Ryōbi Railway Class 1

Ryōbi Railway Class 1
Ryōbi Railway 1 in July 1914
Technical specifications
Serial number(s)	12308 – 12310, 12340 – 12341
Manufacturer(s)	Henschel & Son
Build date	1913
Total produced	5
Classification	0-4-0
Dimensions	5,330 – 5,490 mm × Unknown × 2,800 mm
Rail gauge	2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaerts
Cylinders	2
Boiler pressure	12.0 kg/cm²
Fuel type	Coal
Heating area	18.5 &nash; 22.04 m²
Service information
Years in-service	21 July 1914 – 1936
Running numbers	1 – 5, later Ke 130, Ke 140, various other numbers
Disposition details
Preserved	None
Number operational	None
Number scrapped	5

The Ryōbi Railway Class 1 was a 0-4-0WT Switcher-type narrow gauge well tank steam locomotive operated by the Ryōbi Railway and later other railway companies from July 1914 to 1936.

History

The Class 1 was an early steam locomotive used in Japan. The locomotives were ordered by the Ryōbi Light Railway (later the Ryōbi Railway), the preceding operator of what is now the West Japan Railway Company's Fukuen Line. A total of five locomotives were manufactured by Henschel & Son; two types of locomotives were produced but both were classified the same way. These locomotives included two larger locomotives numbered 1 and 2 and three slightly smaller locomotives numbered 3 through 5. All five locomotives were manufactured in 1913. Importation was handled by Takada Shōkai.

With the introduction of larger and more powerful locomotives the Class 1s were one by one resold to other railways; the first to be sold was 4, sold to Toyo Sugar (now Daitō Sugar) in May 1918, where it was renumbered 1 used until January 1964, while 3 and 5 were sold in January 1923 and December 1926 to Sakata Shōkai in Osaka. 2 was later sold to the Ehime Railway in October 1925, where it was renumbered 5.

When the Ryōbi Railway was nationalized on 1 September 1933 to become the Fukuen Line, the remaining locomotive on the Ryōbi Railway, 1, was acquired by the Japanese National Railways and reclassified as the Class Ke 130 and renumbered as such and used to transport construction equipment for the construction of extensions of the Fukuen Line. The Ehime Railway would also be nationalized on 1 October 1933, with 5 also being acquired by the JGR; it, for some reason, was reclassified as the Class Ke 140 and renumbered as such, despite the fact that both the Ke 130 and Ke 140 locomotives were exactly the same and should have been classified the same way. Both locomotives were withdrawn in 1936, with Ke 130 in March and Ke 140 later in the year when the Ehime Line was regauged. One of the two Sakata Shōkai locomotives was later spotted in Taiwan with the number 151; it is speculated that both locomotives were brought to Taiwan although details are hazy and it is not known what happened to them afterwards.

No complete Class 1 locomotives have been preserved, although the undercarriage of No. 4 has been preserved.

Preservation

The following Class 1 locomotives have been preserved:

Number	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Serial number	Date withdrawn	Location	Notes
Ryōbi Railway 4	Henschel & Son	1913	12309	11 January 1917 (JGR) January 1964 (Daitō)	East Tsubogawa Park, Naha, Okinawa, Japan	Undercarriage only; displayed outdoors near Daitō Sugar No. 5

Trivia

• The locomotives were never given classifications by the Ryōbi Railway; this naming scheme is given for consistency and convenience.
• The locomotives's road numbers were reversed in comparison to their serial numbers (i.e. No. 5, S/N 12308, was built first, followed by No. 4, S/N 12309 etc.).

References

Ryōbi Railway rolling stock
Steam locomotive	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 (gen 1) • 4 (gen 2) • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10
Electric locomotive	11

Ehime Railway steam locomotives
Steam locomotive	1 – 3 • 4 • 5