7 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. EF55-1 Matsumoto 20031013: 永尾信幸· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. JR east EF55 1 EF58 61 salonexpresstokyo: Spaceaero2· CC BY 3.0
- 3. EF55 EL-Okutone: Alt_winmaerik· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. EF55-1 at Transportation Museum in Tokyo 20060330: Naocchi· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. EF55-1: Tokyodesert· Public domain
- 6. EF55-1: Rsa· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. EF551: Rsa· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Class EF55 (EF55形) is a 2Co+Co1 wheel arrangement electric locomotive type consisting of three locomotives built in 1936 by Hitachi, Kawasaki, and Tōyō Electric in Japan. They were nicknamed "hippos (kaba)" or "monster shoes (kutsu no bakemono)" in the 1930s, and later in the 1980s "Moomin".
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 90 years ago, in 1936.
- 1.4 MW is about 16 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 17 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 19.2 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1936
- in service from
- 1936
- status
- retired
- number built
- 3
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Hitachi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, Toyo Electric
- operators
- Japanese National Railways, East Japan Railway Company, Ministry of Railways
- top speed
- 120 km/h
- power
- 1.4 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 1,500 V DC
- wheel arrangement
- (2'Co)(Co'1)
- length
- 19.2 m
- weight
- 100 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q609822, Wikipedia: JNR Class EF55 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.