The is 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 ...

DC electric locomotive type operated by the private railway operator

Chichibu Railway The is a small-sector private railway company operating a railway line in northern Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In addition to its railway operations, the company deals in the real estate and tourism industries. It managed the Mitsumine Ropeway (� ...

in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, primarily on freight services, since 1951. , six (DeKi 102-105, 107-108) out of the original eight locomotives are in operation.

Sub-types

The class is divided into three sub-types: locomotive numbers DeKi 101, DeKi 102-106, and DeKi 107-108 * DeKi 101: Built 1951, total power output 640 kW * DeKi 102-106: Built 1954-56, total power output 800 kW * DeKi 107-108: Built 1951, purchased from Matsuo Mining Railway, total power output 800 kW File:Chichibu Railway Deki101.jpg, Preserved DeKi 101 in original brown livery in May 2009 File:DeKi 102 Fukaya Hanazono Station construction site 20170624.jpg, DeKi 102 in standard Chichibu Railway blue livery in June 2017 File:Chichibu-Railway-Deki-103.jpg, DeKi 103 in red livery in May 2013 File:Chichibu-Railway-Deki-107.jpg, DeKi 107 in standard Chichibu Railway blue livery in May 2010

History

DeKi 101 was built by Hitachi in 1951. The locomotive was privately owned by Chichibu Cement (present-day

Taiheiyo Cement is a Japanese cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggrega ...

), and was initially numbered DeKi 8. It was transferred to Chichibu Railway ownership in 1980. Locomotives DeKi 102 and 103 were built in 1954 and locomotives DeKi 104 to 106 were built in 1956. These locomotives included uprated traction motors providing a total power output of 800 kW compared to the 640 kW of DeKi 101. Locomotives DeKi 107 and 108 were purchased in 1973 from the in Iwate Prefecture. Originally numbered ED501 and ED502, these locomotives had similar external dimensions to DeKi 101, but used the same 200 kW traction motors as DeKi 102 to 106. They also feature icicle cutters above the driving cab windows. These two locomotives received the blue with white stripe livery that subsequently became the standard Chichibu Railway locomotive livery, replacing the previous brown livery. From 1988, DeKi 101 was frequently used as an assisting locomotive at the back of steam-hauled ''SL Paleo Express'' services operating on the Chichibu Main Line. This locomotive was withdrawn in 2006, and was repainted into its original brown livery at Hirosegawara Depot, where it remains stored. Locomotive DeKi 103 was repainted in red livery in 2011, but was returned to the standard blue and white stripe livery in October 2014 following overhaul.

Fleet details

Preserved examples

DeKi 101 is preserved at Hirosegawara Depot.

References

{{Japanloco Chichibu Railway Electric locomotives of Japan Bo-Bo locomotives Hitachi locomotives 1067 mm gauge locomotives of Japan 1500 V DC locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1951