These were the largest and fastest steam passenger locomotives to run in Japan, and hauled the ''[[Tsubame (train)|Tsubame]]'' (swallow) express on the [[Tōkaidō Main Line]] between {{STN|Tokyo|x}} and {{STN|Osaka|x}}. Only South Africa operated more powerful Cape gauge locomotives.<ref name="slj">Naotaka Hirota ''Steam Locomotives of Japan'' (1972) Kodansha International Ltd. p.8 {{ISBN|0-87011-185-X}}</ref> Forty-nine C62s were built from 1948 to 1949.<ref name="inoue1999">{{cite book | last = Inoue| first = Kōichi | title = 国鉄機関車辞典 |trans-title=JNR Locomotive Encyclopedia| publisher = Sankaido| year = 1999 | location = Japan| pages =48–49 | isbn = 4-381-10338-6}}</ref> Five C62s hauled the ''Teine'' express in [[Hokkaido]] between {{STN|Otaru|x}} and {{STN|Hakodate|x}} after they were displaced by electrification of the Tōkaidō Main Line. Two locomotives were used to double-head trains on the 2.5[[Percent|%]] (1:40) [[Grade (slope)#Railways|grades]] between Otaru and {{STN|Oshamambe|x}}, where they were a popular tourist and railfan attraction until 1971.<ref name="slj"/> The last examples in regular service were withdrawn in 1973.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
These were the largest and fastest steam passenger locomotives to run in Japan, and hauled the ''[[Tsubame (train)|Tsubame]]'' (swallow) express on the [[Tōkaidō Main Line]] between {{STN|Tokyo|x}} and {{STN|Osaka|x}}. Only South Africa operated more powerful Cape gauge locomotives.<ref name="slj">Naotaka Hirota ''Steam Locomotives of Japan'' (1972) Kodansha International Ltd. p.8 {{ISBN|0-87011-185-X}}</ref> Forty-nine C62s were built from 1948 to 1949.<ref name="inoue1999">{{cite book | last = Inoue| first = Kōichi | title = 国鉄機関車辞典 |trans-title=JNR Locomotive Encyclopedia| publisher = Sankaido| year = 1999 | location = Japan| pages =48–49 | isbn = 4-381-10338-6}}</ref> Five C62s hauled the ''Teine'' express in [[Hokkaido]] between {{STN|Otaru|x}} and {{STN|Hakodate|x}} after they were displaced by electrification of the Tōkaidō Main Line. Two locomotives were used to double-head trains on the 2.5[[Percent|%]] (1:40) [[Grade (slope)#Railways|grades]] between Otaru and {{STN|Oshamambe|x}}, where they were a popular tourist and railfan attraction until 1971.<ref name="slj"/> The last examples in regular service were withdrawn in 1973.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
A C62 locomotive, C62 17, broke the [[Railway speed record#Conventional wheeled – Narrow gauge|speed record for a narrow-gauge steam locomotive]] on 15 December 1954 when it reached 129 km/h (80.2 mph) on the [[Tōkaidō Main Line]]. This locomotive was preserved in a park in Nagoya,<ref name="dj295">{{cite magazine| title = 静態保存蒸機C62 17の現況|trans-title=Current status of statically preserved C62 16|magazine=Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine | volume = 37| issue = 295| page =61| publisher = Kōtsū Shimbun | location = Japan | date = November 2008}}</ref> and later moved to the [[SCMaglev and Railway Park]] in Nagoya.<ref name="dj324">{{cite magazine| title = 「リニア・鉄道館」ファーストガイド|trans-title="SCMaglev and Railway Park" First Guide|magazine=Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine | volume = 40| issue = 324|pages=20–33| publisher = Kōtsū Shimbun | location = Japan | date = April 2011}}</ref>
A C62 locomotive, C62 17, broke the [[Railway speed record#Conventional wheeled – Narrow gauge|speed record for a narrow-gauge steam locomotive]] on 15 December 1954 when it reached 130 km/h (81 mph) on the [[Tōkaidō Main Line]]. This locomotive was preserved in a park in Nagoya,<ref name="dj295">{{cite magazine| title = 静態保存蒸機C62 17の現況|trans-title=Current status of statically preserved C62 16|magazine=Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine | volume = 37| issue = 295| page =61| publisher = Kōtsū Shimbun | location = Japan | date = November 2008}}</ref> and later moved to the [[SCMaglev and Railway Park]] in Nagoya.<ref name="dj324">{{cite magazine| title = 「リニア・鉄道館」ファーストガイド|trans-title="SCMaglev and Railway Park" First Guide|magazine=Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine | volume = 40| issue = 324|pages=20–33| publisher = Kōtsū Shimbun | location = Japan | date = April 2011}}</ref>
