From Newsgroup: uk.telecom

(Though I have occasionally seen humorous reference to steam telephones!)

On 2026/5/10 18:50:27, Theo wrote:

Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com> wrote:

On Sat, 9 May 2026 12:02:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 09/05/2026 10:24, Davey wrote:

I worked in China from Oct 1988 to May 1989. The end of normal
construction of Steam Locomotives ended while I was there. They were
commonly visible on the railways.
And yes, I left China only a short time before the Tian'anmen Square
Massacre.

What killed steam was high labour costs. In china and India labour is
cheap and steam lives on.

Barely. I think steam in India is restricted to a few tourist lines,
and China just has a few mainly industrial bits, none of them on the
state-owned network.

As of 2022 it's gone in China too: https://railfan.com/end-of-an-era-chinas-last-steam-railroad-closes/

I think that leaves a coal mine in Bosnia, a steelworks in North Korea and sugar plant(s) in Indonesia left.

Theo

I thought Poland still had some steam services running regularly? (Good
for very low temperatures.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
-Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the U.S (1809-1865)
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From Newsgroup: uk.telecom

J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

(Though I have occasionally seen humorous reference to steam telephones!)

On 2026/5/10 18:50:27, Theo wrote:

Trolleybus <ken@birchanger.com> wrote:

On Sat, 9 May 2026 12:02:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 09/05/2026 10:24, Davey wrote:

I worked in China from Oct 1988 to May 1989. The end of normal
construction of Steam Locomotives ended while I was there. They were >>>> commonly visible on the railways.
And yes, I left China only a short time before the Tian'anmen Square >>>> Massacre.

What killed steam was high labour costs. In china and India labour is >>> cheap and steam lives on.

Barely. I think steam in India is restricted to a few tourist lines,
and China just has a few mainly industrial bits, none of them on the
state-owned network.

As of 2022 it's gone in China too: https://railfan.com/end-of-an-era-chinas-last-steam-railroad-closes/

I think that leaves a coal mine in Bosnia, a steelworks in North Korea and sugar plant(s) in Indonesia left.

Theo

I thought Poland still had some steam services running regularly? (Good
for very low temperatures.)

That's basically a tourist operation that runs some timetabled mainline services. The Harzer Schmalspurbahn in Germany does the same (narrow gauge, mostly tourist, but also services used as normal transport by locals).

But in both cases they've moved from being everyday transport to more like a working museum kind of setup.

(from what I read the Wolsztyn steam in Poland is currently out of action as the loco needs repairs)

Theo
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