Ikasa Railway Class 2

Ikasa Railway Class 2
Model of Ke 218 (ex-Ikasa Railway 4)
Technical specifications
Serial number(s)	Unknown
Manufacturer(s)	Dai-Nippon Kidō Tekkōbu
Build date	1918
Total produced	2
Classification	0-6-0
Dimensions	5,620 mm × 1,981 mm × 3,048 mm
Rail gauge	2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Cylinders	2
Boiler pressure	11.2 kg/cm²
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	15.61 m²
Service information
Years in-service	1918 – 1950
Running numbers	4 (both locomotives), later Ke 218 – Ke 219
Disposition details
Preserved	None
Number operational	None
Number scrapped	2

The Ikasa Railway Class 2 was a 0-6-0WT Switcher-type narrow gauge well tank steam locomotive operated by the Ikasa Railway from 1918 to 1950.

History

The Class 2 was an early steam locomotive used in Japan. A total of two locomotives were manufactured by Dai-Nippon Kidō Tekkōbu in 1918; one locomotive went to the Ikasa Railway, classified as the Class 2 and numbered 4, while another locomotive went to the Uwajima Railway, where it was also numbered 4. The Ikasa Railway locomotive was numbered as such as a continuation from the previous three locomotives, numbered 1 through 3; it was originally intended to have been built with a Miyahara-type water tube boiler, but after seeing test results from other locomotives ordered by other railways using the same type of boiler the order was canceled and the locomotive redesigned. This locomotive was a standard Amemiya Seisakusho design, with a similar locomotive being Toshio Railway 3.

Ikasa 4 was put into service in 1918; it was notorious for derailments, especially in reverse, causing many injuries. Owing to these and tetraphobia in Japan ("4" when read in Japanese can sound like "death"), an application was submitted to the Ministry of Railways on 21 June 1927 to have the locomotive's number changed. This was approved and 4 renumbered to 8, although this did not solve any issues owing to the locomotive's flawed design. With the introduction of the Class 4 locomotives 8 essentially became surplus; gasoline railcars would fully obsolete 8, which was withdrawn from service on 25 February 1935. 8 was subsequently resold to the Sasebo Railway via Eijiro Kojima Kōgyō, where it was renumbered 19.

Uwajima 4 was also put into service in 1918; similar to Ikasa 4, the locomotive had poor performance and as a result was used little by the railway. The locomotive would ultimately be replaced with newer locomotives manufactured by Orenstein & Koppel with the resumption of German imports after World War I. When the Uwajima Railway was nationalized on 1 August 1933, the locomotive came under the ownership of the JGR, with the locomotive classified as the Class Ke 230 and renumbered as such; this renumbering however was essentially on paper only as the locomotive was never actually used and withdrawn in 1934. Ke 230 was subsequently resold to the Kurihara Railway and the Sasebo Railway, the latter via Eijiro Kojima Kōgyō, where it was renumbered 18.

When the Sasebo Railway was nationalized on 1 October 1936, the locomotives came under the ownership of the Japanese Government Railways; both were reclassified as the Class Ke 218 and renumbered Ke 218 and Ke 219. Both locomotives would be used until regauging works were completed in August 1944; Ke 218 would be scrapped while Ke 219 was resold to the Nippon Mining Saganoseki Railway in March 1945, where it operated with no changes in number. However there were some complications regarding the transfer of the locomotive with any reports regarding the locomotive rejected by the Ministry of Transport. Ke 219 would be scrapped in 1950.

No Class 2 locomotives have been preserved.

References

Template:IkasaMotivePower

Uwajima Railway steam locomotives
Tank	1 – 3 • 4 • 5 – 6