Rolling stock of the South Manchuria Railway
The South Manchuria Railway operated a wide variety of locomotives and powered railcars, as well as non-powered passenger and freight cars, initially of foreign (primarily American) manufacture, but later almost all equipment was manufactured in Japan and Manchukuo. Classification system. The Mantetsu main line was originally built by the Russians to 1,524 mm Russian gauge. During the Russo-Japanese War it was rebuilt by the Imperial Japanese Army to 1,067 mm Cape gauge as used in Japan, and rolling stock from Japan was used on the line. Additionally, the Anpo Line from  Andong on the Korea-Manchuria border to Fengtian was also initially a narrow-gauge railway built by the army during the Russo-Japanese War. Thus, after the South Manchuria Railway began operation in 1907, it used the narrow-gauge equipment already on these lines, even as work to convert the lines to standard gauge took place. The vehicle classification system used by Mantetsu was changed several times over its years of operation. These can be divided into four periods: The Manchukuo National Railway also used the Mantetsu classification system, as did the North China Transportation Company. The Chosen Government Railway  used a classification system very similar to the Mantetsu system. Locomotives. Period 1. The numbering system is unclear for Period 1. Some locomotives – the 2-6-4 tank locomotives later designated Dabui-class, the 2-8-0 tender locomotives that became Sorii-class, and the 2-8-0 tender locomotives that became Sorini class – were numbered starting at 1, but there was no system of type classification. Period 2. The first system of type classification for locomotives consisted of a letter of the Roman alphabet to indicate the wheel arrangement based on the American names used for the given arrangement . If a second class of locomotive of the same wheel arrangement was introduced, this was indicated by a class number, which followed the type indicator letter. This class designator was then followed by the road number, counted starting at 1. Period 3. Steam locomotives. As in Period 2, the American-style wheel arrangement was used as the basis for the classification system introduced in 1920. However, in the new system, the American name was used as the basis for the class name, using two syllables of the American name as the new class name. The class name was made up  of three katakana, of which the first two indicated the wheel arrangement, and the third indicated the class number – i.e. first, second, third, etc. of a given wheel arrangement. This was followed by a unit serial number in Roman numerals. The first two katakana indicated the wheel arrangement, derived from the American naming system: Other powered rolling stock. Self-moving rolling stock powered by something other than steam used a different system, which indicated the type of powerplant. Railway cranes were also classified like this. The third katakana in the class name was the class number, derived from the first  syllable of the corresponding Japanese number: Period 4. When the operation and management of the Manchukuo National Railway and of the North China Transportation Company were transferred to Mantetsu, their rolling stock was incorporated into the Mantetsu classification system. The naming system of Period 3 remained in use, but a new numbering system was introduced for road numbers. Numbers 1–500 were allocated to Mantetsu, numbers 501–1500 to the Manchukuo National, and numbers above 1501 to North China Transportation. Thus, パシニ37, パシニ508, and パシニ1523 would all be locomotives of the same class, but the number indicates their ownership. Passenger cars. The  type of car was indicated with one or two katakana, followed by a road number of one to four digits which indicated ownership and serial number. Mantetsu 3rd class coaches were numbered in the 1–2000 range, whilst 3rd class coaches of the Manchukuo National were numbered in the 2001–4000 range. Passenger cars of other types belonging to Mantetsu were numbered in the 1–200 range, and those belonging to the Manchukuo National were numbered in the 201–400 range. Suffixes were used to express certain specific features of a given car type. オ ("O") indicated cars with independent heating, フ ("Fu") indicated  that the car had a cabin for a train attendant, and フセ ("FuSe") indicated that the car had a control cabin for a train attendant. Freight cars. The type of car was indicated with one or two katakana, followed by a road number. Railcars. Period 2. The only powered railcars in use during Period 2 were inspection cars. There was no separate classification system for these; instead, they were classified the same way as locomotives, using the type designation "I" (from "Inspection"). Period 3. The first railcars for passenger use appeared during this time. Passenger railcars were classified into two  types based on the ignition method of the engine. Passenger railcars and inspection railcars used a different numbering system. Inspection railcars used a katakana type symbol, a class designation number if needed, and a road number. Passenger railcars added a marker to indicate passenger class. Railcars owned by the Manchukuo National Railway were indicated by prefixing 國 ("nation") to the designation. Period 4. The system used in Period 3 was continued, with some modifications. The use of 國 to mark railcars owned by the Manchukuo National was abolished. Locomotives. Through Periods 1 and 2, locomotives imported from the United States  dominated, as prior to the construction of the Japan did not have the capability to build large steam locomotives for trunk lines. From about the middle of Period 3, such locomotives built in Japan and at Mantetsu's Shahekou Works began to appear, eventually eliminating imports entirely. Powered railcars. Passenger railcars. Due to the inefficiencies of mixed trains for passenger services due to the long station stops needed for the shunting of freight cars to their destinations, Mantetsu opted to begin using passenger railcars on routes with lower passenger demand, for school shuttles, and the like. These railcars were somewhat  different in character from those found in Japan, where they were introduced primarily as a competitive measure against the arrival of busses. As a result of experimentation with different technologies and fuel types (diesel, petrol, heavy oil, kerosene, etc.), there were a comparatively large number of classes of railcar operated over a relatively short period of time. Eventually, Mantetsu settled on railcars with petrol engines and mechanical transmission, and such railcars became the most numerous. Aside from a number built by the Shahekou Works, these railcars were for the most part built by Nippon Sharyō in Japan. Although most were  introduced in Period 3, due to the overlap in the Mantetsu and Manchurian National classifications of railcars, the list below is presented in the order of the unified classification scheme of 1938 (Period 4). Passenger cars. Like with locomotives, in Periods 1 and 2 most passenger cars were imported from the US.