The is a

Bo-Bo B-B and Bo-Bo are the AAR wheel arrangement, Association of American Railroads (AAR) and British classifications of wheel arrangement for railway locomotives with four axles in two individual bogies. They are equivalent to the B′B′ and Bo′B ...

wheel arrangement AC

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

type operated on passenger and freight services in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

since 1963. A total of 302 locomotives were built by

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

, and

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

between 1963 and 1976. , just five locomotives remained in service, all operated by

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

Variants

* ED75-0: Numbers ED75-1 – 160 * ED75-300: Numbers ED75-301 – 311 * ED75-500: Number ED75-501 * ED75-700: Numbers ED75-701 – 791 * ED75-1000: Numbers ED75-1001 – 1039

ED75-0

This was the original type. Two prototypes, ED75 1 and 2, were delivered in 1963, built by Hitachi and Mitsubishi. Following test running, a further 158 locomotives were built from 1964 by Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba. Locomotive numbers 50 to 100 were equipped for cold regions, and were fitted with icicle cutters above the driving cab windows. , no Class ED75-0 locomotives remained in service.

ED75-300

11 Class ED75-300 locomotives were built from 1965 to 1968 by Hitachi and Mitsubishi for use in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, numbered ED75 301 to ED75 311. These locomotives used a 20 kV AC 60 Hz power supply. File:JNR-EL-ED75-304.jpg, ED75 304 in the early 1980s

ED75-500

One Class ED75-500 locomotive, number ED75 501 was built experimentally for use on the recently electrified

Hakodate Main Line The is a railway line connecting the cities of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Hakodate and Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Asahikawa via Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. It is one of the trunk lines that is operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The Sawa ...

between and in Hokkaido. No further locomotives in this sub-class were built, as Class ED76-500 locomotives were instead chosen for this route. File:ED75 501 Otaru Museum 20090830.JPG, ED75-501, preserved at the Otaru City Museum, August 2009

ED75-700

91 Class ED75-700 locomotives were built from 1971 to 1976 by Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba, for use on the Ou Main Line and

Uetsu Main Line The is a railway line in the Tohoku and Chubu regions of Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it connects Niitsu Station in the city of Niigata, Niigata, Niigata and Akita Station in Akita, Akita, Akita. The name "Uet ...

, numbered ED75 701 to ED75 791. These locomotives used a 20 kV AC 50 Hz power supply. These locomotives differed from earlier examples in having PS103 cross-arm type pantographs. 34 members of this subclass were converted to become Class ED79 locomotives in 1988 for use on services through the undersea Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido. , five Class ED75-700 locomotives remained in service, operated by JR East, with three locomotives based at Sendai and two at Akita. File:JNR ED75 757 20020731.jpg, JR East ED75 757, July 2002

ED75-1000

The ED75-1000 subclass were built from 1968 for use on express freight services. 25 locomotives were built between 1968 and 1970, followed by a second batch of 14 locomotives built from 1973 to 1976, bringing the total to 39. JR Freight started a programme of life-extension refurbishment of its Class ED75-1000 fleet from 1993, and refurbished locomotives were initially repainted in a new livery with the bottom half of the body sides finished in ivory. The livery applied to refurbished locomotives was subsequently simplified to just adding a white stripe along the bottom of the body sides. From the start of the 17 March 2012 timetable revision, the remaining scheduled JR Freight workings using ED75 locomotives, operating in pairs, were completely replaced by JR Freight Class EH500 locomotives. File:JNR ED75 1037 19880212.jpg, JR East ED75 1037 in February 1988 File:JNR ED75 1017 20070325.jpg, Refurbished JR Freight ED75 1017 in March 2007 File:ED75 1010.JPG, Refurbished JR Freight ED75 1010 in September 2008

Livery variations

File:JNR ed75 711 orient akebono.jpg, JR East ED75 711 in "Orient Saloon" livery File:EF75 rainbow.jpg, ED75 1028 in "Express Rainbow" livery in January 2009

Preserved examples

, three examples have been preserved, as listed below. * ED75 1: Sendai Shinkansen Depot in Rifu, Miyagi * ED75 501: Otaru City Museum, Otaru, Hokkaido * ED75 775: The Railway Museum in Saitama File:JNR ED75-1.jpg, ED75 1 preserved at Sendai Shinkansen Depot in July 2009 File:JNR ED75-501.jpg, ED75-501 preserved at the Otaru City Museum in September 2009 File:ED75 775 Saitama Railway Museum 20120525.jpg, ED75 775 at The Railway Museum in Saitama in May 2012

Classification

The ED75 classification for this locomotive type is explained below. * E: Electric locomotive * D: Four driving axles * 7x: AC locomotive with maximum speed exceeding

References

{{Jreastloco 20 kV AC locomotives Electric locomotives of Japan 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan Railway locomotives introduced in 1963 Japanese National Railways East Japan Railway Company Japan Freight Railway Company Hitachi locomotives Mitsubishi locomotives Toshiba locomotives