Talk:Northern Xinjiang railway

A map would be helpful

This article would be greatly improved by the addition of a map, for the benefit of those who are not clear on where the features mentioned in the text are located. Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 00:50, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

Yes indeed. The more so that certain maps, some well-reputed, only show city names in local language, which does not always mean much to everybody :) Cfr. https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=9/43.8821/86.7796 for an example.Jan olieslagers (talk) 19:40, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

Also, it would be nice to have the usual railway route diagram/illustration. Ideally for this route AND for its parallel alternative.Jan olieslagers (talk) 19:40, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

Quad track?

I am puzzled by the phrase "A new double-track line between Ürümqi and Jinghe was built in 2009 to supplement the Northern Xinjiang railway." This suggests that between Ürümqi and Jinghe at least three tracks are available: at least one from the existing line, and two from the newly added one. However when I consult OpenStreetMap, I find two separate lines, one called Lanzhou–Ürümqi High-Speed Railway or Lanxin High-Speed Line, the other Lanxin Line or Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway, however both are single track for the greater part of their length, though they split to double track shortly before entering Ürümqi station from the South. Is OpenStreetMap wrong, or did something get "lost in translation"? What is the factual situation today? Jan olieslagers (talk) 23:07, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

Track gauge, and interchanges

Track gauge is not mentioned. Page states that this is an extension of the Lanzhou−Xinjiang railway, which is standard gauge (1435mm), but that it interchanges with the Turkestan–Siberia railway which is Russian gauge (1520mm). Several possibilities exist for how the break of gauge is handled: Exchange of the bogies on each car, or variable-gauge axles, etc. - or just a change of trains. Kokopelli-UK (talk) 16:35, 16 September 2024 (UTC) Would be helpful to know how, and where, this is done.

The break of gauge is done at Alashankou Railway Station, just west of the China-Kazakhstan border. Check it out at https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/44.16718/80.30444, you can use the "what's here" feature to check the gauge of various bits of railway. The amount and complexity of rails shown there suggest that several technologies could be implied but no details are available. Purely guessing, I imagine that most cargo is carried in containers, which are transloaded on the slanting double rails; but that is really a personal guess, with zero encyclopedical value. I quite agree that adding such information to our article would be a valuable improvement. Jan olieslagers (talk) 16:56, 16 September 2024 (UTC)

Apologies, it looks like I mixed up two railway lines, and confused Alashankou with Khorgas (sp?) In Alashankou the break of gauge occurs in Dostik, just to the North: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/45.26045/82.47904 If I understand things right, there is both 1435 and 1520 mm between Dostik and Alashankou, a bit confusing. But by and large, one can say that the break-of-gauge occurs at the national border, or very near. Which does make sense, I think. Jan olieslagers (talk) 15:04, 18 September 2024 (UTC)