Matsuura Coal Mining Railway No. 5

Matsuura Coal Mining Railway No. 5
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	Kubo Tekkōjo
Build date	1919
Total produced	1
Classification	0-4-0
Dimensions	4,880 mm × Unknown × 2,905 mm
Rail gauge	2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Cylinders	2
Boiler pressure	8.5 kg/cm²
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	15.5 m²
Service information
Years in-service	1919 – August 1944
Running numbers	5, later 1, then 15, then Ke 99
Disposition details
Preserved	None
Number operational	None
Number scrapped	1

Matsuura Coal Mining Railway No. 5 was a 0-4-0WT Switcher-type narrow gauge well tank steam locomotive operated by the Matsuura Coal Mining Railway and later other railway companies from 1919 to 1944.

History

No. 5 was built in 1919 by Kubo Tekkōjo, an engineering company based in Nagasaki. The company was mainly involved in the production of marine and mining equipment; this was the only steam locomotive manufactured by the company. The locomotive was a locally-produced copy of an Orenstein & Koppel steam locomotive. It was later renumbered 1 as it was the newest steam locomotive owned by the company.

No. 1 would be used for transporting freight to and from the Matsuura Coal Mine despite a number of ownership changes of the mining railway; the railway would ultimately be acquired by the Sasebo Railway on 16 October 1933, with No. 1 being renumbered 15. When the railway was nationalized on 1 October 1936, No. 15 came under the ownership of the Japanese Government Railways; it would be reclassified as the Class Ke 99 and renumbered as such, and would be used until regauging works were completed in August 1944, at which point the locomotive was stored and struck off in May 1948. Following this Ke 99 was likely scrapped.

Few photos exist of the locomotive.