10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. DD51-1801 Kansai-Line: MaedaAkihiko· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. JNR DD51 1027 20071003: ja:User:アルヴェ· GFDL
- 3. DD51 1142+1137 NongPlaDuk-Station 201901311211: Rsa· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. DD51 548 Mikasa Railway Village 20150808: Masaru· CC BY-SA 2.5
- 5. DD51 615 Otaru Museum 20090830: DAJF· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. DD51 756 Kyoto Railway Museum 20161017: Cheng-en Cheng from Taipei City, Taiwan· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 7. DD51 849 RTRI 20011013: DAJF· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. Dd51-1040-2014-04-12: TRJN· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 9. JNR-DD51-1152: ja:User:DD51612· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 10. JNR-dd51 791 euroliner: TaitaFkm· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Class DD51 (DD51形) is a B-2-B wheel arrangement diesel-hydraulic locomotive type operated in Japan since 1962. 649 locomotives were built between 1962 and 1978 by Kawasaki Sharyo, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi. The class was designed for mainline passenger and freight use with more power than the D51 and a higher maximum speed than the C62 steam locomotive classes.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 64 years ago, in 1962.
- 1.6 MW is about 19 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 18 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1962–1978
- status
- in service
- number built
- 649
- kind
- Diesel-hydraulic
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Hitachi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
- operators
- Japanese National Railways, East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan Railway Company, West Japan Railway Company, Japan Freight Railway Company, rail transport in Myanmar, State Railway of Thailand, Hokkaido Railway Company
- top speed
- 95 km/h
- power
- 1.6 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- B'2'B'
- length
- 18 m
- weight
- 84 t
- Dutch name
- JNR DD51
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q747576, Wikipedia: JNR Class DD51 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.