JNR C51 Class Steam Locomotive

This locomotive type was Japan’s first full-scale passenger locomotive with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement and 1,750 mm driving wheels, and became the basic standard model of Japan National Railways (JNR) passenger locomotives produced thereafter. It was designated as the type 18900 when production began, and in 1928, the last year of manufacturing, it was renamed the type C51. A total of 289 units were manufactured at JNR’s Hamamatsu Works, Kisha Seizo, and Mitsubishi from 1919 to 1928. They were initially used for trunk line express services until the C53 class appeared, but were gradually reassigned to secondary duties. During the war, 16 units were transferred to the Huazhong Railway in China. These locomotives were later designated as Pashi 9 and SL 9 types under the People's Republic of China in 1951, but by 1990 all had been scrapped. Since the locomotives were retired relatively early, only four units survive today: two are on public display at the Kyoto Railway Museum and the Railway Museum in Omiya. Two other units are preserved in different locations; however, they are not open to the public.