Steam Locomotive at Shimbashi Station

There is a steam locomotive in the west square of Shimbashi Station, by which this square was named “SL Square” .This is a famous landmark for Shimbashi Station.

This steam locomotive was manufactured in 1945, the year Japan surrendered to the allied force, actually to the US. It spent a nondescript life in the west part of Japan , and retired in 1972. But this year was a special year, the 100th anniversary for Japan’s railroad system . JR (at that time JNR) decided to bring this SL to Shimbashi station, which was the starting station for the first railroad in Japan.