first was the tramway from Ma Chiu Pu to Yong Ding Men by the British in December 1900. For two years (1900–1902) the inner-pass section of this railway was under the overall command of a British army "Royal Engineers" contingent using the name "British Railway Administration" (BRA) while the outer-pass section (from Shanhai Pass to Xinmin) was controlled by Russians until returned to China on 29 September 1902. During the BRA period, the railway operated a traveling post office train and a special overprinted Chinese postal stamp was introduced for mailing letters carried by the BRA's express mail trains. After civilian control of the railway was resumed in late 1902, Claude Kinder was reinstated as Chief Engineer and also given additional and more powerful responsibilities as general manager. Strongman Yuan Shikai had himself appointed as Director-General of Railways and Kinder's former boss, Hu Yu-fen, who had been ousted in 1899, came back to power as the Assistant Director-General. The Chinese railway administration also had the services of a bright Western-educated new Secretary, returned Chinese Educational Mission student Liang Ju Hao (pinyin: Liang Ruhao 梁汝浩), better known to Europeans as M.T. Liang. Accidents On 25 March 1889, there was a head-on collision between two trains at Chung Liang Cheng (Junliangcheng, ). English train driver, M. Jarvis, had waited a long time in the station passing loop and impatiently entered the next section of single track before the arrival of an oncoming train. As a result of the collision, four carriages caught fire and several injured people were burned alive. Driver Dawson survived but the offending driver, Jarvis, one fireman and seven passengers died in the crash, while more died several days later from their burns and injuries. It was alleged by junior staff that Jarvis had been drinking heavily before the crash. Notes References Defunct railroads 1932 disestablishments in China 1897 establishments in China Railway lines in China Rail transport in Beijing Rail transport in Liaoning Rail transport in Tianjin Rail transport in Hebei Standard gauge railways in China Exploration Railway Dagu zh:马家堡站 (铁路) zh:胡燏棻