C62 2, one of the five remaining C62s until the withdrawal from the mainline Niseko Express in 1972, has been preserved in working order at the [[Kyoto Railway Museum]]. However, it now only hauls two carriages on an 800-metre track within the museum premises. C62 2 has been the most popular among all the 49 C62s, likely due to the stainless steel swallow emblems attached to its deflectors when it was part of the special locomotives for the [[Tōkaidō Main Line|Tokaido Mainline]] [[Tsubame (train)#Post-war|Tsubame]] (swallow) service in the 1950s. The locomotive has been given the nickname 'swallow angel' because of these emblems.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-13 |title='Swallow angel' comes back after 3 years of silence |url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHC1103B_S2A510C1AC8000/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=[[The Nikkei]] |language=ja}}</ref>
C62 2, one of the five remaining C62s until the withdrawal from the mainline Niseko Express in 1972, has been preserved in working order at the [[Kyoto Railway Museum]]. However, it now only hauls two carriages on an 800-metre track within the museum premises. C62 2 has been the most popular among all the 49 C62s, likely due to the stainless steel swallow emblems attached to its deflectors when it was part of the special locomotives for the [[Tōkaidō Main Line|Tokaido Mainline]] [[Tsubame (train)#Post-war|Tsubame]] (swallow) service in the 1950s. The locomotive has been given the nickname 'swallow angel' because of these emblems.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-13 |title='Swallow angel' comes back after 3 years of silence |url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHC1103B_S2A510C1AC8000/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=[[The Nikkei]] |language=ja}}</ref>
These were the largest and fastest steam passenger locomotives to run in Japan, and hauled the Tsubame (swallow) express on the Tōkaidō Main Line between Template:STN and Template:STN. Only South Africa operated more powerful Cape gauge locomotives.[1] Forty-nine C62s were built from 1948 to 1949.[2] Five C62s hauled the Teine express in Hokkaido between Template:STN and Template:STN after they were displaced by electrification of the Tōkaidō Main Line. Two locomotives were used to double-head trains on the 2.5% (1:40) grades between Otaru and Template:STN, where they were a popular tourist and railfan attraction until 1971.[1] The last examples in regular service were withdrawn in 1973.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
C62 2, one of the five remaining C62s until the withdrawal from the mainline Niseko Express in 1972, has been preserved in working order at the Kyoto Railway Museum. However, it now only hauls two carriages on an 800-metre track within the museum premises. C62 2 has been the most popular among all the 49 C62s, likely due to the stainless steel swallow emblems attached to its deflectors when it was part of the special locomotives for the Tokaido MainlineTsubame (swallow) service in the 1950s. The locomotive has been given the nickname 'swallow angel' because of these emblems.[5]
C62 3 returned to mainline service to commemorate the privatisation of the Japanese National Railways in the 1980s. However, the high cost of keeping one of the largest locomotives ever to exist on Japanese rail mainlines operational eventually left the operator no option but to withdraw it in 1995, when its boiler certificate expired.[6] Its withdrawal left C62 2 the only operational C62.
Preserved examples
Template:As of, five Class C62 locomotives were preserved at various locations around the country.[7]
C62 2 (formerly D52 455): Preserved in working order by JR West at the Kyoto Railway Museum.[7] This locomotive wears a stainless steel swallow on its smoke deflector as a reminder of the era when it hauled the famous Tsubame express.[1]
The C62 has achieved a level of fame due in part to the manga/anime series Galaxy Express 999, in which the express is pulled by an advanced space locomotive that is built to replicate a C62.
The founders of Hudson Soft, rail fan brothers Yuji and Hiroshi Kudo, were fond of the C62 and other 4-6-4 locomotives,[8] so they named their company after the wheel arrangement's Hudson nickname. Japan picked up the term from the USA (where the first 4-6-4 built was named after the Hudson River), the C60, C61, and C62 used many American design elements and conventions in their designs, apparently including class names. Hudson Soft also named a number of products after the C62, including the development kit for the PC Engine,[9][10] and a chip (Hu62) that was used in a later version of the hardware.[11] It was also the code name for their console before they settled on PC Engine.[12]
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