JNR Class C52

The JNR Class C52 (originally the JNR Class 8200) was a three-cylinder 4-6-2 Pacific-type steam locomotive operated by the Japanese National Railways from 1926 to 1947.
==History==
The C52s were used mainly as passenger locomotives and was an experimental locomotive of sorts when compared to other locomotives of the time. The locomotives were retired in 1947. The C52s were also used to collect data which would then be used for the construction of the C53s, and were acquired to sample the latest American three-cylinder steam technology. Six locomotives were built by the American Locomotive Company, which was the minimum order; the locomotives' tenders were built locally by Hitachi.
The exterior of the trains was much more Americanized than most, sporting details such as air compressors, Elesco or Worthington feedwater heaters, firebox doors and an automatic lubrication system. An oddity about the trains is that they were equipped with Gresley conjugated valve gear, something that was only used on one other JNR locomotive. The locomotives were also equipped with five-chime whistles.
No C52s survived into preservation. The earlier Class 8200 locomotives are unrelated to the C52s.
==Trivia==
*The C52s were the last steam locomotives to be imported into Japan; all future steam locomotives would be locally built.
==Gallery==
File:JGR -8201 (later JNR C52-2); Circa 1926.jpg
==References==
*Wikipedia.org
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Built in 1925
Category:4-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:4-6-2 locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge steam locomotives
Category:Three-cylindered locomotives
Category:ALCO locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Japanese steam locomotives
Category:Scrapped steam locomotives