Chikuho 2-6-0 Locomotives in Japan

Class 29 (Locobase 10932)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 20, p. 10. See also Richard F Trevithick, "Locomotive Building in Japan," Proceedings - Institution of Mechanical Engineers (London, April 1895), pp. 298-307. Works numbers were 14392-14393 in August 1895.

This pair of Baldwin Moguls had six fewer tubes than the 1892 design shown in Locobase 12044. Otherwise, the class essentially repeated the earlier order.

Class 7/8000 (Locobase 12044)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 18, p 63 and Volume 19, p. 126 . Works number was 12939, 12947 in September 1892; 13971 in March 1894; 14033 in June.

The Vauclain compound #9 produced at the same time was identical to the four Moguls shown here except for the 11" HP and 18" LP cylinders and the boiler pressed to 180 psi. See Locoobase

All were absorbed by the Kyushu Railway in 1897.

Class 9 (Locobase 10930)

Data from Richard F Trevithick, "Locomotive Building in Japan," Proceedings - Institution of Mechanical Engineers (London, April 1895), pp. 298-307. See also DeGolyer, Volume 14, p. 67; and Riotaro Kodama, Railway Transportation in Japan, PhD dissertation for University of Michigan, 1898. Works number was 12952 in September 1892.

Trevithick noted that this Vauclain compound was the first such in Japan. Like all Vauclain compounds,each of the 9's two 9" (229 mm) piston valves supplied steam to an HP/LP cylinder combination. When compared to the two-cylinder Worsdell compound built in Kobe, however, the 9's coal consumption was nearly double.

The Chikuho was described in 1898 as "the most conspicuous among the roads whose freight traffic exceeds the passenger business." Dr Kodama explained that three of four such railways ran through coal mining districts-most railways were built for passenger traffic . Chikuho earned almost 20% more than the Hokkaido Colliery, the next largest. Within the same year, the Chikuho was consolidated with the Kiushu Railway.