The China Railways JF2 (解放2, ''Jiěfàng'', "liberation") class steam locomotive was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives for goods trains operated by the China Railway. They were originally built for the

South Manchuria Railway The South Manchuria Railway ( ja, 南満州鉄道, translit=Minamimanshū Tetsudō; ), officially , Mantetsu ( ja, 満鉄, translit=Mantetsu) or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operatio ...

(''Mantetsu'') by several

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and Japanese manufacturers, as well as by Mantetsu's Shahekou Works, between 1924 and 1932.Ichihara, Yoshizumi, 写真集南満洲鉄道 (South Manchuria Railway Photo Collection) pp. 64-65, 1998 Seibundo Shinkosha Publishing Co. Ltd. (in Japanese)

History

To fill the need for powerful locomotives to haul heavy goods trains from the Fushun Coal Mines and Dalian, Mantetsu ordered the first five Mikani class locomotives from the American Locomotive Company of

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

in 1924. After completion of the superheated three-cylinder locomotives, extensive performance tests were conducted, the results of which attracted considerable attention from the railway industry; despite a wheel diameter of only , they reached a maximum speed of . They were immediately successful, and production of copies began at Mantetsu's Shahekou Works in 1926. They were the first Mantetsu locomotives to weigh over , as well as the first to be built with automatic stokers. Although their performance was excellent, the complexity of the three-cylinder arrangement led to consideration of a superheated

2-10-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, ten powered and coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. In the United States of America and elsewhere the is ...

tender locomotive design as a replacement. However, this plan was abandoned, and more Mikanis were built instead. After a number of incidents involving broken crankshafts, the Mikashi class was designed as the successor to the class in 1933.

Postwar

At the end of the Pacific War, the 41 Mikani class locomotives were divided between the Dalian (35) and the Fengtian (6) depots, and all were taken over by the Republic of China Railway. Following the establishment of the

People's Republic People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with soviet republics, socialist states following people's democracy, sovereign states with a democratic- ...

and the subsequent creation of the current China Railway, they became class ㄇㄎ貳 (MK2) in 1951, and class 解放2 (JF2, ''jiěfàng'', "liberation") in 1959. Numbered in the 2501–2550 range, they were assigned to the

Wafangdian Wafangdian (), formerly Fuhsien (Fuxian) or Fu County (), is one of the two "northern county-level cities", the other being Zhuanghe, under the administration of Dalian, located in the south of Liaoning province, China. The city is famous for i ...

locomotive depot in Dalian and used primarily on heavy goods trains. JF2 2525 is preserved at the

Shenyang Steam Locomotive Museum Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

References

{{Mantetsu rolling stock 2-8-2 locomotives ALCO locomotives Shahekou Works locomotives Kawasaki locomotives Kisha Seizo locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1924 Steam locomotives of China Standard gauge locomotives of China Rolling stock of Manchukuo Freight locomotives