, formulated a series of relevant government policies and measures to energetically improve the scientific and cultural inner qualities of employees, creating a giant intellectual team trained by a large number of the outstanding railroad science and technology experts to vigorously promote the construction of the two cultures.
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CCP Central Committee, the Ministry of Railways attached great importance to the role of science and technology relying on technical progress for basic policy and ideas as a mean to transform railroads, building railroads, developing railroads and managing railroads and create favorable conditions for the development of railroad science and technology and so it successively published "Main Policies for the Development of Railroad Science and Technology", "Outline of a Plan for National Railroad Scientific and Technical Development from 1978 to 1985 (early draft)", "Adminstrative Measures for Scientific Research in the Ministrty of Railways", and "Interim Administration of Technical Innovation and Technical Revolution for the Ministry of Railways" and other important documents on the development of science and technology to enhance the education of employees' scientific and technical awareness enhancing the rapid development of railroad science and technology to usher in a new stage in the methodical development of railroad science and technology in China.
In order to ensure the realization of the strategic development goal of the railroads, the Ministry of Railways, in February of 1979, announced the first "The Principal Policy for the Development of Railroad Science and Technology" regarding 19 aspects, including tapping potential, innovation, upgrades, the production of safety, of the proposed direction of technological development. At the same time as this, in accord with the arrangements of the national economic development plan and the national science and technology development plan, the close integration of rail transport, production and construction major techinial issues that neede to be resolved produced "Outline of the National Railroad Science and Technology Development Plan (Draft) from 1978 to 1985" which the CCP arranged into 8 parts, 570 items, 1510 research topics, among which are 93 key scientific research projects and their correpsonding organizational measures. On 14 May 1983, according to the needs of the situation the Ministry of Railways organized experts, scholars and scientific research and technical personnel and after years of research, discussion, analysis and experimentation produced a new "Main Railroad Technical Policy" (hereafter referred to as The Policy) that was reformulated and released. It proposed "to coordinate the development of new and old lines as a whole", "the development of the weight and density of trains is equally important", "use electric and internal combustion to gradually replace steam locomotives with electric as the preferred","the design speed (NOTE: gouzao sudu 构造速度 ECCERD p.602) of the freight and passenger cars should be faster than the maximum speed of freight and passenger trains", "the capacity of classification yards should be coordinated with the development of section capacity" and 10 other issues, insisting on a policy of whole railroad thinking that relies on technology to develop the railroad industry for various technologies and uses reasonable equipment configurations and coordinated development which determined direction and goals, becoming the basis of railroad modernization and construction in the 1980s and had a profound impact on railroad development. With the development of railroad construction projects and the progress of science and technology, some provisions of "The Policy" published in 1983 were already irrelevant while others had not been adopted so since 1985 the Ministry of Railways set out to revise and supplement "The Policy" according to the specific conditions. This revised technology policy was both more advanced and more feasible, particularly so for the comprehensive support, coordinated development and application of key mature technologies as well as other aspects and there are even more specific instances.
Following the National Railroad Technology Conference in 1978, the Ministry of Railways moved to enhance the scientific and technical awareness of its employees regarding the scientific and cultural quality of the workforce as an important link in implementing the strategy to achieve scientific and technical development as the necessary required conditions to develop the Chinese socialist modernization of the railroad industry. Railroad party organizations at all levels organized employees to learn Marxism, the theory of "Science and Technology are Productive Forces" and a series of speeches by Deng Xiaoping about science and technology utilizing a variety of forms to publicize and to introduce to all the cadres and workers a basic knowledge of modern science and technology to make the ideology that "the key to the Four Modernizations is the modernization of science and technology and the task of railroad science and technology must come before transportation, production and construction" gradually penetrate deeply into the hearts of the people. In response to the interference brought about by the ten years of civil unrest, all employees, especially young employees, had a superficial understanding of science and technology that effected the quality of science and technology so party committees at all levels carried out widespread employee training throughout the railroad. From 1979 to 1981 the Ministry of Railways launched 4 classes in business management research that was attended by leading cadres above the sub-bureau; eash work unit organized 1,160 short courses in various technical areas with 335,000 people participating in studies; all the work units also reorganized and strengthened party schools and night classes (NOTE: yeyou xuexiao 业余学校 literally "spare-time schools" which I chose to call night classes as being the closest expression in English that matched the intent of the Chinese phrase realizing that this also included workers on the night-shift. Another option might be "continuing education classes". ) to increase the education of on-the-job cadres. In order to improve the scientific and cultural level of the younger workers during the early 1980s party committees at all levels of the railroad organized supplemental instruction in culture and technology for them. By the end of 1985, the number of railroad young workers who had participated in these supplemental cultural and technical classes reached 650,000 and 400,000 respectively reaching some 80% of the people who needed the instruction greatly improving the scientific and cultural qualities of the workforce.
During the 6-5 period, (NOTE: the 6th 5-year plan was from 1980 to 1985.) the number of professional researchers increased gradually with many new technologies coming into use to play their part in rail transportation. By the end of 1985 there were 49 professional research work unit of various types with the national railroad with about 8,500 professional scientific researchers in research institutions at both the ministry and bureau level, forming a network. The aim of this scientific research work was to improve the transportation capacity of the railroad, focusing on heavy-hauls, expansion, safety, efficiency, computer applications and software technical development as the key areas being researched to obtain better results. There were three scientific and technical achievements by the railroad that won National Natural Science Awards; (NOTE: guojia ziran kexue jiang 国家自然科学奖 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E8%87%AA%E7%84%B6%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%A6%E5%A5%96 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Science_and_Technology_Prizes) 38 scientific and technological achievements were given the National Science and Technology Progress Award, among them the new technology used to build the Nanjing Yangzi River bridge and the new technology used in the construction of the Cheng-Kun railroad in a steep mountainous area with a complex geology won the special prize, the Hanjiang (NOTE: 汉江 in Ankang, Shaanxi completed in 1981. http://www.crbbi.com/En/Major_Projects/list_info.php?inid=1286420920 https://masstransit.network/mass-transit-associations/china-academy-of-railway-sciences-cars) that saw the research and application of new technologies embodied in the bridge with its slant leg, rigid frame thin-walled box steel beam bridge and in continuous welded rail (wufeng xianlu 无缝线路 also CWR) and the application of of brush electro-plating technology (NOTE: dian shua du 电刷镀 http://www.ichacha.net/%E7%94%B5%E5%88%B7%E9%95%80.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroplating#Brush_electroplating) for which it won the first class award. Sixteen scientific and technical achievements were awarded the National Invention Award guojia faming jiang &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;. At the ministerial level 364 scientific and technical achievements were evaluated, 2.4 times the number during the 5-5 period and more than 60% of then received ministerial awards. For the entire railroad there were more than 114,000 mass innovation projects qunzhong xing gexin xiangmu among which nearly 5,000 were relatively large. Some of the scientific and technical achievements were promoted and applied to production which resulted in better economic benefits to enrich and improve more advanced large-scale and precise experimental methods such as the circular railroad test base, a large-scale structural laboratory, a comprehensive performance test bench for diesel locomotive, a diesel engine test bench, an automatic track inspection vehicle, an underground structure circular test device and fiber-optic communications equipment. (NOTE: found on p.160 - Needs more research.) The China Railway Society (NOTE: Established on 1 April 1978 by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Railways, now the China Railway Corporation. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E9%93%81%E9%81%93%E5%AD%A6%E4%BC%9A https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E9%93%81%E9%81%93%E5%AD%A6%E4%BC%9A/3120356?noadapt=1 ) established contacts and cooperated with many countries in Europe and America to carry out numerous scientific and experimental projects. The Ministry of Railways Research Institute, (NOTE: tiedaobu kexue yanjiu suo &#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#;&#; Founded in Tangshan on 1 March 1950 as the Ministry of Railways Railway Technical Research Institue, in September of the same year the name was changed to Ministry of Railways Rsearch Institute and the governing body moved to Beijing. In January of 1975 it became known as the China Academy of Railway Science. http://rczp.china-railway.com.cn/zgtlkxyjy/ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E9%93%81%E9%81%93%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%A6%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E9%99%A2) the highest scientific research department in the entire railroad, during the 6-5 period obtained the best results since the institute was established. During these five years a total of 344 new scientific research projects were initiated 301 of which were completed and 269 scientific research achievements were identified; 283 awards that included scientific achievements, inventions, natural science, national technological progress, national engineering quality, national science and technology research, national building construction excellence, recognition of development, Ministry of Railways Engineering Quality. When compared to previous periods, this was a period when the most scientific research projects were carried out, leading to the most fruitful results, that combined transportation production and construction. In particular, the results produced after the reform of the system of scientific research in 1985 that brought the scientific and techonological achievements to fruition and adapted them to the needs of reform with unprecedented short, flat and fast projects (NOTE: Something short, adaptable and fast. In the case of investments, investments that yield quick returns for a small investment. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%9F%AD%E5%B9%B3%E5%BF%AB http://www.ichacha.net/%E7%9F%AD%E5%B9%B3%E5%BF%AB%E9%A1%B9%E7%9B%AE.html) that tranformed these scientific and technological achievements into increased productivity and added vitality to the opening of the technology markets.
Railroad scientific research started from a low point and had been disturbed and damaged by the decade of civil strife so compared with the industrialized countries the level of science and technology still had numerous gaps, especially in research on the management of automation where the gap was even greater. Looking at the railroad as a whole, there are still serious problems with the existing system of science and technology with the result that technology is out of touch with transportation, production and construction as scientific and technical achievements cannot quickly add new production capacity, limiting the talents of the vast number of scientific and technical personnel which seriously impacts the progress of the railroad. In order to mobilize the enthusiam of scientific research work units, universities and enterprises throughout the rail industry liberating scientific and technical productivity, producing more results and more talent, rapidly applying these achievement to transportation, production and construction, and to better serve the development of the rail industry on 30 December 1985 the "Decision Concerning the Reform of the Railroad Science and Technology System" (NOTE: guanyu tielu keji tizhi gaige de jueding 关于铁路科技体制改革的决定) was released. It was primarily about reforming the allocation system, (NOTE: bokuan zhidu 拨款制度) implementing a contract system for technology development projects, public bidding for major scientific and technical projects, opening up various forms of multi-level railroad markets, adjusting and improving the organization of the rail tech system, doing good job transforming scientific research institutions, autonomy for the majority of science research work units and the reform of the system used to manage scientific and technical personnel. After 1986 in accordance with the requirements of the decision, the party committees of the work units belonging to the Ministry of Railways, starting with the reality of the situation facing the railroad, a determined and step-by-step reform of the science and technology system was carried out. Pushing the scientific research work units and scientific personnel to the front lines of the production of transportation and construction of the railroad, the path of healthy development is promoted by combining the job of science and technology with the economy.
Following the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, party committees at all levels did a lot of work implementing the policy on intellectuals and achieved some success that inspired intellectuals to become their own masters dedicated to the pursuit of the Four Modernizations. (NOTE: dangjia zuozhu 当家作主 masters of their own affairs, master of the house, in control.) The Ministry of Railways conducted four successive comprehensive investigations into the implementation of the policy toward intellectuals, conducted a one-time census and adjustment of the entire railroad of how intellectuals were being used, and advanced the full implementation by the railroad of the task of official policy towards intellectuals. However, because the years of poison and influence from the Left had not diminished, the problem of disparaging knowledge and discriminating against intellectuals who did not date to ask questions, the issue had not been completely resolved.
After the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, (NOTE: The Congress was held from 1 to 11 September 1982 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_National_Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China) the CCP Party Group of the Ministry of Railways in order to further implement the party's intellectual policy and give full play to the role of intellectuals on 19 April 1983 made the decision to strengthen intellectuals by requiring party committees at all levels to treat the work of intellectuals as socially significant, to genuinely regard intellectuals as part of the working class, toward intellectuals sincerely act to "politically treat everyone humanely, at work act without fear, in life show concern for others." (NOTE: The evolution of CCP attitudes toward intellectuals is a long and complex story that deserves serious study. The above phrase originates in Yanan and the early days of the revolution led by Mao. http://dangshi.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0314/c85037-29143233.html) In the spirit of the decision party committees at all levels were to inspect the work of intellectuals every six months and those among the young and middle-aged science and technology cadres who possessed both ability and integrity (NOTE: decai jianbei &#;&#;&#;&#; having both integrity and talent https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E5%BE%B7%E6%89%8D%E5%85%BC%E5%A4%87 ) provided the timely enrichment of leadership teams at all levels. Those scientific and technical cadres who did not use what they learned and did not use what they were good at were adjusted. The newly established and improved technical responsibility system, headed by the chief engineer, clarified the responsibilites of technical positions at all levels making department-level cadres try their best to do their job, with authority and with responsibility. Having strengthened and improved the role of the intellectuals, they were organized to combined work practice with diligent study of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and the Party line, principles and policies, striving to study and master new knowledge. Party organization at all levels needed to comply with the Party Group of the Ministry of Railways about strengthening the spirit of the task of party members among middle-aged intellectuals to develop qualified intellectuals for the party over time; actively do a good job in the assesment and evaluation of profession and technical cadres for general promotion and titles, for professional and technical cadres with mid-level titles and above it is stipulated that a three- to six-month period of study is granted every three years; earnestly improve both the working and living conditions of intellectuals while for senior and mid-level intellectuals problems such as the use of cars, medical treatment, lectures and housing allocations be given proper care and preferential treatment. When promoting workers to cadres, first pay attention to the promotion of graduates with college degrees from televised courses, vocational courses, correspondence courses, professional courses and diplomas obtained from self-study exams or promote workers with degrees from technical secondary schools. Pay attention to continuing education of intellectuals with the education and training (NOTE: zhishi gengxin &#;&#;&#;&#;, knowledge renewal/refresher I took this in the sense of a program of continuing education in a field of study, often with the aim of staying current with developments in that field.) departments including the training of the professional, technical and operational cadres in the scope of their work, and the professional, technical and operational cadres who have brought about technical innovation or who have achieved success in their work, they should have timely promotions and also extend aid intellectuals with problems such as their housing and their medical treatment.
