The Ryōbi Railway Class 11 was a Japanese very-narrow gauge DC electric locomotive operated by the Ryōbi Railway and later the Japanese National Railways from 1927 to December 1935.
History[]
The Class 11 is an early electric locomotive used in Japan. Operated by the Ryōbi Railway, the preceding operator of what is now the West Japan Railway Company's Fukuen Line, six locomotives were manufactured by Hitachi in 1927; these very-narrow gauge locomotives featured two trolley poles as current collectors and were used to pull both passenger and freight trains. One of the locomotives pulled a train transporting Emperor Hirohito to observe military drills in November 1930.
When the Ryōbi Railway was nationalized on 1 September 1933 to become the Fukuen Line, the locomotives were acquired by the Japanese National Railways, reclassified as the JNR Class Ke ED10 ("Ke" being JNR's designator for very-narrow gauge locomotives) and renumbered Ke ED10 1 through 6; although the locomotives were renumbered under JNR's rosters it is unclear if the locomotives ever received number plates with their new numbers, with most photos showing the locomotives retaining their Ryōbi Railway numbers even after nationalization.
With the completion of gauge conversion works of the Fukuen Line from 762 mm to 1,067 mm on 14 December 1935 the Ke ED10 locomotives were taken out of service. Any further details regarding the locomotive's service history post-1935 are not known.
Specifications[]
The Class 11 used a nose suspension drive system. MT29 traction motors were used on the locomotives.
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