First Locomotive Runs on Qinghai-Tibet Railway 

Although the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is still under construction, 
the first locomotive to arrive in Tibet since 1928 started running 
on the "roof of the world" Tuesday. 

It set off at the Amdo County section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway 
and will be used to transport construction materials for the massive 
railway project, said Li Yang, a senior engineer with the China
Railway Construction Corporation. 
Weighing 86 tons, the locomotive was first dismantled and then 
reassembled in Amdo County after being transported into Tibet in 
four trucks, Li said. 

The railway construction site in Amdo County, at an elevation of 
about 4,704 meters, is one of the highest sections on the Qinghai-Tibet 
Railway. 

Tibet imported its first two railway cars from India in 1928 for 
the Dalai Lama. They were dismantled and then carried into Tibet 
by mule. 

The 1,956-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet Railway, when complete, 
will originate in Xining, capital of northwest China’s Qinghai 
Province, and end at Lhasa, capital of Tibet.

Construction of the railway began on June 29, 2001, and the entire 
project is scheduled for completion in six years.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2004)