JGR Class 7100

JGR Class 7100
7101 Benkei in June 2020
Technical specifications
Serial number(s)	368 – 369, 487 – 488, 643, 672, 1009 – 1010
Manufacturer(s)	H.K. Porter, Inc.
Build date	1880, 1882, 1884, 1885, 1889
Total produced	8
Classification	2-6-0
Dimensions	12,173 mm × Unknown × 3,394 mm
Rail gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Valve gear	Stephenson
Cylinders	2
Boiler pressure	7.71 kg/cm²
Firegrate area	40.6 m²
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	29 m²
Service information
Years in-service	1880 – 1951
Running numbers	7100 – 7107 (initially 1 – 8)
Disposition details
Preserved	3
Number operational	None
Number scrapped	5

The JGR Class 7100 (formerly the Hokkaido Government Railway Class B2, later the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company Class A) is a 2-6-0 Mogul-type steam locomotive operated by the Japanese Government Railways from 1880 to 1951.

History

The Class 7100 was an early example of steam locomotive operated by the Japanese Government Railways. These were purchased in waves from 1880 to 1889, with a total of eight purchased from H.K. Porter, Inc. of the United States. At the suggestion of the Japanese Consul of New York City Saburō Takagi, the first six locomotives, 1 to 6 (now 7100 to 7106), were given names, named after important historical and literary figures as was a similar practice in the US at the time: the locomotives were thus named Yoshitsune, Benkei, Hirafu, Mitsukuni, Nobuhiro and Shizuka, with the final two locomotives, 7 and 8 (7107 and 7108) not given names.

The locomotives were assigned to the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company where they were given the Class B2 and later the Class Ec. With the passage of the Railway Nationalization Act, the trains were reclassified as the Class 7100 locomotives and their names dropped. The locomotives were retired from service in 1915 and sold to other railroads or scrapped. Some of these served until 1951 when they were fully retired. Today, 7101 Benkei, 7105 Yoshitsune and 7106 Shizuka have been preserved. Yoshitsune was identified as 7105 (Nobuhiro) for a time but was fully restored to its original condition when discovered as such.

Preservation

The following Class 7100 locomotives have been preserved:

Number	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Serial number	Date withdrawn	Location	Notes
7105 Yoshitsune	H.K. Porter, Inc.	April 1880	368	27 April 1923 (JGR) 1952 (Umebachi Steel)	Kyoto Railway Museum, Kyoto, Japan	Operational; not mainline certified
7101 Benkei			369	28 February 1924	The Railway Museum, Saitama, Japan	Displayed indoors with replica third class passenger car; cab open for public viewing
7106 Shizuka		January 1885	672	29 August 1917 (JGR) September 1952 (Nippon Steel)	Otaru City General Museum, Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan	Displayed indoors; cab open for public viewing

Gallery