The Mateni class (マテニ) locomotives were a class of steam tender locomotives of the Chosen Government Railway (''Sentetsu'') with

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as t ...

wheel arrangement. The "Mate" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 4-8-2 wheel arrangement were called "Mountain".

Description

Designed by Sentetsu, the Mateni class was designed for long-distance freight and passenger trains on steep lines; shipments increased with the higher speeds offered by these locomotives. A total of 33 were built from 1943 through 1945, all by Kawasaki. The maximum axle load was 22 tons, in comparison to the 18 tons of Sentetsu's standard mainline freight locomotives, the Mikasa class, and the tractive effort of the Mateni was , as compared to the of the Mikasa class. In addition, the locomotives were equipped with automatic stokers and economisers to improve boiler efficiency. In addition to being used for heavy freight trains, they were also used on passenger trains, and was the last type of locomotive designed by Sentetsu.

Postwar

After the Liberation and subsequent

partition of Korea The division of Korea began with the defeat of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be li ...

, both the

Korean National Railroad The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사, Hanja: ), branded as KORAIL (코레일, officially changed to in November 2019), is the national railway operator in South Korea. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed ...

(KNR) in the South and the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–195 ...

(''Kukch'ŏl'') in the North operated 4-8-2s inherited from Sentetsu. Of the 83 locomotives that were built of both the Mateni and

Matei Matei is a Romanian name. It is equivalent to the English name Matthew. As a given name * Matei Balș, Romanian bacteriologist *Matei Basarab, Wallachian Voivode between 1632 and 1654 * Matei Boilă, Romanian politician and priest *Matei Călines ...

classes, only 77 remained in 1946; of these, 33 went to the

in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, and 44 to the

in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

, though none of the ones operated by the KNR are known for certain to have been of the Mateni class. The six locomotives of both classes that remain unaccounted for were likely either destroyed during the Pacific War or were possibly taken by

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

, which during its occupation of North Korea took a large number of locomotives back to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The bulk of the Mateni class likely ended up in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

with the

, where they were initially designated 마더두 class (''Madŏdu''), and around the 1970s renumbered in the 7200 series. In 2003 an out-of-service Mateni was still parked at

Sinuiju Sinŭiju (''Sinŭiju-si'', ; known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City) is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of ...

. Additionally, a Mateni was completed by Kawasaki in 1946 and delivered to the KNR as 마터2-34.

References

{{DPRKloco Locomotives of Korea Locomotives of North Korea Locomotives of South Korea Railway locomotives introduced in 1943 4-8-2 locomotives Kawasaki locomotives