The is a type of

4-6-4 , under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as ...

steam locomotive designed by

Hideo Shima was a Japanese engineer and the driving force behind the building of the first bullet train (Shinkansen). Shima was born in Osaka in 1901, and educated at the Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. His father was p ...

and built by the

Japanese National Railways The , abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

(JNR). The "C" classification indicates three sets of driving wheels. The C62 was rebuilt with the boilers of older Class D52

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wh ...

locomotives.

History

These were the largest and fastest steam passenger locomotives to run in Japan, and hauled the '' Tsubame'' (swallow) express on the

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

between and . Only South Africa operated more powerful Cape gauge locomotives.Naotaka Hirota ''Steam Locomotives of Japan'' (1972) Kodansha International Ltd. p.8 Forty-nine C62s were built from 1948 to 1949. Five C62s hauled the ''Teine'' express in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

between and after they were displaced by electrification of the Tōkaidō Main Line. Two locomotives were used to double-head trains on the 2.5 % (1:40)

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

between Otaru and , where they were a popular tourist and railfan attraction until 1971. The last examples in regular service were withdrawn in 1973. A C62 locomotive, C62 17, broke the speed record for a narrow-gauge steam locomotive on 15 December 1954 when it reached 129 km/h (80.2 mph) on the

. This locomotive was preserved in a park in Nagoya, and later moved to the

SCMaglev and Railway Park The is a railway museum owned by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Nagoya, Japan. The museum opened on 14 March 2011. The museum features 39 full-size railway vehicles and one bus exhibit, train cab simulators, and model railwa ...

in Nagoya. C62 2, one of the five remaining C62s until the withdrawal from the mainline Niseko Express in 1972, has been preserved in working order at the

Kyoto Railway Museum The (formerly the until 2016) is a railway museum in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The original Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum opened in 1972, but was expanded and modernized in 2016, becoming the Kyoto Railway Museum. The museum is owned by We ...

. However, it now only hauls two carriages on an 800-metre track within the museum premises. C62 2 has been the most popular among all the 49 C62s, likely due to the stainless steel swallow emblems attached to its deflectors when it was part of the special locomotives for the Tokaido Mainline Tsubame (swallow) service in the 1950s. The locomotive has been given the nickname 'swallow angel' because of these emblems. C62 3 returned to mainline service to commemorate the privatisation of the

in the 1980s. However, the high cost of keeping one of the largest locomotives ever to exist on Japanese rail mainlines operational eventually left the operator no option but to withdraw it in 1995, when its boiler certificate expired. Its withdrawal left C62 2 the only operational C62.

Preserved examples

, five Class C62 locomotives were preserved at various locations around the country. * C62 1 (formerly D52 74): Preserved at the

in Kyoto * C62 2 (formerly D52 455): Preserved in working order by JR West at the Kyoto Railway Museum. This locomotive wears a stainless steel swallow on its smoke deflector as a reminder of the era when it hauled the famous ''Tsubame'' express. File:JRN-C62-SteamLoco.jpg, C62 2 hauling the Niseko serivice in Hokkaido, 1971 File:JRW C62 2 19970911.jpg, C62 2 at

Kyoto station Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, 1997 File:C62.JPG, C62 2 hauling two carriages at the

, 2007 File:C62 2 steam locomotive at the Kyoto Railway Museum 2020-02-04.jpg, C62 2 in 2020 File:Umekouji, Kyoto two steam locomotives.jpg, C62 2 in 2022 * C62 3 (formerly D52 458): Preserved at JR Hokkaido's Naebo Works in

Sapporo, Hokkaido is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

File:C62 3 running toward Kuchan.JPG, C62 3 hauling five carriages after its return to mainline services in 1988 File:JNR C62 3 in Naebo.jpg, C62 3 preserved at Naebo works,

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, 2019 File:JNR C62 3 in Naebo 2.jpg, Close-up of C62 3 * C62 17 (formerly D52 69): On display at the

in Nagoya * C62 26 (formerly D52 46): On display at the

In popular culture

The C62 has achieved a level of fame due in part to the manga/anime series ''

Galaxy Express 999 is a Japanese manga series. It is written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a number of anime films and television series. It is set in a spacefaring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer ...

'', in which the express is pulled by an advanced space locomotive that is built to replicate a C62. The founders of

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...

, rail fan brothers Yuji and Hiroshi Kudo, were fond of the C62 and other 4-6-4 locomotives, so they named their company after the wheel arrangement's ''

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

'' nickname. Japan picked up the term from the USA (where the first 4-6-4 built was named after the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

), the C60, C61, and C62 used many American design elements and conventions in their designs, apparently including class names. Hudson Soft also named a number of products after the C62, including the development kit for the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched ...

, and a chip (Hu62) that was used in a later version of the hardware. It was also the code name for their console before they settled on PC Engine. A C62 called Mr C6 is seen in Yamataro Comes Back. An abandoned C62 in an old roundhouse appears in the seventh episode of

Dash! Yonkuro is a Japanese manga series created by Zaurus Tokuda, originally serialized in Shogakukan's ''CoroCoro Comic'' magazine from December 1987 to March 1992. The story focuses on Yonkuro Hinomaru, a delinquent Mini 4WD enthusiast and member of a ...

References

{{Jrwestloco 4-6-4 locomotives 2′C2′ locomotives Steam locomotives of Japan 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan Preserved steam locomotives of Japan Railway locomotives introduced in 1948 Passenger locomotives

History

Preserved examples

In popular culture

See also

References