ED79, the general work horse?

[GDorsett]

I notice that in a lot of videos online, the ED79 is run in pairs. Microace also sells their ED79 models in a box of two.

Is this the Japanese equivalent of the North American F-Unit? A small, reliable 4-axle that can be run alone or consisted together to pull heavier loads and had many built?

[kvp]

Actually the ED79 is the modified variant of the ED75. which is a so called general use locomotive. Similar Bo-Bo locomotives became common in Europe with the spread of AC traction. These are smaller and more powerful than earlier DC locomotives. The ED75 series was built from 1963 and generally used the same technology as the AC Bo-Bo Series 0 shinkansen, where the original sets were all motor cars. The ED7x family is rather large and after the 1960s most electrics were MU-able, some special banking variants even with electric multiple units. As the 6 axle Co-Co replaced the 4 axle Bo-Bo locos in the US, the 6 axle Bo-Bo-Bo design replaced them in Japan due to the very tight curves on the cape gauge lines.

 

ps: The original old style 2 bogie locos were later replaced with what became the very japanese 3 bogie Bo-Bo-Bo layout on a rigid frame and a side swinging middle bogie, but as more axles were needed, designers went back to the more simple 2 bogie design and started using multiple locos. The ED7x family had several modded locos, where one cab was removed, so one loco in the consist had only one usable cab. The next step was to go back to the original EH10 concept and make multi frame locos, which are essentially married pairs of Bo-Bo electrics. Pretty much how the the married pairs of Series 0 shinkansen operated.

[GDorsett]

Makes sense to me.

 

So, yeah, the ED7x would be the equivalent of the NA F-Series. Learned something new today!

Thank you!

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, kvp said:

Actually the ED79 is the modified variant of the ED75.

 

 

More specifically 34 ED79s existed, modified from ED75s for use in the Seikan tunnel.

 

2 hours ago, GDorsett said:

Makes sense to me.

 

So, yeah, the ED7x would be the equivalent of the NA F-Series. Learned something new today!

Thank you!

 

The ED7x locomotives are all AC-only, which limits their use to those parts of Japan with AC lines.

 

Edited July 10, 2018 by railsquid

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, kvp said:

 The ED7x family had several modded locos, where one cab was removed, so one loco in the consist had only one usable cab.

 

 Out of curiosity, which were those?

[GDorsett]

Curious about that as well. Only engines I've seen with one cab at one end is the DD14. Everything else is either articulated, double headed, or has a centred cabin.

[railsquid]

Rough overview of the various ED7x types (class, wheel arrangement, dates of use, lines/areas of use)

 

ED70 Bo-Bo 19 1957 ~ 1975 Hokuriku Main Line
ED71 Bo-Bo 55 1959 ~ 1982 Tohoku Main Line
ED72 Bo-2-Bo 22 1961 ~ 1982 Kyushu
ED73 Bo-Bo 22 1962 ~ 1982 Kyushu
ED74 Bo-Bo 6 1962 ~ 1978 Hokuriku Main Line, Kyushu
ED75 Bo-Bo 302 1963 ~ (present) Kyushu, north-east Japan, Hokkaido
ED76 Bo-2-Bo 139 1965 ~ (present) Kyushu, Hokkaido
ED77 Bo-2-Bo 16 1967 - 1993 Ban'etsu-Nishi line
ED78 Bo-2-Bo 14 1967 - 2000 Ōu Main Line
ED79 Bo-Bo 14 1986 [*] ~ 2016 Seikan Tunnel
[*] date of conversion from EF75

 

TBH bit of a stretch to say this wide variety of AC-only dual-cab electric locomotives with fairly limited regional usage would be somehow equivalent to the diesel F-series, apart from the fact some are Bo-Bo and sometimes run in pairs.

Edited September 8, 2018 by railsquid

[GDorsett]

I know it's not a direct comparison, but more as it filling similar shoes. I had completely forgotten about them being AC only.

[kvp]

5 hours ago, railsquid said:

Out of curiosity, which were those?

The ED79-100-s. They were only allowed to operate coupled to ED79-0-s due to having only one cab equipped with ATC. Makes sense as these were used as booster units when one ED79-0 was not enough.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/JNR_Class_ED79