Locomotive Wiki
Advertisement

The JNR Class ED77 was a Japanese AC electric locomotive operated by the Japanese National Railways and its successor the East Japan Railway Company from 1967 to 1993.

History[]

The ED77 was designed to test the capabilities of thyristor phase control in locomotives. They were intended to be used on the Tōhoku Main Line and Ban'etsu West Line.

An initial prototype, classified the Class ED93 and numbered ED93 1, was built in 1965 by Hitachi. Full-production locomotives were manufactured from 1967 to 1970; a total of fifteen locomotives were manufactured. ED93 1 was modified to full-production standards in 1968 and renumbered ED77 901 as a result. When introduced, the locomotives were based in Fukushima and used on the Tōhoku Main Line and Ban'etsu West Line to pull passenger and freight trains; plans were made for the locomotives to be used on the Senzan and Tazawako Lines but these did not come to fruition, with the ED78 introduced for use on these lines.

When the JNR was privatized and split in 1987, JR East assumed ownership of the ED77s; at this point, seven locomotives were in service. Track reinforcement of the Ban'etsu West Line made it possible for the ED75s to operate on these lines and as a result the locomotives were withdrawn from service in 1993.

No ED77s have been preserved. Three locomotives were preserved in the past but all have since been scrapped.

Design[]

The ED77s featured large box-shaped bodies with a slight rake with dual large circular headlights mounted on the top of the cars in two recesses.

Specifications[]

The ED77s used a nose suspension drive system with MT52 traction motors; the use of the nose suspension drive was due to maintenance problems involving the Quill drive, so all locomotives after the earlier EF70 would use the nose suspension drive. This however came at the cost of keeping the rated rotation speed of the traction motors low. ED77 5 was fitted with MT52A traction motors.

Preservation[]

The following Class ED77 locomotives were preserved in the past but have since been scrapped:

Number Manufacturer Equipment manufacturer Date manufactured Date retired Last location Notes
ED77 1 Hitachi Hitachi 12 May 1967 7 February 1987 Sendai General Shinkansen Depot, Sendai, Japan Displayed outdoors; scrapped September 2019 with a number of other preserved locomotives
ED77 2 May 1967 6 February 1987 Suita Locomotive Depot, Osaka, Japan Stored in roundhouse; scrapped 1998 with demolition of roundhouse
ED77 8 Toshiba Toshiba 1967 7 February 1987 Railway Technology Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan Scrapped c. 1990s
JR Group motive power
JNR Diesel prototype DB10DC10DC11DD10
4-axle diesel DD11DD12DD13DD14DD15DD16DD17DD20DD21DD40DD41DD42DD50DD51DD53DD54DD90DD91DD92DD93
5-axle diesel DE10DE11DE15DE50
6-axle diesel DF40DF41DF50DF90DF91 (gen 1)DF91 (gen 2)DF92DF93
Shinkansen 911912
Narrow-gauge diesel Ke DB10Ke DB11
Early 2/4-axle freight electric AB10EB10ED10ED11ED12ED13ED14ED15ED16ED17ED18 (gen 1)ED18 (gen 2)ED19ED23ED24
Early 4-axle passenger electric ED50ED51ED52ED53ED54ED55ED56ED57
Early 6-axle freight electric EF10EF11EF12EF13EF14EF15EF16EF18
Early 6-axle passenger electric EF20EF50EF51EF52EF53EF54EF55EF56EF57EF58EF59HEF10HEF50
Early 8-axle electric EH10EH50HEH50HEH150
Early Abt rack rail electric EC40ED40ED41ED42
Acquired from private railways ED20ED21ED22ED25 (gen 1)ED25 (gen 2)ED26 (gen 1)ED26 (gen 2)ED27 (gen 1)ED27 (gen 2)ED28 (gen 1)ED28 (gen 2)ED29 (gen 1)ED29 (gen 2)ED30 (gen 1)ED31ED32ED33ED34ED35ED36ED37ED38Ke ED10DeKi 1RoKo 1DeKi 501RoKo 1000
DC 4-axle ED60ED61ED62ED63ED95
AC 4-axle ED44ED45ED70ED71ED72ED73ED74ED75ED76ED77ED78ED79ED90ED91ED93ED94
DC 6-axle EF60EF61EF62EF63EF64EF65EF66EF67EF90
AC 6-axle EF70EF71
Dual-current ED30 (gen 2)ED46ED92EF30EF80EF81
Other AH100
JR Group Dual-current electric ED500EF500EF510EH500
DC electric EF200EF210EH200
DC EMU M250
AC electric EH800
Diesel DD18DD19DB500DD200DF200ENR-1000
Hybrid HD300
Advertisement