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JNR Class D51 No. D51 200

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Japanese National Railways No. D51 200 is a Class D51 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotive built for the Japanese National Railways by Hamamatsu Works in September 1938. It is one of two operational Class D51 locomotives, the other being D51 498.

History[]

D51 200 was built by the Japanese National Railways's Hamamatsu Works; the locomotive was completed on 30 September 1938, with a serial number of 25. Entering service on 6 October 1938, D51 200 was assigned to the Inazawa Depot in the Nagoya region and used to pull freight trains; it was moved to Maibara in 1943 and subsequently to Ōgaki in 1945. D51 200 was damaged by Allied shellings and the subsequent air raid on Hamamatsu on 29 July 1945; locomotive C57 1, also stationed in the same area, was damaged by machine gun fire.

After World War II, D51 200 was moved briefly for use on a number of depots around the region, before finally being stationed at Nakatsugawa in 1955. In 1968, a smoke dispersal smokestack was installed on the locomotive at Nagano Works. Designated for preservation as D51 200 was a "nice number", D51 200 was transferred to Umekoji Depot in 1972 and stationed at the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, along with numerous other steam locomotives, including class leader D51 1, which had also been earmarked for preservation; before preservation D51 200 had its smoke dispersal smokestack removed. D51 200 was kept in operational condition at the museum, pulling short passenger trains for museum guests; it was stored at the Umekoji Roundhouse when not in use. D51 200 was struck off the JNR register on 28 March 1979 although it remained in operational condition at the museum.

On 1 April 1987, with the JNR now privatized due to financial issues and split into seven companies, JR West restored D51 200 to its register and assumed ownership of the locomotive; it also kept the locomotive in operational condition at the museum, pulling SL Steam trains alongside other locomotives stationed there, such as 8630, C61 2 and C62 2. D51 200 was not given a general inspection and was only maintained as such to allow it to operate on the railway lines within the museum. In addition to pulling the SL Steam trains within the museum, it also performed occasional switching duties and as a training locomotive for engineers at the museum to operate on a siding to get them acclimatized to operating steam locomotives. On 14 October 2006, D51 200 was designated a quasi-railroad monument, alongside other steam locomotives and related facilities at the museum.

On 17 October 2014, JR West decided to announce the formation of a system "for sustainable operation of steam locomotives", and that D51 200 would be given mainline certification for use on the SL Yamaguchi service; the intent was for D51 200 to replace C56 160 and supplement C57 1, the main locomotives used on these services, and for D51 200 to begin operation in 2017. Restoration works for D51 200 began on December 2014 at the museum's facilities, with the boiler transferred to Sappa Iron Works for repairs and refitting. Some new axles for the locomotive's driving wheels were manufactured by Nippon Steel. New swinging windows were attached to D51 200's cab on drivers's requests.

The Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum became part of the Kyoto Railway Museum on 1 April 2016, with D51 200 on display while undergoing restoration. Restoration was complete by October 2016, with the locomotive making trial runs within the premises of the museum; full-scale trial runs on the mainline would commence the same month, with the first trial run abandoned halfway due to overheating issues with the tender's axles; due to there being no spare parts a new axle had to be fabricated, delaying operation by about six months. The new wheels and axles were fitted by April 2017 and test runs resumed. Test runs would begin on the Yamaguchi Line in July 2017; after more test runs, D51 200 began operation on the SL Yamaguchi service on 25 November 2017, being displayed alongside other locomotives C56 160 and C57 1; the next day it would operate in tandem with C57 1.

With C56 160 withdrawn from mainline service in 2018, C57 1 and D51 200 became the main locomotives in use on the SL Yamaguchi service; D51 200 was taken out of service in 2018 due to issues and repaired, with C57 1 substituting for the locomotive during that time. D51 200 would later be assigned the SL Kita-Biwako service and intended to begin pulling that service in 2018, but landslides caused lines in the area to be unusable and as such the locomotive was unable to pull these services; when the tracks were repaired however JR West scrapped the plan for D51 200 to be used on those services and as a result it continued to pull SL Yamaguchi and SL Tsuwano Inari services until the end of the year.

D51 200 would ultimately get to pull the SL Kita-Biwako from 10 March 2019 but by the end of the month returned to pull the SL Yamaguchi. When C57 1 was taken out of service in 2020 due to cylinder issues, D51 200 became the main locomotive in use on the SL Yamaguchi service. While on an SL Yamaguchi service on 3 May 2022, a crack was discovered in one of the bogies as D51 200 was being turned around at the Tsuwano Station turntable; D51 200 was immediately taken out of service and DD51 1043 used to pull the remaining trains in the schedule. D51 200 was sent back to the Kyoto Railway Museum to undergo repairs, with a target of June 2022 to reenter service; test runs were conducted starting September 2023. D51 200 returned to service on 3 May 2024.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • D51 200 made an appearance in Tsutamachi no Shinkansen, a TV program chronicling the Shinkansen network's beginnings. The locomotive was seen being repaired at a depot; these scenes were shot at Hakata Shinkansen Depot.
Notable steam locomotives of the Japanese National Railways
Class 10 17
Class 110 110
Class 150 150
Class 160 165
Class 230 233
Class 400 403
Class 860 860
Class 1275 1275
Class 1290 1292 Zenkō
Class 2100 2109
Class 7100 7101 Benkei • 7105 Yoshitsune • 7106 Shizuka
Class 7150 7150 Taishō
Class 8620 8620 • 8630 • 58654
Class 9600 9608 • 9633 • 49671
Class 9750 9856
Class B20 B20 10
Class C10 C10 8
Class C11 C11 1 • C11 64 • C11 123 • C11 171 • C11 190 • C11 207 • C11 227 • C11 312 • C11 325
Class C12 C12 66 • C12 164
Class C51 C51 239
Class C53 C53 43 • C53 45
Class C55 C55 1
Class C56 C56 31 • C56 44 • C56 160
Class C57 C57 1 • C57 135 • C57 180
Class C58 C58 1 • C58 239 • C58 363
Class C59 C59 1 • C59 164
Class C61 C61 2 • C61 20
Class C62 C62 2 • C62 3 • C62 17
Class D50 D50 140
Class D51 D51 1 • D51 146 • D51 200 • D51 498 • D51 827
Class E10 E10 2
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