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South Manchurian Railway Pashina class
China Railway SL7
Manchuria | 1934
12 produced
No. 797 was the 1,500<sup>th</sup> Locomotive from Kawasaki and bears the appropriate inscription here
No. 797 was the 1,500th Locomotive from Kawasaki and bears the appropriate inscription here
Japanese National Diet Library

After Nobutarō Yoshino had already brought his experiences from ALCO in the development of Pashiko, he designed the Pashina as his true masterpiece. As the name suggests, it was again a Pacific that was particularly heavy in this case. It was one of the first steam locomotives with a complete streamlined cladding that was painted here in Prussian blue. This brought it the name “black mackerel”.

Analogous to the practices in the USA, the locomotives had a boiler with a large grate and a combustion chamber, a mechanical stoker and a feedwater heater. At the Mantetsu they were also the first locomotives with a superheater after Schmidt patent. They reached a top speed of 140 km/h and were also able to pull heavy express trains at 135 km/h.

No. 981 with improved fairing from the wind tunnel
No. 981 with improved fairing from the wind tunnel
Kawasaki

The service area of the Pashina was the prestigious Asia Limited, which ran between Dalian and Harbin. The Japanese occupying powers used the train for propaganda purposes to demonstrate the superiority of Japanese culture to the population of Manchuria. So the train and the locomotive in particular were found on stamps, postcards and even in school books.

Three engines were created in the Mantetetsu workshops in Shahekou and eight others at Kawasaki. A twelfth engine was created again at Kawasaki in 1936, whereby an optimized form of streamlined cladding was developed in the wind tunnel of the aircraft manufacturer Kawanishi.

The Asia Limited was discontinued in 1943 due to the war and the locomotives were now used for conventional express trains. From 1949 they were used by the China Railway and were called SL7 from 1959. The streamlined cladding was partially removed to simplify maintenance. The regular use ended in the eighties and two engines were preserved. One of them is fully functional and like the other machine it is located in the museum in Shenyang.

General
Built1934, 1936
ManufacturerShahekou, Kawasaki
Axle config4-6-2 (Pacific) 
Gauge4 ft 8 1/2 in (Standard gauge)
Dimensions and Weights
Length84 ft 2 13/16 in
Service weight262,791 lbs
Adhesive weight158,292 lbs
Total weight448,199 lbs
Axle load52,911 lbs
Water capacity9,774 us gal
Fuel capacity33,069 lbs (coal)
Boiler
Grate area67.3 sq ft
Firebox area315.3 sq ft
Tube heating area2,671.1 sq ft
Evaporative heating area2,986.3 sq ft
Superheater area1,100.1 sq ft
Total heating area4,086.4 sq ft
Power Plant
Driver diameter78.7 in
Boiler pressure225 psi
Expansion typesimple
Cylinderstwo, 25 3/16 x 27 15/16 in
Power
Power sourcesteam
Estimated power3,353 hp (2,500 kW)
Optimal speed50 mph
Top speed87 mph
Starting effort43,067 lbf
Calculated Values
steam locomotive
express
streamline
Nobutarō Yoshino
last changed: 01/2023
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