JGR Class 1980

JGR Class 1980
Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company 52 (later JGR 1980) at an unknown date
Technical specifications
Serial number(s)	2862 – 2864
Manufacturer(s)	Brooks Locomotive Works
Build date	1898
Total produced	3
Classification	0-6-0T
Dimensions	9,322 mm × 2,401 mm × 3,696 mm
Rail gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Valve gear	Stephenson
Cylinders	2
Boiler pressure	9.8 kg/cm²
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	93.4 m²
Service information
Years in-service	1900 – 1922
Running numbers	1980 – 1982 (originally 54 –54)
Disposition details
Preserved	None
Number scrapped	3

The JGR Class 1980 (originally the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company Class K) was a 0-6-0T Switcher-type side tank steam locomotives operated by the Japanese Government Railways from 1900 to 1922.

History

The Class 1980 was an early steam locomotive operated in Japan. The type was ordered by the Seiwa Railway, with three locomotives built by the Brooks Locomotive Works in the United States and delivered to Japan in 1898. However, the Seiwa Railway closed before its first line was even finished; as a result the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company took over ownership of the locomotives. The locomotives were taken over by the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company in 1900, designated the Class K, numbered 52 through 54 and put into service the same year.

When the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company was acquired by the JGR in 1909, the Class K locomotives were reclassified as the Class 1980 locomotives and renumbered 1980 through 1982. The locomotives were mainly used between Sapporo and Iwamizawa until the locomotives were retired in 1922 after a short service life, with none sold to private railroads; this was apparently because the locomotive would be too heavy to run on the fragile rails of most private railroads. No Class 1980s have been preserved.