Party Committees at all levels followed the central guidelines and requirements of the Party Group of the Ministry of Railways to carefully correct the unjust, false and unjust legal cases brought against against intellectuals during the ten years of civil unrest and in previous political movements, by the end of October 1985 the policy implementation problem of more than 60,500 people had been solved with about 87% of these people who needed help involved tasks such as adjusting the workload of intellectuals who did not make use of what they had learned, relieving the political burdens of intellectuals who had been treated unfairly to make them feel comfortable participating in the modernization of the railroad. The proportion of party members among the intellectuals in the railroad also increased year by year. The proportion of committee members among all types of profession and technical cadres went from 17.7% in 1978 to 22% in the first half of 1982, slightly higher than the proportion of committee members among all employees; in 1984 10,551 intellectuals became party committee members which was an increase of 2.5 times over 1983. By the end of October 1985, more than 27,100 intellectuals became party members, an increase of 1.57 times compared to 1984. The problem of making it difficult for intellectuals to join the party had basically been resolved which further mobilized enthusiasm among the broad masses of intellectuals. All work units worked hard to implement the policies of the "Cadre Four Modernizations" (NOTE: ganbu sihua 干部四化 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B2%E9%83%A8%E5%9B%9B%E5%8C%96 Revolutionize, youthful-ize, knowledge-ize and professionalize, not the best English but it better expresses the meaning of the Chinese. It grew out of a speech by Deng Xiaoping on 18 August 1980 that addressed how cadres should be selected on the basis of both their ability and their integrity, in this case political integrity. The September 1982 12th National Party Congress officially made this new policy a part of the Party Constitution of the CCP.) proposed by the Party Central Committee and so promoted large numbers of intellectuals who had both ability and integrity and leadership potential to positions of leadership at all levels. According to 1985 statistics, among the leadership teams of the railroad bureaus those who had either college or secondary school education rose to 62.5% while those with professional or technical job titles accounted for 47.8%; among the bureau-level leadership teams of the infrastructure system (jijian xitong), those with a college or secondary school education rose to 90% with 77.2% having professional or technical job titles; among the plant-level leadership teams of the locomotive and rolling stock industrial system, the number of individuals with a college or technical education rose to 72.1% with 74.7% having professional or technical job titles; the first-level cultural and technical structure of the sub-bureau (excluding engineering) also saw great improvements and basically transformed the low level of education and irrational professional structure of the leadership teams, injecting vigor and vitality into the teams at all levels. Based on the requirements of the CCP Central Committee and the Party Group of the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry developed criteria to select the best railroad middle-aged and young scientific and technical talent, interim measures to manage and select the best candidates after going through evaluation and review select a group of middle-aged and young experts in science, technology and management who can make outstanding contributions. The railroad also carried out various forms of continued education for professional and technical personnel, conducting professional job evaluations and reforming job titles. By the end of 1985, there were 3,103 people with senior and technical job titles with 53,503 people with mid-level professional and techinical job titles.
As a result of the party committees at all levels vigorously promoting and implementing the party's policy on intellectuals, the awareness of the need to respect the knowledge and talents of railroad employees was greatly enhanced, and the atmosphere of respect by the railroad for knowledge and talent grew more and more.
Following the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee (NOTE: Held from 18 to 22 December 1978 in Beijing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Plenary_Session_of_the_11th_Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China) and after three years of strong recovery, railroad education that had been destroyed by ten years of internal chaos regained vitality, the number of those seeking an education continued to grow while the quality of that education improved. However, the cultural and technical level of the railroad employees was still far from being able to meet the needs of railroad development. Based on statistics from the end of 1982, among the 2.65 million employees at the time, only 3.7% had the equivalent of a university level education, 6.3% had a technical secondary school degree while nearly 70% had attended junior high school or below while there was also a considerable number who were either illiterate or semi-literate; only a quarter of the cadres at section level (NOTE: keji 科级) or above had a university education, while 70% or more of technical workers lacked professional training.
After 1981 the Ministry of Railways successively produced a series of documents that included "Development Plan for Railroad Education for the 1980s", "Decision Concerning the Task of Strengthening Railroad Education", "Draft Concerning Reforming Railroad Education", and "Decision Concerning the Reform of the Railroad Education System". From 1983 to 1985 three railroad education work conferences were held one after the other, to research, discuss and come up with measures and plans to develop education at the railroad, accelerate the pace of education reform at the railroad, increase the cultivation of talent, treat it as an urgent taks and adopt multiple channels and multiple reform measures to cultivate both "red" and expert abilities in talented people at all levels and in all fields, (NOTE: you hong you zhuan 又红又专 to be both "red" and professionally competent. http://www.ichacha.net/%E5%8F%88%E7%BA%A2%E5%8F%88%E4%B8%93.html also https://www.wordreference.com/zhen/%E5%8F%88%E7%BA%A2%E5%8F%88%E4%B8%93) achieving quickly as much as possible from the talent, quickly producing talent and getting the value out of the talent to set railroad education gradually on the path of healthy development.
In the period from 1981 to 1985, the investment by the railroad in high quality higher education increased by an annual rate of 33.8% with the total invested reaching 192.79 million yuan which was 1.7 times the total invest during the ten years from 1971 to 1980. Investment in technical secondary schools and vocational high schools (zhongzhuan xuexiao, jigong xuexiao) increased at an annual rate of 24.8%. 229 new schools were built (including 6 secondary technical schools and 40 vocational schools). By 1985 the railroad reached 1,718 full-time schools of all types and levels. Among them there were 11 colleges and universities with a construction area that reacched 1.14 million square meters, more than 370 laboratories equippped with a variety of equipment and electronic instructional equipment with libraries that held over 3 million books. From 1981 to 1985 a total of 128,600 students were enrolled in the three types of full-time schools: universities, technical secondary schools and vocational schools. Since the start of 1981 while implementing the "Decision of the Central Committee and the State Council on Strengthening the Education of Employees", the railroad created a sensible employee education leadership system formed from four levels of schools, department, bureau, sub-bureau and section, together with a a multi-level system of employee education. Four new cadre education institutes, 24 employee universities and 53 employee technical secondary schools were built; 28,500 were enrolled in the technical universities and 13,200 students attended the technical secondary schools; 11,000 graduated from the universities and 5,800 from the technical secondary schools; the three indicators of average training area per employee, the proportion of full-time teachers and the double supplement (NOTE: shuangbu 双补 http://jssdfz.jiangsu.gov.cn/szbook/slsz/yy/D9/D3J2.HTM) of cultural and technical instruction all met national standards. Basic railroad education in 1985 consisted of 593 middle schools where there was 369,997 students, 39.9 times and 57.7 the number in 1949, 997 primary schools attended by 437,111 students which was 4.9 times and 5.5 time the numbers in 1949 respectively. These schools solved the problem of enrolling the children of railroad workers, stabilized the work of employees on remote stations and lines and played a big role in the life and the nurturing of young people.
In order to remedy the imbalances in the numbers of students in universities, technical secondary schools and vocational schools and to develop multi-level instruction in 1985 the numbers of students enrolled in the railroad technical secondary and vocational schools was higher than in 1984, increases of 6.9% and 24.9% respectively, the number of major fields of study reached 14 zhuanxiu ke 专修科 special training branch of study and there were more than 20 .professions?? zhuanyedian.. be professional ??.. 专业点 practice in place of training some still recruited university day students. dazhuan zoudusheng in horizontal structure reforms strengthen railroad teacher training colleges some institutions were designated to offer classes to ethnic minorities. The full-time teacher's universities and technical secondary schools also added majors and courses in business management while some developed applied liberal arts opening elective courses in liberal arts, arts and social sciences. While the railroad was improving full-time education, it worked hard to develop employee education to regularize and institutionalize it and gradually form a system to set up evening classes, cadre training courses and correspondence school departments. Various bureaus, factories and institutes organized a number of employee secondary schools and employee universities. Various railroad bureaus and infrastructure, industry, materiel, communication and signal and communications systems established their own training bases.
dian 点 a classifier for items, what would this be in an education context??? undergraduate degree program The national railroad made good use of higher education, vocational and technical training and employee education to vigorously cultivate the professional and technical talents for which they achieved good results. In order to meet the needs of railroad modernization the railroad colleges adjusted their professions to broaden their scope and create new career paths. ======================================= This section is requires much more work In 1985, there were 54 undergraduate fields of study and 111 dian 点 courses in the bachelor's degree system while there were 25 fields of study and 53 courses that offered master's degrees, Southwest Jiaotong University had programs in bridges, tunnels and structural engineering, railway traction electrification and automation along with solid mechanics guti lixue 固体力学 at Northern Jiaotong University had programs there was railway information systems and control, Changsha Railway Institute offered doctoral degrees in 5 majors that included probability theory gailü lun 概率论 and mathematical statistics shuli tongji 数理统计. ================================ Institutions of higher learning also carried out scientific research, among them the Southwest Jiaotong University which established 10 research institutes and the North Jiaotong University which established 6 research institutes. From 1981 to 1985 the railway universities completed 37 national scientific research projects and received 9 awards, completed 423 scientific research projects for ministries, provinces and cities with 68 awards, and completed more than 1,000 collaborative and self-selected projects and nearly 100 awards. During this period the total unviersity enrollment reached 35,000 individuals which was 1.75 times that of the 5-5 Period, the number of graduates reached 41,000 which was 4.3 times that of the 5-5 Period and almost 37% of the total number of graduates since the founding of the New China.
In order to expand vocational/career/professional and technical education the
Ministry of Railways devised a seven-year plan to develop technical education
schools and reaffirmed that the management of the technical high schools would
be divided between the department and bureau levels, unified instruction plans
and reviewed textbooks, adjusted professions restoring the classification of
schools by the nature of the profession. By 1985 the railroad bureaus and most
engineering bureaus had technical secondary schools and the locomotive and
rolling stock system also established two technical secondary schools. The
entire railroad had 48 technical secondary schools with the number of students
at the schools increasing from 854 to 30,404; there were 72 schools for
mechanics and drivers (engineers?) with the number of students increasing from
707 to 16,534 while there were 34 vocational and general secondary schools
developed since 1980 with 30,679 students enrolled. The technical secondary
schools had 44 areas of study with 164 technical classes. Among them were
environmental protection, electronic computers, air conditioning and
refrigeration, railway economic management, railway material management and
other subjects that are added according to the needs of railroad development.
The timely creation of diesel locomotive, electric locomotive, electrified
railway power supply, electronic computing devices and other fields of study
were adaptations to the needs of the reform of China railroad tractive power
and the popularization of computer technology. Railroad vocational and
technical education paid attention to cultivation of the practical abilities of
students with laboratory work and work in the factory making the secondary
technical school into a place for experimentation on a large scale. In 1984
the Ministry of Railways alocated special funds to equip all of the technical
secondary schools of the railroad with electronic computers and other
audio-visual equipment with some schools also creating language laboratories.
Various technical schools also increased and improved the facilities where
the skills being taught could be carried out. In addition, schools also
actively developed in-school production facilities to more closely integrate
teaching and production. The teachers and students in each school created a
variety of products such as the Shijiazhuang Railroad Transportation School that
built 630,000 hand signal lamps and other lamps, the Zhuzhou Railroad
Machinery School that built machine tools,
hobbing machines gunchi ji 滚齿机
(NOTE: Machines that cut gears, splines and sprockets using a hob.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbing)
cantilever crane xuanbei diao 悬臂吊
and other equipment
and the Dalian Railroad Health School weisheng xuexiao 卫生学校
(NOTE: What is weisheng and how does it differ from a hospital?)
that produced medications.
By 1985 the assets of factories run by technical secondary schools reached more
than 10.2 million yuan. Through work and study the student's increased their
"perceptual awareness" intuitive understanding ??
which created the right conditions to teach theory at
school.
(NOTE: The Chinese is through "internship and labor" but the meaning of work
study in current English made work and study seem a better choice to make it
more colloquial.)
At the same time, using the principle of equal emphasis on both theory and
practice, the textbooks used in technical secondary schools and technical
schools were continuously revised and from 1981 to 1985 edited and published in
75 kinds of textbooks with 21.8 million characters. A large number of the
middle-level technicians and skilled workers that received their training at
the railroad's technical secondary school, technical and driver schools went on
to become the core and the production experts of the production technology and
enterprise management of the various railroad departments. In terms of the
education of currently employed workers, what was established was a basic system
of four-level management with the Ministry of Railways, bureau (general/head office
zong gongsi 总公司), sub-bureau (factory, department), station (team)
in charge of education, and a multi-level school system. With career education
for high and mid-level employees and secondary education and training for
junior and mid-level skilled workers the system is basically complete. The
total scale of the training reached 198,500 people with an annual training
volume of 520,000 individuals, the equivalent of one-sixth the total number of
employees.
(NOTE: Inference of 3,120,000 total railroad employees.)
At the two levels of bureau and sub-bureau the areal extent of the
physical facilities for education
(NOTE: jiaoxue jidi xiaoshe mianji
教学基地校舍面积
areal size of education facilities. Used as a statistical measure of the
quality of education. )
reached 1.118 million square meters, 0.37
square meters per railroad employee (the national requirment is 0.3 to 0.5
square meters).
(NOTE: Google translate is either number challenged or innumerate because it
translated 111.8 wan as 11.18 million and not as 1.118 million. I see a sudden
need to go back and check all the numbers in the text now. grrrrr )
From 1981 to 1985 railroad employee education trained a total of 106
undergraduate students, 14,000 college technical students, 6,322 technical
secondary students, 630,000 skilled workers, 810,000 cultural and technical
supplementary students, 45,000 section level or above cadres in were trained
(NOTE: Section level or above keji yishang 科级以上
rotating instruction lunxun 轮训
https://m.hujiang.com/en/p667885/
)
in rotation, 8,400 technical and management cadres received continuing
education, a toal of more than 1.51 million people were trained which was
equivalent to half of the railroad workers in 1985. In 1981 the Ministry of
Railways also started to apply the CCP and State Council "Decision on
Strengthening the Education of Employees", the five ministries and commissions
wubuwei 五部委
"Joint Notice on Effectively Doing a Good Job in Cultural and Technical
Supplementary Work for Young and Middle-aged Employees"
and in line with the principles of "Start from reality, deal with each case
based on its merits
(NOTE: qubie duidai 区别对待 http://www.ichacha.net/%E5%8C%BA%E5%88%AB%E5%AF%B9%E5%BE%85.html)
apply what you have learned, emphasize quality, have an overall plan, and
focus on the important points"
combined with the reality in the rail sector, the 940,000 young and middle-age
employees who participated in the task since the Cultural Revolution, came up
with cultural supplementary lessons and parallel technical supplementary
lessons with those who qualified to take supplementary courses no less that
50% of requirements were main line of work and essentail position.
