The is a type of

4-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. In France where the type was first used, it is known as t ...

steam locomotive built by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) in Japan and designed by

Hideo Shima was a Japanese engineer and the driving force behind the building of the first bullet train (Shinkansen). Shima was born in Osaka in 1901, and educated at the Tokyo Imperial University, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. His father was p ...

. The C classification indicates three sets of driving wheels. The C62 was built with a 4-6-4 frame, upon which was mounted the boiler of the

JNR Class D52 The Class D52 is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways (Now Japanese National Railways) and various manufacturers: Kisha Seizo, Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company, Hitachi, and Mits ...

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

locomotives.

History

These were the largest and fastest steam passenger locomotives to run in Japan, and hauled the '' Tsubame'' (swallow) express on the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

between and . Only South Africa operated more powerful Cape gauge locomotives.Naotaka Hirota ''Steam Locomotives of Japan'' (1972) Kodansha International Ltd. p.8 Forty-nine C62s were built from 1948 to 1949. Five C62s hauled the ''Teine'' express in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

between and after they were displaced by electrification of the Tōkaidō Main Line. Two locomotives were used to double-head trains on the 2.5 % (1:40)

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

between Otaru and where they were a popular tourist and railfan attraction until 1971. The last examples in regular service were withdrawn in 1973. A class C62 locomotive, C62 17, broke the speed record for a narrow-gauge steam locomotive on 15 December 1954 when it reached on the

. This locomotive was preserved in a park in Nagoya, and later moved to the

SCMaglev and Railway Park The is a railway museum owned by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Nagoya, Japan. The museum opened on 14 March 2011. The museum features 39 full-size railway vehicles and one bus exhibit, train cab simulators, and railway model dio ...

in Nagoya.

In popular culture

The C62 has achieved a level of fame due in part to the manga/anime series ''

Galaxy Express 999 is a Japanese manga series. It is written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a number of anime films and television series. It is set in a spacefaring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer ...

'', in which the express is pulled by an advanced space locomotive that is built to replicate a C62. The founders of

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

(rail fan brothers Yuji and Hiroshi Kudo) were fond of the C62 and other 4-6-4 locomotives, so they named the company after them: 4-6-4 configuration locomotives are also known as Hudsons or Hudson-types. Japan picked up the term from the USA (where the first 4-6-4 built was named after the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

), the C60, C61, and C62 used many American design elements and conventions in their designs, apparently including class names. Hudson Soft also named a number of products after the C62, including the development kit for the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...

, and a chip (Hu62) that was used in a later version of the hardware. It was also the code name for their console before they settled on PC Engine. A C62 called Mr C6 is seen in

Yamataro Comes Back is a 1950s Japanese manga series by Osamu Tezuka. It was published by Shueisha in the '' Omoshiro Book'' as a supplement. The same company published ''Lion Books II'' in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in the 1970s, which would commonly be referr ...

Preserved examples

, five Class C62 locomotives were preserved at various locations around the country. * C62 1 (formerly D52 74) : Preserved at the

Kyoto Railway Museum The (formerly the until 2016) is a railway museum in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The original Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum opened in 1972, but was expanded and modernized in 2016, becoming the Kyoto Railway Museum. The museum is owned by We ...

in Kyoto * C62 2 (formerly D52 455) : Preserved in working order by JR West at the Kyoto Railway Museum This locomotive wears a stainless steel swallow on its smoke deflector as a reminder of the era when it hauled the famous ''Tsubame'' express. * C62 3 (formerly D52 458) : Preserved at JR Hokkaido's Naebo Works in

Sapporo, Hokkaido ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

* C62 17 (formerly D52 69) : On display at the

in Nagoya * C62 26 (formerly D52 46) : On display at the

References

{{Jrwestloco 4-6-4 locomotives Steam locomotives of Japan 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan Preserved steam locomotives of Japan Railway locomotives introduced in 1948 Passenger locomotives

History

In popular culture

Preserved examples

See also

References