JNR Class D51

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 Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company, Kisha Seizo, Hitachi, Nippon Sharyo, Mitsubishi, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from 1936 to 1945 and 1950 to 1951. The JNR D51’s were numbered D51-D51 954 D51 1001-D51 1161 a total of 1115 D51’s were built between 1936 and 1951.

JNR Class D51
Soviet Railways D51
Taiwan Railways DT650
Manila Railroad 300 class (1951)
KNR Mika7 (미카7)
JR East's D51 498 on the Jōetsu Line in December 2008
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerHideo Shima (1901-1998)
BuilderKawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company
Kisha Seizo
Hitachi
Nippon Sharyo
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Build date1936-1951
Total produced1115 (Japan; 30 left behind at Sakhalin)
32 shipped to Taiwan later total 5 more built
10 (Philippines)
2 (Korea)
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte2-8-2 Mikado 33 (rebuilt to Class C61 4-6-4 Hudson’s) 6 (rebuilt to Class D61 2-8-4 Berkshire)
Gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (KNR Mika7)
Length19,730 mm (64 ft 8 3⁄4 in)
Loco weight76.8 t (75.6 long tons; 84.7 short tons)[1]
Total weight123.0 t (121.1 long tons; 135.6 short tons)
Performance figures
Maximum speed85 km/h (55 mph)
Tractive effort184.3 kN (41,400 lbf)
Career
Retired1956 (Philippines)
1965 (Korea)
1975 (Japan)
1979 (Soviet Union)
1983 (Taiwan)
Disposition174 preserved in Japan except 2 out of 174 operational (D51 200 and D51 498)
9 preserved in Russia
2 dumped in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk at Dalny
4 preserved in Taiwan

In 1945, 30 JNR D51’s were left behind at Sakhalin by Japan when Soviet Union took over Sakhalin. The Soviet Railways then renumbered them D51-1-D51-30 in 1946. From 1936 to 1944, 32 D51’s were shipped to Taiwan and were renumbered DT651-682. Later in 1951, Kisha Seizō and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built 3 and 2 more engines numbered DT683-685 and 686-687. In 1950, Mitsubishi built two Identical locomotives similar to the D51’s but except for the gauge they were classification as Mika7 for the Korean National Railways in 1950 numbered 1701-1702 however both engines were scrapped in 1965. By 1951, ten locomotives built by Nippon Sharyo entered Philippine service as the Manila Railroad 300 class before retiring prematurely in 1956.

Design and operation

The design of class D51 was based on the earlier D50, 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 D51s were built,[2] the largest number in any single class in Japan. Early D51s were nicknamed Namekuji-gata ("slug-form") for their shape. The locomotive was designed by Hideo Shima. It was used mainly in freight service through the 1960s. [3]Between 1947 and 1949 33 Class D51’s were rebuilt to Class C61 4-6-4 Hudson’s those being D51 615/D51 1109/D51 1063/D51 1011/D51 1075/D51 1134/D51 1147/D51 1117/D51 925/D51 1047/D51 1139/D51 1143/D51 1115/D51 1124/D51 1084/D51 1128/D51 1130/D51 874/D51 1027/D51 1094/D51 1123/D51 1158/D51 1010/D51 1135/D51 366/D51 198/D51 1146/D51 904/D51 69/D51 1144/D51 945/D51 1050/D51 1148 were converted to C61 Hudson Rebuilds . Between 1960 and 1961 6 Class D51’s were rebuilt to Class D61 2-8-4 Berkshire’s those D51 640/D51 555/D51 181/D51 224/D51 205/D51 519 were rebuilt by the JNR to Class D61’s between 1960 and 1961 .

Service outside Japan

Soviet Railways D51

The specially 30 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.[4]

Korean National Railways Mika7

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.[5]

Manila Railroad 300 class (1951)

According to the a journal published in 1956, ten locomotives were built by Nippon Sharyo for the Manila Railroad Company. These entered service in 1951. Numbered the 300 class, they were named after the cog locomotive class built in the 1910s for the Manila Railway. These locomotives differed from the rest of the D51 builds through the lack of smoke deflectors.[6]

The locomotives had a short service life in the Philippines as Manila Railroad ordered the diselization of its entire network, having all steam locomotives retired by 1956.[7]

Taiwan Railways Administration DT650
DT668 on a trial run in Taiwan in November 2011

From 1936 to 1944, Kawasaki, Kisha Seizō and Hitachi had built 32 D51s for Imperial Taiwan Railway. After World War II, they were taken over by Taiwan Railways Administration, and were classified DT650. In 1951, Kisha Seizō built three DT650s and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built two DT650s for Taiwan Railways Administration.[8]

Classification
Main article: Japan Railways locomotive numbering and 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 174 Class D51 locomotives are preserved in Japan. D51 498 was restored by JR East and pulls special-event trains on JR East lines.[9]

The following is a list of preserved locomotives as of September 2012.[10]

9 are preserved in Russia and 2 are dumped in Russia and 4 are preserved in Taiwan.