By the end of 1985, the number of people who qualified for culture supplemental
and technical supplemental instruction in the railroad was over 80% (national
regulattions called for 60% to 80%). As a result of the increased employee
education the quality of the workforce was greatly improved. Employee education
also actively embarked on the reform and exploration of job training, focusing
on improving the "person on duty" dangban ren 当班人 by
exploring the ability of adapting to your job. The first to be carried out was
training for a job position, in March of 1985 the Education Bureau and Labor and
Personnel Bureau of the Ministry of Railways jointly put out "Regulations on
the Gradual Implementation of Job Training for Railroad Type Jobs"
tielu xingche gongzhong zhubu shixing zhiwu peixun de guiding
铁路行车工种逐步实行职务培训的规定
and "Measures for the Training of New Railroad Workers"
tielu xin gongren peixun gongzuo banfa
铁路新工人培训工作办法
and other documents, compiling, printing and issuing teaching plans and outlines
for 56 types of railroad operating jobs; the railroad operations departments
strictly carried out the principle of "train first then take your post" with
117,000 new workers receuited in 1984 and the first half of 1985 having a
training rate of up to 86.27%. The second was to conduct job training for
management cadres all all levels; from 1982 to 1985 the number of cadres who
received instruction in place of their work reached 240,000 for the entire
railroad among whom more than 16,000 received training directly organized by
the Ministry, of the more than 900 managers of medium and large enterprises
and factory managers who participated in the nationally mandated training tests
they constituted over 80% of those who took the tests; beginning in the second
half of 1985, the railroad concentrated its efforts on the 338 large and
medium enterprise cadres along with the reserve cadres and the backbone of the
first line of transportation and production based on the needs of production,
taking the form of seminars yantao ban 研讨班, conducting
short-term training to improve the management level of cadres, promote the
reform of enterprises, pushing for the railroad to turnaround in all of which
it played a positive role.
In order to nurture high-quality individuals with professional and technical talents the railroad schools of every level and type must attach great importance to the assignment of teachers and by 1985 there were 5868 full-time instructors in the railroad's schools of higher learning, among which were 92 professors, 552 assistant professors, 7183 teachers engaged in vocational and technical education with the emphasis on qualified teachers selected from production work units or from college graduates and post-graduate students who according to the plan would be first sent to railroad work units to develop their skills and then go on to teaching. Especially for intern teachers in technical schools the initial requirements were to have good labor skills together with the corresponding theoretical knowledge. There were 24,000 workers in employee education and among them 11,526 were full-time teachers.
In January of 1982 the CCP Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Decision Concerning the Comprehensive Reorganization of State-Owned Enterprises" guanyu guoying gongye qiye jinxing quanmian zhengdun de jueding 关于国营工业企业进行全面整顿的决定 that required state-owned industries and enterprises to focus on reorganizing and improving their economic responsibility system in a two to three year period and improve the management of the enterprise; to reorganize and strengthen labor discipline by strictly implementing the reward and punishment system; (NOTE: jiangcheng zhidu 奖惩制度 https://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/%E5%A5%96%E6%83%A9%E5%88%B6%E5%BA%A6) reorganize financial regulations to improve the financial accounting system; reorganize the organization of labor by organizing production by alloted labor and alloted output; dingyuan, ding'e 定员定额 reorganize and build leadship teams to strengthen the ideology and political education with the Five Tasks. The Ministry of Railways, based on the requirements of the central government together with the existing problems of the railroad, under the direction of Minister Liu Jianzhang 刘建章, in March of 1982 produced the "Outline of the Plan to Comprehensively Restructure Railroad Enterprises" tielu qiye quanmian zhengdun guihua gangyao 铁路企业全面整顿规划纲要 that focused on the arrangements for the five reorganization tasks requested by the central government. It decided on the steps and plans that the national railroad would use for the transportation, industry, infrastructure and material enterprises during the three-year period to carry out full-scale reorganization by combining points and surfaces (? sphere), and in phases and batches. (NOTE: Suggestive imagery of how these policies would be implemented and then spread in terms of both space and time: a rollout plan.) 32 work units were identified as having a greater impact on improving the economic benefits for the railroad (10 railroad bureaus, 2 engineering bureaus, 16 factories and 4 material offices) which were included in the first batch for reorganization, in addition, the Shanghai Railroad Bureau and the Shijiazhuang Rolling Stock Plant were used as pilot projects for the complete reorganization of all rail enterprises. From the end of June, according to the specific situation of the work unit chosen as the "breakthrough access point" tupokou 突破口 for reorganization to develop policies and then gradually expand them from point to surface. In October, the Ministry of Railways held a symposium in Hangzhou about the implementation of the economic responsibility system that summarized the experience the Shanghai Railroad Bureau had implementing the economic responsibility system with the characteristics of transportation, promoting its development for the entire railroad. As of the end of 1982, there were 1,636 basic level work units carrying out reorganization across the railroad as the scope expanded to 52%. In 1983, in accordance with the Central Government using the spirit of reform to implement reorganization and the requirements to fully roll it out, highlight its key points, offer guidance on classification, and the acceptance of batches, the planning for reorganization was fully revised to accelerate the pace and improve the quality of this reorganization. At the start of the year, there were 100 ministry affiliated bureaus and factories, 169 sub-bureau level work units and 2,952 basic level enterprises that were carrying out the sequence of the various tasks of reorganization. At the end of 1983, after inspection and acceptance, 1,119 work units had reached qualification standards, accounting for 36.1% of the total; government-affiliated institutions shiye danwei in culture and education, health, livelihood, public security and under the direct control of ministries also started reorganizations using different standards. In 1984 the total reorganization of the railroad entered the tightly intergrated reform, in-depth reorganization, total acceptance, consolidate and improve stages. Starting in March of the same year, the Ministry of Railways organized enterprise inspection and acceptance groups with the participation of the various business bureaus and relevant departments, based on inspection and acceptance by the Railroad bureaus, adherence to both high standards and strict rerquirements, adoption of the method of "listening, watching, talking and commenting", based on assistance, with the goal of urgency zhuoyan yu cu 着眼于促 first conducting inspection and acceptance at the Guangzhou Railroad Bureau and locally convened an impromptu discussion (xianchanghuiyi 现场会议 also an on-the-spot meeting or discussion, conveys sense of immediacy and informality) for the transportation departments of the entire railroad. Afterwards the inspection and acceptance of all of the work units of the railroad
***
| Seq Num |
Type | Line Name | End Points | Length (km) |
Time of Construction |
Time of Operation |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main | Cheng-Yu Line 成渝线 | Chengdu — Chongqing 成都 — 重庆 | 505.5 | 1950-06 | 1953-07 | |
| 2 | Main | Lung-Hai Line 陇海线 | Tienshui — Lanzhou Xi Duan 天水 — 兰州西段 | 354.1 | 1950-04 | 1954-08 | |
| 3 | Main | Xiang-Gui Line 湘桂线 | Laibin — Youyi Guan Duan 来宾 — 友谊关段 | 418.6 | 1950-10 | 1955-03 | |
| 4 | Main | Feng-Sha Line 丰沙线 | Fengtai Xi — Shacheng 丰台西 — 沙城 | 106.4 | 1952-09 | 1955-10 | part dbl track |
| 5 | Main | Ji-Er Line 集二线 | Jining Nan — Erlian 集宁南 — 二连 | 336.9 | 1953-05 | 1955-11 | |
| 6 | Main | Li-Zhan Line 黎湛线 | Litang — Zhanjiang 黎塘 — 湛江 | 314.8 | 1954-09 | 1956-01 | |
| 7 | Main | Lan-Yan Line 蓝烟线 | Lancun — Yantai 蓝村 — 烟台 | 183.4 | 1953-06 | 1956-06 | |
| 8 | Main | Ying-Xia Line 鹰厦线 | Yingtan — Xiamen 鹰潭 — 厦门 | 732.8 | 1955-02 | 1957-12 | |
| 9 | Main | Bao-Cheng Line 宝成线 | Baoji — Chengdu 宝鸡 — 成都 | 668.9 | 1952-07 | 1957-12 | |
| 10 | Branch | Wu-Da Line 武大线 | Wuchang — Daye 武昌 — 大冶 | 95.5 | 1955-10 | 1958-06 | |
| 11 | Branch | An-Li Branch Line 安李支线 | Anyang — Lizhen 安阳 — 李珍 | 33.2 | 1958-07 | 1958-08 | |
| 12 | Main | Bao-Lan Line 包兰线 | Baotou — Lanzhou Dong 包头 — 兰州东 | 990.5 | 1954-10 | 1958-10 | |
| 13 | Branch | Mi-Xian Branch Line 密县支线 | Xinzheng — Mixian 新郑 — 密县 | 40.7 | 1958-02 | 1959-01 | |
| 14 | Main | Qian-Gui Line 黔桂线 | Duyun — Guiyang Duan 都匀 — 贵阳段 | 145.6 | 1956-06 | 1959-03 | |
| 15 | Branch | He-Mao Branch Line 河茂支线 | Hechun — Maoming 河唇 — 茂名 | 61.9 | 1956-03 | 1959-03 | |
| 16 | Branch | Tie-Ling Branch Line 铁灵支线 | Tieshan — Lingxiang 铁山 — 灵乡 | 28.3 | 1958-08 | 1959-05 | |
| 17 | Branch | Kun-Yi Line 昆一线 | Shizui — Pinglang 石咀 — 平浪 | 125.3 | 1958-04 | 1959-06 | |
| 18 | Main | Xiao-Chuan Line 肖穿线 | Xiaoshan — Ningbo Nan 肖山 — 宁波南 | 146.8 | 1953-07 | 1959-10 | |
| 19 | Main | Wai-Fu Line 外福线 | Waiyang — Fuzhou Dong 外洋 — 福州东 | 186.1 | 1956-03 | 1959-11 | |
