JGR Class 450

JGR Class 450
Brooks' Builders Photograph of Kiwa Railway No. 3 (later JGR No. 452).
Technical specifications
Serial number(s)	2784 - 2787
Manufacturer(s)	Brooks Locomotive Works
Build date	1897
Total produced	4
Wheel arrangement	2-4-2T
Axles	4
Dia. of Drivers	4ft 4in
Dimensions	30 ft 2 in × Unknown × 11 ft 10 in
Rail gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Valve gear	Stephenson
Boiler pressure	129psi
Dia. x stroke	343mm×508mm
Firegrate area	1.11 ㎡
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	67.2 ㎡
Braking	Hand・Steam
Service information
Operator(s)	Various
Running numbers	450 – 453
Scrapped	All gone by 1955.
Disposition details
Preserved	None

The JGR Class 450 was a series of four 2-4-2T Columbian-type side tank steam locomotives, built in 1897 by the Brooks Locomotive Works for a private railway operator in Japan.

History

They are based on the dimensions of the British-built Class A8 radial tank locomotives, but are Americanised in many ways, e.g. by the use of a sandbox on the boiler and the adoption of the American pattern Stephenson valve gear.

They were acquired by the Kiwa Railway, the predecessor of today's Wakayama Line, in preparation for its opening in 1898. After being taken over by the Kansai Railway in August 1904, they were reclassified as Class 81 "Tomozuru" (友鶴) and numbered in the range from 82-85.

After the nationalisation of the Kansai Railway in 1907, these locomotives were reclassified as Class 450, numbered in the range from 450-453, and used on the Joto Line, which is now forms part of the Osaka Loop Line. In 1917, Nos. 450 to 452 were acquired by the Tsukuba Railway for its opening, while No. 453 was transferred to the Karafuto Prefectural Railway.

The three transferred to Tsukuba Railway became the company's Nos. 1-3. However, their operating records were not entirely satisfactory. They were all sold in 1924 to be replaced by a new fleet of locomotives. Eventually Kisha Seizo acquired the three, and put them into replacement work at the works. When they became redundant once again, they were put up for sale. This time, however, only No. 3 found a buyer, so the other two were consequently scrapped. No. 3 was given to the Iburi Railway in 1928 and became its No. 1 before that railway merged with the Iburi Juukan Railway; the locomotive then became the property of that company, but was soon transferred to the private railway of the Nittetsu Mining Company in Kimobetsu; it managed not to be considered an object of the government's wartime takeover. The locomotive served on this line until about 1955, when it was withdrawn from service and scrapped.

In the meantime, No. 453, which was handed over to the Karafuto Prefectural Railway, underwent extensive modifications to its water tanks, coal bunker, and cab (presumably at Kisha Seizo). This drastically changed the appearance of the locomotive from its original form. It was then transferred to the Sakhalin Railway for use in construction work and stood idle from 1936; with the incorporation of South Sakhalin into the interior in 1943, it was re-entered in the national railway register, but was withdrawn from service in 1945, shortly before the end of the war.

None have been preserved.

Gallery

Kansai Railway No. 82 (later JGR No. 450).