#3928· JNR DE15
JNR Class DE15
🇯🇵 Japan ·built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries· from 1967· class of diesel locomotives operated in Japan
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. JNR DE15 1535 20100203: Tennen-Gas· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. DE15-JRH-Norokko-2019: TheChadBag· CC BY 4.0
- 3. DE15 2052 Tottori 20060101: スイッチバック at Japanese Wikipedia· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. DE15 2525 Toyooka Station: Flow in edgewise· CC BY 3.0
- 5. DE15 2558: Alt_winmaerik· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. JNR DE15 1525 Naebo 20100911: Tennen-Gas· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. JNR DE15 1543 20090126: Tennen-Gas· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 8. JNR DE15 2516: 100yen· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 9. JRH-DE15 2527: Chatama· CC0
- 10. JRH DE15 2510: Chatama· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Class DE15 (DE15形) is a five-axle C-B wheel arrangement diesel-hydraulic locomotive type operated in Japan as a self-propelled snowplough unit since 1967 by the national railway company Japanese National Railways (JNR), and later by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). A total of 85 locomotives were built between 1967 and 1981, and as of 1 April 2016, 25 locomotives remain in service.
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 59 years ago, in 1967.
- 1 MW is about 12 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 14.2 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Still in service after 59 years.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1967–1981
- in service from
- 1967
- status
- in service
- number built
- 85
- kind
- Diesel-hydraulic
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Sharyo
- operators
- Japanese National Railways, East Japan Railway Company, West Japan Railway Company, Hokkaido Railway Company
- top speed
- 85 km/h
- power
- 1 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- C-B
- length
- 14.2 m
- weight
- 65 t
- Dutch name
- JNR DE15
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q11421768, Wikipedia: JNR Class DE15 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.