Hanwa Electric Railway Class RoKo 1000

The Hanwa Electric Railway Class RoKo 1000 was a Japanese DC electric locomotive operated by the Hanwa Electric Railway and later other railway companies from 1930 to 1988.
==History==
The Class RoKo 1000 was an early electric locomotive used in Japan. The locomotives were operated by the Hanwa Electric Railway, the preceding operator of what is now the West Japan Railway Company's Hanwa Line. The locomotives's mechanical components were manufactured by Nippon Sharyo and its electrical components by Tōyō Denki. Built in preparation for the completion of the section of line between Hanwa-Tennōji Station and Higashi-Wakayama Stations, two locomotives were initially built in 1930, numbered RoKo 1001 and 1002. A third locomotive, RoKo 1003, was built in 1931.
Operated as the main electric locomotive of the Hanwa Electric Railway, the locomotives were used to pull both freight and passenger trains; they were well-liked by engineers, with enthusiasts deeming it and the Aichi Electric Railway Class DeKi 400 locomotives the best electric locomotives of the period. The Hanwa Electric Railway was merged with the Nankai Electric Railway on 1 November 1940; the line would later become the Nankai Yamanote Line. In 1942, a request was put in by Nankai to have three more locomotives, numbered RoKo 1004 through 1006, built; this request was rejected. In June 1944, one additional locomotive, RoKo 1004, was completed. Soon after RoKo 1004's completion, another request was made to have three more locomotives built soon after, numbered RoKo 1005 through 1007; this too was rejected. The Yamanote Line was nationalized on 1 May 1944 and became the Hanwa Line, with the four locomotives coming under the jurisdiction of the Japanese National Railways; they would initially operate with no changes in number. With the enactment of vehicle naming regulations in 1952, the four locomotives were reclassified as the JNR Class ED38 and renumbered ED38 1 through ED38 4.
Following the war, the locomotives were sent to Tokyo, where they frequently broke down due to equipment overuse. Locomotives like the EF15, EF52 and the ED20 were sent to replace the locomotives, but these proved ineffective; the locomotives were replaced with the introduction of the ED60s. With the ED60s now carrying out the ED38's duties, the locomotives were resold to other railways and withdrawn from JNR service; ED38 4 would be loaned to the Sangi Railway in September 1959 to carry cement for the construction of the Kurobe Dam. ED38 4 was returned to the JNR in December 1959 and struck off the register on 21 December 1959; the locomotive could not be sold and was scrapped in 1961.
The remaining three locomotives were withdrawn from JNR service in 1960. ED38 2 was resold to the Ōigawa Railway and renumbered ED105 while ED38 1 and 3 were resold to the Chichibu Railway. ED105 would later be resold to the Chichibu Railway, where it was restored back to its JNR number. ED38 2 was withdrawn in 1974; it would soon after become a parts donor locomotive for ED38 1 and 3 with spare parts for the locomotive becoming more difficult to obtain. ED38 2 would be withdrawn on 31 January 1980 and scrapped. Around this time the other two locomotives were put out of service due to the introduction of newer electric locomotives; ED38 3 was withdrawn on 14 March 1981 and subsequently scrapped. ED38 1, the last remaining locomotive, was officially withdrawn in 1988 having not operated for a few years and placed into storage; after being in storage for some years, the locomotive was restored and placed in the Chichibu Railway Car Park near Mitsumineguchi Station, but was removed in March 2019 due to the revamping of the area as the SL Tenshadai Park and scrapped.
No ED38s have been preserved.
==Specifications==
The Class RoKo 1000 used a nose suspension drive system. TDK-556-A traction motors were used on the locomotives.
==Preservation==
The following Class RoKo 1000 locomotives were preserved in the past but have since been scrapped:
Number	Manufacturer 	Equipment manufacturer	Date manufactured	Date retired 	Last location 	Notes
ED38 1	Nippon Sharyo	Tōyō Denki 	1930 	1960 (JNR)1988 (Chichibu)	Chichibu Railway Car Park, Saitama, Japan	Ex-Hanwa RoKo 1001, displayed outdoors; removed and scrapped 2019
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Electric locomotives
Category:B-B locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge
Category:Narrow-gauge locomotives
Category:Nippon Sharyo locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives