Class 230 No.233 2-4-2 Steam Tank Locomotive

This is the production model of the first private steam tank locomotive. A total of forty-one locomotives were manufactured by Kisha-Seizo Goshi-Gaisha in Osaka from 1902 to 1909. The locomotive was designed following the example of English A8 Series locomotives which were imported to Japan in large numbers at that time for short-range use. It was highly evaluated owing to its stable performance and ease of maintenance, though foreign-made components were used for the wheels and the axle shafts.

The No. 233 locomotive exhibited in the Kyoto Railway Museum was used as a shunter in the Takasago Works of the defunct Japanese National Railways after being used in different engine depots. Timed with the opening of the Transportation Museum (later the Modern Transportation Museum), The locomotive was designated as a railway memorial object in 2004 and as an important cultural property in 2016.