A pair of unidentified QJs wound around the curves west of Mengjiawan with a Zhongwei - Gantang freight on 12 January 1994. Despite the encroaching desert, the landscape isn't entirely dry, as evidenced by the frozen pond on the right, a useful source of water for irrigation during the warmer months and a skating rink for the local kids in winter. There's even enough water for the locos of uphill freights to replenish their tenders at Changliushui, the next station, only 6km ahead.