JNR Class 9600

JNR Class 9600 Taiwan Railways Class DT580 China Railways Class KD5/KD55 North China Transport Soriko class (ソリコ) Central China Railway Class 9600
49699 in service in March 1973
Type and origin Reference: Power type Steam Builder Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company, Kisha Seizō, JNR - Kokura Build date 1913-1925 Total produced 770
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0 Consolidation Gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) (Chinese Railways KD55) 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) (JNR Class 9600, Taiwan Railways Administration DT580 Class) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (Chinese Railways KD5) Leading dia. 840 mm (2 ft 9 in) Driver dia. 1,250 mm (4 ft 1 in) Wheelbase 7.01 m (23 ft 0 in) Length 16.563 m (54 ft 4.1 in) Loco weight 60.35 t Total weight 94.85 t Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6 t Water cap. 13 m3 (3,434 US gal) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 2.32 m2 (25 sq ft) Boiler pressure 13 kg/cm2 (180 lbf/in2) Heating surface 154.5 m2 (1,663 sq ft) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 35.2 m2 (379 sq ft) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 50.8 cm × 61 cm (20 in × 24 in) Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures Maximum speed 65 km/h (40 mph)
Career Locale All of Japan, except Shikoku Retired 1976 Disposition 43 preserved, remainder scrapped

The Class 9600 (9600形) is a type of 2-8-0 steam locomotive built by Japanese Government Railways (JGR, after-day Japanese National Railways (JNR)) from 1913. The Class 9600 was the first type of locomotive to be mass-produced by Japanese manufacturers. The Class 9600 were popularly known as Kyuroku (nine-six), and were extensively used for freight service throughout Japan.
They were numbered 9600-9699, 19600-19699, 29600-29699, 39600-39699, 49600-49699, 59600-59699, 69600-69699 and 79600-79669. All 770 remained in service until the 2nd of March 1976, when all steam-hauled service on JNR's network has been phased out.

Service outside Japan

Taiwan Railways Administration DT580

From 1923 to 1939, Kawasaki, Kisha Seizō, Nippon Sharyō, and Hitachi built 39 9600s for the Government General of Taiwan. The Taiwan Government Railway classified them 800 class before 1937, and they were classified D98 after 1937. After World War II, they were taken over by Taiwan Railways Administration, and they were classified DT580. One engine, DT619, is being rebuilt by combining parts of scrapped locomotives after the war.

China Railway class KD5/KD55

To alleviate a severe motive power shortage on the Central China Railway, JNR locomotives were converted from Japanese narrow gauge to standard gauge and shipped to China. 251 Class 9600 locomotives were sent for use on both the Central China Railway and the North China Transportation Company (NCTC class ソリコ (Soriko)); after the Pacific War, these became China Railway class KD5. Others were rebuilt to metre gauge for operation on Yunnan's Kunming–Hekou Railway and its branches; these eventually became China Railway class KD55.

Preserved examples

As of April 2024, 43 Class 9600 locomotives are preserved at various locations in Japan. There had previously been more locomotives of the class preserved across the country, however the number of which had started drastically decreasing over the following years due to multiple allegations and negligent practices towards historic preserved steam locomotives in Japan.

Number 39685, built in 1920, has been preserved outdoors in Chuo-ku, Saitama since 1972, but was removed and cut up in September 2016 due to the prohibitive cost of restoration.

Number 29657, built in 1919, had been preserved and used for the Morimon Onsen SL Land hotel in the Niigata Prefecture of Uonuma City in 1979. But in 1998, the SL Hotel business was discontinued and the engine and its consist were left as an outdoor static display artifact for the public to view upclose. Though in 2015, it was abandoned after the Morimon Onsen Seiunkan closed in March of that same year. One of the two passenger carriages that was used for the hotel was removed sometime before or during 2014. In 2022, however, the 29657 and the last coach were unceremoniously scrapped on-site years later. To this day, it is not known why the city didn't bother to sell or donate the locomotive and carriage to anyone else, or to a railway museum willing to have them fully restored, after the Morimon Onsen Seiunkan shut down years before.

Recently as of April 22nd, 2024, number 19633, built in 1917, which was previously on display outdoors near the Wakamatsu Station in the Fukuoka Prefecture, Kitakyushu City, since 1989, which was allegedly reported to have been bought and thought to have been moved to it's new location in 2020 near the Yamaguchi Yuya Fukutaro food corporation in Soeda Town, was scrapped after being left exposed to the weather elements, deteriorating, and neglected for many years without much cosmetic maintenance.

• 
  9608 preserved at Ome Railway Park
• 
  39685 preserved in Saitama
• 
  49643 preserved in Abashiri, Hokkaido
• 
  59601 preserved in Nayoro, Hokkaido
• 
  KD55-579 preserved at the China Railway Museum
• 
  KD5-373 preserved at the China Railway Museum
• 
  DT609, one of 39 locomotives of the DT580 Class (based on the 9600 Class steam locomotives from Japan) preserved in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

See also

• Japan Railways locomotive numbering and classification
• JNR Class D50
• JNR Class D51
• JNR Class D52
• JNR Class D60
• JNR Class D61
• JNR Class D62