| 20 | Branch | Luo-Tun Branch Line 洛屯支线 | Luobu — Ladong 洛埠 — 拉洞 | 42.7 | 1958-09 | 1960-01 | |
| 21 | Branch | Nei-Yi Line 內宜线 | Neijiang — Anbian 内江 — 安边 | 138.4 | 1956-01 | 1960-02 | |
| 22 | Main | Jing-Cheng Line 京承线 | Beijing — Chengde 北京 — 承德 | 286.0 | 1955-09 | 1960-10 | |
| 23 | Main | Lan-Qing Line 兰青线 | Hekou Nan — Xining Xi 河口南 — 西宁西 | 187.4 | 1958-05 | 1961-03 | |
| 24 | Branch | Bo-Qi Branch Line 勃七支线 | Boli — Qitaihe 勃利 — 七台河 | 36.1 | 1958-05 | 1961-04 | |
| 25 | Branch | Jie-Xi Branch Line 介西支线 | Jiexiu — Yangquanqu Duan 介休 — 阳泉曲段 | 44.8 | 1959-04 | 1962-06 | |
| 26 | Branch | Luo-Yi Branch Line 洛宜支线 | Luoyang Dong — Yiyang 洛阳东 — 宜阳 | 43.1 | 1958-09 | 1965 | |
| 27 | Branch | Li-Yuan Branch Line 礼垣支线 | Liyuan — Yuanqu 礼元 — 垣曲 | 44.9 | 1958-09 | 1965-02 | |
| 28 | Branch | Lou-Shao Branch Line 娄邵支线 | Loudi — Shaoyang 娄底 — 邵阳 | 98.7 | 1959-05 | 1965-04 | |
| 29 | Main | Yi-Jia Line 伊加线 | Yitulihe — Jiageda 伊图里河 — 加格达 | 211.6 | 1954-11 | 1965-06 | |
| 30 | Main | Chuan-Qian Line 川黔线 | Ganshui — Guiyang Bei Duan 赶水 — 贵阳北段 | 301.3 | 1956-04 | 1965-10 | |
| 31 | Branch | Hu-Lin Branch Line 湖林支线 | Huchao — Lindai 湖潮 — 林歹 | 36.1 | 1958-09 | 1965-10 | |
| 32 | Main | Gan-Wu Line 干武线 | Gantang — Wuwei Nan 干塘 — 武威南 | 176.5 | 1958-10 | 1965-12 | |
| 33 | Main | Lan-Xin Line 兰新线 | Lanzhou Xi — Wulumuqi Xi 兰州西 — 乌鲁木齐西 | 1894.6 | 1952-10 | 1965-12 | |
| 34 | Branch | Jin-Ji Line 津蓟线 | Hangouzhen — Jixian 汉沟镇 — 蓟县 | 93.3 | 1958-12 | 1965-12 | |
| 35 | Branch | Xiang-Dong Branch Line 向东支线 | Jiangjia — Jiangbiancun 江家 — 江边村 | 116.4 | 1961-06 | 1965-12 | |
| 36 | Branch | Ji-Shu Branch Line 吉舒支线 | Jilin Bei — Shulan 吉林北 — 舒兰 | 78.0 | 1958-08 | 1966-10 | |
| 37 | Main | Gui-Kun Line 贵昆线 | Guiyang Nan — Kunming Xi 贵阳南 — 昆明西 | 643.3 | 1958-08 | 1966-11 | |
| 38 | Main | Han-Dan Line 汉丹线 | Hankou — Danjiang 汉口 — 丹江 | 409.1 | 1958-10 | 1966-12 | |
| 39 | Main | Tong-Rang Line 通让线 | Tongliao — Ranghulu 通辽 — 让胡路 | 411.1 | 1964-07 | 1966-12 | |
| 40 | Branch | Tang-Lin Line 汤林线 | Yichun — Wuyiling 伊春 — 乌伊岭 | 152.4 | 1952-05 | 1966-12 | |
| 41 | Branch | Chao-Wu Line 朝乌线 | Chaozhong — Moerhdaogaduan 朝中 — 莫尔道嘎段 | 75.6 | 1958-07 | 1966-12 | |
| 42 | Branch | Fu-Jia Branch Line 符夹支线 | Fuliji — Jiahezhai 符离集 — 夹河寨 | 82.8 | 1958-08 | 1966-12 | |
| 43 | Branch | Jia-Jing Line 嘉镜线 | Jiayuguan Bei — Jingtieshan 嘉峪关北 —镜铁山 | 77.5 | 1958-08 | 1966-12 | |
| 44 | Branch | Hu-Zhong Branch Line 呼中支线 | Linhai — Bishui 林海 — 碧水 | 115.4 | 1966-06 | 1970-09 | |
| 45 | Main | Cheng-Kun Line 成昆线 | Chengdu — Kunming Xi 成都 — 昆明西 | 1083.3 | 1958-07 | 1970-12 | |
| 46 | Joint | Gou-Hai Line 沟海线 | Goubangzi — Tangwangshan 沟帮子 — 唐王山 | 99.9 | 1970-03 | 1970-12 | |
| 47 | Branch | Du-Kou Branch Line 渡口支线 | Sanduizi — Geliping 三堆子 — 格里坪 | 40.9 | 1966-08 | 1971-01 | |
| 48 | Branch | Kun-Yang Branch Line 昆阳支线 | Dushupu — Zhongyicun 读书铺 — 中谊村 | 30.5 | 1970-01 | 1971-05 | |
| 49 | Branch | Chang-Bai Line 长白线 | Xiaonan — Qianguoqi Duan 小南 — 前郭旗段 | 142.0 | 1958-05 | 1971-08 | |
| 50 | Branch | Meng-Bao Branch Line 孟宝支线 | Mengmiao — Baofeng 孟庙 — 宝丰 | 99.2 | 1956-04 | 1971-11 | |
| 51 | Branch | Ping-Ru Branch Line 平汝支线 | Pingluo — Rujigou 平罗 — 汝箕沟 | 81.5 | 1959-05 | 1971-11 | |
| 52 | Branch | Wu-Tong Line 芜铜线 | Huayushan — Tongling 化鱼山 — 铜陵 | 86.0 | 1959-01 | 1971-12 | |
| 53 | Branch | Guo-Cha Branch Line 郭查支线 | Guoerbenaobao — Chagannuoer 郭尔奔敖包 — 查干若尔 | 47.3 | 1971-04 | 1972-07 | |
| 54 | Branch | Shui-Da Branch Line 水大支线 | Shuicheng Xi — Dawan 水城西 — 大湾 | 40.0 | 1966-10 | 1972-07 | |
| 55 | Branch | Ning-Ke Branch Line 宁岢支线 | Ningwu — Kelan 宁武 — 岢岚 | 95.9 | 1967-01 | 1972-08 | |
| 56 | Branch | DongChuan Branch Line 东川支线 | Tangzi — Langtianba 塘子 — 浪田坝 | 99.5 | 1958-08 | 1972-10 | |
| 57 | Main | JingYuan Line 京原线 | Shijingshan Nan — Yuanping 石景山 南 — 原平 | 414.0 | 1958-10 | 1972-12 | |
| 58 | Branch | HongHui Branch Line 红会支线 | Baiyinshi — Honghui 白银市 — 红会 | 106.6 | 1958-12 | 1972-12 | |
| 59 | Joint | SuiFu Line 濉阜线 | Qinglongshan — Fuyang 青龙山 — 阜阳 | 146.9 | 1970-00 | 1973 | |
| 60 | Branch | YaGuan Line 鸦管线 | Yaque Ling — Guanzhuang 鸦雀岭 — 管庄 | 58.3 | 1970-01 | 1973-01 | |
| 61 | Branch | ZhangLong Line 漳龙线 | Hechun — Longyan 和春 — 龙岩 | 56.0 | 1958-03 | 1973-02 | |
| 62 | Branch | LongKan Line 龙坎线 | Longyan — Kanshi 龙岩 — 坎市 | 35.9 | 1969-04 | 1973-02 | |
| 63 | Branch | YingGangLing Branch Line 英岗岭支线 | Dongjia — Jianshan 董家 — 建山 | 36.3 | 1969-03 | 1973-10 | |
| 64 | Branch | HangChang Line 杭长线 | Genshanmen — Niutoushan 艮山门 — 牛头山 | 161.7 | 1959-04 | 1973-10 | |
| 65 | Branch | WeiTa Line 魏塔线 | Weizhangzi — Tashan 魏杖子 — 塔山 | 245.2 | 1970-11 | 1973-12 | |
| 66 | Branch | LiCha Branch Line 醴茶支线 | Liling — Qinglu 醴陵 — 清潞 | 128.9 | 1972-10 | 1973-12 | |
| 67 | Branch | PanXi Branch Line 盘西支线 | Zhanyi — Baiguo 沾益 — 柏果 | 137.0 | 1966-01 | 1974-07 | |
| 68 | Branch | Nanpu Branch Line 南堡支线 | Hangu — Nanpu 汉沽 — 南堡 | 33.7 | 1958-00 | 1974-08 | |
| 69 | Branch | Reshui Branch Line 热水支线 | Haergai — Chaidaer 哈尔盖 — 柴达尔 | 51.2 | 1972-01 | 1974-12 | |
| 70 | Branch | Changlin Line 长林线 | Hunjiang — Baihe 浑江 — 白河 | 217.0 | 1955-08 | 1974-12 | |
| 71 | Main | XiangQian Line 湘黔线 | Zhuzhou Bei — Guiding 株洲北 — 贵定 | 821.0 | 1953-06 | 1975-01 | |
| 72 | Main | QingZang Line 青藏线 | Xining Xi — Haergai Duan 西宁西 — 哈尔盖段 | 162.0 | 1958-09 | 1975-01 | |
| 73 | Main | JiaoZhi Line 焦枝线 | Yueshan — Zhicheng 月山 — 枝城 | 825.2 | 1969-10 | 1975-07 | |
| 74 | Main | TongTuo Line 通坨线 | Tongxian — Tuozitou 通县 — 坨子头 | 205.7 | 1972-12 | 1975-08 | |
| 75 | Branch | JinShan Branch Line 金山支线 | Xinqiao — Jinshanwei Xi 新桥 — 金山卫西 | 49.1 | 1958-09 | 1975-09 | |
| 76 | Joint | WeiTa Line 魏塔线 | Weizhangzi — Tashan &#;&#;&#; — &#;&#; | 248.8 | 1970-11 | 1976-01 | DUP See 65 above |
| 77 | Main | YangAn Line 阳安线 | Yangpingguan — Ankang 阳平关 — 安康 | 353.8 | 1969-09 | 1976-09 | |
| 78 | Branch | FenWen Branch Line 分文支线 | Fenyi — Wenzhu 分宜 — 文竹 | 158.5 | 1970-03 | 1977-04 | |
| 79 | Main | Houxi Line 侯西线 | Yumenkou — Yanliang Duan 禹门口 — 阎良段 | 210.9 | 1958-10 | 1978-01 | |
| 80 | Branch | Wanbai Branch Line 万白支线 | Wanyuan — Baisha 万源 — 白沙 | 24.0 | 1972-10 | 1978-05 | |
| 81 | Branch | Yangchang Branch Line 羊场支线 | Geyitou — Xiqueyue 格以头 — 喜鹊乐 | 53.7 | 1959-05 | 1978-06 | |
| 82 | Branch | Yanbai Branch Line 烟白支线 | Yantongshan — Baishanzhen 烟筒山 — 白山镇 | 149.6 | 1958-08 | 1978-07 | |
| 83 | Main | Taijiao Line 太焦线 | Xiuwen — Yueshan 修文 — 月山 | 373.4 | 1957-09 | 1978-12 | |
| 84 | Branch | Yigong Branch Line 宜珙支线 | Yibin — Gongxian 宜宾 — 珙县 | 66.2 | 1965-01 | 1978-12 | |
| 85 | Main | YanHe Line 兖菏线 | Yanzhou Bei — Heze 兖州北 — 菏泽 | 146.5 | 1977-12 | 1978-12 | |
| 86 | Branch | Nenlin Line 嫰林线 | Nenjiang — Gulian 嫰江 — 古莲 | 678.6 | 1958-07 | 1979-12 | |
| 87 | Main | XiangYu Line 襄渝线 | Xiangfan Bei — Chongqing Xi 襄樊北 — 重庆西 | 895.3 | 1968-04 | 1979-12 | |
| 88 | Branch | Xingtai Line 幸泰线 | Dongfeng — Taian 东风 — 泰安 | 169.0 | 1970-04 | 1980-12 | |
| 89 | Branch | Guangwang Line 广旺线 | Jiachuan — Puji Duan 嘉川 — 普济段 | 26.4 | 1972-10 | 1981 | |
| 90 | Main | Jingtong Line 京通线 | Changping — Tongliao 昌平 — 通辽 | 807.0 | 1973-01 | 1981-06 | |
| 91 | Main | Zhiliu Line 枝柳线 | Zhicheng — Liuzhou 枝城 — 柳州 | 885.7 | 1970-08 | 1982-12 | |
| 92 | Branch | Fuqian Line 福前线 | Fulitun — Qianjin 福利屯 — 前进 | 226.2 | 1974-05 | 1982-12 | |
| 93 | Branch | Chaka Line 茶卡线 | Chahannuo — Chakan 察汉诺 — 茶卡 | 41.9 | 1979-03 | 1983-02 | |
| 94 | Branch | Tailan Line 太岚线 | Fenhe — Zhenchengdi 汾河 — 镇城底 | 53.8 | 1975-11 | 1983-04 | |
| 95 | Main | Qingzang Line 青藏线 | Haergai — Nanshankou Duan 哈尔盖 — 南山口段 | 682.7 | 1974-04 | 1984-05 | |
| 96 | Main | HanChang Line 邯长线 | Handan — Changzhi Bei 邯郸 — 长治北 | 218.0 | 1970-08 | 1984-05 | |
| 97 | Main | Nanjiang Line 南疆线 | Tulufan — Ku'erle Xiduan 吐鲁番 — 库尔勒西段 | 476.5 | 1974-04 | 1984-05 | |
| 98 | Main | WanGan Line 皖赣线 | Huolonggang — Guixi Duan 火龙岗 — 贵溪段 | 539.8 | 1958-09 | 1984-05 | |
| 99 | Joint | Meiqi Line 梅七线 | Meijiaping — Qianhe Duan 梅家坪 — 前河段 | 70.0 | 1969-12 | 1985-01 | |
| 100 | Branch | LingBa Line 岭八线 | Lingtou — Basuo 岭头 — 八所 | 50.9 | 1983-11 | 1985-10 | |
| 101 | Main | Yanshi Line 兖石线 | Yanzhou — Shijiusuo 兖州 — 石臼所 | 307.9 | 1981-04 | 1985-12 | |
| 102 | Main | TongHuo Line 通霍线 | Tongliao — Huolinhe 通辽 — 霍林河 | 419.2 | 1978-01 | 1986-12 | |
| 103 | Branch | Yimin Branch Line 伊敏线 | Donghai Laer — Yiminkuangqu 东海拉尔 — 伊敏矿区 | 77.8 | 1978-05 | 1986-12 | |
| 104 | Branch | Beilun Line 北仑线 | Ningbo Nan — Beilun'gang 宁波南 — 北仑港 | 37.2 | 1984-01 | 1986-12 | |
| 105 | Main | FuHuai Line 阜淮线 | Fuyang — Huainan Xi 阜阳 — 淮南西 | 127.0 | 1978-03 | 1986-12 | |
| 106 | Branch | YiYang Branch Line 益羊线 | Yidu — Yangjiaogou 益都 — 羊角沟 | 72.9 | 1984-05 | 1987 | |
| 107 | Main | GuangSan Line 广三线 | Guangzhou Xi — Sanshui 广州西 — 三水 | 47.0 | 1978-10 | 1987-04 | |
| 108 | Branch | HanDong Line 罕东线 | Hanjing — Dongpo 罕井 — 东坡 | 34.7 | 1982-02 | 1987-06 | |
| 109 | Main | XinHe Line 新菏线 | Xinxiang Nan — Heze 新乡南 — 菏泽 | 165.6 | 1983-02 | 1987-12 | |
| 110 | Branch | TaHan Line 塔韩线 | Tahe — Hanjiayuan 塔河 — 韩家园 | 117.8 | 1979-05 | 1987-12 | |
| 111 | Main | HouXi Line 侯西线 | Houma — Yumenkou Duan 侯马 — 禹门口段 | 76.9 | 1983-06 | 1987-12 | |
| 112 | Branch | Aiweiergou Line 艾维尔沟线 | Yuergou — Hongling 鱼儿沟 — 红岭 | 42.0 | 1984-03 | 1987-12 | |
| 113 | Branch | Tianhushan Branch Line 天湖山支线 | Fude — Hutou — Changji 福德 — 湖头 — 长基 | 64.8 | 1971-09 | 1988 | |
| 114 | Main | Baoshen Line 包神线 | Wanshuiquan — Daliuta 万水泉 — 大柳塔 | 171.7 | 1986-08 | 1990-06 | |
| 115 | Joint | DaSha Line 大沙线 | Daye — Shahejie 大冶 — 沙河街 | 137.8 | 1983-05 | 1990-10 | |
| 116 | Branch | NanFang Line 南防线 | Nanning — Fangcheng 南宁 — 防城 | 172.5 | 1978-03 | 1991-01 | |
| 117 | Main | JingQin Line 京秦线 | Shuangqiao — Qinhuangdao 双桥 — 秦皇岛 | 280.7 | 1981-01 | 1991-03 | dbl track, electrified |
| 118 | Main | SanMao Line 三茂线 | Sanshui — Maoming 三水 — 茂名 | 357.0 | 1958-11 | 1991-06 | |
| 119 | Main | Beijiang Line 北疆线 | Wulumuqi — Alashankou 乌鲁木齐 — 阿拉山口 | 462.3 | 1985-05 | 1992-10 | |
| 120 | Main | Daqin Line 大秦线 | Hanjialing — Liucun Nan 韩家岭 — 柳村南 | 653.0 | 1985-01 | 1992-12 | dbl track, electrified |
