JGR 4-4-0 Locomotives

[Szdfan]

I was looking at my copy of O.S. Nock’s Railways in the Formative Years 1851-1895. While the illustrations in Nock’s classic books are wonderful, he leaves out a lot of crucial information, like class numbers. 
 

I have questions about the two locomotives on the left side of the scanned page linked below:
 

https://www.deviantart.com/steamrailwaycompany/art/Anglican-and-American-Locos-of-Japan-524551838

 

They both look to me like a JGR Class 5100: 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JGR_Class_5100

 
However, according to Nock’s brief explanation, the top locomotive was used with the Royal train. 

Does anyone know what the story is? Are they both Class 5100? Are they different classes? 
 

I loved Nock’s book as a kid, but I’m frustrated by the lack of details and errors in the text. I’m having to go research and fact check in his entries.

 

A related question: is there a resident 19th Century Japanese railways expert on this forum?

Update: After staring a bit more at Nock’s drawings and comparing them to the photo of the 5100, I’m more convinced that the top locomotive is a 5100 and the bottom left belongs to a different class…but which class?

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Szdfan

[marknewton]

The other 4-4-0 is a 5130 class engine.

 

 

On 6/15/2021 at 2:28 PM, Szdfan said:

A related question: is there a resident 19th Century Japanese railways expert on this forum?

I wouldn't rate myself as an expert, but I have some knowledge of C19th railways in Japan. There's a book by Dan Free which is a very useful resource for that period.

 

https://www.booktopia.com.au/early-japanese-railways-1853-1914-dan-free/ebook/9781462907212.html

 

If your specific interest is the steam locos of this period then this book is worth finding:

 

 

"Steam Engines of The Meiji Era" features the photos taken by Shiro Watanabe. It's hard to find and usually expensive - and so worth having. 😉

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

 

 

[SL58654号]

On 6/15/2021 at 1:28 PM, Szdfan said:

I was looking at my copy of O.S. Nock’s Railways in the Formative Years 1851-1895. While the illustrations in Nock’s classic books are wonderful, he leaves out a lot of crucial information, like class numbers. 
 

I have questions about the two locomotives on the left side of the scanned page linked below:
 

https://www.deviantart.com/steamrailwaycompany/art/Anglican-and-American-Locos-of-Japan-524551838

 

They both look to me like a JGR Class 5100: 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JGR_Class_5100

 
However, according to Nock’s brief explanation, the top locomotive was used with the Royal train. 

Does anyone know what the story is? Are they both Class 5100? Are they different classes? 
 

I loved Nock’s book as a kid, but I’m frustrated by the lack of details and errors in the text. I’m having to go research and fact check in his entries.

 

A related question: is there a resident 19th Century Japanese railways expert on this forum?

Update: After staring a bit more at Nock’s drawings and comparing them to the photo of the 5100, I’m more convinced that the top locomotive is a 5100 and the bottom left belongs to a different class…but which class?

 

I love the imported engines Japan once had. That was my post of deviantart, by the by.

Yes, the two left-side engines are class 5100 (D2) on top and 5130 (D4), respectively. 
In O.S. Nock's books, all of which I own, I loved the inclusion of the American-built Japanese engines as well. (7950 and 6120)
Of course he was lacking in some certain details, but at the time there was a scarcity of information on Japanese railways available, at least in the Anglo-sphere.
But, that was long before the internet.