149 years ago today, on July 3, 1876 (May 12, 1876), China's first railway: the Songhu Railway was officially opened to traffic. In 1874, many foreign companies such as Jardine Merchant established the Wusong Railway Company (WoosungRailwayCo.ltd.) Approved by Shen Bingcheng of Shanghai Daotai (he was the grandfather of the late famous calligrapher and painter Shen Maishi), in December of the same year, the Shanghai-Wusong Songhu Railway Project started. On July 3, 1876, the Shanghai-Jiangwan section of the Songhu Railway was opened to traffic, with six round trips a day. The Shanghai Railway Station is located on a triangular plot formed by the intersection of present-day Henan North Road, Tanggu Road and Pengze Road. Today's Henan North Road is historically called "Iron Road", and Pengze Road Vegetable Market is called "Iron Road Vegetable Market", which is named after the Songhu Railway and Railway Station. "Opening - The First Train Departed from Shanghai" The Illustrated London News published a copper engraving of "Opening - The First Train Departed from Shanghai" based on photos sent from Shanghai on September 2, 1876. On the screen, you can see trains full of foreigners and onlookers Chinese. "Declaration" reported the news, but it was impossible to print the photos in the newspaper at that time, so "Declaration" did not have a photojournalist, nor did it send anyone to take pictures. Afterwards, "Declaration" regretted it, so it commissioned Richeng Photo Studio to make up for the opening scene of the Songhu Railway. On July 15, "Declaration" published the article "Photographing the Wheelbarrow", saying: "Our store is now entrusted by the owner of the Declaration Museum to take pictures of the Shanghai-Wusong Wheelbarrow, so that the decoration can be sent to various ports. It is scheduled for this service, that is, at five o'clock on the fifth day tomorrow, the library will carry the camera machine and go to the place where the train stops to take pictures. Vivid graphics, especially embellishment, so I dare to invite gentleman and businesspeople, when they come, so that they can take pictures with them, and the scenery will be even more lively. Those who want to be elegant, will definitely be willing to come. It is hereby pre-arranged. Richeng Photo Studio is respectful. "In order to make the photos show the noisy scene of the opening ceremony of the train, the" Declaration "called on the public to take pictures. Now many historical photo albums and books see the photos of the" Songhu Railway opening to traffic "as later photos, so there are only onlookers Chinese in the photos, except for the train driver, no foreigners can be seen. On December 1, 1876, the Songhu Railway was fully opened to traffic. Only more than 20 days later, on December 23, the" London News Illustrated "published" Opening - The First Train Departed from Shanghai ", introducing the opening of the Jiangwan to Wusong section of the Songhu Railway. Due to various reasons, the first railway in China, the Songhu Railway, was still under construction and encountered many troubles. Within a year of its opening to traffic, it was purchased by the Qing court at a price several times higher than the investment cost (285,000 two). It was completely demolished in October 1877, and the construction of China's railway was interrupted. Of course, because the Songhu Railway existed for too short a time and there were very few photos or pictures left, the copper engraving of the Songhu Railway became more and more precious. The Songhu Railway is the first railway in China. It runs from Shanghai to Wusong via Jiangwan, and is about 14.5 kilometers long. In 1866, the British minister in China requested the construction of a railway so that the goods shipped by sea to Wusong could be transported to Shanghai by rail, but the Qing government did not approve it. In 1875, the British merchant Jardine Matheson organized the "Wusong Road Company" to transport railway equipment from England to China to build roads without permission. In June 1876, the Shanghai-Jiangwan section was completed, and it was officially opened to traffic in early July. The gauge was 762 mm, and the steel rails weighed 13 kilograms per meter. A locomotive "Pilot" was used to pull passenger and freight vehicles. During the construction period, the people along the line objected to outsiders building railways in China and destroyed the "company" Jiangwan office. In August 1876, the train ran over a pedestrian and killed a pedestrian. The crowd was angry, and the "company" was forced to stop the train. In October 1876, the Qing government signed the "Terms for the Purchase of the Wusong Railway" with the British minister, but the "company" continued to build the road. The whole line from Shanghai to Wusong was completed and opened to traffic on December 1, 1876. In September 1877, after the Qing government redeemed the railway, the whole road was about to be demolished. In February 1897, the Songhu Railway was rebuilt, changed to a standard gauge, and used rails weighing 32 kilograms per meter. Completed in August 1898. In October 1904, it was merged into the Shanghai-Nanjing Line and renamed the Songhu Branch Line. After Japan occupied Shanghai in 1938, the line from Hejiawan to Pao Taiwan trestle was demolished. