JNR Class DF50

The Class DF50 was a Bo-Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotive operated by Japanese National Railways from 1957 until 1983. The first 65 units, built between 1957 and 1962, had Sulzer 8-cylinder diesel engines of 1,060 hp and were shared among Kisha Seizo, Mitsubishi and Nippon Sharyo. A later batch of 73, built between 1958 and 1963 with MAN V6 V22/30 engines of 1,200 hp, was shared among Hitachi, Kawasaki and Toshiba, and that batch is the part of the class tied to Hitachi, which also says it was involved in developing and manufacturing both the DF50 and the diesel-hydraulic DD51. The DF50 carried a steam generator for train heating and worked passenger and freight lines including the Hokuriku, Sanin and Kisei lines, as well as Blue Train sleeping car services. Three examples are preserved.