Welcome to Shenzhen! You are the native as long as you are here! When you become famous in Shenzhen, don't forget that your first step to Shenzhen started from Shenzhen West Railway Station!

作者:Free / Bilibili:vkskd

Shenzhen Pingnan Railway (non electrified) was born in 1994, among which Shenzhen West Railway Station, located in Nanshan District, has been the first station of many Shenzhen drifters in the past 20 years. The waiting halls in the fifth tier cities, the large ceiling fans with a diameter of 5 meters, and the bright and retro seats have become one of the memories of many old Shenzhen people

Station building of Shenzhen West Railway Station in 2019
The train stops at Shenzhen West Station
The station hall of Shenzhen West Railway Station with a sense of time; Because of a ceiling fan, Shenzhen West is also known as the 'Ceiling Fan West' Station

In 2022, due to the planning of Xili Station, Shenzhen West Station will stop operating about 80% of the scheduled trains from the West Station within one year. On August 9, 2022, the service will be stopped after the literal train K238 is sent off. In the official response, there is a certain possibility that Shenzhen West Railway Station will add temporary passengers during holidays, that is, K586 and K836 may run again at any time.

The scenery along the Pingnan Railway is famous among Chinese railway enthusiasts, many of whom visit Shenzhen instead of taking the convenient high-speed train, and choose the Tuding train in Shenzhen West to see the beauty of the Pingnan railway. Especially for local car fans, Pingnan Railway carries not only the memories of “deep Piao”, but also the development history of Shekou Port and Xili Industrial zone, as well as the beautiful moments of every car shooting.

Credit: Japanese railfan (キ ハ さ ん)
A saturated Shenzhen West Railway Station on National Day in 2020
Guangzhou Railway is one of the few railway bureaus operating DF4B diesel locomotives in China; Shenzhen is one of the "dens" of diesel locomotives

On August 9, fans from all over the country came to see off K238 times in the rain (Shenzhen West Taiyuan)

11: 30 Arrive at the Guiwan 4th Road stand (the overpass of Guiwan 4th Road has a unique name in the fan circle)

Compared with 2020, Shenzhen West Railway Station looks bleak (photographed before the closure of Shenzhen West Railway Station in 2022)
At 13:15, the last K237 slowly drove into Shenzhen West Railway Station

Several fans and I waited patiently for the last bus K237 of Shenzhen West Railway Station to arrive.

At that time, I thought that if the videos uploaded by each fan were arranged from far to near, it would form a relay activity and make each shot of the fans more meaningful.

Other fans set up tripods on the side — I went to the middle of the route and squatted down — to wait for the arrival of the last bus at Shenzhen West Railway Station.

“Coming! Coming!”, As the position of other fans is a blind spot, I saw K237 appear in the distance and immediately shouted excitedly to inform other fans. For a moment, everyone was absorbed in the viewfinder and stopped talking

We took the last shot!

The departure time of K238 is 15:10. After a short rest, I returned to the overpass at 14:20 and found that many fans had already got the best seats. The two fans I saw the first time were heading for the West Station, ready to run the last K238 train.

At this time, we are in the process of changing trains, but it is worth mentioning that the last K238 train has a DF11 hanging in front of it – the scene of “tigers eat watermelons” will be formed later when the DF4 is hung. For car fans, this is a unique LAST DAY surprise.

Ready to go 'tigers eat watermelons' locomotive formation

Seeing the departure time getting closer and closer, the rain is still falling, and Nanshan Park in the distance is shrouded in mist. While the fans listened to the console and chatted with each other to liven up the atmosphere. The scene was very lively.

This also aroused the interest of other passers-by. The passing delivery boy exclaimed, “Ah, many railfans today~”

While the fans have caused inconvenience to the passing tricycles, the staff at the platform have begun to take pictures, including journalists. What was criticized was that passengers were still not allowed to take photos before the service.

The rain is so strong that I have to protect my camera, and the umbrella is likely to be blown away by the strong wind at any time. Although the rain completely covers up the cheers of the fans, the excitement is hard to hide

The fans are either half wet or full wet, but they are still cheering each other up, and I hope it will not rain again when the train starts

“Ten more minutes!”

“Five more minutes!”

The rain was still not light, and I was nervous when I heard that the fans’ consoles said “departure is allowed”

After about 10 seconds, a long whistle of the subway came from the train depot of Shenzhen Metro Line 1. Everyone heard that it was the flute of the subway in the train depot. This oolong made many fans laugh. I thought to myself, this may also be the subway’s tribute to Shenzhen West Station, because it is not common for the subway to whistle for no reason (and it is located in a residential area)

 

With this in mind, the time soon reached 15:08, and the miracle happened!

In the next thirty seconds, the rain is getting smaller and smaller

Just one minute before driving, the rainstorm stopped!

Not long after making fun of the whistle of Shenzhen Metro, some fans shouted: “Close your umbrella!!”

After we put away the umbrellas, we heard our departure whistle

The fans cheered!!!

Only two minutes later, the rain not only stopped, but also the fog in Nanshan has dissipated a lot

After cheering, everyone was absorbed, and all they heard was the sound of the shutter and the internal combustion engine!

K238 is LAST RUN at West Station! Depart at 15:10 pm~
At the same time, I saw many fans in the car
There is no king in the mountain loop. There is a horse riding place in the snow
In the distance, there are fans holding water badge stickers to see off K238 times, and the relay starts again

The K238 farewell activity is another railway cultural activity with a strong atmosphere nationwide after the fans saw off Chongqing Station. However, this activity has many unique differences compared with Chongqing Station and Japan’s Beidou Star:

1. The end of Shenzhen West Railway Station was very low-key, and the official did not invite the media to publicize it. (Admittedly, this will be a very sudden news for passengers who have been used to going to Shenzhen West Railway Station for a long time. The timeliness of obtaining this news will have a certain negative impact on the citizens.)

2. As it is a working day, most of the fans coming here are minor students (if it is a holiday, more age fans may come to see them off)

3. There was no intelligence notification about the special formation of DF4+DF11 earlier, which is a unique surprise for car fans

4. The most amazing part of the weather change is the most dramatic part of this activity, and it is also an important factor worth being recorded completely

With the disappearance of many old stations and non empty trains, it becomes more and more difficult to experience unique railway travel. When the shoots of cultural needs are crushed by the huge wheel of practicality, precious cultural activities are worth recording completely. Here, I still look forward to more and more railway cultural activities in China in the future, so that Chinese fans will not be disappointed anymore.

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