I recently had a chance to visit the Tokai region with my family for the first time in six years. The Tokai area is relatively warm, allowing visitors to enjoy autumn colors for a long period. Since it was a family trip, I had been refraining from trainspotting. However, when I saw an extremely rare working steam locomotive at Shin-Kanaya Station on the Ōigawa (Ooigawa) Railway, I couldn’t help immersing myself in photographing it.
Please take a look at the top photo. Here it is — Unit 8 of the Class C10 steam locomotive (hereafter C10 8). It is neither preserved nor on display; it is still very much active on the tracks. How beautifully maintained it is!
The Class C10 debuted in 1930 to replace the Japanese Government Railways’ aging locomotives. It is a 2-6-4 tank locomotive (Whyte notation), and a total of 23 units were built. C10 8 was manufactured by Kawasaki Sharyō. The Class C10 looks similar to its younger colleague, the Class C11, but for example, the bottom of the driver’s cab door on the C10 is higher than that of the C11 (see the photo below). More importantly, the C10 has a larger axle load than the C11, so the Class C10 locomotives were mainly operated on trunk lines.
After 31 years of service, C10 8 was retired from the Japanese National Railways (formerly the Japanese Government Railways) in 1961 and was transferred to the Ōigawa Railway in 1997. Today, C10 8 is the only surviving Class C10 steam locomotive. None have been preserved or exhibited in museums or parks.
