Gyeongbu Railway 1–18 Temporary Military Railway 19–52 Korean National Railroad Pureo1 class (푸러1) Korean State Railway Purŏha class (부러하) | |
| Powertype: | Steam |
| Builder: | Baldwin |
| Builddate: | 1901, 1906 |
| Totalproduction: | 70 |
| Whytetype: | 2-6-2T |
| Driverdiameter: | 1370mm |
| Length: | 10205mm |
| Width: | 2800mm |
| Height: | 3860mm |
| Weightondrivers: | 37t |
| Locoweight: | 52t |
| Fuelcap: | 1.8t |
| Watercap: | 5500L |
| Smalltubediameter: | 176 x 51mm |
| Boilerpressure: | 11.5kgf/cm2 |
| Firearea: | 1.69m2 |
| Tubearea: | 89.2m2 |
| Fireboxarea: | 9.5m2 |
| Totalsurface: | 98.7m2 |
| Cylindercount: | 1 |
| Cylindersize: | 410mm610mm |
| Valvegear: | Stephenson |
| Maxspeed: | 75km/h |
| Tractiveeffort: | 72.1kN |
| Operator: | Gyeongbu Railway Temporary Military Railway Chosen Government Railway Korean National Railroad Korean State Railway |
| Operatorclass: | Sentetsu: プレイ KNR: 푸러1 KSR: 부러하 |
| Numinclass: | GR: 18 TMR: 52 Sentetsu: 70 |
| Fleetnumbers: | see text |
| Deliverydate: | 1901, 1906 |
The Purei-class (プレイ) locomotives were a group of steam tank locomotives with 2-6-2 wheel arrangement used by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) in Korea. The "Pure" name came from the American naming system for steam locomotives, under which locomotives with 2-6-2 wheel arrangement were called "Prairie".[1]
In all, Sentetsu owned 227 locomotives of all Pure classes, whilst privately owned railways owned another 52; of these 279 locomotives, 169 went to the Korean National Railroad in South Korea and 110 to the Korean State Railway in North Korea.[2]
The first 18 Prairie-type locomotives delivered to Korea were built for the Gyeongbu Railway by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of the United States,[3] with the first units arriving in 1901; they were numbered simply 1 through 18. A further 52 were delivered in 1906 to the Temporary Military Railway, of which 48 were assigned to the Gyeongui Line and four to the Masan Line.[4] These were delivered from Baldwin in knockdown form, and were assembled in Korea by the Gyeom-ipo and Incheon Shops.
The Gyeongbu Railway was nationalised to create the Chosen Government Railway on 1 July 1906, and the Temporary Military Railway was absorbed by Sentetsu on 31 August 1906, and all 70 of these locomotives entered service with Sentetsu.[4] Seven were subsequently transferred to private railways,[4] though all but one eventually returned to Sentetsu. They were used by Sentetsu on both passenger and freight trains all over Korea. From 1925, a number were rebuilt to Pureshi class for operation with domestic lignite.[5] 24 Purei-class locomotives remained unrebuilt, and these were numbered 221 through 254. Only 23 were left in service at the time of Sentetsu's 1938 general renumbering; these were renumbered プレイ1 through プレイ23 at that time.[6]
| Year | Number | Manufacturer | Original Owner | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 18 | Baldwin | Gyeongbu Railway | ||
| 1905 | 52 | Baldwin | Temporary Military Railway | Assembled in Korea |
After the Liberation and partition of Korea, they were divided between North and South, but the specifics of which engine went where are unclear.
At least four Purei-class locomotives ended up with the Korean National Railroad in the South after the division of Sentetsu's motive power following the partition of the country; these were designated 푸러1 (Pureo1) class by the KNR.[6]
| Running number | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KNR | Sentetsu (1938–1945) | Sentetsu (1918–1938) | Original | Builder | Year | Notes | |
| 푸러1-11 | プレイ11 | プレ231 | TMR | Baldwin | 1906 | Operational in 1954 | |
| 푸러1-14 | プレイ14 | プレ234 | TMR | Baldwin | 1906 | Derelict by 1953 | |
| 푸러1-17 | プレイ17 | プレ237 | TMR | Baldwin | 1906 | Derelict by 1953 | |
| 푸러1-21 | プレイ21 | プレ241 | TMR | Baldwin | 1906 | Operational in 1954 | |
The locomotives taken over by the Korean State Railway in the North were initially designated 부러하 (Purŏha) class; they were later renumbered in the 1100 series. The total number, their service lives and subsequent fates are unknown.