Taiwan 400→C44→CK100 Steam Locomotives

The 400 class was an improved and enlarged version of the 50 class, later the CK50 class, with an enlarged coal bunker and a superheated boiler. A total of eight locomotives were built by Kisha Kaisha for mixed-train and freight service: four in 1917 and four in 1919. Their original classification was 400 class; later they became the C44 class and, after World War II, the CK100 class. They were used on branch lines such as the Xindian Line (新店線), and later served mainly as shunting locomotives. I saw members of the class at Miaoli in 1976 and again at Chiayi in 1977, but by then they were already out of service and stored. In 1998, CK101 became the first steam locomotive restored to operating condition by the Taiwan Railways Administration, although it has since returned to static preservation.