What might have been: 2-10-2 santa fe type

[bikkuri bahn]

Borrowed from the city library the book "maboroshi no kokutetsu sharyo", roughly translates as "JNR rolling stock of fantasy" or "phantom JNR rolling stock".  Anyway, lots of information of rolling stock that never made it off the drawing board in this book.  One that caught my eye was the (model designation) KE50 santa fe (2-10-2) type.  I knew of this steam locomotive, but had little information about it.  As it never made it past the design stage, there are few visual depictions beyond simple line drawings.  However, this book has drawing by railway artist Yasuyoshi Kuroiwa, which I have a low quality pic of below.

 

Data of KE50:

Design proposal- 1943, intended as a supplement to the D52 heavy mikado type, able to pull a 1200 ton freight train up a 1% grade

Firebox grate- same as D52

Boiler tubes- 500mm longer than D52, boiler diameter same as D52

Driving wheels diameter- 1250mm (same as 9600 type)

Cylinder bore and stroke- 550mm x 660mm (same as D52)

Boiler pressure- 16.0kg/square cm (same as D52)

Axle load- 14 tons (D52 is 16.28 tons)

Performance- 12% more cylinder power than the D52

Same cab and tender as D52

 

The D52 itself was a war locomotive, put into service to handle the increase in freight traffic as a result of diversion from ships (due to Allied interdiction of coastal shipping routes).  The KE50 was never built, probably due to scarcity of resources as the war conditions got progressively worse.  The D52, originally rated at 1100 tons up a 1% grade, was instead pressed into hauling the 1200 ton freights the KE50 was designed to handle.

 

All data and picture from the book maboroshi no kokutetsu sharyo JTB Publishing 2007.

[Fenway Park]

Hi

 

Thanks for the information. I did not know about this proposed class.  Are there any other steam designs in the book?

 

Perhaps Micro Ace will bring out the KE50 as they issued the C63.

[westfalen]

Interesting. Most countries/railways had designs for new steam locomotives like this that never made it past the drawing board because of impending dieselisation or as in this case the intervention of WW2.

[bikkuri bahn]

Hi

 

Thanks for the information. I did not know about this proposed class.  Are there any other steam designs in the book?

 

Perhaps Micro Ace will bring out the KE50 as they issued the C63.

 

Yes, there are many others, including a 4-8-2 3 cylinder type contemporary with the D50.  I would love an HO scale KE50...

[westfalen]

Just out of curiosity why KE50? What would the K have stood for, normal classification would surely have called it E50.

[bikkuri bahn]

Just out of curiosity why KE50? What would the K have stood for, normal classification would surely have called it E50.

 

Just a guess, but the K may indicate "keikaku" (plan) in Japanese.  So its essentially like an "X" designation such as used in aerospace designs.

[marknewton]

WOW! I like it! An HO model of this brute would be very appealing.

 

We never had any 10-coupled steam locos in Australia, so I've always been rather fascinated by them. I was fortunate enough to spend a day firing on a German 2-10-0 many years ago, it was an experience I'll never forget.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.