JNR Class EF63

The JNR Class EF63 was a class of 1,500 V DC electric locomotives built for Japanese National Railways as bankers, helper locomotives that pushed trains up the steep Usui Pass section of the Shinetsu Main Line between Yokokawa and Karuizawa. Twenty-five were built between 1962 and 1976. The prototype, EF63 1, was produced by Toshiba in 1962 for testing, and full production from 1963 was shared between Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Toshiba. To cope with the 6.67 percent gradient the class carried independent dynamic brakes on all six axles, magnetic adhesion brakes acting directly on the rails and mechanical locking brakes, and the locomotives always worked in pairs. The class ended its career when the Yokokawa to Karuizawa section closed in September 1997 as the Nagano Shinkansen opened, and several are preserved at the Usui Pass Railway Heritage Park and elsewhere. Toshiba later used it as the basis of the Turkish TCDD E43000.