Sketches of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway

Perfect record of railway engineering with photographic art

Jing-Zhang Railway is the first railway designed, built and managed by China, which occupies an extremely important position in the history of China's railway development. As a photo album, Shadow of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Highway Workers recorded the construction process of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou-Guizhou branch line, including bridges and tunnels, stations, water towers, locomotives and opening ceremony, which truly reflected the engineering situation at that time. It is a historical precedent and a model to record railway projects by photography. Sketch of Shadow is divided into two versions: the full version and the simplified version. The book consists of two volumes, the cover of which is red flannel, and the copper signboard is embedded in the middle, which is engraved with the words "Jing Zhang Lu Ying rolled up" and "Jing Zhang Lu Ying rolled down" respectively. There are 92 sheets in the first volume and 9 1 sheet in the second volume, totaling 183 sheets. The photo is 26.5 cm long and 20.5 cm wide. There are portraits of postal officials, Mr. Zhan Tianyou and other engineers and technicians at the front of the volume, followed by photos of engineers and technicians in front of road inspection vehicles and photos of Fuchengmenwai Engineering Bureau. Then, starting from No.60 Bridge in Liucun, the starting point of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the whole Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway project was recorded northward in turn, followed by photos of rolling stock, branch lines and opening ceremony. In addition to the full version, there is also a simplified version, the appearance of which is basically the same as the full version, except that the title on the bronze medal is "Sketch of Road Workers in Jing Zhang", which contains 56 photos selected from the full version. Compared with the full version, the simplified version is mainly based on trunk line photos, in which 18 was shot in Guangou section, and there are relatively few contents such as rolling stock, branch line and opening ceremony.

The photos in Sketch of Shadow were all taken by Tan Jintang, a famous photographer at that time. His photography level is superb, and his works have high artistic value from an aesthetic point of view-clear pictures, exquisite composition and careful selection of shooting locations. In particular, it took a lot of space to show the railway landscape from Nankou to Badaling Guangou. In the picture, the ancient Great Wall of Wan Li echoes the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway from a distance, and the intersection and collision of eastern and western civilizations are perfectly reflected, which is shocking. In order to reduce the difficulty of train climbing, Mr. Zhan Tianyou adopted the famous herringbone railway near Qinglong Bridge. In Pinyin, the photo of "West getting on and off at Qinglongqiao Station at the same time is to see the scenery from the south" shows the spectacular scene of two trains going up and down the mountain along the herringbone railway respectively. The gradual change of lines is amazing, and this photo is widely used in many aspects in the future. The most valuable thing is the adoption of 50 yuan banknotes issued by Bank of Communications during the Republic of China.

Advanced digital image processing technology provides a new means for us to explore the connotation of these photos. After digital scanning, various types of processing operations can be carried out on the photos to better understand many details at that time. After enlarging the front photo of Qinglongqiao station building, we can clearly see the structure of the stop sign, shutters, parapet and lamp holder at that time, and we can also vaguely see the waiting room separated for men and women in the station building through the station arch, which plays a vital role in the repair and protection of the station building in the future.

After enlarging the photo of "Qinglongqiao parking lot looking at the scenery from the southwest", we can see many details worth exploring-in the middle of the photo, workers are building a ladder to build a railway slope protection, and the actions of each worker are recorded very clearly, from which we can infer the technical methods adopted at that time, and this railway slope protection still stands at the foot of the ancient Great Wall; On the right side of the photo, you can see the bridge with "Suzhou Code" written on it, marked with "〣〩", indicating that the bridge is No.39 bridge with distinctive characteristics of the times, and the bridge railings are still in use today. The vertical pole at the entrance should be the signal equipment widely used in Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway at that time, which is also reflected in other photos.

Based on these, we can understand the wiring, turnout layout, signal equipment and locomotive turntable of Qinglong Bridge Station at that time. Using this method to analyze other photos in Sketch of Shadow can help us better understand and analyze various technologies adopted by Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway at that time. The whole Sketch Shadow has been collected by the National Library, Beijing Archives, Zhan Tianyou Memorial Hall, China Architectural Library and other places, and has also been auctioned. The simplified version has only been seen in the Capital Library, and can be provided for public reading, which provides a way for everyone to get a close look at the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. (Originally published in People's Railway February 2002 12 B4 edition by Zhang Hui)