| 121 | Branch | Xiaoliu Line 孝柳线 | Xiaoyi — Mucun 孝义 — 穆村 | 116.0 | 1986-07 | 1993-12 | |
| 122 | Main | Xuanhang Line 宣杭线 | Xuancheng — Changxing 宣城 — 长兴 | 116.7 | 1988-11 | 1994-06 | |
| 123 | Main | Baozhong Line 宝中线 | Guozhen — Yingshuiqiao 虢镇 — 迎水桥 | 501.6 | 1991-01 | 1995-06 | electrified |
| 124 | Branch | XiaoHuang Line 胶黄线 | Xiaozhou — Huangdao 胶州 — 黄岛 | 38.5 | 1992-04 | 1995-12 | |
| 125 | Main | ShenShuo Line 神朔线 | Shenchi — Shuozhou 神池 — 朔州 | 268.9 | 1990-05 | 1995-12 | electrified, part dbl track |
| 126 | Main | Jitong Line 集通线 | Benhong — Tongliao 贲红 — 通辽 | 945.0 | 1990-06 | 1995-12 | |
| 127 | Main | Xiyan Line 西延线 | Xinfengzhen — Yan'an Bei 新丰镇 — 延安北 | 334.0 | 1973-01 | 1996 | |
| 128 | Main | JingJiu Line 京九线 | Beijing Xi — Changping 北京西 — 常平 | 2311.0 | 1987-04 | 1996-09 | part dbl track |
| 129 | Main | NanKun Line 南昆线 | Nanning — Kunming 南宁 — 昆明 | 811.0 | 1990 | 1997-12 | electrified |
| Weishe — Hongguo 威舍 — 红果 | 68.0 | ||||||
| 130 | Main | JinWen Line 金温线 | Jinhua — Wenzhou 金华 — 温州 | 252.4 | 1992-12 | 1998-06 | |
| 131 | Main | Shichang Line 石长线 | Shimen — Laodaohe 石门 — 捞刀河 | 264.0 | 1993-11 | 1998-10 | |
| 132 | Main | Hengnan Line 横南线 | Hengfeng — Nanping 横峰 — 南平 | 222.0 | 1993-11 | 1998-12 | |
| 133 | Main | Nanjiang Line 南疆线 | Kuerle — Kasha Duan 库尔勒 — 喀什段 | 970.0 | 1996 | 1999-05 | |
| 134 | Main | Hanji Line 邯济线 | Handan Nan — Yancheng 邯郸南 — 晏城 | 229.0 | 1996 | under construction | |
| 135 | Main | Shuibai Line 水柏线 | Liupanshui — Baiguo 六盘水 — 柏果 | 121.0 | 1997 | under construction | |
| 136 | Main | DaWan Line 达万线 | Daxian — Wanxian 达县 — 万县 | 158.0 | 1997 | under construction | |
| 137 | Main | XinChang Line 新长线 | Xinyi — Changxing 新沂 — 长兴 | 628.0 | 1998 | under construction | |
| 138 | Main | MeiKan Line 梅坎线 | Meixian — Kanshi 梅县 — 坎市 | 152.0 | 1998 | under construction | |
| 139 | Main | ChangJing Line 长荆线 | Changjiangbu — Jingmen 长江埠 — 荆门 | 173.0 | 1998 | under construction | |
| 140 | Main | Yangshe Line 阳涉线 | Zuochuan — Matian Duan 左权 — 麻田段 | 45.0 | 1998 | under construction | |
| 141 | Main | XiKang Line 西康线 | Xi'an — Ankang 西安 — 安康 | 268.0 | 1992 | under construction | |
| 142 | Main | Baoxi Line 包西线 | Shenmu Bei — Yan'an Bei Duan 神木北 — 延安北段 | 385.0 | 1998 | under construction | |
| 143 | Main | YueHai Railway 粤海铁道 | Zhanjiang Bei — Chahe 湛江北 — 叉河 | 340.0 | 1998 | under construction | |
| 144 | Main | Shuohuang Line 朔黄线 | Shenchi — Huang? 神池 — 黄骅 | 587.0 | 1997 | under construction | |
| 145 | Main | Neikun Line 内昆线 | Anbian — Meihuashan Duan 安边 — 梅花山段 | 386.0 | 1998 | under construction |
| Sequence Number |
Classification | Line Name | End Points | Length (km) |
Start of Construction |
Start of Operation |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Branch | Hu-Ha Line 呼哈线 | Huhehaote — Halaqin 呼和浩特 — 哈拉沁 | 10.0 | 1958-04 | 1958-09 | |
| 2 | Branch | Xin-Bai Line 新白线 | Xinxiang — Xiaobaitun 新乡 — 小白屯 | 4.7 | 1958 | 1960 | |
| 3 | Branch | Ding-Ling Line 定灵线 | Dingzhou — Lingshan 定州 — 灵山 | 51.8 | 1959-12 | 1960-05 | |
| 4 | Branch | Da-Song Line 大宋线 | Daguocun — Songjiayu 大郭村 — 宋家峪 | 27.3 | 1960-04 | 1960-06 | |
| 5 | Branch | Huang-Ge Line 黄格线 | Huanggang — Geding 黄岗 — 格顶 | 40.5 | 1958 | 1961 | |
| 6 | Branch | Peng-Bai Line 彭白线 | Pengxian — Zheshuihe 彭县 — 折水河 | 39.0 | 1959-04 | 1962-01 | |
| 7 | Branch | Qian-An Line 前安线 | Qianmotou — Anping 前磨头 — 安平 | 51.4 | 1962-07 | 1963-12 | |
| 8 | Branch | Gao-Yi line 高易线 | Gaobeidian — Yixian 高碑店 — 易县 | 46.4 | 1961-01 | 1964-11 | |
| 9 | Branch | Ke-Wen Line 克温线 | Kejing — Wenxian 克井 — 温县 | 95.1 | 1964-03 | 1965-04 | |
| 10 | Branch | Fang-Xiu Line 方修线 | Fangzhuang — Xiuwu 方庄 — 修武 | 19.3 | 1965-05 | 1966-05 | |
| 11 | Branch | Li-Liu Line 醴浏线 | Liling — Yonghe 醴陵 — 永和 | 105.6 | 1959-10 | 1966-07 | |
| 12 | Branch | Yi-Mei Line 益煤线 | Yiyang — Meitanba 益阳 — 煤炭坝 | 65.4 | 1959-11 | 1969-05 | |
| 13 | Branch | San-Luo Line 三罗线 | Sancha — Luocheng 三岔 — 罗城 | 64.9 | 1960-01 | 1970-01 | |
| 14 | Branch | Nan-Bao Line 南保线 | Nanyang — Bao'an 南阳 — 保安 | 73.3 | 1969-02 | 1970-01 | |
| 15 | Branch | Bei-Bao Line 北保线 | Beipiao — Baoguolao 北票 — 保国老 | 66.2 | 1969-05 | 1971-05 | |
| 16 | Branch | Jin-Hong Line 金洪线 | Jinchengjiang — Shangchao 金城江 — 上潮 | 82.9 | 1970-02 | 1971-05 | |
| 17 | Branch | Hui-Wu Line 辉吴线 | Huixian — Wucun 辉县 — 吴村 | 46.2 | 1970-11 | 1971-10 | |
| 18 | Branch | Hua-Yang Line 桦阳线 | Huanan — Xiangyangshan 桦南 — 向阳山 | 34.0 | 1970 | 1972 | |
| 19 | Branch | Mei-Long Line 梅龙线 | Meixian — Longchuan 梅县 — 龙川 | 172.5 | 1958 | 1972 | |
| 20 | Branch | Gui-Hai Line 桂海线 | Guilin — Dawei 桂林 — 大圩 | 17.7 | 1958-09 | 1972-05 | |
| 21 | Branch | Han-Guan Line 邯馆线 | Handan — Guantao 邯郸 — 馆陶 | 76.1 | 1971 | 1972-10 | |
| 22 | Branch | Han-Ye Line 邯野线 | Handan — Yehe 邯郸 — 野河 | 39.0 | 1971 | 1972-10 | |
| 23 | Branch | Nanling Line 南岭线 | Pingshi — Muchong 坪石 — 木冲 | 103.9 | 1948 | 1975 | |
| 24 | Branch | Luo-Mao Line 洛茂线 | Puluo — Gengban 普洛 — 更班 | 55.5 | 1972 | 1976-07 | |
| 25 | Branch | Donglu — Jinwangfen 东芦 — 晋王坟 | 18.5 | 1976 | 1978 | ||
| 26 | Branch | Ming-Bao Line 明堡线 | Minggang — Baozi 明港 — 堡子 | 55.5 | 1969-06 | 1978-07 | |
| 27 | Branch | Wang-Bai Line 望白线 | Wangdu — Baihe 望都 — 白河 | 36.0 | 1960-02 | 1978-08 | |
| 28 | Branch | Shang-Mang Line 商芒线 | Shangqiu — Mangshandong 商丘 — 芒山东 | 94.0 | 1975-10 | 1979-10 | |
| 29 | Branch | Zhu-Ping Line 驻平线 | Zhumadian — Pingpei 驻马店 — 平辔 | 84.0 | 1975-10 | 1979-10 | |
| 30 | Branch | Bao-Bi Line 堡泌线 | Baozi — Biyang 堡子 — 泌阳 | 24.1 | 1976-12 | 1980-07 | |
| 31 | Branch | Cang-Huang Line 沧黄线 | Cangzhou — Huanghua 沧州 — 黄骅 | 87.4 | 1979-12 | 1981-02 | |
| 32 | Branch | Shen-Dan Line 神郸线 | Shenhou — Dancheng 神后 — 郸城 | 265.8 | 1966-11 | 1981-11 | |
| 33 | Branch | Jing-Yong Line 景涌线 | Taibaiyuan — Yongshan 太白圆 — 涌山 | 55.0 | 1962-05 | 1982 | |
| 34 | Branch | Kangzhuangditie Line 康庄地铁线 | Kangzhuang — Yanqing 康庄 — 延庆 | 12.8 | 1977 | 1983-11 | |
| 35 | Branch | Ligang Line 李港线 | Liqizhuang — Beidagang 李七庄 — 北大港 | 43.9 | 1974-09 | 1983-11 | |
| 36 | Branch | Qin-Shan Line 秦&#;线 | Qinhuangdao — Shanshenmiao 秦皇岛 — 山神庙 | 43.8 | 1984-10 | 1984-11 | |
| 37 | Branch | Ji-Guan Line 蓟官线 | Shifo — Xujiatai 石佛 — 许家台 | 7.2 | 1984 | 1985 | |
| 38 | Branch | Ji-Bie Line 蓟&#;线 | Jixian — Bieshan 蓟县 — 别山 | 1.8 | 1984 | 1985 | |
| 39 | Branch | Pingguditie Line 平谷地铁 线 | Sanping — Mafang 三平 — 马坊 | 16.5 | 1977-10 | 1985-05 | |
| 40 | Branch | Chao-Qi Line 朝杞线 | Chaoyanggou — Qixian 朝阳沟 — 杞县 | 230.9 | 1974-09 | 1985-06 | |
| 41 | Branch | | Nanzhuang — Xiguo 南庄 — 西郭 | 8.9 | 1982 | 1986 | |
| 42 | Branch | | Nanzhuang — Longci 南庄 — 龙祠 | 10.5 | 1982 | 1986 | |
| 43 | Branch | Cheng-Zhuang Line 城庄线 | Chengzitan — Zhuanghe 城子坦 — 庄河 | 48.5 | 1984-07 | 1986-10 | |
| 44 | Branch | Dongluo Line 东罗线 | Quli — Dongluo 渠黎 — 东罗 | 23.9 | 1958-11 | 1986-12 | |
| 45 | Branch | Chen-Jia Line 郴嘉线 | Chenzhou — Xinglang 郴州 — 行廊 | 76.0 | 1979-11 | 1987-11 | |
| 46 | Branch | Tang-Tai Line 汤台线 | Tangyin — Liutun 汤阴 — 柳屯 | 94.0 | 1986-12 | 1987-12 | |
| 47 | Branch | Donglu Huangzhuang Line 东芦换装线 | 3.2 | 1988 | 1989 | ||
| 48 | Branch | Jing-Sha Line 荊沙线 | Jingmen — Shashi 荊门 — 沙市 | 90.0 | 1986 | 1989 | |
| 49 | Branch | Nen-Hei Line 嫩黑线 | Nenjiang — Heibaoshan 嫩江 — 黑宝山 | 157.0 | 1985-10 | 1989-09 | |
| 50 | Branch | Qing-Guan Line 青灌线 | Qingbaijiang — Guanxian 青白江 — 灌县 | 60.0 | 1985-10 | 1989-09 | |
| 51 | Branch | Long-Hei Line 龙黑线 | Longzhen — Heihe 龙镇 — 黑河 | 241.0 | 1986-07 | 1989-10 | |
| 52 | Branch | Yi-Yang Line 益羊线 | Yidu — Dajiawa 益都 — 大家洼 | 78.0 | 1984-05 | 1989-12 | |
| 53 | Branch | Qing-Wen Line 青温线 | Qingbaijiang — Wenjiadian 青白江 — 温家店 | 21.0 | 1985-10 | 1989-12 | |
| 54 | Branch | Ping-Lan Line 坪岚线 | Pingshang — Lanshantou 坪上 — 岚山头 | 35.0 | 1986-10 | 1990-05 | |
| 55 | Branch | Tuo-Wang Line 坨王线 | Tuozitou — Wangtan 坨子头 — 王滩 | 77.0 | 1988-04 | 1990-10 | |
| 56 | Branch | Hai-Xiu Line 海岫线 | Haicheng — Xiuyan 海城 — 岫岩 | 90.3 | 1986-10 | 1990-10 | |
| 57 | Branch | Luo-Fu Line 漯阜线 | Fuyang — Jieshou Duan 阜阳 — 界首段 | 76.0 | 1986-12 | 1990-10 | |
| 58 | Branch | Guan-Liu Line 馆柳线 | Guantao — Liucheng 馆陶 — 柳城 | 63.0 | 1988-09 | 1990-12 | |
| 59 | Branch | Wan-Nan Line 万南线 | Wansheng — Nanchuan 万盛 — 南川 | 35.0 | 1986-06 | 1990-12 | |
| 60 | Branch | Zhou-Lu Line 周芦线 | Zhoulizhuang — Lunanxianlusuo 周李庄 — 芦南线路所 | 23.1 | 1989-09 | 1991-07 | |
| 61 | Branch | Luo-Fu Line 漯阜线 | Luohe — Jieshou Duan 漯河 — 界首段 | 136.6 | 1973-12 | 1991-12 | |
| 62 | Branch | Gao-Tian Line 高天线 | Gaoqiao — Tianqiao 高桥 — 天桥 | 14.8 | 1991-04 | 1992-05 | |
| 63 | Branch | Jin-Nan Line 津南线 | Banqiao — Xianshuigu 板桥 — 咸水沽 | 13.8 | 1992-01 | 1992-07 | |
| 64 | Branch | Dan-Da Line 丹大线 | Qianyang — Dadonggang 前阳 — 大东港 | 17.8 | 1987-12 | 1992-08 | |
| 65 | Branch | Zhong-Bao Line 中宝线 | Zhongyicun — Baoxing 中谊村 — 宝兴 | 17.9 | 1988-09 | 1992-12 | |
| 66 | Branch | Shenhe Line 神河线 | Zhuangershang — Huoshan 庄儿上 — 火山 | 100.0 | 1982 | 1993-05 | |
| 67 | Branch | Ligangyanshen 李港延伸线 | Beidagang — Dongdagu 北大港 — 东大沽 | 27.9 | 1984 | 1993-11 | |
| 68 | Branch | Zhai-Yang Line 宅羊线 | Zhaike — Yangjiaogou 宅科 — 羊角沟 | 28.5 | 1991-02 | 1993-12 | |
| 69 | Branch | Long-Lu Line 隆泸线 | Longchang — Luzhou 隆昌 — 泸州 | 55.0 | 1988-12 | 1994 | |
| 70 | Branch | Pu-Le Line 普乐线 | Puji — Leba 普济 — 乐坝 | 22.0 | 1990-12 | 1994 | |
| 71 | Branch | Kun-Yu Line 昆玉线 | Kunming — Yuxi Nan 昆明 — 玉溪南 | 55.5 | 1989-12 | 1994-09 | |
| 72 | Branch | Tu-Hui Line 图珲线 | Tumen — Huichun 图们 — 珲春 | 65.0 | 1987 | 1995 | |
| 73 | Branch | Zhen-Da Line 镇大线 | Zhenjiang — Dagang 镇江 — 大港 | 37.9 | 1989 | 1995 | |
| 74 | Branch | Qin-Bei Line 钦北线 | Qinzhou — Beihai 钦州 — 北海 | 97.0 | 1995 | ||
| 75 | Branch | Da-Gu Line 大古线 | Daba — Guyao 大坝 — 古窑 | 70.1 | 1991 | 1995 | |
| 76 | Branch | Tao-Wei Line 桃威线 | Taocun — Weihai 桃村 — 威海 | 135.9 | 1991 | 1995-12 | |
| 77 | Branch | Wu-Mo Line 武墨线 | Wuxiang — Beishe 武乡 — 北社 | 24.0 | |||
| 78 | Branch | Zheng-Liang Line 郑粮线 | Zhengjiatun — Liangku 郑家屯 — 粮库 | 6.6 | |||
| 79 | Branch | He-Nan Line 合南线 | Hefei Bei — Nanqi 合肥北 — 南七 | 17.0 | |||
| 80 | Branch | Ping-Yu Line 平禹线 | Pingdingshan — Yuxian 平顶山 — 禹县 | 45.0 | |||
