Drawing of the JR4 steam locomotive

The locomotive number 4 was built by S.A. Les Ateliers Metallurgiques Nivelles Division de Tubize in Nivelles, Belgium 1947.

Jokioinen railway acquired the number 4 and its sister locomotive number 5, which was sold to Great Britain in 1972, because the newest and most powerful locomotive made by Henschel had to be given to the Soviet Union as a penalty fee for late war reparation payments in 1945. The size and performance of Tubize locomotives are nearly similar to Henschel. The order for the locomotives was placed in 1946 and number 4 arrived in Finland at the end of 1947.

Tubize was used at Jokioinen railway to pull passenger trains until 1951 and heavy freight trains until 1960s. At that time Jokioinen railway bought three Move 21 diesel locomotives from Loviisa-Versijärvi railway and one Move 21 diesel locomotive from Hyvinkää-Karkkila railway. After that Tubize number 4 and number 5 were used less frequently and in secondary jobs. They were acting as spear locomotives for diesels and in winter they were used to run the snow plowing trains.

JR 4 steam locomotive on Jänhijoki bridge

Tubize number 4 being at that moment the only operable locomotive of the railway pulled the last revenue freight train of Jokioinen railway on March 31, 1974 from Humppila to Forssa.

In the beginning of 1978 Jokioinen Museum Railway bought Tubize number 4 together with the Minkiö-Jokioinen railway line and a big number of narrow gauge rolling stock. After that the locomotive has been pulling museum trains in summer time. Already when the museum train traffic started on June 25, 1978 the locomotive and especially its boiler was in bad shape, thus the locomotive was fully renovated at VR Kuopio locomotive works in 1985-1988.

Technical information

36 000 kg
Total length:
8,9 m
Total width:
2,5 m
Total height:
3,3 m
Working pressure:
11 kg/cm2
2-6-2T (3 driving wheel sets, 2 traversing wheel sets)
electric, 24 V DC, electricity produced with a steam turbine generator.