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Songhu Railway was repaired from Hejiawan to Yunzaobang, with a total length of 13.68 kilometers, and ran passenger trains every day. In 1958, the Shanghai Junction Station was built, and the Hejiawan branch line was built to connect to Nanxiang Station. The Tiantong'an to Hejiawan section of this line was used as a special freight line within the Shanghai hub. In the 1950s, the railway shrunk to the south bank of Weizaobang, with a total length of 14.53 kilometers. In the early days of liberation, the Songhu Line became a transportation line with equal emphasis on passenger and freight transportation, transporting millions of passengers every year. In 1959, 1.944 million passengers. In 1963, due to the development of urban bus transportation, the crossing such as Tiantong'an along the railway line seriously affected bus operations. In January 1963, the whole line stopped passenger transportation during the Spring Festival, and then stopped freight transportation in 1988. On April 17, 1997, Shanghai Bei---Jiangwan Station was demolished. Comment: China's railways have finally developed from scratch. "When the train rings, gold is ten thousand taels." If you want to get rich, build more railways. Extended reading: A hundred years of vicissitudes - Songhu Railway Extended reading: A hundred years of vicissitudes - The Songhu Railway has experienced a hundred years of vicissitudes of the Songhu Railway. Along the line was the battlefield where the Shanghai military and civilians stubbornly resisted the Japanese invasion. It was under the warm sunshine of the Qingming Festival that I came to the former site of the Wusong Town Station of the Songhu Railway. A station hut full of flowers in silence, a section of railway tracks covered with gravel sleepers, and an old-fashioned locomotive from the 1950s. The second hand of a silent bell tower in front of the station seems to count the history of the past. The stone tablets erected in front of the platform vaguely tell the scars of the past. This is the first railway built by the Chinese. Songhu Railway Wusong Town Station Site Memorial Square Songhu Railway Company Border Monument Silent Platform Full of Flowers In 1897, Sheng Xuanhuai was ordered to rebuild the railway and named Songhu Railway. The railway was built according to the original line of Wusong Railway that was originally demolished and opened to traffic on September 1, 1898. Songhu Railway has 9 stations from south to north, Baoshan Road, Tiantong'an Road, Jiangwan Town, Sanmin Road, Gaojing Temple, Hejiawan, Weizaobang, Wusong Town, and Pao Taiwan. Songhu Railway has a total length of 16 kilometers. After the Songhu Railway was completed at the beginning, the fates of the three sections in the south, middle and north were different. Because the southern section is adjacent to the Shanghai Public Concession, the surrounding areas are increasingly prosperous. A medium-grade community was formed, with more Cantonese nationals and Japanese expatriates among the residents of Ludong; Luxi was Zhabei Huajie, mostly Chinese from the mainland. During the "128th (1932) Incident" and the "Songhu Battle" (1937), the Songhu Railway was also severely damaged by the war due to the fierce competition between the Chinese and Japanese armies on both sides of the Songhu Railway. After the war, the Songhu Railway was riddled with holes and could not be sustained, especially since parts of Luxi were transformed into slums, and the southern section of the line also existed in name only. After I visited the site of Wusong Town Station, I took the Pearl Railway (Light Rail Line 3) from Wusong Town to Wenshui East Road Station (the original Songhu Railway Jiangwan Town Station is not far from its North Face), and it only took more than ten minutes to arrive. This section of the Pearl Line was built on the site of the Songhu Railway Line. The former site protection memorial is located next to the Wenshui East Road Station of the Pearl Line. The section from Zaobang to Pao Taiwan in the northern section of the Songhu Railway was completely demolished by the Japanese invaders 38 years later, and the rest persisted until the middle of the last century. After being gradually marginalized in 58 to 70 years, it was as silent as the southern section in the river of history. The only passenger with children is the middle line from Jiangwan to Hejiawan, which has been retained to this day because it was merged into the later Shanghai-Nanjing Railway and became a freight-based branch line of the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway. However, with the development of modern transportation with each passing day, the middle line will not be far away from the historical stage. The rickshaw driver outside the signalman platform next to the platform. In fact, the real site of Jiangwan Town Station of the Songhu Railway should be at the west exit of the current Memorial Road Station, but it is still a major traffic road today, and there is no room for the Memorial Square, so the memorial venue can only be moved more than 300 meters south along the railway line and placed under the Pearl Elevated Line. This is a helpless choice in the environment of Hongcunkou. It seems that it has been a year since the memorial venue was built, but so far it is surrounded by wooden fences, and there are security guards watching to prevent people from entering, as if there is some treasure hidden in it. The restoration scene of Jiangwan Town Station on the Songhu Line next to the ruins stands outside the fence and watches the scene in front of you. The sound of the Pearl Line (Track No. 3 Line) whizzing past your head, as if history is sending echoes to you. After a hundred years of vicissitudes, the Songhu Railway, the earliest railway in China, was replaced by the Pearl Line in 1997 and completely withdrew from the stage of history. Pearl Line Light Rail Train {strong} {/strong} Pearl Line coincides with the original Songhu Line. In 1997, the Songhu Railway was demolished and an elevated railway (Rail Transit Line 3) was built along the original line. It was put into operation in December 2000. There are 11 stations on Baoshan Road, Dongbaoxing Road, Hongkou Football Stadium, Chifeng Road, Dabaishu, Jiangwan Town, Yingao Road, Changjiang South Road, Songfa Road, Zhanghuabang, and Wusong Town, which have now extended northward to Baosteel. The vanishing point of history is sometimes merged with the modern era, just like the Songhu Railway, which has experienced a hundred years of vicissitudes. Standing on the original site of Jiangwan Town Station and looking along the railway line, the closed iron door locks the following period of the past, and the elevated road above is leading to a more anticipated future.