The are a type of "Pacific" type steam locomotives built by Kisha Seizo Mitsubishi and Japanese National Railways (JNR) Hamamatsu Works. The C classification indicates three sets of driving wheels. The C51 introduced diameter driving wheels to Japan. C51s raised the average speed on the Tōkaidō Main Line from to . In 1930, a C51 hauled the first Tsubame (swallow) express, reducing travel time between and to 9 hours.
China Railway class SL9
To alleviate a severe motive power shortage, sixteen JGR Class C51 locomotives, C51 8, 28, 30, 33 - 35, 88, 95, 96, 116, 130 - 132, 173, 175, and 178, all equipped with a Sumiyama feedwater heater, were converted to standard gauge and sent to the Central China Railway in 1939, where they operated primarily between Nanjing and Shanghai, at first with their original JGR numbers, later as パシナ (Pashina) class. After the Liberation of China and the establishment of the People's Republic, these became China Railway class ㄆㄒ9 (PX9) in 1951, and reclassified as class SL9 (勝利9, Shènglì, "victory") in 1959.中国蒸汽機車世紀集影 (Centennial Collection of Chinese Steam Locomotives), China Railway Publishing House, July 2001, (in Chinese)
Preserved examples As of 2012, four Class C51 locomotives were preserved at various locations.
C51 5: At the Railway Museum in Saitama, Saitama (formerly preserved outdoors at the Ome Railway Park in Ome, Tokyo C51 44: At Akita Depot in Akita, Akita C51 85: At Kagoshima Depot in Kagoshima, Kagoshima C51 239: At the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in Kyoto
See also Japan Railways locomotive numbering and classification JGR Class 8900 JNR Class C52
References