The is a class of steam locomotives formerly operated in Japan. The class was the first type in Japan to use the

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 ...

"Hudson"

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

and was 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 ...

. A total of 33 locomotives in the class were built between 1947 and 1949 (one in 1947, 19 in 1948, and 13 in 1949). The locomotives were not built entirely from scratch, however, but used boilers from former D51 2-8-2 "Mikado" freight locomotives.蒸気機関車EX Vol.42 イカロス出版　出版年月日2020年9月 p122

History

The immediate post-war years saw a dramatic decline in freight, while at the same time passenger traffic once again surged, requiring a programme to rapidly build new passenger locos (classes C57 and C58) as well as rebuilding passenger locos from former freight types (classes C61 and C62). These nominal conversions were also seen as a way of bypassing the difficulties in obtaining approval from GHQ (General Headquarters, or

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (), or SCAP, was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) ...

) for building completely new locomotives at the time. The locomotives were notable in being the first in Japan to incorporate automatic stokers. The first eighteen locos delivered were allocated to Utsunomiya and Sendai depots to work express passenger duties on the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line () is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Uts ...

. Nine locos were allocated to Oku and Mito depots to work on Jōban Line duties, and six locos were delivered to Tosu depot in Kyūshū to work on the

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojiko Station, Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it ...

. With the spread of electrification together with the influx of C59s displaced from

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 ...

duties, the C61s found themselves gradually pushed further north to Morioka and Aomori depots. In later years, they were to be seen at the head of the newly inaugurated '' Hakutsuru'' limited express (between Sendai and Aomori) and the ''

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

'' blue train (between Hakata and Kagoshima). With the completion of electrification from Morioka to Aomori in October 1968, the six last remaining C61s were moved to Aomori depot where they worked on the

Ōu Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Fukushima Station (Fukushima), Fukushima Station through Akita Station to Aomori Station. Since the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen on July 1, 1 ...

between Akita and Aomori. The six Kagoshima-based locos originally delivered new to Kyūshū were withdrawn, but the six remaining Tōhoku locos were transferred to Miyazaki depot in October 1971 to work on the

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Also known as the Fukuhoku Nippo Line, The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, K ...

between Miyazaki and Kagoshima. They worked there until finally being withdrawn in 1974.

Specifications

Fleet details

(Source:)

Preserved examples

Japanese-national-railways-C61-20-20110223

* C61 2 (formerly D51 1109) -

Umekōji Steam Locomotive 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 ...

in Kyoto (in working condition) * C61 18 (formerly D51 874) - Front section only preserved privately in

Yatsushiro, Kumamoto file:Yatsushiro City Hall 2023-2.JPG, 270px, Yatsushiro City Hall file:Yatsushiro castle.JPG, 270px, ruins of Yatsushiro Castle is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 120,389 in ...

* C61 19 (formerly D51 1027) - Shiroyama Park in

Kokubu, Kagoshima was a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 1, 1955. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 55,237 and the density of 450.88 persons per km2. The total area was 122.51 km2. On November 7, 200 ...

* C61 20 (formerly D51 1094) - JR-East

Takasaki, Gunma is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of the ...

(Operating condition - April 2011) ''

Jōmō Shimbun ''Jōmō Shimbun'' (上毛新聞) is the largest general circulation daily newspaper based in Gunma prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1887 and has a circulation of 280,320. Hideo Yokoyama, a novelist, had worked for the ''Jōmō Shimbun ...

''
上越線で復元のC61試運転 (27 April 2011)
. Retrieved 4 June 2011

References

{{Jrwestloco Steam locomotives of Japan 4-6-4 locomotives 2′C2′ locomotives 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan Preserved steam locomotives of Japan Railway locomotives introduced in 1947 Passenger locomotives Rebuilt locomotives Mitsubishi locomotives Nippon Sharyo locomotives

History

Specifications

Fleet details

Preserved examples

See also

References