Operational
D51 200 at Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in December 2011
  • D51 200: Preserved in operational condition by JR West at Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in Kyoto, and is operating on Yamaguchi Line since November 2017
  • D51 498: Operated by JR East, based at Takasaki Rolling Stock Center[9][11]

Built in 1938 at the JNR Hamamatsu Works, locomotive number D51 200 has been overhauled and restored to operational condition for use as SL Yamaguchi and SL Kitabiwako starting in 2017.[12]

Static preservation
  • D51 6 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido
  • D51 51 ("Slug" type)
  • D51 125 in Funabashi, Chiba
  • D51 170 in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto
  • D51 231 outside the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo in December 2014
  • D51 286 in Otaru, Hokkaido
  • D51 452 at Ome Railway Park in Tokyo
  • D51 470 in Gifu
  • D51 745 in front of Minakami Station in October 2012
  • D51 774 next to the former Taisha Station in Izumo in March 2016
  • D51 792 in Kasugai, Aichi
  • D51 862 in Machida, Tokyo
  • D51 946 at the Coal and Fossils Museum in Iwaki, Fukushima
  • D51 1085 in Aridagawa, Wakayama
  • D51 1108 at Sendai Shinkansen Depot in July 2008

Russian Class D51
Plinthed Russian D51-22 outside Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Railway Station Sakhalin Island, Russia
  • D51-1: Niigata Prefecture
  • D51-2: Hokkaido
  • D51-4: Sakhalin (Working order, but faces uncertain future due to re-gauging of the Sakhalin Railways to the Russian gauge)
  • D51-22: Sakhalin (Plinthed outside Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station)
  • D51-23: Hokkaido
  • D51-25: Hokkaido
  • D51-26: Hokkaido
  • D51-27: Hokkaido
  • D51-28: Sakhalin (Dumped at Tomari)
  • D51 ? : Sakhalin (2 D51s Dumped north of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk at Dalny)

Taiwan Railways Administration DT650
DT675(Former DT670)

In fiction

Hiro, a character based on the Class D51 and voiced by Togo Igawa, appears in the 2009 animated film Thomas & Friends: Hero of The Rails and thereafter became one of the show’s mainstays.

References
  1. Inoue, Kōichi (1999). 国鉄機関車辞典 [JNR Locomotive Encyclopedia]. Japan: Sankaido. p. 59. ISBN 4-381-10338-6.
  2. Hirota, Naotaka (January 1972). Steam Locomotives of Japan. Kodansha America, Inc. p. 74 & 78. ISBN 978-0870111853.
  3. Japan Railway Journal, Kyoto Railway Museum: The Story of Rail Transport in Japan. Japan Railway Journal. Japan: NHK World-Japan. 2016. Event occurs at 10:14.
  4. Steam and the Railways of Sakhalin Island - at International Steam Locomotives
  5. Korean National RR Mika-7 2-8-2. Don's Rail Photos
  6. "Locomotive Engineers Journal". Vol. 90. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. 1956. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "The Passing of the Steam Engine". This Week. August 12, 1956. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  8. DT650 class _Kurogane No Michi
  9. JR全車輌ハンドブック2009 [JR Rolling Stock Handbook 2009]. Japan: Neko Publishing. 2009. ISBN 978-4-7770-0836-0.
  10. Sasada, Masahiro (September 2012). 国鉄&JR保存車大全 [JNR & JR Preserved Rolling Stock Complete Guide]. Tokyo, Japan: Ikaros Publications Ltd. pp. 133–135. ISBN 978-4863206175.
  11. JR East Takasaki Branch D51 498 website (in Japanese) (Translate to English: Google, Bing)
  12. JR西日本、D51形200号機が本線運転復活へ [JR West to restore D51 20 to mainline operational condition]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). Japan: Mynavi Corporation. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  13. 津山市 来月からD51の展示始まる [D51 to go on display at Tsuyama from next month]. RSK News (in Japanese). Japan: Sanyo Broadcasting Co., Ltd. 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
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