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Kaiping Tramway and Imperial Railways of North China
The first 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge railway to be built and survive in China was the Kaiping (開平) colliery tramway located at Tangshan in Hebei province. However, this was not the very first railway in China. An earlier attempt to introduce railways had been made in 1876 when the short Shanghai to Wusong narrow gauge line known as the "Woosung Road Company" was built but then pulled up within less than two years because of Chinese government opposition.
Cantonese merchant Tong King-sing (唐景星 a.k.a. Tang Ting-shu 唐廷樞) was a Hong Kong Government interpreter who later became Jardine Matheson & Company’s head comprador at Shanghai. In 1878 Tong, who was then Director-General of the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, commenced coal mining operations in the Kaiping district with the backing of the powerful Viceroy of Zhili Li Hongzhang.
The first shaft was sunk at Tongshan in 1879 by the new Chinese Engineering and Mining Company (CEMC) under the direction of English mining engineer Robert Reginald Burnett, MICE. To transport coal from the mine to ships on the river at Beitang entailed carrying it a distance of nearly 30 miles; Tong King Sing attempted to gain permission to build a railway for this purpose, but was not able .
Initially a canal was constructed from Lutai on the river to Hsukochuang the furthest point that the canal could physically extend. The CEMC's Managing Director, Tong, eventually received permission for the last seven miles to the Tongshan colliery to be covered by a mule-pulled “tramway”, and English civil engineer Claude William Kinder was employed for its construction, which was completed in 1881.
Kinder insisted on building the tramway to the international Standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), to make sure the tramway could be turned into a full railway. He also set about constructing a steam locomotive using the boiler and other parts from a portable steam winding engine borrowed from the colliery. After word had leaked out about its construction, the engine had to be concealed for several weeks until Viceroy Li Hung Chang gave word for the construction to continue. The result of Kinder's efforts came to fruition on 9 June 1881 when the home-made 2-4-0 tank engine christened “Rocket of China” entered service on the tramway.
The introduction of “Rocket” was highly successful and in June 1882 two 0-6-0 tank locomotives were ordered from Robert Stephenson & Co., Newcastle. They arrived in October and were given running numbers 2 and 3. These were the first two standard gauge locomotives imported into China. While some sources claim that an 0-4-0 engine numbered “0” now preserved in the Beijing Locomotive Museum was the first engine imported into China, this is unlikely to be accurate.
While the Kaiping mine railway maintained operations, the Imperial Court's opposition to railway development in China prevented any further development for several years. But because the canal would become covered with ice during the winter months, the mining company succeeded in 1886 in gaining permission to extend the tramway all the way to Lutai. The extension was carried out by a newly formed Kaiping Railway Company (Kaiping Tiehlu Gongsi 開平鐵路公司 s:开平铁路公司), separately funded from the mining company, chaired by the Tientsin Taotai (Tianjin daotai 天津 道台) Chou Fu (Zhou Fu 周馥). The managing director was Wu Tingfang, who had studied law in England and was also interpreter and secretary to Li Hung Chang.
Assisted by the young American-educated student engineer (a Yung Wing mission student), Kwang King Yang (Kuang Jingyang 鄺景揚 s: 邝景扬 ) also known as K.Y. Kwong and Kuang Sunmou, Kinder supervised the building of the extension which was completed in April 1887. Imported German Krupp rails were used, as well as a ten-wheeled 2-6-2 saddle-tank locomotive from the Grant Locomotive Works of New Jersey (No.4), and forty 10-ton coal wagons.
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Kaiping Tramway and Imperial Railways of North China
The first 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge railway to be built and survive in China was the Kaiping (開平) colliery tramway located at Tangshan in Hebei province. However, this was not the very first railway in China. An earlier attempt to introduce railways had been made in 1876 when the short Shanghai to Wusong narrow gauge line known as the "Woosung Road Company" was built but then pulled up within less than two years because of Chinese government opposition.
Cantonese merchant Tong King-sing (唐景星 a.k.a. Tang Ting-shu 唐廷樞) was a Hong Kong Government interpreter who later became Jardine Matheson & Company’s head comprador at Shanghai. In 1878 Tong, who was then Director-General of the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, commenced coal mining operations in the Kaiping district with the backing of the powerful Viceroy of Zhili Li Hongzhang.
The first shaft was sunk at Tongshan in 1879 by the new Chinese Engineering and Mining Company (CEMC) under the direction of English mining engineer Robert Reginald Burnett, MICE. To transport coal from the mine to ships on the river at Beitang entailed carrying it a distance of nearly 30 miles; Tong King Sing attempted to gain permission to build a railway for this purpose, but was not able .
Initially a canal was constructed from Lutai on the river to Hsukochuang the furthest point that the canal could physically extend. The CEMC's Managing Director, Tong, eventually received permission for the last seven miles to the Tongshan colliery to be covered by a mule-pulled “tramway”, and English civil engineer Claude William Kinder was employed for its construction, which was completed in 1881.
Kinder insisted on building the tramway to the international Standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), to make sure the tramway could be turned into a full railway. He also set about constructing a steam locomotive using the boiler and other parts from a portable steam winding engine borrowed from the colliery. After word had leaked out about its construction, the engine had to be concealed for several weeks until Viceroy Li Hung Chang gave word for the construction to continue. The result of Kinder's efforts came to fruition on 9 June 1881 when the home-made 2-4-0 tank engine christened “Rocket of China” entered service on the tramway.
The introduction of “Rocket” was highly successful and in June 1882 two 0-6-0 tank locomotives were ordered from Robert Stephenson & Co., Newcastle. They arrived in October and were given running numbers 2 and 3. These were the first two standard gauge locomotives imported into China. While some sources claim that an 0-4-0 engine numbered “0” now preserved in the Beijing Locomotive Museum was the first engine imported into China, this is unlikely to be accurate.
While the Kaiping mine railway maintained operations, the Imperial Court's opposition to railway development in China prevented any further development for several years. But because the canal would become covered with ice during the winter months, the mining company succeeded in 1886 in gaining permission to extend the tramway all the way to Lutai. The extension was carried out by a newly formed Kaiping Railway Company (Kaiping Tiehlu Gongsi 開平鐵路公司 s:开平铁路公司), separately funded from the mining company, chaired by the Tientsin Taotai (Tianjin daotai 天津 道台) Chou Fu (Zhou Fu 周馥). The managing director was Wu Tingfang, who had studied law in England and was also interpreter and secretary to Li Hung Chang.
Assisted by the young American-educated student engineer (a Yung Wing mission student), Kwang King Yang (Kuang Jingyang 鄺景揚 s: 邝景扬 ) also known as K.Y. Kwong and Kuang Sunmou, Kinder supervised the building of the extension which was completed in April 1887. Imported German Krupp rails were used, as well as a ten-wheeled 2-6-2 saddle-tank locomotive from the Grant Locomotive Works of New Jersey (No.4), and forty 10-ton coal wagons.