JNR1 2-8-2 No. D51-200
Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan 		Location: Kyoto Railway Museum
Status: Operational
Abbreviation Expansion English
1 JNR Japanese National Railways Japanese National Railways
Posted: Nov 3, 2025 @ 19:11:01 by Yuki Taki
Please change status back to "Operational". The locomotive has been putting on a stellar performance all through October. Fingers crossed that she will continue to perform well to round off this challenging operation season. 2026 will see C57-1 return to traffic if all goes well, which will allow D51-200 to receive some well-deserved attention to her running gear.
Posted: Sep 21, 2025 @ 06:09:16 by Yuki Taki
After a hurculean effort on the part of the team at Shin Yamaguchi Depot and members from the Steam Maintenance Team from Umekouji Depot, D51-200 returned to traffic in time to pull the Yamaguchi excursion over the long weekend. She ran a loaded test run on the wee hours of the morning on Sept 19, and returned to revenue running on Sept 20.
Posted: Sep 17, 2025 @ 23:09:48 by Yuki Taki
Further information on the nature of the failure for D51-200 has come to light. According to JR West company president Mr Kurasaka, the component that failed was the right main rod bushing. Judging by the photographs currently circulating on X, it appears that the right main rod bushing ran dry, melted the babbitt metal and slung molten metal all over the right side of the engine. They were able to find the problem and stop the locomotive before the rod seized, fortunately, and the locomotive is, at the time of writing, stored safely at Shin-Yamaguchi.
Posted: Sep 15, 2025 @ 06:09:54 by Yuki Taki
First D51-498 and now D51-200 too. While pulling the Yamaguchi excursion train today, D51-200 ran a hot axlebox on the main driver. No word yet on the severity of the damage. With both C57-1 and D51-200 out of action, the Yamaguchi excursions for the rest of the year will most likely be hauled by a class DD51 diesel.
Posted: Apr 16, 2024 @ 13:04:58 by
Status should be changed to operational. D51-200 ran test runs on the Hokuriku mainline on April 3rd, coupled to EF65-1135 (an electric loco) and a Suhafu passenger coach
Posted: Dec 11, 2023 @ 05:12:58 by Achim
c/n is 25
Posted: May 28, 2023 @ 23:05:45 by Yuki Taki
Please change status to "Repair" or "Overhaul". The locomotive failed with severe cracks discovered in its tender undercarriage in May 2022. After being towed back to Kyoto in June, the locomotive has sat dormant for the remainder of the 2022 season. It was dismantled for inspection in December, and has not been put back together as of May 2023.
Posted: Jul 4, 2021 @ 15:07:24 by Jeremy Yoder
Operated the SL-Kitabiwako from 1995-2021 to promote tourism in the Hubei area. Train was suspended in May 2021 due to Covid restrictions and difficulty obtaining parts.