The 257km branch north from Nancha to Wuyiling saved around 15km by taking a shortcut over the hills north of Nancha rather than following the winding river valley. The gradient against northbound trains was short and steep, around 1.4km at 1 in 32, and most trains were banked.
QJ 286 approached the summit with train 573/572, the 04:08 Jiamusi - Yichun passenger, just before 08:00 on 5 April 1988. The banker was QJ 1987.