The Purero-class (プレロ) locomotives were a group of steam tank locomotives with

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The maj ...

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

of used by the

Chosen Government Railway Chosen or The Chosen may refer to: Books * ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel), a 1967 novel by Chaim Potok * ''The Chosen'', a 1997 novel by L. J. Smith * ''The Chosen'' (Pinto novel), a 1999 novel by Ricardo Pinto * ''The Chosen'' (Karabel book), a b ...

(''Sentetsu'') in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. The "Pure" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-6-2 wheel arrangement were called "Prairie". In all, Sentetsu owned 227 locomotives of all Pure classes, whilst privately owned railways owned another 52; of these 279 locomotives, 169 went to the

Korean National Railroad The Korea Railroad Corporation () is the national railway operator in South Korea. It is branded as KORAIL () and changed its official Korean name () in November 2019. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed by Ministry of Land, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and 110 to the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea (), commonly called the State Rail () and has its headquarters at Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song. History 19 ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Description

Orenstein & Koppel Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876, in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. Ori ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

built two

superheated A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, in some steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. ...

2-6-2 tank locomotives in 1911 which were operated by the privately owned

Domun Railway The Tomon Railway Company (Japanese: 図們鉄道株式会社, ''Tomon Tetsudo Kabushiki Kaisha''; ), was a privately owned railway company in Korea, Empire of Japan. History The Tomon Railway's line ran from Kainei to Tōkanchin, and was open ...

after 1920. Both were taken over by Sentetsu after the nationalisation of the Domun Railway in 1929; after the general renumbering of 1938 they were designated プレロ (''Purero'') class and numbered プレロ1 and プレロ2.

Postwar: Korean State Railway 부러유 (Purŏyu) class

After the

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

and

partition of Korea The division of Korea began at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945, with the establishment of a Soviet occupation zone and a US occupation zone. These zones developed into separate governments, named the Democratic People's Republic of ...

, both ended up in

after Liberation, and were operated by the

designated 부러유 (''Purŏyu'') class.

References

{{DPRKloco Locomotives of Korea under Japanese rule Locomotives of North Korea Railway locomotives introduced in 1911 2-6-2 locomotives Orenstein & Koppel locomotives Freight locomotives