Kamaishi Mine Railway Class E

The Kamaishi Mine Railway Class E consisted of a single 0-4-0 side-tank steam locomotive used on the Kamaishi Mine Railway in Iwate Prefecture. The specifications reflects the locomotive's condition after its last rebuild.
==History==
The Kamaishi Mine Railway started out as a horse-drawn tramway in 1884. Due to increase in traffic, it was decided to introduce steam traction on the line in 1910. An order was placed with John Cockerill of Belgium via Dodwell & Co. of Tokyo for one locomotive. This was one of only two locomotives built by Cockerill to be imported to Japan.¹ 
The locomotive was delivered in the form of saturated, two-cylinder, outside-framed 0-4-0 side-tank locomotive, with an operating and maintenance weight of 10 t. It had a boiler pressure of 146 psi, a cylinder bore of 280 mm, a stroke of 360 mm, and a driving wheel diameter of 760 mm. The construction of the locomotive is utterly different from that of the small German and American locomotives which were common in Japan, such as the large steam dome that penetrates into the cab. It was equipped with Walschearts valve gear with the crosshead supported by two sliding bars. The water tanks were long, tall riveted structures running from just above the cylinder to the driver's cab, with a total capacity of 1.7 m3. The coupling was a standard chain and link type, completed with two sets of buffers on each side.
The locomotive was classified as E and numbered 2 on the railway's roster, and was mainly used to transport ore on the line. 
The locomotive was rebuilt several times during its working life. 
The exact date is unknown, but at some point after 1920, modifications were made at the Amemiya Seisakusho in Fukagawa, Tokyo. The boiler pressure was increased to 181 psi, while the construction remained largely unchanged, including its appearance. Simultaneously, the cylinders were moved from the front to the rear of the locomotive, and as a result, the valve gear was also reversed from front to rear.
In 1939, the locomotive went through its final rebuild, which involved a complete redesign of its construction. The new design was likely based on either the 20-ton 0-6-0 Class 2000, built by Hitachi in the same year, or the 0-6-2 Class C1 20, another 20-ton type, which was built by Nippon Sharyo and other companies from 1933. The old boiler was replaced with a straight boiler of general construction, and the working pressure was increased to 191 psi. The firegrate and total heating area were reduced, and the total weight was increased from 10.75 t to 15.0 t. The outside frame was changed to an inside frame, and new side tanks were installed, with the front cut at an angle to enhance visibility. The cab was also newly manufactured and fitted. The cylinder was rearranged and reversed, and returned to its original position in front of the first pair of driving wheels. As a result of these modifications, the final appearance of the locomotive was no different from that of industrial steam locomotives from Japanese manufacturers. 
By the time the locomotive was rebuilt, it had been classified as B11 and numbered 151.
Due to the large number of Class 2000s and Class C1 20s added to the fleet during WW2, and the decline in transport demand on the Kamaishi Mine Railway after the war, No. 151 was rendered redundant along with some other locomotives.
In 1947, No. 151 was sold to the Ikasa Railway in Okayama Prefecture for 61,014 yen.² The company replaced the coupling with their own standard pin-link type and registered the locomotive in April 1948 as Class B15, numbered 9. 
Unfortunately, the locomotive couldn't withstand the heavy axle load of 7.5 t due to the fragile track conditions in Ikasa, where the maximum axle road was only 4.5 t. This resulted in several incidents, mainly broken tracks, making it almost impractical for use.³ After operating for less than a year, the company was forced to halt the locomotive's operation.⁴ No. 9 was then pushed to the back of the shed at the Kujiba and remained there for a long time until October 1961, when it was finally considered to be withdrawn from service. However, despite being rarely operated in Ikasa, its rarity was recognized by the Ikasa Railway head office after the publishing of a book called "SL No. 1" in 1965 which introduced the fact that it was built in Belgium.⁵ 
In June 1968, No. 9 was displayed in the park set up under the overpass on the west side of Kasaoka Station, near the headquarters of the Ikasa Railway. It was later loaned to a theme park in Kyoto Prefecture for exhibit, before being transffered to Nanokaichi Park in Ibara. It remained on display there until 2015, when it was relocated to an auto-camping site in the same region, where it still remains today.
== Gallery ==
Kamaishi Class E.jpg|Builder's photo
==Notes==
#The other example was a 0-4-2 side tank locomotive with W/No. 2825 of 1911, which was delivered to the Tsugaru Forest Railway.
#Many local railways in Japan were increasing their steam locomotive fleets since there was a shortage of transport capacity due to the worsening fuel situation and a sharp increase in the number of shoppers. In the Ikasa area, the Shimotsui Railway and Tomo Railway had also acquired locomotives left over from the Kamaishi Mine Railway.
#It is not clear why Ikasa did not purchase a locomotive with lighter axle load of 5 tons, which was available from Kamaishi at the time.
#It is said that No. 9 was purchased as a backup to be used while repairing the existing fleet, which had been badly worn out during the war. However, even after the locomotive entered service, Ikasa acquired No. 10 from Tateyama Heavy Industries and No. 8 from JNR, indicating that there were still issues, even as a spare locomotive.
#In reality, however, only some parts of the valve gear and the cylinders, which are found to be stamped serial number SJC2763, remain as manufactured in Belgium in 1910.
==References==
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:0-4-0 locomotives
Category:0-4-0 steam locomotives
Category:Cockerill locomotives
Category:Four-coupled locomotives
Category:Tank locomotives
Category:Side tank locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Japanese steam locomotives
Category:Built in 1910
Category:Sole survivor
Category:0-4-0T steam locomotives
Category:0-4-0T locomotives
Category:Mining locomotives