In September of 1887, Li Hung-chang, Liu Ming-ch'uan, and other Ching officials with an eye to the future directed the construction of the T'anghsu Railway. Nine km of track connected the city of T'angshan in Hopei Province to the village Hsukechuang to transport coal.
直到光緒七年，西元一八八一年六月九日，清廷在李鴻章、劉銘傳等人力陳之下，終於開始興建從河北唐山到胥各莊間約九公里長的運煤鐵路，名為唐胥鐵路。