JNR Class D50

what is it?

The Class D50 is a type of 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), the Japanese National Railways (JNR) and various manufacturers from 1923 to 1931. The class name indicates that the locomotive has four sets of driving wheels (D) and belongs to one of the classes of tender locomotive allocated a number in the series 50 to 99 in the Japan Railways locomotive numbering and classification scheme of 1928. Hideo Shima designed the rest of the class until 1931.

who runs it

Ministry of RailwaysJapanese National RailwaysMNManchukuo National RailwayCentral China RailwayChina State Railway Group

base stats

• speed 70 km/htop speed
• weight 78.1 tin working order
• built 380made in total

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 103 years ago, in 1923.
• 🐘Weighs about as much as 13 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 📏17.3 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
• ⌛Served for 49 years (1923–1972).

steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.

spec sheet

built

1923–1931

in service from

1923

retired

1972

status

preserved

number built

380

kind

Steam

traction

steam

origin

🇯🇵 Japan

builders

Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, Hitachi, Kisha Seizo, Nippon Sharyo

designer

Tokichi Ogasawara and Hideo Shima

operators

Ministry of Railways, Japanese National Railways, Manchukuo National Railway, Central China Railway, China State Railway Group

top speed

70 km/h

power

—

gauge

1,067 mm Cape gauge

wheel arrangement

2-8-2

length

17.3 m

weight

78.1 t

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.