Rolling stock of the South Manchuria Railway

The South Manchuria Railway operated a wide variety of locomotives and powered railcars, as well as non-powered passenger and freight cars, initially of foreign (primarily American) manufacture, but later almost all equipment was manufactured in Japan and Manchukuo.

Additionally, the Anpo Line from Andong on the Korea-Manchuria border to Fengtian was also initially a narrow-gauge railway built by the army during the Russo-Japanese War.

These can be divided into four periods: The Manchukuo National Railway also used the Mantetsu classification system, as did the North China Transportation Company.

The first two katakana indicated the wheel arrangement, derived from the American naming system: (shinguru) (Amerikan) (Eito hoīru kappurudo) (Santafe) (shikkusu hoīru kappurudo） (Purērī) (Daburu endā) (Ten Hoīrā) (Pashifikku) (Konsoridēshion) (Maunten) (Mōgaru) (Mikado) (Dekapoddo) (Tairiku)

Self-moving rolling stock powered by something other than steam used a different system, which indicated the type of powerplant.

The third katakana in the class name was the class number, derived from the first syllable of the corresponding Japanese number: When the operation and management of the Manchukuo National Railway and of the North China Transportation Company were transferred to Mantetsu, their rolling stock was incorporated into the Mantetsu classification system.

From about the middle of Period 3, such locomotives built in Japan and at Mantetsu's Shahekou Works began to appear, eventually eliminating imports entirely.

These railcars were somewhat different in character from those found in Japan, where they were introduced primarily as a competitive measure against the arrival of busses.

As a result of experimentation with different technologies and fuel types (diesel, petrol, heavy oil, kerosene, etc.

), there were a comparatively large number of classes of railcar operated over a relatively short period of time.