JNR C56 Class Steam Locomotive

In order to quickly complete the railway network throughout Japan, the Japan National Railways (JNR) established simple standards and built lines accordingly. Since some of these lines extended over 100 kilometers, locomotives capable of operating over longer distances were required. For this reason, the design of the C12 class was converted into a tender locomotive, resulting in the C56 class. A total of 160 locomotives were built between 1935 and 1939 by Kisha Seizo, Kawasaki, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Nippon-Sharyo. In addition, one locomotive was independently ordered by a private railway company from Mitsubishi in 1941. One of the physical characteristics of this locomotive is the convex notch on the tender, which provides better visibility when operating in the opposite direction. During the Pacific War, 90 of them were provided to the military and used mainly in Thailand and Myanmar. After the war, two of them returned from Thailand. In Japan, they were used until 1973. Currently, two locomotives are operationally preserved at the Kyoto Railway Museum and the Oigawa Railway, and about 20 are statically preserved. Several preserved locomotives, both dynamically and statically preserved, are also located in Thailand.