The China Railways SL8 (勝利8, ''Shènglì'', "victory") class steam locomotive was a class of

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomo ...

express passenger steam locomotives 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'') and the Manchukuo National Railway between 1937 and 1940.Ichihara, Yoshizumi, 写真集南満洲鉄道 (South Manchuria Railway Photo Collection) pp. 120-121, 135, 1998 Seibundo Shinkosha Publishing Co. Ltd. (in Japanese)

History

The Pashiha class locomotives were designed as a replacement for the Pashiko class on high-speed passenger trains. The most advanced steam locomotives in Manchuria, they had a semi-streamlined body, and used

SKF AB SKF (Swedish: ''Svenska Kullagerfabriken''; 'Swedish Ball Bearing Factory') is a Swedish bearing and seal manufacturing company founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1907. The company manufactures and supplies bearings, seals, lubrication and l ...

roller bearing In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...

s on all axles of both the locomotive and the tender, which improved both operational efficiency and ease of maintenance. They also had a combustion chamber firebox, a Schmidt type E superheater, a

feedwater heater A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of ...

and an automatic stoker. Initially used for pulling trains such as the "Hato" express between Dalian and

Xinjing Xinjing may refer to: *'' Heart Sutra'' or ''Xinjing'' (心經), a Chinese-language sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism Places in China * Changchun, the capital city of Jilin, known as Xinjing (新京) during the Manchukuo era (1932–1945) * Xinjing Tow ...

, they were later used to haul long-distance passenger trains between Xinjing and Andong on the Andong Line after its track was doubled. One unit was built for the Manchukuo National Railway for use with Emperor

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

's train. The first six were built for Mantetsu by Hitachi in Japan in 1937, which were followed by another ten of an improved design from the Shahekou Works in 1940. Shahekou also built the single unit for the Manchukuo National in 1940. Originally numbered パシハ811–パシハ816, they were renumbered パシナ1–パシナ6 in Mantetsu's 1938 general renumbering, and subsequent units were numbered in this sequence.

Postwar

At the end of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, the sixteen Mantetsu locomotives were assigned to the Dalian depot, while the Manchukuo National's single engine was assigned to the Fengtian Railway Bureau; all seventeen were passed on to the Republic of China Railway. After 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 current China Railway, they were designated class ㄆㄒ八 (PX8) in 1951, becoming class SL8 (勝利, ''Shènglì'', "victory") in 1959; they were numbered 801 through 817. One SL8 was dedicated to pulling

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's train. Five are known to have still been in service around 1980, around

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and Zhengzhou. SL8 815 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

{{Locomotives of China 4-6-2 locomotives CRRC Dalian locomotives Hitachi locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1937 Steam locomotives of China Standard gauge locomotives of China Rolling stock of Manchukuo Streamlined steam locomotives Passenger locomotives