The was a

Bo-Bo B-B and Bo-Bo are the 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′Bo′ classifications in ...

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

AC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in the north of Japan from 1986, originally by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR), and later by

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

(JR Hokkaido) and

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

(JR Freight) until 2016.

Variants

* ED79-0: Numbers ED79-1 – 21 (converted from ED75-700, 1986-1987) * ED79-50: Numbers ED79-51 – 60 (built from new) * ED79-100: Number ED79-101 – 113 (converted from ED75-700, 1986-1987)

ED79-0

21 Class ED79-0 locomotives were converted between 1986 and 1987 at

JNR The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

's Omiya, Tsuchizaki, and Naebo Workshops from former Class ED75-700 locomotives to haul both freight and passenger trains through the undersea

Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern isla ...

between the main island of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

and the northern island of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, which opened in March 1988. The gear ratio was reduced from the 4.44 of the original ED75 locomotives to 3.38, giving a top speed of better suited to express passenger and freight workings. With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, all 21 locomotives were transferred to the ownership of

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

. Daytime '' Kaikyo'' services previously hauled by Class ED79 locomotives between Aomori and Hakodate through the Seikan Tunnel were discontinued in 2002, replaced by the ''

Hakucho Hakucho (also known as CORSA-b before launch; CORSA stands for Cosmic Radiation Satellite) was Japan's first X-ray astronomy satellite, developed by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (then a division of the University of Tokyo). It ...

'' and '' Super Hakucho'' limited express services using

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

(EMU) trains). In 2006, the '' Nihonkai'' sleeping car service no longer ran through the tunnel, and JR Freight also ceased using JR Hokkaido locomotives on freight services, due to the increased availability of

Class EH500 The is a Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ wheel arrangement multi-system AC/ DC two-unit electric locomotive type operated by JR Freight in Japan since 1997. Operations The locomotives are built at the Toshiba factory in Fuchū, Tokyo. Initially, they w ...

locomotives. By 1 April 2013, nine Class ED79-0 locomotives remained in service, owned by JR Hokkaido and based at Hakodate Depot. These were used to haul the '' Cassiopeia'', ''

Hokutosei The was a limited express sleeping car train service in Japan which operated between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Sapporo Station in the northern island of Hokkaido, taking approximately 16½ hours. It was operated jointly by East Japan Railw ...

'', ''

Twilight Express The was a limited express sleeping car train service operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Japan from 1989 until March 2015. It ran between the city of Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido and Osaka in south-western Honshu, ...

'', and '' Hamanasu'' overnight services between Aomori and Hakodate via the Seikan Tunnel. All remaining locomotives had been withdrawn by March 2016. File:Hamanasu-aomori.jpg, ED79 1 on a ''Hamanasu'' service, January 2005 File:ED79-8 Hokutosei Hakodate 20040719.jpg, ED79 8 at Hakodate Station after arriving on a ''Hokutosei'' overnight sleeping car service, July 2004 The fleet details are shown below.

Special liveries

From February 2000, eight locomotives (numbers 3, 8, 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, and 21) received differing ''

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...

'' liveries.

ED79-50

10 Class ED79-50 locomotives were built between 1989 and 1990 by

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

for

JR Freight , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

for use on freight services through the Seikan Tunnel. These locos were finished from new in the then-new JR Freight livery of pale purple and two-tone blue, with maroon ("Red No. 2") cab doors. , nine out of the original ten Class ED79-50 locomotives remained in service, owned by JR Freight and based at Goryokaku Depot. These were normally used in pairs to haul freight services between Higashi-Aomori and Goryokaku via the Seikan Tunnel. All were scheduled to be withdrawn by March 2016 when the line voltage through the Seikan Tunnel was raised from 20 kV AC to 25 kV AC with the opening of the

Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...

. File:JNR DD51 & ED79 002.JPG, ED79 60 in February 2010 File:ED79 55 51 20130621.jpg, ED79 55 and 51 on a freight service in June 2013 The withdrawal dates for the fleet are shown below.

ED79-100

13 Class ED79-100 locomotives were converted between 1986 and 1987 at

's Omiya, Tsuchizaki, and Naebo Workshops from former Class ED75-700 locomotives. As with the ED79-0 subclass, these were intended to haul freight and passenger trains through the undersea Seikan Tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, but as a cost-saving measure, only one cab end was equipped with the necessary ATC equipment, so these locomotives were only able to operate in multiple with an ED79-0 locomotive and were not permitted to run singly through the tunnel. An ED79-100 locomotive would be coupled at the northern end of an ED75-0. With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, all 13 locomotives were transferred to the ownership of JR Hokkaido, although they were also loaned for use on JR Freight services until 2006. The last remaining member of the sub-class was withdrawn in March 2009. File:JRhokkaido ED79 106+ED79 10.jpg, ED79 106 and ED79 10 in 1991 The fleet details are shown below.

Classification

The ED79 classification for this locomotive type is explained below. * E: Electric locomotive * D: Four driving axles * 7x: AC locomotive with maximum speed exceeding

References

{{Jrhokkaidoloco 20 kV AC locomotives Electric locomotives of Japan 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan Railway locomotives introduced in 1986 Japanese National Railways Hokkaido Railway Company Japan Freight Railway Company Scrapped locomotives