The railway is located entirely within Shanxi and diagonally bisects the province from Datong in the northeast to Fenglingdu, near the village of Puzhou, in the southwest corner.

Major cities and towns along route include Datong, Huairen, Shuozhou, Ningwu, Yuanping, Xinzhou, Taiyuan, Yuci, Taigu, Qi County, Pingyao, Huozhou, Hongdong, Linfen, Houma and Fenglingdu.

[2] In 1932, Yan regained control of Shanxi and formed the Jinsui (Shanxi–Suiyuan) Army Construction Corp to build the line as a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway, which the German team recommended to save cost.

[2] By August 1937, the North Tongpu Line had reached within 8 km (5.0 mi) of Datong but the fall of the city to the invading Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War halted construction.

During the ensuing Chinese Civil War, Communist forces and partisans sabotaged the North Tongpu Line, rendering it unusable until after the conflict.