最后的小火車

在四川南部的崇山峻嶺中，有一條名叫芭石的小鐵路。鐵路上開行著一列軌距僅為76.2厘米的蒸汽機小型火車，車廂要比普通火車小一半。這種火車因其權屬四川嘉陽煤礦，故人們親切地稱它為“嘉陽小火車”。

2004年歲末，我隨四川樂山電視臺到石溪鎮采訪。頭一回看到這列鐵銹色的小火車時，給我們的第一感覺是：它像一個大玩具!當時它吐著白霧，鳴著汽笛，正從山嶺中逶迤迎面駛來，它是那樣小巧生動，使得每一個童心未泯的人都會一下子聯想起孩子們手中的玩具火車!

嘉陽小火車使用的機車，是我國運用國外技術自行改進生產的蒸汽機車，它以蒸汽機作原動機，由蒸汽鍋爐、汽機、車架、走行部、制動裝置以及貯存燃料和水的煤水車等組成。蒸汽機曾經引發了機器大生產，它是工業技術革命的里程碑。從1825年世界上出現第一輛蒸汽機車到現在，這種蒸汽機車已有180年歷史了。在我國上個世紀50—80年代，這些蒸汽機也曾為我們的社會進步發揮過巨大的作用。

嘉陽煤礦小火車從1959年開始在這個深山區運行，主要用于煤炭運輸。后來由于有許多職工要去山里的煤礦上班，故小火車就在煤車后面加掛客車車廂，開始客貨兩運。到了1980年后，隨著電子、網絡時代的悄然來臨，嘉陽的蒸汽機小火車在完成其特定時期的歷史使命后，逐步退出歷史舞臺，嘉陽的煤炭運輸改用了效率更高、馬力更大、環保功能更好的電力機車擔任。

然而嘉陽小火車并沒有從人們的視野中消失。因為地處崇山峻嶺的山民要走出深山到外面的世界去闖蕩，一時還離不開這種傳統的交通工具呢!據嘉陽集團工程師介紹，從石溪鎮到芭溝鎮，全長有19.8公里，一路上不僅彎道多、隧道多，坡度也大，就連小火車跑起來也得注意控制速度，讓它“悠著點”，因而這樣的山道如果改用現代化的“大家伙”來跑運輸，那就好比“電線桿當筷子”，既是大材小用，事實上也沒法用，于是這古老而簡陋的小火車，在這深山區倒成了生命力特強的一種“現代化”工具哩!

小火車在山坡上動力十足，它的爬坡性能比內燃機和電力機車都來得好，所以幾十年來一直成了這里山區的貨客運輸主力軍。有趣的是，當世界各地一列列蒸汽機車相繼退役逐漸從鐵路線上銷聲匿跡之時，四川省的芭石小火車卻因其特殊的原因和特殊的作用，成了世界上唯一還在運行的窄軌火車，它被人們稱為“最后的蒸汽機”、“工業革命的活化石”。

當我們走進小火車時，只見8節車廂坐滿乘客。不過它實在太小，每節車廂只能乘坐18個人，看起來就像個小中巴。聽乘務員介紹說：小火車每天來回跑四趟，最早的一趟凌晨5時30分開始發車，風雨無阻，準點率很高，所以當地的住戶都養成了聽火車呼嘯而過的聲音來判斷時間的習慣。它從起點站石溪鎮到終點芭溝鎮，在短短的19.8 公里鐵路沿線設立了7個小站和一個“招手停”小小站。火車也能招手停，這可真是嘉陽小火車的一大特色呢!

