Taiwan LCK40 Steam Locomotive

The LCK40 class did not belong to the Government Railways of Taiwan before the war, and therefore had no former class designation under that railway. It was a 762 mm-gauge tank locomotive incorporated into the Taiwan Railway Administration after the war. Two locomotives were built by Kataoka Iron Works in Osaka. The year of manufacture differs depending on the source, with references ranging from 1941 to 1943. Kataoka Iron Works was an Osaka-based manufacturer, but no production records of steam locomotives by the company have been found apart from these two engines. Sources also differ regarding the original user of these locomotives, giving such names as Taiwan Development Company, the Sugar Industry Federation, and Ensuiko Sugar. However, if the locomotives had belonged to a sugar company, they would most likely have been taken over after the war by the Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Therefore, if the two locomotives incorporated into the Taiwan Railway Administration in March 1946 correspond to this class, they were probably not private locomotives of a sugar company, but were more likely connected with the Taiwan Development Company. They are thought to have been used on the private siding at Beipu (北埔) in Hualien for transporting marble and other stone materials. No examples are preserved today.