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There’s probably examples with much less of a time difference too - there were (and as far as I am aware, still are) fueled steam locomotives in use at several facilities in china as recently as
342? years ago.The last ones withdrawn in 2022
Dear god, is it truly 2026 already?
(That was regular service lines yeah - there’s still sporadic service for fueled steam locomotives, and some industrial campuses like iron foundries are still using them as yard engines)
2022 was the end of industrial use. Main line use ended in 2005.
JS-class steam locomotives were used in active service at a rural coal mine in western China until 15 January 2024. Railfan & Railroad stated in 2022 that “the only places on earth to see steam locomotives in revenue freight service are small switching operations in China, North Korea and Bosnia,” but that these were “sporadic at best.”
As far as I am aware they are still in sporadic use; while I have seen no journalistic reporting that gives confirmation either way, I have seen numerous videos from rail fans in recent years happily sperging about their use.