JNR Class 8620 No. 58654

Japanese National Railways No. 58654 is a Class 8620 2-6-0 Mogul-type steam locomotive built for the Japanese Government Railways, later the Japanese National Railways, by Hitachi in November 1922. 58654 is the oldest registered steam locomotive that can operate on the JR network.
==History==
58654 was built at Hitachi's Kasado Factory; the locomotive was completed on 18 November 1922, with a serial number of 62. After being shipped to Kyushu, 58654 began service on 26 December 1922 after being deployed to Urakami Depot and served the Nagasaki area. The locomotive moved a few more times around Kyushu before being transferred to Nishi-Karatsu Depot and used on the Karatsu Line. 58654 pulled the imperial train on 20 and 21 August 1961 between Nagasaki and Karatsu and back.
In 1964, 58654 was moved to Wakamatsu Depot and used on routes around the Chikuhō region; the locomotive was moved to Hitoyoshi Depot on 1 June 1968, where it spent its final years in service pulling freight trains. 58654 was retired on 9 March 1975, the year when steam on the Japanese National Railways was abolished; the locomotive was struck from the register on 31 March 1979 and donated to Hitoyoshi City, which displayed the locomotive at the Hitoyoshi City SL Exhibition Hall in front of Yatake Station, alongside Class D51 locomotive D51 170.
Kitakyushu Mayor Kōichi Sueyoshi made a decision to revive steam locomotive operations in Kyushu in 1987 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of railways on Kyushu and the opening of the Moji Port; this apparently started as a deal between Sueyoshi and JR Kyushu's president Yukitaka Ishii and a project team established in July that year, putting this plan into motion. On selecting a steam locomotive, there were some fifty steam locomotives preserved around Kyushu, although the vast majority of them were exposed to the elements and were usually not maintained. D51 170 and 58654, being maintained and preserved by a team of volunteers, were shortlisted for restoration; 58654 was ultimately selected due to its lower cost of restoration, fuel economy and ease of operation; while there were significantly more parts available for D51 170 due to the significant number of D51s in preservation, the locomotive's weight meant that various local lines may have been unable to bear the weight of the locomotive.
After negotiations were carried out, approval was given by the Hitoyoshi City Council on 11 December 1987. 58654 was disassembled, with its boiler, frame and tender transported to Kokura Works for rebuilding from 10 to 11 January 1988. Numerous modifications were made to 58654 to keep it up to date with modern standards, such as a steel running board as opposed to a wooden running board. 58654 also received a new boiler fabricated by Nippon Steel and new driving wheels fabricated by Sumitomo Heavy Industries. Paperwork was also filled to allow for the locomotive to run on the JR network; this paperwork was completed on 28 June 1988. 58654 was fired for the first time since its retirement on 2 July 1988, with a small ceremony marking the occasion.
58654 was test run for the first time on 12 July 1988, then subsequently transported via rail to the Kumamoto General Rolling Stock Center. 58654 was officially re-registered on 26 July 1988 and test run from 28 July to 15 August between Kumamoto and Yoshimatsu pulling passenger cars. 58654 was unveiled in its current form on 22 August 1988 and began operations from there; on 28 August 1988 58654 began running SL Aso Boy services. In 1992, the locomotive was given an exterior overhaul under the supervision of Eiji Mitooka, an industrial designer who is credited with the design of many of JR Kyushu's rolling stock, being painted dark green with gold trim. From 18 July to 31 August 1999, the locomotive was repainted in a Galaxy Express 999 livery, with illustrations of Maetel and Tetsuro in one of the passenger cars. 58654 was repainted back to black in 2000, with all other gold trim removed.
Overheating bearings was discovered in 2005; a temporary solution was to have Class DE10 diesel locomotives acting as an auxiliary pusher locomotive to aid with passenger hauling work. The cause of the overheating bearings was later determined to be warped underframes which put unneeded stress on the bearings and other parts; as this was an issue which could not be repaired in the short term and the difficulty in pushing the locomotive, 58654 was taken out of service after an SL Aso Boy service on 28 August 2005. While the locomotive was stored out of service, 58654 was put on temporary static display; JR Kyushu did not remove the locomotive from the register as they had explored the possibility of restoring the locomotive to operational condition.
JR Kyushu management would later discover Hitachi still had the blueprints for the locomotive; restoration work would commence shortly after, with new underframes manufactured by Nippon Sharyo and a new boiler manufactured by Sappa Iron Works. Operations resumed on 25 April 2009, now pulling the SL Hitoyoshi service. JR Kyushu announced a special service to commemorate 58654's 100th anniversary in October 2022. Due to a lack of spare parts and the difficulty of procuring these parts and the maintenance engineers to maintain the locomotive, 58654 was taken out of service on 23 March 2024; the locomotive was said to have been transferred to Hitoyoshi City at no cost and is planned to be preserved in front of Hitoyoshi Station. JR Kyushu's last event with the locomotive was a series of events held on 2 and 3 September 2024 at the Kokura General Rolling Stock Center, where the locomotive was exhibited for photo-taking and used as a switcher locomotive within the premises.
==Gallery==
JNR 58654 Mugen 2020.jpg|58654 as the Mugen Train in November 2020
==Trivia==
*To promote the movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, 58654 and sister locomotive 8630 were temporarily cosmetically modified to match the Mugen Train as seen in the movie. 58654 ran in this guise on 1, 3, 15, 21 and 23 November 2020.
*58654 is considered a Ship of Theseus; although the locomotive appears to look similar to when it was new, it utilizes very few of its original parts, with its boiler rebuilt in 1988 and its underframes rebuilt in 2008.
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:2-6-0 locomotives
Category:2-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Hitachi locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Built in 1922
Category:JNR Class 8620
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Japanese steam locomotives