Taiwan 60→120 Steam Locomotives

The Class 60 locomotives, later renumbered as Class 120, were of the same design as the locomotives that became JNR Class 9200 under the 1909 reclassification. During the Russo-Japanese War, from February 1904 to September 1905, the Japanese Army brought large numbers of B6 class 0-6-2T tank locomotives from Japan for transport duties. Finding the tank locomotives insufficiently powerful, the Army ordered fifty 2-8-0 tender locomotives from Baldwin in the United States in 1905. By that time, however, the war was approaching its end and military transport requirements were declining, so only thirty were sent to northeastern China, while the remaining twenty were used in Japan. The three locomotives sent to Taiwan became Class 60 and were used on the steeply graded section between Miaoli (苗栗) and Taichung (台中). In 1911, when additional Class 50 locomotives were introduced, they were renamed Class 120 to avoid duplicate numbers. Although these were the first tender locomotives in Taiwan, the three engines did not see particularly long or distinguished service, and all were withdrawn in 1933. In Japan, the locomotives sent to northeastern China were gradually brought back and used in various regions. Some were later sold to private railways and industrial lines, and remained in service until 1964. The exact route by which these three locomotives reached Taiwan—whether they were sent directly from Japan or transferred from northeastern China—differs depending on the source. Since no primary source has yet been confirmed, this point cannot be determined with certainty at present.