No. 8 is a small black 15-inch gauge 0-4-2ST battery-powered locomotive operated by the Sakuradani Light Railway.
History[]
No. 8 was built in November 2000 by Setsuo Mochimoto, the owner and operator of the Sakuradani Light Railway, as the first steam locomotive on the railway; it was intended to resemble a Baldwin saddle tank locomotive. The locomotive was fitted with a small steam boiler and was coal-powered and had an output of 0.2 hp. It was fitted with two whistles.
Initially manufactured as a saddle tank locomotive, a small tender was later added to improve weight balance. After braking was found to be able to cause derailments, No. 8 was further modified to become a 0-4-2ST locomotive with the coal bunker placed at the rear of the locomotive. Due to a boiler malfunction, No. 8 was taken out of service in 2020; with there being no chance to procure spare parts for the boiler, the locomotive was converted to a battery-powered locomotive in May 2020. A steam generator is used on the locomotive to generate steam.
No. 8 remains out of service with some of its parts being used to replace parts on other locomotives.