4-8-4 steamlocomotive class KF # 7 of the Chinese Government Railways, designed by Colonel Kenneth Cantlie, built by Vulcan Foundry in 1935, withdrawn in 1981. Dr Sun Yat Sen (a founding father of the Republic of China, established in 1912) was a friend of Colonel Kenneth Cantlie’s father, James Cantlie. In 1896 James Cantlie led a media campaign to rescue Dr Sun after his abduction by the Chinese Imperial Secret Service. The Boxer Rebellion of 1901, an anti-imperialist revolt which marked the beginning of the end of Imperial China, was put down by an eight Nation Alliance of western powers. The Imperial Chinese government was made to pay reparations to these nations; in Britain this was held by the Boxer Indemnity Fund, of which one of the trustees was the KF class’ designer Kenneth Cantlie. From 1929, Cantlie was also the technical advisor to the Chinese Ministry of Railway. The KF # 7 was one of twenty-four locomotives funded by the Boxer Indemnity Fund. The locomotive was withdrawn in 1977 and shipped to the UK in 1981 and then transferred to York by road – although the KF # 7 runs on standard gauge track it is much higher and wider than standard British locomotives. KF # 7 was presented by the Chinese Government to the National Railway Museum. Another KF class locomotive is preserved at the Beijing Railway Museum, China.
