The JNR Class ED50 was a Japanese DC electric locomotive operated by the Japanese National Railways from 1923 to September 1931.
History[]
The ED50 was an early electric locomotive used on Japan's rail network. The locomotives were imported with the mass electrification of the Tōkaidō Main Line and Yokosuka Line.
A total of seventeen locomotives were built in 1923; the locomotives's electrical equipment was built by English Electric and the mechanical equipment by the North British Locomotive Company. They were originally classified as the Class 1040 and numbered 1040 through 1056, but were reclassified to Class ED50 when a rule regarding the standardization of locomotive names was enacted in 1928.
The locomotives were used on the Tōkaidō Main Line and the Yokosuka Line to pull passenger trains. Starting in 1930, the ED50s would undergo rebuilding to become what would be known as the Class ED17 locomotives, with their gear ratios increased to allow the locomotives to pull freight trains more efficiently. All seventeen locomotives were converted by September 1931.
ED17 1 (ex-ED50 1) and ED18 2 (ex-ED50 16) have been preserved.
Design[]
The ED50s featured large box-shaped bodies with large top-mounted headlights.
Specifications[]
The ED50s used a nose suspension drive system. MT6 traction motors were used on the locomotives.