“麻雀雖小，五臟俱全”，別看它小，可它每節車廂都有一位乘務員，整車還有一位列車長和乘警。每到一個小站，村民們上下車的時候，乘警、乘務員便要賣票收錢，維持秩序，有時還幫村民們搬運貨物。特別是到了過年時，這里也會掀起春運小高潮呢！那時得掛上11節車廂才行！更有趣的是，因為嘉陽小火車采用的是第一次工業革命時期的動力技術，盡管它現在已經大大地落伍于時代了，可這個世界上就有那么一些人不知道為什么，總是特別迷戀過去古老的東西，許多外國人他們不遠萬里來到中國，就想看看這種屬于幾個世紀以前的東西。從20世紀90年代以來，陸續來這里看這“活化石”的有英國、德國、美國、日本等10多個國家的游人，他們攜帶著各類照相機、攝像機，總是對著小火車猛拍。有的人不過癮，索性包了小火車作為“專列”反反復復地開過來開過去坐上一坐，直到把自己背包中的膠卷和磁帶都耗完為止。當那些老外坐在簡陋的車廂里，晃晃悠悠于蜿蜒曲折的崇山峻嶺之間，他們風趣地把這種感受稱之為“晃舞”。坐在小火車上，他們一邊欣賞著這兒的迷人風光，一邊感受著這兒豐富的人文景觀：那密布的層層梯田，傳統的農耕方式，歷盡滄桑的清代古寨，今古相映的山區民居和充滿神秘色彩的清代古橋等等。特別是外國游客看到了小火車時那種高興勁，那種手舞足蹈的樣子，不禁讓人生發出許多的感慨：嗨，一份古老的科技成果，一個被稱為“工業革命的活化石”，一種對世界文明作過巨大貢獻的“最后的蒸汽機”，人們還是對它懷有很深的眷戀的啊!……

當我們結束采訪時，得到這樣一個消息：就在不久的將來，一條寬敞的鄉鎮公路將鋪進大山。到那時嘉陽小火車就將停止運行了!消息讓那些和小火車一起度過了多少個日日夜夜的人們感慨不已：是的，人們完全有權利享用更快捷、更高效的交通工具，但人們又多么希望能為傳統、為往昔的記憶保留一點回味的空間啊! 小火車將被取代的消息帶給我們一份思考、一個啟示：如果我們有意將芭石小火車保留下來，將它包裝成一條休閑觀光的旅游線，讓這列噴吐著一團團白霧的“老掉了牙齒”的小火車，繼續穿行在四川那迷人的自然風光和古老的農耕文明的崇山峻嶺間，這是一種多么具有經濟價值的設想啊，這對“小火車”來說，也許是一種最理想的歸宿吧?!

Small Steam-Powered Train Still Runs

By Yang Lie

In the mountains of southern Sichuan Province a 19.8-km narrow-gauge railway is still operating. The track gauge is only 76.2 cm wide and the cars are half that of ordinary train cars in size. As the railway and the train are owned and operated by the Jiayang Coal Mine， local people call it the Jiayang Small Train.

The steam-powered small train started its operations in 1959 to carry coal from the mine to the outside world. As some employees needed to commute between their houses and the coal mine on weekdays， the freight train soon had passenger cars attached. Later a special passenger train came into use for both coalminers and villagers. In the 1980s， freight trains began to use the electric locomotive， but the passenger train remains steam-powered even today.

As the whole journey has many bends， tunnels， and slopes， the train chugs slowly for the sake of safety. And the small train is better at mounting slopes than trains powered by electricity or the internal-combustion engine. Even though steam trains have gradually diminished and faded into history all over the world， the steam-powered small train on this special railroad still operates in full swing. The narrow-gauge train is regarded as a living fossil of the industrial revolution and the last operating steam-powered locomotive in the world.

For people who first see the train， it looks like a toy， emitting fogs of white steam and roared lazily. The train has only eight cars. They are so small that each has only 18 seats. But the service is not negligent. The train has a conductor and a policeman， and each car has an attendant. It runs four times every day between Shixi Town and Bagou Town. There are seven regular stations and one wave-and-stop station along the line. The first train leaves Shixi Town at 5:30 in the morning. The train runs on time. For decades villagers along the railway have used the train as their clock. When the train stops， the policeman keeps public order and attendants work as conductors. During the Spring Festival， the train adds another three cars to cater to the increased traffic volume.

Since the 1990s， the small steam train has attracted passengers from overseas. Tourists from Britain， Germany， USA， and Japan have come to see the small train. Foreigners not only photograph the train but also seat themselves on the train to view the rural scenes along the way. The mountains have many sights to offer: terrace fields， traditional farms， ancient houses， and bridges built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Villagers are often amazed by the way foreign tourists get excited. They dance literally and their ecstasy knows no bounds when they swing on the train along the narrow-gauge railway into deep mountains.

It is said that a highway will soon replace the railway. Local people wish to keep the steam-powered antique as a tourist attraction in memory of an unforgettable way of life.