Japanese Government Railways class C50

The class C50 was a Mogul primarily intended for passenger service, but also used for short freight trains. It was the successor of the class 8620 with the same driver diameter of 1,600 mm and cylinders of 470 by 610 mm. The boiler had roughly the same dimensions, but was more powerful thanks to a feed water heater that was located in the tender. In the result, the C50 was heavier and could not be used on all lines which had been suited for the 8620. Additionally, it had inferior running characteristics since the Krauss-Helmholtz bogie had been replaced by a simpler Bissel frame. Their nicknames were “Shigomaru” and “Shigore”.

154 locomotives were built by five manufacturers between 1929 and 1933. From number 68, the last set of drivers had been set back by 200 mm to improve weight distribution. The first five locomotives came to Taiwan in 1941 and four others, which were built without air brakes, were intended for service on Sakhalin. After World War II, the Taiwanese locomotives were used by the state railway in shunting service until 1960, designated class CT230. The four locomotives on Sakhalin fell into the hands of the Soviets, where their trace got lost. In Japan, withdrawals in greater numbers started around 1960, after diesel locomotives had taken over their service. The last one was withdrawn in 1968 and today, six locomotives from the newer batch are still existing.