Nippon Steel No. 9 is a Class 1 0-6-0T Switcher-type side tank steam locomotive built for the Fuji Minobu Railway by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1912.
History[]
9 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Pennsylvania for the Fuji Minobu Railway; the locomotive was completed in June 1912, with a serial number of 37944. Initially numbered 2, the locomotive was a second of a class of three locomotives built for the railway. A similar locomotive of the same class was built for the Shingu Railway in 1919, where it was numbered 4.
2 was operational on the Fuji Minobu Railway until 1973, when it was resold to Nippon Steel Works's Tsurumi plant; there, it was renumbered 9 and operated until around 1973. It was later resold to Meiji-mura, where it has operated since 1974, alongside Nagoya Railroad 12 (ex-Japanese Government Railways 165). 9 was taken out of service on 19 December 2010 for an overhaul; it returned to service on 15 March 2015. 9 was taken out of service most recently on 25 July 2023 for an overhaul expected to take two years.
Trivia[]
- Steam exhaust and whistle recordings from No. 9 are used for an exhibit featuring JGR Class 400 locomotive 403.
- No. 9 is a main focal point of the Japanese visual novel Maitetsu: Last Run.