The JGR Class 150 (国鉄150形, Kokutetsu 150 gata) was a steam locomotive operated in Meiji Era Japan from 1872. The sole member of the class was imported from Vulcan Foundry in the United Kingdom in 1871.[1]
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.jpg) Locomotive No. 1 | |||||||||||
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History edit
The locomotive was one of ten different locomotive types imported from the UK in 1871, and entered service on the first Japanese railway line, which opened between Shimbashi(after-day Shiodome station) in Tokyo and Yokohama (present-day Sakuragicho Station) on 14 October 1872.[2] Initially numbered "No. 1", it was classified "Class 150" in 1909.[2]
In 1911, the locomotive was donated to the Shimabara Railway in Nagasaki, where it once again received the number "1".[2]
Because of its historical value as the first steam locomotive to operate in Japan, it was returned to the Railway Ministry in 1930.[2] In 1997, it became the first railway vehicle in Japan to be designated as an Important Cultural Property.[2]
Preservation edit
The locomotive is preserved at the Railway Museum in Saitama.[2]
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Locomotive No. 1 preserved at the Railway Museum in January 2015
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Inoue, Koichi (1999). 国鉄機関車辞典 [JNR Locomotive Encyclopedia] (in Japanese). Japan: Sankaido. p. 16. ISBN 4-381-10338-6.
- ^ a b c d e f Sasada, Masahiro (25 November 2014). 国鉄&JR保存車大全2015-2016 [JNR & JR Preserved Rolling Stock Complete Guide 2015-2016] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Ikaros Publications Ltd. p. 66. ISBN 978-4863209282.
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