JNR Class D51

Class D51

JR East's D51 498 on the Joetsu Line, December 2008

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Hideo Shima Builder etc Build date 1936-1951

Specifications Configuration 2-8-2 Mikado Gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Length 19,730 mm (64 ft 8 3⁄4 in) Loco weight 76.8 t (75.6 long tons; 84.7 short tons) Total weight 123.0 t (121.1 long tons; 135.6 short tons)

Performance figures Maximum speed 85 km/h (55 mph) Tractive effort 184.3 kN (41,400 lbf)

Career Retired 24 December 1975

The Class D51 (D51形^?) is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and various manufacturers from 1936 to 1945. The Class D51 is popularly called "Degoichi" in Japanese.

The design of Class D51 was based on the earlier Class D50, which was introduced in 1923. Wartime production featured some substitution of wood for steel parts like running boards, smoke deflectors and tender coal bunkers. A total of 1,115 D51 locomotives were built, the largest number of locomotives in a single class in Japan. Early D51s built were known as "Namekuji type" (or "slug").

The specially built D51s that were left on Sakhalin (formerly Karafuto) by the retreating Japanese at the end of World War II were used until 1979 by Soviet Railways. One was left outside Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station, and one is in running condition and is kept at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station. Additionally two wrecks were left to the north of the city.

The classification consists of a "D" for the four sets of driving wheels and the class number 51 for tender locomotives that the numbers 50 through 99 were assigned to under the 1928 locomotive classification rule.

Over 170 Class D51 locomotives have been preserved in Japan. D51 498 has been restored by JR East and hauls special event trains on JR East lines.

The following is a list of preserved locomotives as of September 2012.