JR East Class DD18

The JR East Class DD18 was a diesel-hydraulic locomotive operated by the East Japan Railway Company from 1992 to 2008.
==History==
The DD18 was designed as a dedicated snow-clearing locomotive, being one of a number of dedicated snow-clearing locomotives operated by the JNR. Intended to replace the DD14s used for snow clearing purposes, the DD18 was designed to be more powerful than the DD14s and could run on its own without assistance. Intended to run on the Yamagata Shinkansen, two DD51 locomotives, DD51 796 and DD51 742, were rebuilt into DD18 1 and DD18 2 respectively in 1991. DD18 3 was converted from DD51 783 in 1996. Conversion work was done at Nippon Sharyo and at JR East's Takatori Works.
Now located at the Yamagata Rolling Stock Depot, the three locomotives mainly served the Itaya Pass to remove snow from the surrounding areas. Usage of the DD18 was rare due to them only being used during heavy snowfall, but they were very effective at their work. Being based on a dated design, the locomotives were withdrawn from service starting in 2007 with the introduction of the ENR-1000 snow clearing locomotives, with the last locomotive, DD18 1, withdrawn in 2008.
No DD18s have been preserved.
==Design==
The DD18s featured the same design as the DD51 locomotives they were converted from; the snowplow design was similar to what was used on the DD15.
==Specifications==
The DD18 was fitted with two V12 prime movers, designated the DML61Z. Much of the locomotive's equipment is reused from the DD51s they were converted from.
Category:JR Group trains
Category:B-2-B locomotives
Category:Diesel locomotives
Category:Diesel-hydraulic locomotives
Category:Nippon Sharyo locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Scrapped diesel locomotives