In September, afternoon temperatures rose to the high twenties or low thirties and all hopes of white exhaust evaporated. Lifeless pictures with nothing coming out of the loco's chimney were a real risk unless you were lucky enough to catch a loco being fired. On the lower horseshoe below Lindong, QJ 7040 did the business in the company of a clagless QJ 7038 while they climbed from Yamenmiao with a westbound goods on the afternoon of 2 September 2005. The harvest was getting underway and soon the green fields would be bare and brown again.