what is it?
The China Railways JF15 (解放15, Jiěfàng, "liberation") class steam locomotive was a class of 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotives operated by the China Railway, built by the American Locomotive Company in the United States in 1928−1929. These locomotives were originally built for the Jihai Railway. After the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo, these and other privately owned railways in the territory of Manchukuo were nationalised to create the Manchukuo National Railway, which designated these the Mikasa (ミカサ) class, becoming Mikana (ミカナ) class after the classification reform of 1938.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 98 years ago, in 1928.
- Weighs about as much as 23 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.3 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1928–1929
- retired
- 1990
- status
- retired
- number built
- 6
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇨🇳 China
- builders
- American Locomotive Company
- operators
- Manchukuo National Railway, China State Railway Group
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 2-8-2
- length
- 20.3 m
- weight
- 135 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q41715163, Wikipedia: China Railways JF15 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.