| 81 | Branch | Jun-He Line 浚鹤线 | Junxian — Hebi 浚县 — 鹤壁 | 18.0 | |||
| 82 | Branch | Xin-Nan Freight Yard 新南货场 | Yuanhuizhang Line 原辉长线 | 0.9 | |||
| 83 | Branch | Song-Yi Line 松宜线 | Jicheng — Liujiachang 枝城 — 刘家场 | 50.0 | |||
| 84 | Branch | Guan-Liu Line 馆柳线 | Guantaonan — Liucheng 馆陶南 — 柳城 | 2.7 | |||
| 85 | Branch | Hadonghuagong Line 哈东化工线 | 32.0 | ||||
| 86 | Branch | Luo-Wu Line 漯舞线 | Luohe — Wuyang 漯河 — 舞阳 | 69.3 | |||
| 87 | Branch | Kai-Liu Line 开柳线 | Kaifeng — Liuyuankou 开封 — 柳园口 | 18.1 |
| Sequence Number |
Improvement | Line Name | End Points | Length (km) | Start of Construction | Start of Operation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | second track added | ShiTai Line 石太线 | Shijiazhuang — Taiyuan Bei 石家庄 — 太原北 | 244.9 | 1956-03 | 1961-07 | |
| 2 | second track added | Sui-Jia Line 绥佳线 | Suihua — Jiamusi 绥化 — 佳木斯 | 371.0 | 1954 | 1964-04 | |
| 3 | second track added | Longhai Line 陇海线 | Lianyungang — Lanzhou Xi 连云港 — 兰州西 | 1133.2 | 1956-10 | 1970-06 | |
| 4 | second track added | Feng-Sha Line 丰沙线 | Fengtai Xi — Shacheng 丰台西 — 沙城 | 106.4 | 1959-09 | 1972-10 | |
| 5 | second track added | Jin-Pu Line 津浦线 | Tianjin Bei — Nanjing 天津北 — 南京 | 1045.0 | 1958-05 | 1977-08 | |
| 6 | second track added | Shi-De Line 石德线 | Shijiazhuang — Dezhou 石家庄 — 德州 | 177.4 | 1975-03 | 1982-12 | |
| 7 | second track added | Shuang-Huai Line 双怀线 | Shuangqiao — Huairou 双桥 — 怀柔 | 51.1 | 1980-01 | 1983-04 | |
| 8 | second track added | ShenDan Line 沈丹线 | Wujiatun — Nanfen 吴家屯 — 南芬 | 102.2 | 1973-05 | 1985 | |
| 9 | second track added | TaiJiao Line 太焦线 | Changzhi Bei — Yueshan Duan 长治北 — 月山段 | 152 | 1982-12 | 1985-12 | |
| 10 | second track added | Nanhe Line 南何线 | Nanxiang — Beijiao 南翔 — 北郊 | 17.6 | 1983-09 | 1988 | |
| 11 | second track added | XinJiao Line 新焦线 | Xinxiang Xi — Yueshan 新乡西 — 月山 | 72.9 | 1982-12 | 1989-12 | |
| 12 | second track added | JingGuang Line 京广线 | Beijing — Guangzhou 北京 — 广州 | 2223.5 | 1975-09 | 1989-12 | |
| 13 | second track added | JingBao Line 京包线 | Beijing — Baotou Xi 北京 — 包头西 | 438.3 | 1958-06 | 1990-12 | |
| 14 | second track added | JiaoJi Line 胶济线 | Jinan — Qingdao 济南 — 青岛 | 403.5 | 1958-12 | 1991-12 | |
| 15 | second track added | Nan TongPu Line 南同蒲线 | Xiuwen — Houma Duan 修文 — 侯马段 | 296.1 | 1981-01 | 1991-12 | |
| 16 | second track added | MuLin Line 牡林线 | Mudanjiang — Linkou 牡丹江 — 林口 | 75.8 | 1988-04 | 1991-12 | |
| 17 | second track added | BinSui Line 滨绥线 | Haerbin — Mudanjiang 哈尔滨 — 牡丹江 | 359.1 | 1982-03 | 1991-12 | |
| 18 | second track added | HuHang Line 沪杭线 | Shanghai — Hangzhou 上海 — 杭州 | 200.3 | 1974-12 | 1991-12 | |
| 19 | second track added | Huainan Line 淮南线 | Huainan — Yuxikou 淮南 — 裕溪口 | 197 | 1979-10 | 1993-04 | |
| 20 | second track added | HuNing Line 沪宁线 | Shanghai — Nanjing 上海 — 南京 | 305 | 1958-09 | 1993-10 | |
| 21 | second track added | Jingshanyameigai Line 京山压煤改线 | Qidaoqiao — Luanxian Xi 七道桥 — 滦县西 | 87.3 | 1978-07 | 1995-12 | |
| 22 | second track added | Dayaowan Branch Line 大窑湾支线 | Dalian Shi 大连市 | 18.7 | 1992-11 | 1995-12 | |
| 23 | second track added | ZheGan Line 浙赣线 | Hangzhou — Zhuzhou 杭州 — 株洲 | 911.2 | 1979-01 | 1995-12 | |
| 24 | second track added | FuHuai Line 阜淮线 | Fuyang — Panji Xi 阜阳 — 潘集西 | 88.7 | 1991-05 | 1995-12 | |
| 25 | second track added | LanXin Line 兰新线 | Wuwei Nan — Wulumuqi 武威南 — 乌鲁木齐 | 1622 | 1992-09 | 1995-12 | |
| 26 | second track added | JingJiu Line 京九线 | Shangqiu — Fuyang Duan 商丘 — 阜阳段 | 149.7 | 1993-05 | 1996-05 | |
| 27 | second track added | NanXun Line 南浔线 | Xiangtang Xi — Jiujiang 向塘西 — 九江 | 150.3 | 1993-04 | 1996-12 | |
| 28 | second track added | BaoLan Line 包兰线 | Baotou — Shizuishan Duan 包头 — 石咀山段 | 401 | 1993-06 | 1997-11 | |
| 29 | second track added | Binzhou Line 滨洲线 | Haerbin — Hailaer 哈尔滨 — 海拉尔 | 679.3 | 1978-07 | 1997-12 | |
| 30 | second track added | JiaoZhi Line 焦枝线 | Jiyuan — Xiangfan Duan 济源 — 襄樊段 | 446.7 | 1986-10 | 1997-12 | |
| 31 | second track added | XiangShi Line 襄石线 | Xiangfan — Shimen 襄樊 — 石门 | 363.3 | 1993-08 | 1997-12 | |
| 32 | second track added | SuYong Line 肃甬线 | Sushan — Ningbo 肃山 — 宁波 | 144 | 1994-12 | 1997-12 | |
| 33 | second track added | Beijing-Beijing Dong Line 北京-北京东线 | 4 | 1998 | 1998 | ||
| 34 | second track added | JingJiu Line 京九线 | Xiangtan Xi — Longchuan Duan 向塘西 — 龙川段 | 540 | 1998 | 1999 | |
| 35 | second track added | BaoCheng Line 宝成线 | Yangpingguan — Chengdu 阳平关 — 成都 | 411 | 1992-12 | under construction | |
| 36 | second track added | LiZhan Line 黎湛线 | Litang — Zhanjiang 黎塘 — 湛江 | 256 | 1997 | under construction | |
| 37 | second track added | XinHe Line 新菏线 | Xinxiang — Heze 新乡 — 菏泽 | 168 | 1997-10 | under construction | |
| 38 | second track added | LanYan Line 蓝烟线 | Lancun — Yantai 蓝村 — 烟台 | 180 | under construction | ||
| 39 | second track added | ShuiZhu Line 水株线 | Zhuzhou — Liubanshui 株洲 — 六盘水 | 873 | under construction | ||
| Sequence Number | |||||||
| 1 | electrification | Bao-Cheng Line 宝成线 | Baoji Dong — Chengdu 宝鸡东 — 成都 | 676 | 1958-06 | 1975-06 | |
| 2 | electrification | Yang-An Line 阳安线 | Yangpingguan — Ankang 阳平关 — 安康 | 356 | 1977-06 | ||
| 3 | electrification | Shi-Tai Line 石太线 | Shijiazhuang — Taiyuan 石家庄 — 太原 | 235 | 1974-10 | 1982-09 | |
| 4 | electrification | Xiang-Yu Line 襄渝线 | Xiangfan — Daxian Duan 襄樊 — 达县段 | 646 | 1975-09 | 1983-12 | |
| 5 | electrification | Jing-Bao Line 京包线 | Fengtai — Datong Duan 丰台 — 大同段 | 379 | 1977-04 | 1983-12 | |
| 6 | electrification | Long-Hai Line 陇海线 | Baoji — Lanzhou Xi Duan 宝鸡 — 兰州西段 | 511 | 1984-04 | ||
| 7 | electrification | Cheng-Yu Line 成渝线 | Chengdu — Chongqing 成都 — 重庆 | 504 | 1975-08 | 1985-12 | |
| 8 | electrification | (blank) | |||||
| 9 | electrification | Tai-Jiao Line 太焦线 | Changzhi Bei — Yueshan Duan 长治北 — 月山段 | 154 | 1983-08 | 1988-12 | |
| 10 | electrification | Longhai Line 陇海线 | Zhengzhou — Lanzhou Xi Duan 郑州 — 兰州西段 | 1189.3 | 1977-01 | 1988-12 | |
| 11 | electrification | Bei TongPu Line 北同蒲线 | Pingwang — Taiyuan 平旺 — 太原 | 336 | 1982-04 | 1989-07 | |
| 12 | electrification | Chuan-Qian Line 川黔线 | Luohuang — Guiyang Nan 珞璜 — 贵阳南 | 417 | 1984-09 | 1991-10 | |
| 13 | electrification | Lan-Xin Line 兰新线 | Lanzhou Xi — Wuwei Nan 兰州西 — 武威南 | 282 | 1988-03 | 1992-08 | |
| 14 | electrification | Gui-Kun Line 贵昆线 | Guiyang Nan — Kunming 贵阳南 — 昆明 | 682 | 1982-01 | 1992-12 | |
| 15 | electrification | (missing) | |||||
| 16 | electrification | Ying-Xia Line 鹰厦线 | Yingtan — Xiamen 鹰潭 — 厦门 | 705 | 1986-08 | 1993-12 | |
| 17 | electrification | (missing) | |||||
| 18 | electrification | (missing) | |||||
| 19 | electrification | Tai-Lan Line 太岚线 | Fenhe — Zhenchengdi 汾河 — 镇城底 | 52 | 1996-02 | ||
| 20 | electrification | Jiao-Zhi Line 焦枧线 | Jiyuan — Guanlin Duan 济源 — 关林段 | 79 | 1986-10 | 1996-06 | |
| 21 | electrification | Gan-Wu Line 干武线 | Gantang — Wuwei Nan 干塘 — 武威南 | 172 | 1996-11 | ||
| 22 | electrification | Xiang-Qian Line 湘黔线 | Guiyang — Loudi Duan 贵阳 — 娄底段 | 764 | 1979-05 | 1997-01 | |
| 23a | electrification | Jing-Guang Line 京广线 | Beijing — Zhengzhou Duan 北京 — 郑州段 | 694.2 | 1992-12 | 1997-01 | |
| 23b | electrification | Jing-Guang Line 京广线 | Zhengzhou — Wuchang Duan 郑州 — 武昌段 | 553.7 | 1985-12 | 1997-01 | |
| 24 | electrification | Feng-Zhun Line 丰准线 | Xuejiawan — Danzhouying 薛家湾 — 丹州营 | 263 | 1997-06 | ||
| 25 | electrification | Guang-Shen Line 广深线 | Guangzhou Dong — Shenzhen 广州东 — 深圳 | 140 | 1998-07 | ||
| 26 | electrification | Wai-Fu Line 外福线 | Waiyang — Fuzhou 外洋 — 福州 | 189 | 1999 | under construction | |
| 27 | electrification | Jing-Guang Line 京广线 | Wuchang — Guangzhou Duan 武昌 — 广州段 | 928 | 1993 | under construction | |
| 28 | electrification | Pan-Xi Branch Line 盘西枝线 | Zhanyi — Baiguo 沾益 — 柏果 | 142 | 1999 | under construction | |
| 29 | electrification | Nei-Kun Line 内昆线 | Neijiang — Anbian Duan 内江 — 安边段 | 119 | 1999 | under construction | |
| 30 | electrification | Cheng-Kun Line 成昆线 | Chengdu — Kunming 成都 — 昆明 | 1100 | 1993-08 | under construction | |
| 31 | electrification | Bao-Lan Line 包兰线 | Shizuishan — Lanzhou 石嘴山 — 兰州 | 567 | 1994-07 | under construction | |
| 31 | electrification | Ha-Da Line 哈大线 | Haerbin — Dalian 哈尔滨 — 大连 | 946 | 1994-06 | under construction | |
| 32 | electrification | Xiang-Yu Line 襄渝线 | Daxian — Chongqing Duan 达县 — 重庆段 | 255 | 1993-08 | under construction |
| Item | units | End of 1-5 (1957) | End of 2-5 (1962) | End of Adjustment (1965) | End of 3-5 1970 | End of 4-5 (1975) | End of 5-5 (1980) | End of 6-5 (1985) | End of 7-5 (1990) | End of 8-5 (1995) | 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. Indusrial and Agricultural Total Output and Railroad Freight Volume | |||||||||||
| National Industrial Total Output | 100 mill yuan | 1241 | 1504 | 2235 | 3138 | 4467 | 7077 | 13335 | 31586 | 103779 | 144797 |
| National Agricultural Total Output | 100 mill yuan | 704 | 920 | 1402 | 2117 | 3207 | 5154 | 9716 | 23924 | 91894 | 119693 |
| Railroad Freight Volume | 10,000 tonnes | 27421 | 34598 | 48358 | 66552 | 86746 | 108584 | 127516 | 146209 | 159346 | 153208 |
| Freight Vol for each 10,000 Yuan of Total Ind and Ag Output | tonnes | 22.10 | 23.00 | 21.60 | 21.20 | 19.40 | 15.30 | 9.60 | 4.60 | 1.54 | 1.06 |
| Freight Vol for each 10,000 Yuan of Total Ind Output | tonnes | 39.00 | 37.60 | 34.50 | 31.40 | 27.00 | 21.10 | 13.10 | 6.10 | 1.73 | 1.28 |
| II. National Population and Railroad Passenger Volume | |||||||||||
| Total National Population | 10,000 | 64653 | 67295 | 72538 | 82992 | 92420 | 98705 | 105851 | 114333 | 121121 | 124810 |
| Railroad Passenger Volume | 10,000 | 31262 | 74067 | 40708 | 51646 | 69648 | 91246 | 110913 | 94888 | 102081 | 92991 |
| National Avg Trips per Person | trips | 0.48 | 1.10 | 0.56 | 0.62 | 0.75 | 0.92 | 1.05 | 0.83 | 0.84 | 0.75 |
| III. | |||||||||||
| 10,000 tonnes | 80305 | 85442 | 120837 | 149860 | 200054 | 542245 | 739136 | 961194 | 1219559 | 1276000 | |
| 27421 | 34598 | 48358 | 66552 | 86746 | 108584 | 127516 | 146209 | 159346 | 153208 | ||
| % | 34.1 | 40.5 | 40.0 | 44.4 | 43.4 | 20.0 | 17.3 | 15.2 | 13.1 | 12.0 | |
