In 1982 I spent six months working in Wuchang, that part of the then little-known Chinese city of Wuhan that lies south of the Changjiang River. One day, south of Wuchang station, I saw a Diesel-hauled freight train stop so that it straddled a level crossing. I was astonished to see pedestrians start to climb over and under the train and fully expected an accident to occur. However, before the train restarted, the locomotive’s horn was sounded long and hard to warn people to stand clear. Hitherto I had thought Chinese trains’ whistling and horn-blowing to be excessive but this sight changed my mind.
During my stay in Wuhan I saw on the television the sentencing of two track workers who had caused an accident on 28 May 1982 at a point 43.361km along the Shengyang to Shanhaiguan railway. The two workers had gone to repair a fracture in one of the rails, a quick welding job that could be accomplished between trains. It was a hot day and, their task completed, before clearing up they had gone to eat ice lollies, forgetting that they had a left a track jack in place. At 4:05 that afternoon, train no. 193 from Jinan to Jiamusi, doubleheaded by two DongFangHong Diesel locomotives, collided
