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Seibu Class E31

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Class E31
Seibu Class E31 electric locomotive No. E34 on display at Minami-Iriso Depot Open Day, September 2007
Type and origin
Power typeElectric
BuilderSeibu (Tokorozawa)
Build date1986-1987
Total produced4
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • UICBo-Bo
Gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electric system/s1,500 V DC
Traction motorsDC
Performance figures
Power output520 kW
Career
OperatorsSeibu Railway
Ōigawa Railway
Disposition3 transferred to Ōigawa Railway

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.

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.

  • Seibu Railway E31
    Seibu Railway E31
  • Closeup of the DT-20A bogie
    Closeup of the DT-20A bogie
  • Seibu Railway E33･34 Electric locomotive and Hoki 81 freight car
    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Locomotive number E33 was withdrawn on 31 January 2009, becoming the first of the class to be withdrawn.[1] The remaining three locomotives were withdrawn on 28 March 2010.[2]

A pair of Class E31 locomotives, including E34, stored on the Oigawa Railway in August 2014

In September 2010, three of the withdrawn Class E31 locomotives (E32 to E34) were transferred to the Ōigawa Railway to replace the ageing E10 and ED500 locomotives used there.[3] Initially they were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

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References

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Gotō, 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.

  1. ^ 私鉄車両のうごき [Private Railway Fleet Movements]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō (in Japanese). 38 (303): 124. July 2009.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
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