South Manchurian Railway Mikai and Mikako class

In 1918 the South Manchuria Railway, also called Mantetsu, received 25 Mikado locomotives built by ALCO. Due to their wheel arrangement, they were called “Mikai”. Only in 1924, they ordered 45 more from several Japanese manufacturers and their own Shahekou works. When the Manchukuo National was founded in 1933, they also ordered 34 very similar locomotives and called them “New National Big Mika”. The biggest numbers were built from a new type called “Mikako” that had a combustion chamber and a feedwater heater and was built between 1935 and 1945 more than 700 times. More similar locomotives were built for other railways in the area.

After World War II, they came to China, North and South Korea. 54 which had been in use by the Sentetsu were now part of the North Korean State Railway and were called “Migaha”. Many were still in use in the nineties and the last ones even survived the turn of the millennium. In the South, a similar number was put into service by the Korean National and called “Mika1”. 49 more were ordered by the US administration to be built in Japan, which were called “Mika5”. 33 of these were used by the US Army Transportation Corps.

The People's Republic of China inherited more than 1,400 and designated them JF1, standing for “Jiěfàng” (Liberation). From 1950, they built 60 more of the original design, first with remaining parts and then completely new. Between 1954 and 1960, 395 more were built of a design whose dimensions had been converted from imperial to metric. Due to additional improvements, they delivered nearly 2,000 hp. Mainline service ended in 1996, but some stayed in industrial use in the beginning of the 21^st century. Today, 13 are being preserved.