Following the "slug locomotive" in Nagareyama City of Chiba Prefecture, I'm going to show you the other rare steam locomotive (SL). That's Unit 235 of the Class D52 (D52 235), preserved in Kanuma Park, Sagamihara City of Kanagawa Prefecture.
To start, let me quickly review the Class D52. It's a 2-8-2 (Whyte notation) type SL that has a tender attached. A total of 285 units of the Class D52 were built from 1943 to 1946 in the closing days of World War II. It's 21.105 meters long, and weighs 74.42 tons. The driving wheel diameter is 1,400 millimeters. It produces an output of 1,433kW and a maximum speed of 85 kilometers per hour. Their main function was to pull 1,200 ton-class heavy freight trains.
Let's get down to the main topic. D52 235, which is currently preserved in Kanuma Park, was built by Kawasaki-sharyo in 1946. After operating for 27 years, it was retired from the track in 1973. D52 235 was then taken over by Sagamihara City in 1975. When I saw it in the park, I was surprised that this SL has a very large boiler. In contrast, the smokestack was very small. It's probably because the size of the D52 had to be kept under the limits of the vehicle. Another surprise was D53 235 had a very good state of preservation. It's maintained by a local volunteers' group named "Sagamihara D52 Preservation Society". I would like to thank everyone involved in preserving D52 235 in Sagamihara City.
