#2468
JNR Class C55
🇯🇵 Japan ·built by Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing· from 1935· class of 62 Japanese 4-6-2 steam locomotives
_Steam_Locomotive_1994-08_001.jpg)
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. C55 1 SL IMG 4380: ja:User:Fulcrum-jp· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. JNR C55 50: 100yen· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. JNR Class C55-52 in front of Yoshimatsu Station 3: そらみみ (Soramimi)· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. JNR Type C55 No.53(46) Steam Locomotive 1994-08 001: HATARA KEI· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. C55 291: 鈴木信雄· CC BY 4.0
- 6. 目黒さつきビル 2: Syced· CC0
- 7. JGR C5520 sideview: Katsusaburo NISHIO / 西尾克三郎· Public domain
- 8. JGR C5521 streamlined steam loco frontview: Katsusaburo NISHIO / 西尾克三郎· Public domain
- 9. C5549: Tamurono157· CC BY 3.0
- 10. 1974 JNR C55 50 leading a train on Sōya Main Line: Toshimasa TANABE· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The Class C55 (C55形) is a type of 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in Japan from 1935 to 1937. A total of 62 Class C55 locomotives were built and designed by Hideo Shima. Nine were supplied to the Taiwan Government Railway, where they became class CT250 after the nationalist takeover of Taiwan in 1945 and remained in service until October 1982.
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 91 years ago, in 1935.
- Weighs about as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.4 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
- 1935–1937
- retired
- 1982
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 62
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, Kisha Seizo, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
- designer
- Hideo Shima
- operators
- Japanese National Railways, Taiwan Railways Administration
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-6-2 Pacific
- length
- 20.4 m
- weight
- 66 t
- nicknames
- Shigogo
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q11421739, Wikipedia: JNR Class C55 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.