The China Railways AM1 class locomotives were a class of 4-4-0 passenger steam locomotives operated by the China Railway, 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'').我们的火车站
/ref> The "Ame" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 4-4-0 wheel arrangement were called "American".

History

The Amei class was part of the first group of locomotives ordered by Mantetsu after the conversion to standard gauge. They were bought from

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, setting a precedent of importing locomotives - primarily from the US - over the subsequent decade and a half. The four locomotives that Mantetsu bought were originally built for the Chicago Southern Railway (later part of the Milwaukee Road). Designated class A under Mantetsu's first

classification system Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

, they were used primarily as power on ordinary passenger trains on both the main line between Dalian and Changchun (later Xinjing), and on the Anfeng Line. Redesignated Ame (アメ) class in 1920, in 1927, all four were rented out to the Sitao Railway, remaining there until the Sitao Railway, along with other privately owned railways, was nationalised to form the Manchukuo National Railway in 1933. They returned to Mantetsu at that time, serving primarily on the Yingkou Branch Line between

Dashiqiao Dashiqiao () is a county-level city in south-central Liaoning province, Northeast China. It is under the administration of the prefectural city of Yingkou, the downtown of which is to the west. Administrative Divisions There are five subdist ...

on the mainline and

Yingkou Yingkou () is a coastal prefecture-level city of central southern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, on the northeastern shore of Liaodong Bay. It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of , and the ninth most popul ...

, and occasionally pulling light trains on the mainline between Dalian and Xinjing. They became Amei class in 1938.

Postwar

All four were assigned to the Fengtian Railway Bureau at the end of the Pacific War, and were taken over by the Republic of China Railway. After the establishment of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, they were taken over by the current China Railway, which designated them class AM1 in 1951.

References

{{Locomotives of China 4-4-0 locomotives ALCO locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1906 Scrapped locomotives Steam locomotives of China Standard gauge locomotives of China Rolling stock of Manchukuo Passenger locomotives