what is it?
The China Railways JF8 (解放8, Jiěfàng, "liberation") class steam locomotive was a class of 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotives operated by the China Railway, originally built by the Škoda Works in Czechoslovakia in 1935 for the Huainan Railway.
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 17 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 17.9 m long: about 4 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
- status
- retired
- number built
- 7
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇨🇳 China
- builders
- Škoda Works
- operators
- Huainan Railway, Central China Railway, China State Railway Group
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 2-8-2
- length
- 17.9 m
- weight
- 104 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q39060271, Wikipedia: China Railways JF8 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.