Photographer Steve Roberts from the Western Daily Press made a dream journey as he travelled to the limits of Inner Mongolia to capture on film the Jitong Railway and the Jing-Peng pass - while the railway track is still in existence.

It could all be gone by 2008 as China prepares plans to switch to diesel for the Olympics, leaving steam trains redundant and the current dramatic series of horseshoe bends and QJ locomotives gone for ever.

Steve has aimed to capture the world of steam since his teenage years, and couldn't pass on the chance to ride on the footplate of the Jing-Peng pass.

"It is an absolutely astonishing piece of engineering," said Steve.

"It's a freight line which climbs in a series of gigantic bends through this high and remote region of Inner Mongolia.

"The gradient is so steep that two massive 2-10-2 QJ steam locomotives, belching black smoke, are also used 'double headed' to pull each long coal train up the single track."

The Western Daily Press has been following Steve on his journey and printing more fascinating pictures day by day.

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