Settsu Railway Class 1

The Settsu Railway Class 1 was a 0-6-0 Switcher-type narrow gauge side-well tank steam locomotive operated by the Settsu Railway and later other railway company from December 1893 to 1939.
==History==
The Class 1 was an early steam locomotive used in Japan. There are no records as to what the specific type of locomotive the Class 1 is, but it is often believed that four locomotives manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, serial numbers 834 to 837, refer to this type of locomotive. Locomotives of the same type were manufactured for various railways in Europe; one surviving member of the same type of locomotive is Régional des Brenets No. 1 Le Doubs at the Blonay-Chamby Railway Museum in Vaud, Switzerland.
If indeed the Class 1 locomotives refers to the four locomotives manufactured by SLM, the locomotives were imported into Japan by Fabre-Brandt & Co. The locomotives were the only locomotives produced for the Settsu Railway. In February 1897, the Settsu Railway was acquired by the Hankaku Railway, where they continued use until regauging works on what was now the Settsu Line were completed. 3 and 4 were later transferred to the Matsuura Coal Mining Railway; it is believed 4 was scrapped due to an accident, with its cab later removed and reused on Matsuura Coal Mining Railway No. 3. The Matsuura Coal Mining Railway would ultimately be acquired by the Sasebo Railway on 16 October 1933, with 4 being renumbered 14. When the railway was nationalized on 1 October 1936, 14 came under the ownership of the Japanese Government Railways; it would be reclassified as the Class Ke 215 and renumbered as such, and would be used until around 1939, when it was moved to become a stationary boiler at Higashi-Karatsu Station before being scrapped in June 1941.
No Class 1 locomotives have been preserved. Few photos exist of the locomotives. All statistics in the above infobox assume the locomotive is indeed SLM S/Ns 834 through 837.
==Trivia==
*The locomotives were never given classifications by the Settsu Railway; this naming scheme is given for consistency and convenience.
==References==
Category:Locomotives
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:0-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:0-6-0T locomotives
Category:SLM locomotives
Category:Hankaku trains
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:0-6-0 locomotives
Category:0-6-0T steam locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Japanese steam locomotives