Post #3343979

2026-06-15 02:48 UTC

@davidnjoku@mastodon.world @agturcz@circumstances.run @KolekNiewiary@mstdn.social the wealthiest countries where labor was most expensive (such as the US) transitioned away from steam in the 50s or 60s. Some parts of the world kept steam running as late as the 2000s, and China most recently announced it withdrew its last steam locomotive in 2023 (and we'll probably see a similar news story in a few years when they find another remote short line that hasn't yet dieselized) Also of note, there's a coal mine in Bosnia that still runs steam locomotives built by Nazi Germany: https://youtu.be/zXz2YSv-GbI But that line in Bosnia is basically the only revenue steam service left in the world now. On the upside, steam excursions and railroad preservation seems to be on a strong upswing right now, despite *everything else*

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@trainguyrom@techhub.social 2026-06-15 02:59

@davidnjoku@mastodon.world @agturcz@circumstances.run @KolekNiewiary@mstdn.social there's a very dated documentary (cw: racist undertones) called, I kid you not "Chinese Takeout" from 2005 which is a collection of footage from a time period when China was dieselizing their passenger services. The commentary at times shows similar callousness but the 80 minutes of footage of gorgeous steam locomotives makes it worth mentioning: https://youtu.be/PvrCNBpKE3A After that DVD was released, China proceeded to replace the steam locomotives on their freight services and by the 2010s they had largely replaced all of their mainline steam locomotives Hilariously their steam locomotives are based on a Soviet design which is based on an American export design from WWII, and some were even purchased brand new and imported into America for excursion services taking them full circle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Railways_QJ

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