Driver's side

Whizzing by tonight on my way to choir practice but here's a picture of something I think is a bit unusual.

This is the cab of a steam locomotive - actually a JNR C57 Class Pacific number C57 66 which as appeared on this Blog before. It's the driver's side - the steam regulator is just out of the photo but the handles and levers in the centre are the 'reverse' which also acted as a kind of power regulator too and the air brake.

It's looking very neat and almost as if the engine was last in steam yesterday, rather than back in 1964.

But here's the surprise. This engine lives in a public park in Tokyo a couple of minutes walk from Oomori station. And anyone can climb up into the cab and take a look. And yet as far as I can see there's not a single piece of damage to any of the gauges or glasses or electrical equipment. And nothing has been stolen.

That says a lot for Japanese society eh? Where else in the world could you leave a steam locomotive unguarded for forty years and expect it to stay in one piece?