Last steam locomotive retires in NE China

A steam locomotive is officially retired at Shenyang Heating and Power Plant, Liaoning province, Nov 17, 2010. Serving as a coal transporter, the 25-year-old locomotive has fulfilled its duty and been replaced by a late-model gas engine train. In 1814, George Stephenson from England invented the world’s first steam locomotive, speeding up the pace of industrialization. China had its first steam locomotive in 1956, named Qianjin, and witnessed the end of the steam era when the last batch of Qianjin retired in Inner Mongolia in 2005. China is the last country in the world with a significant quantity of steam engines in regular service, but the end is rapidly approaching. [Asianewsphoto]