| tonne km | 1733 | 2123 | 3227 | 4147 | 5539 | 8494 | 13036 | 18066 | 23792 | 22471 | |
| tonne km | 1346 | 1719 | 2696 | 3491 | 4246 | 5707 | 8112 | 10601 | 12836 | 12262 | |
| % | 77.7 | 81.0 | 83.5 | 84.2 | 76.7 | 67.2 | 62.2 | 58.7 | 54.0 | 54.6 | |
| 63821 | 122154 | 96334 | 130056 | 192969 | 341703 | 567092 | 539219 | 1172596 | 1373300 | ||
| 31262 | 74067 | 40708 | 51646 | 69648 | 85611 | 110913 | 94888 | 92991 | 92991 | ||
| % | 49.0 | 60.6 | 42.3 | 39.7 | 36.1 | 25.1 | 19.6 | 17.6 | 7.9 | 6.8 | |
| psngr km | 497 | 1086 | 697 | 1031 | 1435 | 2281 | 4280 | 4894 | 9002 | 10570 | |
| psngr km | 361 | 857 | 478 | 716 | 953 | 1380 | 2413 | 2610 | 3543 | 3691 | |
| % | 72.8 | 79.0 | 68.5 | 69.4 | 66.4 | 60.5 | 56.4 | 53.3 | 39.4 | 34.9 |
| Item | units | End of "1-5" (1957) | End of "2-5" (1962) | End of (1965) | End of "3-5" 1970 | End of "4-5" (1975) | End of "5-5" (1980) | End of "6-5" (1985) | End of "7-5" (1990) | End of "8-5" (1995) | 1998 |
| I. Transportation Equipment | |||||||||||
| 1 | km | 29119 | 40344 | 42290 | 47760 | 52583 | 58686 | 63025 | 67549 | 78940.1 | |
| 2 | km | 26708 | 34603 | 36406 | 40989 | 45992 | 49940 | 52119 | 53378 | 54616 | 57583.5 |
| 3 | engines | 4251 | 6248 | 6238 | 7504 | 9367 | 10278 | 11770 | 13592 | 15146 | 15176 |
| 4 | cars | 8566 | 10543 | 10752 | 11279 | 13715 | 16157 | 20872 | 27261 | 32404 | 34246 |
| 5 | cars | 90249 | 140944 | 146308 | 178816 | 235157 | 266376 | 300886 | 364966 | 432731 | 439326 |
| II | |||||||||||
| 1 | 31262 | 74067 | 40708 | 51646 | 69648 | 91246 | 110913 | 94888 | 102081 | 92991 | |
| 2 | 27421 | 34598 | 48358 | 66552 | 86746 | 108584 | 127516 | 146209 | 159346 | 153208 | |
| 9866 | 17430 | 18622 | 25435 | 31617 | 41478 | 51856 | 62870 | 67357 | 64081 | ||
| 3 | 36130 | 85726 | 47781 | 71594 | 95259 | 138037 | 241251 | 261011 | 354261 | 369097 | |
| 4 | 134590 | 171908 | 269639 | 349135 | 424614 | 570732 | 811160 | 1060120 | 1283601 | 1226152 | |
| 5 | 170720 | 257634 | 317420 | 420729 | 519873 | 708769 | 1052411 | 1321131 | 1637862 | 1595249 | |
| III | |||||||||||
| 1. | 167 | 1 | 146 | 572 | 526 | 512 | 746 | 655 | 956 | 953 | |
| 167 | 98 | 375 | 366 | 342 | 361 | 24 | 8 | 1 | |||
| 48 | 172 | 144 | 130 | 285 | 466 | 798 | 697 | ||||
| 1 | 25 | 16 | 40 | 100 | 165 | 150 | 255 | ||||
| 2. | 454 | 70 | 160 | 576 | 804 | 1002 | 1447 | 1866 | 2375 | 1576 | |
| 3. | 6846 | 1635 | 2927 | 13809 | 15737 | 10571 | 19325 | 18597 | 36643 | 23854 | |
| IV | |||||||||||
| 1. | 11.08 | 2.64 | 20.85 | 37.94 | 27.9 | 25.2 | 64.97 | 71.92 | 365.52 | 562.42 | |
| 5.2 | 0.97 | 3.51 | 2.92 | 6.92 | 6.99 | 16.7 | 19.84 | 133.32 | 259.06 | ||
| 4.81 | 0.99 | 15.49 | 33.83 | 19.03 | 8.32 | 20.12 | 14 | 206.25 | 271.24 | ||
| 2. | 1.44 | 4.12 | 7.21 | 22.4 | 36.01 | 99.81 | 149.82 | ||||
| V | |||||||||||
| 1. | km | 473.8 | 231.3 | 1294.7 | 2408.8 | 462.4 | 252.8 | 386.1 | 262.2 | 1601.1 | 968.5 |
| 2. | km | 1291.5 | 142.2 | 2628.1 | 1832.4 | 1491.5 | 939.9 | 358.7 | 127.8 | 2394.1 | 938.3 |
| 3. | km | 538.2 | 15.9 | 126.4 | 320.8 | 93.6 | 405.8 | 324.3 | 406 | 1068.9 | 1208.3 |
| 4. | km | 38.8 | 13.2 | 76.5 | 190.5 | 90 | 158.4 | 240.7 | 355 | 859.7 | 589.7 |
| 5. | km | 100 | 121 | 643.2 | 1150.4 | 566.8 | 817.2 | 988.0 | |||
| VI | |||||||||||
| 1. | 118.7 | 128.4 | 154.2 | 185.1 | 222.2 | 261.5 | 312.4 | 338.1 | 337.2 | 317.9 | |
| 2. | 26.8 | 29.5 | 36.2 | 41.5 | 41.4 | 46.2 | 57.8 | 67.3 | 82.4 | 96.4 | |
| VII | |||||||||||
| 1. | 28.48 | 41.53 | 50.28 | 67.21 | 83.12 | 111.22 | 213.91 | 411.05 | 632.07 | 922.10 | |
| 5.41 | 13.43 | 7.64 | 11.99 | 16.14 | 23.68 | 45.45 | 110.85 | 201.54 | 291.30 | ||
| 21.53 | 24.05 | 36.28 | 52.18 | 63.38 | 82.20 | 157.63 | 265.55 | 357.61 | 502.70 | ||
| 2. | 12.90 | 19.69 | 25.61 | 31.20 | 40.08 | 68.61 | 111.48 | 253.95 | 640.56 | 848.40 | |
| 3.43 | 4.84 | 5.28 | 7.59 | 7.80 | 11.52 | 15.71 | 42.78 | 139.56 | 186.00 | ||
| 1.44 | 3.01 | 4.08 | 4.93 | 6.13 | 8.22 | 13.61 | 33.28 | 85.54 | 89.60 | ||
| 1.52 | 3.02 | 3.84 | 5.59 | 7.08 | 10.32 | 20.15 | 38.46 | 101.08 | 105.00 | ||
| 0.12 | 0.28 | 0.29 | 0.33 | 0.75 | 1.06 | 2.39 | 8.97 | 32.18 | 51.70 | ||
| 4.19 | 4.69 | 9.27 | 9.38 | 15.50 | 32.71 | 50.20 | 108.83 | 73.73 | 123.80 | ||
| 2.20 | 3.84 | 2.85 | 3.38 | 2.82 | 4.78 | 9.43 | 21.63 | 208.49 | 292.30 | ||
| 3 | 16.58 | 20.42 | 24.67 | 21.90 | 32.76 | 25.61 | 76.57 | 118.06 | -65.60 | 0.25 | |
| 4 | 137.80 | 210.60 | 233.70 | 304.00 | 433.30 | 580.40 | 791.50 | 1253.90 | 3613.50 | 4947.20 | |
| 5 | 106.40 | 170.31 | 187.58 | 246.95 | 356.40 | 469.15 | 589.49 | 889.27 | 2409.43 | 3457.90 |
| Item | units | End of "1-5" (1957) | End of "2-5" (1962) | End of (1965) | End of "3-5" 1970 | End of "4-5" (1975) | End of "5-5" (1980) | End of "6-5" (1985) | End of "7-5" (1990) | End of "8-5" (1995) | 1998 |
| I | km | 26708 | 34603 | 36406 | 40989 | 45992 | 49940 | 52119 | 53378 | 54616 | 57584 |
| km | 26708 | 32072 | 33116 | 39859 | 43789 | 46182 | 49433 | 50310 | 50866 | 51397 | |
| km | 2531 | 3290 | 1129 | 2203 | 3758 | 2686 | 3068 | 3750 | 6186 | ||
| % | 100.0 | 92.7 | 91.0 | 97.2 | 95.2 | 92.5 | 94.8 | 94.3 | 93.1 | 89.3 | |
| II | km | 2203 | 5430 | 5588 | 6549 | 7161 | 8119 | 9989 | 13024 | 16909 | 19673 |
| % | 8.2 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 16.3 | 19.2 | 24.4 | 31.0 | 34.2 | |
| III | km | 90 | 94 | 291 | 673 | 1667 | 4141 | 6941 | 9703 | 12984 | |
| % | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 7.9 | 13.0 | 17.8 | 22.5 | |
| IV | km | 292 | 1331 | 4974 | 7401 | 10822 | 16097 | 24749 | 33974 | ||
| % | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 10.8 | 14.8 | 20.8 | 30.2 | 45.3 | 59.0 | |
| V | km | 84 | 275 | 544 | 786 | 1307 | 1169 | 1226 | 2344 | ||
| % | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 4.1 | |
| VI | km | 10 | 110 | 137 | 510 | 1063 | 1551 | 2320 | 3535 | 4587 | 5184 |
| % | 0.4 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 22.3 | 31.6 | 42.5 | 62.9 | 80 | 89.9 | ||
| VII | km | 641 | 2170.8 | 2359 | 2467.9 | 3815.8 | 6044.3 | 6920.8 | 13070.4 | 12909.9 | 21042 |
| % | 2.4 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 8.3 | 13.1 | 13.3 | 19.4 | 23.6 | 36.5 | |
| VIII | km | 167 | 5057.7 | 6737.4 | 23795.8 | 33561.9 | 37950.5 | 42624.6 | 41845.6 | 40858.7 | 41360 |
| % | 0.6 | 14.6 | 18.5 | 58.1 | 73.0 | 81.4 | 81.8 | 78.4 | 74.8 | 71.8 |
| Item | units | End of "1-5" (1957) | End of "2-5" (1962) | End of (1965) | End of "3-5" 1970 | End of "4-5" (1975) | End of "5-5" (1980) | End of "6-5" (1985) | End of "7-5" (1990) | End of "8-5" (1995) | 1998 |
| 1. Available Motive Power | 4251 | 6248 | 6238 | 7504 | 9367 | 10278 | 11770 | 13592 | 15146 | 15176 | |
| Steam Locomotive | 4251 | 6202 | 6142 | 6878 | 7814 | 7801 | 7672 | 6279 | 4347 | 2061 | |
| Diesel Locomotive | 12 | 66 | 566 | 1352 | 2190 | 3511 | 5680 | 8282 | 10004 | ||
| Electric Locomotive | 191 | 287 | 587 | 1633 | 2517 | 3111 | |||||
| 2. Freight Car Available Qty | 90249 | 140944 | 146308 | 178816 | 235157 | 266376 | 300886 | 364966 | 432731 | 439326 | |
| 24857 | 25134 | 27654 | 39831 | 38680 | 40441 | 52677 | 66668 | 80437 | 85373 | ||
| 43252 | 88477 | 88055 | 94669 | 139068 | 165364 | 185684 | 232999 | 268179 | 257172 | ||
| 9661 | 10385 | 10164 | 16596 | 21008 | 20816 | 18753 | 18726 | 27461 | 30686 | ||
| 1229 | 1580 | 1578 | |||||||||
| 6587 | 12059 | 15561 | 22842 | 31112 | 33474 | 31837 | 33646 | 37119 | 37191 | ||
| 1651 | 2952 | 2782 | 2923 | 2408 | 2508 | 3991 | 5150 | 7030 | 8051 | ||
| 3. Passenger Car Available Qty | 8566 | 10543 | 10752 | 11279 | 13715 | 16157 | 20872 | 27261 | 32404 | 34246 | |
| 371 | 441 | 453 | 317 | 431 | 676 | 679 | 1061 | 1537 | 1926 | ||
| 792 | 1068 | 1083 | 1513 | 1909 | 2395 | 2633 | 4351 | 7607 | 9182 | ||
| 171 | 79 | 95 | 69 | 66 | 203 | 260 | 330 | 574 | 750 | ||
| 3610 | 5112 | 5687 | 6137 | 8012 | 9577 | 13700 | 17503 | 18076 | 17273 |
| Item | units | End of 1-5 (1957) | End of 2-5 (1962) | End of (1965) | End of 3-5 1970 | End of 4-5 (1975) | End of 5-5 (1980) | End of 6-5 (1985) | End of 7-5 (1990) | End of 8-5 (1995) | 1998 |
| 47.7 | 56.3 | 62.4 | 70.1 | 66.6 | 72.3 | 77.4 | 86 | 93.1 | 94.5 | ||
| 47.7 | 56.4 | 62.6 | 72 | 70.1 | 75 | 75.4 | 62.8 | 55.2 | 44.3 | ||
| 18.4 | 28.1 | 37.4 | 58 | 80.6 | 105.4 | 104.1 | 98.6 | ||||
| 38.7 | 61.1 | 77.7 | 83.7 | 85.3 | 98.6 | 101.4 | 99.0 | ||||
| tonnes | 1520 | 1645 | 1699 | 1928 | 1944 | 1994 | 2211 | 2414 | 2597 | 2633 | |
| 366 | 373 | 404 | 403 | 385 | 415 | 412 | 418 | 424 | 430 | ||
| 339 | 365 | 363 | 390 | 419 | 429 | 463 | 486 | 496 | 507 | ||
| 146 | 141 | 124 | 125 | 122 | 106.4 | 106 | 125.1 | 137.4 | 175.8 | ||
| 48 | 35 | 28.8 | 24.4 | 24.2 | 26.0 | ||||||
| 129.8 | 121.5 | 111 | 109.4 | 112.7 | |||||||
| 93.3 | 91.1 | 95.1 | 85.6 | 80.3 | 93.6 | 93.5 | 93.2 | 95.2 | 96.0 | ||
| 89.4 | 91.1 | 94.7 | 81.3 | 78.6 | 91.7 | 91.3 | 92.5 | 94.4 | 96.0 | ||
| 98.6 | 99 | 99.6 | 96.5 | 96.7 | 99.3 | 99.3 | 99.1 | 99.3 | 99.6 | ||
| 93.5 | 94.1 | 97.1 | 85.6 | 86.4 | 94.2 | 94.8 | 92.9 | 92.7 | 94.4 | ||
| 431 | 46.2 | 47.8 | 52.6 | 52.8 | 54.2 | 55.1 | 56.6 | 58.3 | 64.2 | ||
| 34.8 | 38.5 | 42.1 | 42.2 | 43.4 | 43.9 | 46.3 | 49 | 54.5 | |||
| 7.4 | 9.8 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 11.2 | 14 | 15.3 | 17.8 | 20.8 | ||
| 135.3 | 260 | 140.1 | 179.6 | 213.6 | 290 | 479.4 | 489 | 648.6 | 641.0 | ||
| 37.2 | 39.1 | 42 | 44.4 | 43.6 | 43.5 | 43.3 | 44 | 44.3 | 45.8 | ||
| 25.2 | 26.1 | 28.2 | 30.3 | 28.5 | 28.7 | 28.1 | 29.2 | 30.2 | 31.8 | ||
| 16.4 | 15.6 | 22 | 21.9 | 22.9 | 27.1 | 32.1 | 35.8 | 39.4 | 35.4 | ||
| 503.9 | 521.3 | 790.6 | 875.9 | 952.1 | 1199 | 1612 | 1986.1 | 2350.2 | 2129.4 | ||
| 2.84 | 3.17 | 2.87 | 3.21 | 3.46 | 3.02 | 3.48 | 4.09 | 4.5 | 5.48 | ||
| 10.7 | 12.6 | 10.6 | 15 | 17 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 16.9 | 17.9 | 22.8 | ||
| 3.2 | 3.7 | 3 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 5.2 | ||
| 34.7 | 39 | 39.8 | 42.5 | 45.4 | 48 | 51.6 | 55 | 56.8 | 57.6 |
