JGR Class Ke 158

JGR Class Ke 158
Ashibetsu Forest Railway 9 in the 1940s
Technical specifications
Serial number(s)	6890 (unconfirmed)
Manufacturer(s)	Orenstein & Koppel
Build date	1912 – 1913
Total produced	1
Classification	0-6-0
Dimensions	5,585 mm × Unknown × 2,914 mm
Rail gauge	2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Valve gear	Max Orenstein
Cylinders	2
Boiler pressure	12.0 kg/cm²
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	19.5 m²
Service information
Years in-service	1914 – 20 August 1930
Running numbers	3, then Ke 158
Disposition details
Preserved	None
Number operational	None
Number scrapped	5

The JGR Class Ke 158 (originally the Chiba Prefectural Railway Class 4) was a 0-6-0T Switcher-type narrow gauge side-well tank steam locomotive operated by the Chiba Prefectural Railway and later the Japanese Government Railways from 1914 to August 1930.

History

The Class Ke 158 was an early steam locomotive used in Japan. This class of locomotive was manufactured by Orenstein & Koppel for the Chiba Prefectural Railway in 1912, with one locomotive manufactured; it was classified as the Class 4 and numbered 3. A number of similar locomotives were also built by O&K for other smaller private railways, such as Kiso Forest Railway 10, the only of these locomotives which can be described as exactly the same shape as the Class 4. Manufacturer documents state the locomotive was delivered to the Imperial Forestry Bureau but the order might have been canceled at the last minute and the locomotive purchased by the Chiba Prefectural Railway instead.

The Chiba Prefectural Railway locomotives were used mainly on the Kururi Line (now the East Japan Railway Company Kururi Line); when the Chiba Prefectural Railway was nationalized on 27 August 1923, the locomotive came under the ownership of the Japanese Government Railways. The locomotive was reclassified as the Class Ke 158 and renumbered Ke 158. Ke 158 was used on the Kururi Line until 20 August 1930 with the completion of regauging works on the Kururi Line; it was soon after stored at Chiba Locomotive Depot before being struck off the register on 16 September 1931 and scrapped at Shin-Koiwa Works.

Kiso Forest Railway 10 was later sold to the Ashibetsu Forest Railway in 1940 and renumbered 9; it was later renumbered 60 in 1943 and transferred to the Ikushiunbetsu Forest Railway in 1949, where it was renumbered C27 and withdrawn in 1955. The Uwajima Railway's Class 1 locomotives and Sanban Railway's No. 13 share the same basic design but are not completely identical in terms of shape.

No Class Ke 158 locomotives have been preserved.

References

Chiba Prefectural Railway steam locomotives
Noda Line	1 • 2
Kururi Line	3 • 4