Power type Steam Build date 1936-1951 Gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
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Builder Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company etc | ||
The Class D51 (D51形) is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and various manufacturers from 1936 to 1945. The Class D51 is popularly called "Degoichi" in Japanese.
Contents
Design
The design of Class D51 was based on the earlier Class D50, which was introduced in 1923. Wartime production featured some substitution of wood for steel parts like running boards, smoke deflectors and tender coal bunkers. A total of 1,115 D51 locomotives were built, the largest number of locomotives in a single class in Japan. Early D51s built were known as "Namekuji type" (or "slug").
The specially built D51s that were left on Sakhalin (formerly Karafuto) by the retreating Japanese at the end of World War II were used until 1979 by Soviet Railways. One was left outside Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station, and one is in running condition and is kept at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station. Additionally two wrecks were left to the north of the city.
Classification
The classification consists of a "D" for the four sets of driving wheels and the class number 51 for tender locomotives that the numbers 50 through 99 were assigned to under the 1928 locomotive classification rule.
Preserved examples
Over 170 Class D51 locomotives have been preserved in Japan. D51 498 has been restored by JR East and hauls special event trains on JR East lines.
The following is a list of preserved locomotives as of September 2012.
Operational
Built in 1938 at the JNR Hamamatsu Works, locomotive number D51 200 is scheduled to be overhauled and restored to mainline operational condition for use on SL Yamaguchi and SL Kitabiwako services from fiscal 2017.
Russian Class D51
South Korea
Two locomotives were built for the Korean National Railroad in 1950 by Mitsubishi. Designated Mika7 (미카7) class, they were nearly identical to JNR class D51 except for the gauge.
In fiction
In the television series Thomas & Friends, the character Hiro is based on the Class D51, and carries the number "51" on his tender.
In the Transformers franchise, the Decepticon Astrotrain is depicted using a Class D51 as one of his alternate modes, the other being a space shuttle. The GoBots character of Loco is a Class D51 locomotive, and his stickers denote him as D 51 47.