Six of the locomotives were named after major historical or literary figures in 1889, at the suggestion of the Japanese Consul of New York City, Takagi Saburō, who found appeal in the similar practice seen in the United States at the time.

Thus, the six engines were named Yoshitsune (義經), Benkei (辨慶), Hirafu (比羅夫), Mitsukuni (光圀), Nobuhiro (信廣), and Shizuka (しづか), respectively.

The following year, on 30 August 1881, Emperor Meiji rode the line, called Kaitakushi-gō (開拓使号, "Settlement Envoy").

Pulling nine cars in poor weather, the train arrived late, but this was said to be acceptable; it is not clear which locomotive was used.

Ten years later, the seventh train (number 1009) was purchased by the Hokkaidō government railway and repaired; but it barely saw service, and was only used to aid in construction and to plow snow.

In 1915, efforts were made by a Hakodate factory to reunite the eight locomotives, but 7103 was experiencing hunting oscillation problems; information regarding its condition, as well as repair reports, cannot be found, and thus its fate remains uncertain today.

The Hokkaidō governmental construction bureau purchased 7100, 7102, and 7107 in 1923, and the Imperial Railway Company, then known as Baihatsu Steel, bought 7104 and 7105 two years later.

Their findings were actually surprising, reassessing the entire history of which model/series numbers and names belonged to which trains, and in what years they were manufactured.

Ultimately, a trade was worked out in which the corporation received scrap metal in exchange for returning the locomotive.

That same year, in honor of the 80th anniversary of certain railroad operations in Japan, it was decided that Yoshitsune, now identified as 7105, would be restored at the factory in Takatori.

The same year, 7106 was handed over ahead of schedule, by the Japan Steel Works, and restoration began using parts from 7100.

Once restoration work on Yoshitsune and Shizuka was completed, the pair were displayed on the Imperial Court platform at Harajuku Station.

After that, it entered the Modern Transportation Museum in Osaka's Minato-ku, and was promoted in 2004 from semi-memorial to full Railway Memorial Object.