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversay of the National Day Celebration, we are pleased to present "50 Years of the Railroads of the New China", published as scheduled as a birthday gift. The compilation of this book, that began in April of 1997, was a report submitted by the previous China Railway Historical Editorial Research Center, approved by the General Office of the Ministry of Railways and approved by the leaders of the Ministry of Railways. The writing team was composed of three current employees and six retirees from the center, Jin Yujing 金毓铮, the former Deputy Director of Structural Reform of Laws and Regulations 体改法规司副司长 of the Ministry of Railways, also participated in the work of the writing team. In the course of two years of effort the team received the full support and timely guidance of the original railroad history center and the leadership of the current Archive and History Center 档案史志中心 Dang'an shi zhi zhongxin of the Ministry of Railways; the General Office of the Ministy of Railways also provided assistance from the collection of information to the revising of manuscripts which was a great support and help, with Wen Liyan, 万里扬 the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Railways, reviewing the manuscript. In the more than two year process of writing this book, it received the full support and timely guidance from original Railroad History Center and from the Archives and History Center of the Ministry of Railways; the General Office of the Ministry of Railways also provided support and assistance that ranged from collecting information to revising manuscripts, the Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Railways, Wan Liyang 万里扬, also reviewed and revised the manuscript.
The railway enterprise of the New China for the past 50 years has been on a difficult and complex path, whose achievements have been both grand and brilliant, with a wealth of experience that also carried with it profound lessons. As a book of history, a more comprehensive and systematic accounting of the history of the current railway of China would be almost impossible to achieve. This compilation of the "50 Years of the Railways of the New China" is a useful attempt and it is also an in-depth study of the history of railway development in the New China that hopes to throw out a brick to get jade thrown back, that is, it hopes to inspire others to continue the task of telling that story.
For the past two years the members of the writing team have worked to overcome tight deadlines, lack of staff, difficulties in collection data and well as lack of writing experience along with many other difficuolties and with perserverance, pragmatism and humility they have looked at thousands of documents reading millions of characters of text and visited numerous work units and personnel. All of the writers tried to collect and sort the information, study and discuss problems, study theoretical knowledge and explore methods of writing. By paying attention to teamwork they gave free rein to their collective wisdom and strength. The general task of writing this book was a process of collecting and organizing the information to form an outline; writing trial sections based on collective deliberation and study of methods of description; composing chapters that were then modified to form a first draft; chapter by chapter group discussion followed by review and revision to complete a draft for comments, distributed to all of the key subordinate units of the Ministry for comment; based on the various opinions there are several stages of further revisions to complete the draft. The progress of the preparation work is arranged according to the 'countdown' daojishi 倒计时 each person is responsibile from start to finish for collective discussion and pooling their wisdom in a process of 'repeated carving' fanfudiaozhuo &#;&#;&#;&#; (NOTE: continuously polishing or pefecting something). No one was afraid of the difficulties, the spirit of continuous combat, advancing step by step to finally complete the task of writing.
The original intention for writing this book was to comprehensively record the glorious achievements of the current Chinese railway under the leadership of the Communist Party and the past 50 years in the historical process of railway development, providing railway employees with a patriotic education about the railroad experience and an education to know the railroad and love the railroad as well as to greet the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The period recorded should be up to 1 October 1999. Since the preparation for this work started in early 1997 in order for it to be published before the 50th anniversary of the National Day it therefore records up to 30 June 1999 with most of the content being the record up to the end of 1998.
The introduction and concluding remarks of this book were written by Xu Zenglin 徐增麟, while the authors of the remaining chapters are: the first and second chapters were by Liu Zhenxiang 刘祯祥, the third chapter is Sun Huiyou 孙会友, the fourth chapter is Qian Yuanfeng 钱元丰, the fifth chapter is Sun Li'nan 孙丽男 and Yue Xuexin 岳学鑫, the sixth chapter is Liu Yaling 刘雅玲 and the seventh chapter is by Yao Shigang 姚世刚. The first four chapters were drafted by Qian Yuanfeng while the last three chapters were drafted by Yao Shigang. The entire book was laid out by Xu Zenglin. The creators and contributers of the attached tables are: the sequential list of those in charge of the New China Railway (NOTE: table 1) was organized by Zhang Wei, compiled by Yao Shigang and approved by Li Wenke 李文科 organizations and work units (NOTE: table 2 ), compiled and drawn by the Office of Labor and the Health Department of the Ministry of Railways; Rail track graph and rail line table,(NOTE: table 3 rail lines and maps) text composed by Sun Li'nan, separately compiled and produced by Huang Qingyou 黄庆佑 and Qu Xiaotian 曲晓天; Tables of statistical information (NOTE: table 4 statistics), organized by Liu Yaling, prepared by Shao Yuelan 邵跃兰 and Li Chiyan 李赤岩 of the Statistics Center of the Ministry of Railways. Yue Xuexin also worked on the tasks of dealing with suggestions (NOTE: 意见 yijian opinions) and reviewed the separate tables. The editors put in a lot of work to assemble this book.
To produce this book required help from many areas. With the departments, bureaus and relevant centers, all of the railroad bureaus (company groups 集团 公司 jituan gongsi) and engineering, construction, industries, materials general companies and other work units providing material for this book, reviewing the draft for comments and offering valuable suggestions; the Archives of the Ministry of Railways provided convenient access to materials; the 16th Bureau and the 5th Office of the 18th Bureau of the China Railway Construction Corporation gave their enthusiastic support; Qin Derun, Liu Xianfu, Pan Zhenfeng, Lu Wentao, Jin Lieming, Wang Lianbin, Huang Heping, Hua Jing, Shi Bingkun and others wrote some of the material for this book. We also express out heartfelt thanks for this.
In the process of writing this book were refer to a large number of related books and publications such as History of the Development of Chinese Railroads, Major Events of the Chinese Railroad, The Railway Industry of Centemporary China, China Railway Management Series, China Railway Transportation, China Railway Construction, The China Railway Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry, The History of China Railway Bridges, The People's Railway is for the People, A Biography of Deng Daiyuan as well as The China Transportation Yearbook, Railroad Annals, People's Railway newspaper and various historical works and yearbooks compiled by various work units under the Ministry. During the preparation process large numbers of relevant documents and materials, weekly research reports and others were also referred to.
As a result of the tight schedule and limited scope (NOTE: shuiping you xian which I have chosen here to mean a limited level of comprehensiveness), this book will ineveitably have rough edges as well as errors and omissions and we sincerely hope that readers will not hesitate to correct us.
Zhongchang Railroad 中长铁路 Part of the Chinese Eastern Railway. It runs from Harbin south to Dalian very close to Port Arthur/Lushun and is also known as the South Manchurian Railroad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Manchuria_Railway
| Pinyin | characters | pronunciation with tones |
| Beijing | 北京 | bei3 jing1 |
| Benxi | 本溪 | ben3 xi1 |
| Lutai | ||
| Shenyang | 沈阳 | shen3 yang2 |
| Taibei | 台北 | tai2 bei3 |
| Tianjin | 天津 | tian1 jin1 |
Shaanxi and Shanxi -
The names of these two provinces have identical pronunciatations differening
only in their tones and so the convention developed of doubling the 'a' in
one is used to help English readers distinguish between them when reading the
text. The double 'a' does not change the pronunciation.
Shaanxi Province 陕西省 shan (third tone) xi
Shanxi Province 山西省 shan (first tone) xi
Longhai Railroad - from Gansu "long" to Haizhou "hai" an older name for the current city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province.
Terms
Rolling Stock
Standard Freight Car Types
Changche - C - Gondola Car
Pengche - P - Box Car
Pingche - N - Flat Car
Guanche - G - Tanker Car
Shouche - S - Caboose
Changdahuoche - D - Over-size Car
Tezhonghuoche - T - Special Freight Car
Standard Passenger Car Types
Yingzuoche - YZ - Hard Seat Coach
Ruanzuoche - RZ - Soft Seat Coach
Yingwoche - YW - Hard Berth Sleeper Coach
Ruanwoche - RW - Soft Berth Sleeper Coach
Canche - CA - Dining Car
Xingliche - XL - Luggage Car
Youzhengche - UZ - Postal Car
Kongtiao Fadian che - KD - Generator Car
tezhongkeche - - Special Passenger Car
GLOSSARYThis is a blockquote. I want to see what it looks like so I can decide how I want to deal with them on an interim basis with the notes remaining embedded in the text.