Electric Railcar
Class
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Early phase urban commuter Electric Railcar (Na = Weight about 30 ton, De = Motor car) |
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Japan's first urban Electric Rail line was Tokyo's
private railroad Kobu-Tetsudo's Chuo line on the 21st of August 1904. (Consult please
Class De-963). On the 16th of December 1909, government railway's Yamanote line and Tohoku and Tokaido lines from the Tokyo area were electrified. Herewith, Karasumori (present Shimbashi) - Shinagawa - Ikebukuro - Tabata and Ueno consisted of one section, and Ikebukuro and Akabane consisted of a second section, both sections started urban commuter Electric Train services from that day.
At this time, a new car was produced and consisted of ten Class HoDe-1s (No.1-10), and it was about 2 times larger than Kobu-Tetudo's original body and was about 52 feet 11 inches in length with two pairs of bogie wheels. This class was renamed, the Class HoDe-6100 No.6100-6109, and a few cars were used up to and after WW2 by private rail companys. The earliest use of commuter trains consisted of one car, but with the increasing number of passenger transportation volume, the cars were increased to two cars.
During 1911-1912, eighteen improved models of Class HoDe-6110 No.6110-6128 were produced. During 1912, four more HoDe-6110 No.6129-6132 were produced. These HoDe-6110s were renamed to Class NaDe-6110 No.6110-6132. On the 20th of December 1914, the Tokyo station terminal was opened. The section between Karasumori and Tokyo station was extended. At that time, Karasumori station was renamed ..... the new Shimbashi, and the original Shimbashi station was renamed .... the Shiodome Freight exclusive station. With this extention, Class NaDe-6110 saw increased production No.6133-6144 at the Shinbashi workshops (electrical parts were imported), and a total of 35 were manufactured up to 1914. On the 29th of August 1914, all NaDe-6110s were divided into three classes by configuration. No.6110-6128 to Class DeHa-6260 No.6260-6278 No.6129-6132 to Class DeHa-6280 No.6280-6283 No.6133-6144 to Class DeHa-6285 No.6285-6296 On the 24th of November 1916, a fire broke out in the Shinjuku shed, and twenty cars burned. However, during 1924, Tokyo's urban electrification line power voltage was raised from 600V to 1200V. At this junction, all old low voltage cars were retired. Those cars which survived the fire were retired at that time.
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Preserved car No.NaDe-6141 (1914 - 1972)
Among twelve Class DeHa-6285, four cars were burnt, eight cars survived the 1916's Shinjuku fire. Among the surviving 8 cars, No.6296 was remodeled as a Trailer car Class SaHa-6410 with removed electrical components, and continuously used by the government railway. Seven other cars were transferred to the Meguro-Kamata-Dentetsu Co.(currently Tokyu Railway Co.) and renamed the DeHa-41 No.41-47. Of these No.6293 (ex-NaDe-6141) was renamed Meguro-Kamata-Dentetsu's No.DeHa-41. During 1928, DeHa-41 was named the MoHa-41. During March 1930, MoHa-41 passed through the Shibaura-Denki Tsurumi factory on it's way to the Tsurumi-Rinko-Tetsudo Co during May 1930, and was named the Tsurumi-Rinko-Tetsudo's MoHa-202. MoHa-202 was again renamed the MoHa-142, but during July 1943, Tsurumi-Rinko-Tetsudo Co was nationalized and MoHa-142 was returned to the government railway. During July 1948, it was retired, once again, from the Government Railway, and sold to the Hitachi-Dentetsu Co during May 1950. During December 1964, it was named the DeWa-101 and retired from passenger service and was used for switching operations. During March of 1972, DeWa-101 was retired from the Hitachi-Dentetsu and was donated to the JNR for it's historical value. And JNR remade it to NaDe-6141's original shape, as Japan's railways opened it's 100th anniversary memorial project. On the 14th of October during the same year, the remaking was completed and exhibited at the JNR Oi workshops as a designated Railway Monument. During 1987, NaDe-6141 was passed to the JR-East and it was restored to running condition. During October 2007, NaDe-6141 was moved to the New Railway Museum from the Oi workshops.
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