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Tokyo-Yokohama Vulcan 2-4-0 No. 1

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Description

The first railway in Japan opened in October 1872, connecting Tokyo Shimbashi Station to Yokohama Station by what is now called the Keihin Line.  Its first steam locomotive, 2-4-0 tank engine No. 1, pulled the inaugural passenger train from Tokyo to Yokohama in about an hour, during which many people in Kanto flew the national flag and bands played the national anthem "Kimi-ga-yo."  No. 1 was built by Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England and later rebuilt several times, notably in 1909 by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), during which it gained a higher-pitched boiler, a new cab, and a dome from a 5000-class 0-4-2 engine. 

No. 1 was retired in 1930 and put on display in the Tokyo Transport Museum.  Since October 2007, the 135th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo-Yokohama railway, the locomotive has sat on display at the new Saitama Railway Museum in Omiya.  As the Meiji government's "advisers" on railways were mostly British, Japanese railways started their history with a strong British influence, of which some elements remain in the 21st century, such as driving on the left side of the tracks and building the railway stations with high platforms.  One of these advisers, Francis H. Trevithick, was the grandson of steam locomotive inventor Richard Trevithick of Cornwall.
Image size
3042x2438px 1.72 MB
Make
NIKON
Model
COOLPIX S6300
Shutter Speed
10/40 second
Aperture
F/3.2
Focal Length
5 mm
ISO Speed
400
Date Taken
Jun 4, 2015, 11:21:45 PM
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Comments5
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Swiftwin4ds's avatar
It's a miracle that this engine wasn't destroyed by allied bombers.