|
When this locomotive type was manufactured in 1947, just after Japan suffered defeat in the Pacific War, heavy industry had been devastated, so the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers had prohibited the production of new locomotives.
However, the type 4110s used on the sloped section of the track were aging, so the type E10s were allowed as replacements, and 5 were manufactured at Kisha-Seizo.
It was the last new steam locomotive of the Japan National Railways (JNR) type and the largest tank locomotive in the country.
They were initially used for the sloped section from Fukushima to Yonezawa of the Ou Line until that section was electrified. After that they were used on the sloped section of the Hisatsu Line and Hokuriku Main Line.
The final ones were used until 1963 as a connection for the AC‐DC dual current electrified section from Yonehara to Tamura.
Currently, there is 1 of this type still in existence statically preserved (refers to locomotives that are preserved in a way that does not allow them to be immediately operated, and/or that are simply on display) at Ome Railway Park.
|
