D51-498 was this loco special?

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Having just seen something unusual and knowing this particular numbered loco was modelled by Tomy as one of their rarer PlaRail 'smoke and sound' loco's it just occured to me was this particular loco something special when in service?

Was it maybe used to pull the emperor's train?

Was it a speed or distance record holder?

Was it maybe just the first of a new variant of the D51 series? Or conversely maybe the last of the line?

Anyone know anything about D51-498 that made it special?!?
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
All I can add is a little knowledge that there are, at least, 2 different versions of the D51-498, in real life and in Plarail. By different I mean the design of the smoke deflectors. There are other differences like striping, drumheads and color of the side rods.
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That's interesting Super, this may be explained by the history of this loco, since posting the question I went on a bit of a google in search of knowledge.

Apparently the history behind this loco was pretty uninspiring, it was the 498th manufactured out of some 1,500+ over a 20 year period or so.

However what's made it special is that after being parked in a particular station after being taken out of service it was restored and is now used for journeys on a preserved railway. Until recently it was the only one of it's type to actually be in running condition and has served in many different special trips including some special 'orient express' run.

This explains why there are so many different variations out there as it reflects the different incarnations its been through during its preserved life apparently.

The only other running example recently came back to life and is the D51-200 in the Kyoto museum. Apparently that is due to start making special runs sometime in 2017 after another restoration to make it suitable for running on mainlines.

Amazing what you can find out through google these days Big Grin
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
Really? So the 498 designates only one train when it was built? Strange, because looking at these pictures there looks to be different 498's and the photos don't all look old. Learn something new everyday as I didn't know that about the numbers and just assumed it denoted a certain series of D51's
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear...mp=yhs-001
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I know exactly what you mean, but having looked into it everything makes sense (typically japanese) Smile

Briefly D51-498 breaks down as;

D = 4 Driving Wheels (E = 6 Driving Wheels, C = 3 Driving Wheels, B = 2 Driving Wheels)
51 = Class number (10-49 = Tank Locomotive, 50-99 Tender Locomotive)
498 = Serial number of the individual locomotive (i.e. 498th built)

I suspect the reason for the apparently different D51-498 pictures around simply reflect different era's of its life after various re-builds. Having read more it was initially restored in 1988, the more recently in 2009 after a major failure of some sort.

Apparently

More info here on the designation numbers etc... and the D51-498 specifically;

Joyfull Trains
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
(This post was last modified: 06-05-2016, 09:57 PM by Nigels.)
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  • MuddyPoppins
Then I guess this set may have commemorated the last restoration as the set was released Late Dec 2011, theoretically 2012 and has the cooler looking smoke deflector plates. In the listing it does say something about 1988.
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10165979

Wonder why we don't see trains Like D-51-507 or D-51-1? The only other number besides the 200 is this 745. Anyone else think that boiler is balancing precariously?


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