Ube Electric Railway Class DeKi 1

Ube Electric Railway Class DeKi 1
Gakunan DeKi 1 (ex-JNR DeKi 1) in August 1967
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	AEG
Constructed	1929
Number built	2
Classification	B
Dimensions	6,100 mm × 2,460 mm × Unknown
Gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Current collector	Pantograph
Electric system(s)	600 V DC
Traction system	Resistor control
Service information
In service	1929 – September 1969
Number in service	None
Fleet numbers	DeKi 1 – 2
Preservation information
Number scrapped	2

The Ube Electric Railway Class DeKi 1 was a Japanese DC electric locomotive operated by the Ube Electric Railway and later other railway companies from 1929 to September 1969.

History

The Class DeKi 1 is an early electric locomotive used in Japan. Operated by the Ube Electric Railway, the preceding operator of what is now the East Japan Railway Company's Onoda and Ube Lines, two locomotives were manufactured by AEG in Germany in 1929, numbered DeKi 1 and DeKi 2. These were extremely small four-wheel switcher locomotives with large pantographs.

In December 1941, the Ube Electric Railway and the neighboring Ube Railway were merged, but because the electrification between both lines was different (Ube Railway's electrification was at 1,500 V DC while Ube Electric Railway's was at 600 V DC) there would be no direct service from both lines run by any locomotives. When the Ube Electric Railway was nationalized on 1 April 1943, the locomotives were acquired by the Japanese National Railways, with the portion the locomotives operating on becoming the Ube West Line; they operated with no changes in number.

When the Ube West Line's voltage was boosted to 1,500 V DC in 1950 they were taken out of service and resold to the Gakunan Railway which opened around the same time; as such the locomotives were never given an official JNR designation because naming regulations would only take effect in 1952. Some parts were replaced upon the locomotives's transfer such as the pantographs. Both locomotives were taken out of service in September 1969 with the Gakunan Railway's voltage being boosted to 1,500 V DC and both locomotives subsequently scrapped; it is sometimes said that the locomotives were scrapped due to being hit by a lightning strike causing fatal damage to equipment.

Specifications

The Class DeKi 1 used a nose suspension drive system. DC traction motors were used on the locomotives.

Trivia

• These were the shortest 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge electric locomotives operated by the JNR, shorter in length than the even narrower gauge Ke ED10 locomotives acquired from the Ryōbi Railway.

Ube Railway motive power
Steam locomotive	1 • 100 • 212 • 300
Electric locomotive	DeKi 1 • DeKi 11