JGR Class 1290

The JGR Class 1290 (originally the JGR Class H) is a 0-6-0T Switcher-type saddle tank steam locomotive operated by the Japanese Government Railways from 1875 to 1930.
==History==
The Class 1290 was an early steam locomotive operated in Japan. The type was ordered by the JGR, with two locomotives built by Manning Wardle and Company in the United Kingdom in 1873 and imported into Japan in 1875. These were assigned the Class H and numbered 22 and 24; these were later reclassified as the Class B1 but retained their numbers. A third locomotive was ordered by the Nippon Railway in 1881, delivered in 1882, classified the Class M3/3 and numbered A1 (although only "1" was displayed on the boiler); this locomotive was nicknamed Zenkō as it was transported to the back of Zenkōji Temple in Saitama where it was assembled.
When both railroads were nationalized in 1909, the locomotives were reclassified as the Class 1290 and numbered 1290 through 1292. The locomotives changed hands a number of times afterwards, although all were retired by 1930. One Class 1290, 1292, the locomotive nicknamed Zenkō, survives today. The locomotive was retired in 1923 and moved to the Tokyo Railway Training Complex in Ikebukuro in 1930; the locomotive was then moved to the Transportation Museum in Chiyoda in 1942, where it remained until 2006 when the museum closed. The locomotive was designated as a Railway Monument in October 1959. After the closure of the Transportation Museum, the locomotive was relocated to The Railway Museum in Saitama in 2007, where it remains today.
The Class 1290 is the only known locomotive ordered by the JGR manufactured by Manning Wardle, as well as the only locomotive operated by the JGR with only internal cylinders.
==Preservation==
The following Class 1290 locomotives have been preserved:
Image	Number 	Manufacturer 	Date manufactured	Serial number	Date withdrawn 	Location 	Notes
 	1292 Zenkō	Manning Wardle	17 October 1881 	815 	27 December 1923	The Railway Museum, Saitama, Japan	Displayed indoors
==Gallery==
JGR 1292 Plate.jpg|Builder's plate
JGR 1292 Underbody.jpg|Underbody
JGR 1292 Cylinders.jpg|Cylinders
File:JGR 1292 2022.jpg
==Trivia==
*There are a number of theories regarding as to why the serial numbers of the two locomotives manufactured in 1873 are not consecutive. One theory states that a locomotive was ordered by the Japan Mint, and another states that a Class A2 locomotive was being manufactured at the time; however, none of these theories have been confirmed.
==References==
Category:Locomotives
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:0-6-0 locomotives
Category:0-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:0-6-0T locomotives
Category:Manning Wardle locomotives
Category:Nippon Railway trains
Category:Chiba trains
Category:British locomotives
Category:Sole survivor
Category:Japanese steam locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:0-6-0T steam locomotives
Category:Saddle tank locomotives
Category:0-6-0ST steam locomotives
Category:Built in 1873
Category:Built in 1881