The Class E31 (E31形) is a class of DC Bo-Bo wheel arrangement electric locomotives formerly operated by the private railway operator Seibu Railway in Japan until March 2010 and subsequently by the Ōigawa Railway.
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Seibu Class E31 electric locomotive No. E34 on display at Minami-Iriso Depot Open Day, September 2007 | |||||||||||||
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Four locomotives (numbered E31 to E34) were built at Seibu's Tokorozawa factory between 1986 and 1987 to replace ageing first-generation electric locomotives on freight services and track maintenance train duties. The DT-20A bogies were reused from former JNR 80 series EMUs, and the traction motors were modified from former EMU motors.
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Seibu Railway E31
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Closeup of the DT-20A bogie
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Seibu Railway E33・34 Electric locomotive and Hoki 81 freight car
They were normally used in pairs by Seibu for top-and-tailing permanent way maintenance trains and to haul newly delivered rolling stock.
Locomotive number E33 was withdrawn on 31 January 2009, becoming the first of the class to be withdrawn.[1] The remaining three locomotives were withdrawn on 28 March 2010.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Seibu_railway_E34_20140824_001.jpg/220px-Seibu_railway_E34_20140824_001.jpg)
In September 2010, three of the withdrawn Class E31 locomotives (E32 to E34) were transferred to the Ōigawa Railway to replace the ageing E10 and ED500 locomotives used there.[3] Initially they were used only for depot shunting duties, but from 2017 they underwent overhaul in preparation for use as helper locomotives on steam-hauled trains,[4] with the first locomotive treated, E34, scheduled to enter revenue service on 15 October 2017.[5] Occasionally, they are used to haul the EL Kawane michi-gō express.
Locomotive E31 remains preserved at Seibu's Yokoze Depot.
See also
editReferences
editGotō, Fumio (January 2009). 西武鉄道 電気機関車小史2 [Short History of Seibu Electric Locomotives]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 49, no. 573. Japan: Koyusha. pp. 138–143.
- ^ 私鉄車両のうごき [Private Railway Fleet Movements]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō (in Japanese). 38 (303): 124. July 2009.
- ^ "西武鉄道 「E31形電気機関車 さよならイベント」を開催" [Seibu to stage "Class E31 Sayonara Event"]. Hobidas (in Japanese). Neko Publishing. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
- ^ "大井川鉄道が西武E31形電機を導入!" [Ōigawa Railway introduces Seibu Class E31 Electric Locomotives]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 50, no. 596. Japan: Koyusha. December 2010. p. 143.
- ^ 大井川鐵道、元西武E31形電気機関車営業デビューへ 2018年度中めざす [Oigawa Railway former Seibu Class E31 electric locomotives to enter revenue service in fiscal 2018] (in Japanese). Japan: Tetsudo Shimbun. 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ^ もと西武E31形電気機関車が大井川鐵道で営業運転へ [Former Seibu Class E31 electric locomotives to enter revenue service on the Oigawa Railway]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 5 September 2017. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
External links
edit- Seibu Railway website (in Japanese)