Monday 27 November 2017

Electric Locomotive Class EF65: JRF and JNR Colors

Electric locomotive, Class EF65 (JRF color) stands at Soga station yard

The Class EF65 is one of the representative electric locomotives (ELs) in Japan. It was commissioned in 1965 as a new standard EL to replace the old model, Class EF60. A total of 308 units were built by Kawasaki heavy industries, Nippon Sharyo and so on.

The EF65 is a 1,500 V direct current (DC) EL for the 1,067 mm-wide tracks. It has six sets of 425 kW DC motors. The axis arrangement is Bo-Bo-Bo in UIC notation. There are three kinds of the Class EF65 ELs. They are Type P for passenger trains, Type F for freight trains and Type PF for both passenger and freight trains. The Type P has a special attachment to pull passenger coaches. The Type F has an attachment for double heading operation.

Today, most Class EF65 ELs have JRF (JR Freight) colored bodies. It is two-toned of light blue and deep blue; but there are some exceptions. For instance, in April, 2016, JRF launched a revival JNR colored EL, unit number 2139 of the Class EF65 (EF65-2139), as a rail-fans service. It was also two-toned, but painted ultramarine color with a cream colored stripe. JNR stands for Japanese National Railways, which was abolished and split into seven JR group companies in 1987.

The JNR colored EF65-2139 is very popular among rail-fans, since it has value as a rarity. The area in front of EF65-2139 was filled with a mass of people, when it was exhibited at Sumidagawa station yard for the 2016 Sumidagawa Station Freight Festival.

Electric locomotive, Class EF65 (JNR color) is exhibited at Sumidagawa Freight Station yard