JNR Class C59

The JNR Class C59 is a 4-6-2 Pacific-type steam locomotive built for the JNR from 1941 to 1947.
==History==
The C59s were used mainly as passenger locomotives and were essentially the successor locomotives to the Class C53 locomotives which were infamous for being difficult to maintain due to their use of Gresley conjugated valve gear. The locomotives practically replaced the C53s in their role and served in that capacity until 1970, at which point they were retired. 
A total of 173 locomotives were produced from 1941 to 1947 (with a hiatus between 1943 and 1946 due to World War II) by three manufacturers: Hitachi, Kawasaki Sharyō (now known as Kawasaki Heavy Industries) and Kisha Seizō (now defunct). Those produced from 1941 to 1943 are known as prewar-specification locomotives while those produced from 1946 to 1947 are known as postwar-specification locomotives.
Three locomotives have been preserved.
==Preservation==
The following Class C59 locomotives have been preserved:
Number 	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Serial number	Date withdrawn 	Location 	Notes
C59 1 	Kisha Seizō 	24 May 1941 	2000 	22 October 1965 	Kyushu Railway History Museum, Kitakyushu, Kyushu, Japan 	Displayed indoors; 2000th locomotive produced by Kisha Seizō
C59 161	Hitachi 	4 July 1946 	1996 	28 November 1970	5-Days Children's Cultural Science Museum, Hiroshima, Japan	Displayed outdoors
C59 162	Hitachi 	23 July 1946 	1997 	10 October 1970 	Fuchū Community Center, Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan 	Driving wheel and smoke box door only; plinthed on rail
C59 164	Hitachi 	31 July 1946 	1999 	28 March 1979 	Kyoto Railway Museum, Kyoto, Japan 	Displayed in roundhouse, occasionally wheeled onto turntable; operational at museum until 1979
The following Class C59 locomotives were preserved in the past but have since been scrapped:
Number 	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Serial number	Date withdrawn 	Last location 	Notes
C59 166	Hitachi 	31 July 1946 	2001 	6 February 1963	JR West Staff Training Center, Osaka, Japan	Displayed outdoors; scrapped September 2006
==Trivia==
* The locomotives are popularly known as Shigoku or Shigokyū (C59 in Japanese) among railfans.
==Gallery==
File:JNR C59 164 2022.jpg
File:JNR C59 1 2023.jpg
==References==
*Wikipedia.org
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:4-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:4-6-2 locomotives
Category:Hitachi locomotives
Category:Kawasaki locomotives
Category:Kisha Seizō locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge steam locomotives
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Japanese steam locomotives