JNR Class ED40

The JNR Class ED40 is a Japanese DC Abt rack rail boxcab electric locomotive operated by the Japanese National Railways from 1919 to 1952.
==History==
The ED40 was an early type of electric locomotive used on the Japanese National Railways. Fourteen locomotives were produced by the JNR at their Ōmiya Works as a sort of "expansion" on the Class EC40 locomotives; these were the first domestically-manufactured electric locomotives in Japan. The locomotives, initially named the Class 10020, were put into service in 1919 on the Shin'etsu Main Line which at the time featured a rack rail system on one portion of the line.
The locomotives were stationed at the Yokogawa Depot (now the Usui Pass Railway Heritage Park). They were operated most commonly between Yokogawa and Karuizawa; there exist records of ED40 13 being operated on other lines apart with its rack system removed. The class was renamed to the Class ED40 with a rule enacted in October 1928 to standardize locomotive naming. The ED40s were replaced by the Class ED42 locomotives starting in 1943 due to aging, and all ED40 locomotives were out of service on the JNR by 1952. These were later sold to private railways.
Three private railways received a number of Class ED40 locomotives; the Tobu Railway received two locomotives, renaming them the Class ED600 in the process, the Sunzu Railway (now the Izuhakone Railway) received three locomotives and the Nankai Electric Railway received two locomotives, renaming them the Class ED5161 in the process. 
Two of the Class ED40 locomotives on the Sunzu Railway would be sold to the Gakunan Railway, which operated them until 1972. The remaining Class ED40 on the Sunzu Railway would be rebuilt extensively at the Seibu Tokorozawa Works to become the Class ED11 and renumbered ED11. ED11 would be transferred to the Gakunan Railway in 1967, renamed the Class ED311 and was taken out of service in 1973 and scrapped. ED5162 (ex-ED40 4) of the Nankai Electric Railway would be transferred for use by Akita Chuo Kotsu and renumbered ED40 1; by then it had undergone an extensive rebuild at Teikoku Sharyō. The locomotive was taken out of service in 1953 and scrapped in August that year.
One Class ED40 locomotive, ED40 10 (ex-Tobu Railway ED602), is preserved. After being taken out of service, the Tobu Railway donated ED602 back to the JNR; by this time the locomotive had its Abt rack systems removed. The locomotive was stored at Ōmiya Depot until 2019, when it was relocated to the Railway Museum in Saitama; at the museum, work was done to recreate the Abt rack system on the locomotive. The locomotive has since been designated an Important Cultural Property in Japan.
==Design==
The ED40 featured a boxcab design. A large protrusion could be found at the rear of the locomotive.
==Specifications==
The ED40 features resistor-controlled traction motors and a steel body construction. Two MT3A traction motors can be found on the train; one to control the driving wheels and the other the rack system. The resistor room extends over the rear coupler. As with many of JNR's rack rail electric locomotives it features a jackshaft.
The ED40s are fitted with both pantographs and collector shoes.
==Preservation==
The following Class EC40 locomotives have been preserved:
Number 	Manufacturer	Equipment manufacturer	Date manufactured	Date retired	Location 	Notes
ED40 10	Ōmiya Works 	Ōmiya Works 	March 1921 	March 1968 	The Railway Museum, Saitama, Japan	Displayed indoors; rack system can be viewed from bottom of locomotive
==Gallery ==
ED40 10 Jackshaft.jpg|Jackshafts
ED40 10 Rack.jpg|Abt rack mechanism
ED40 10 2023.jpg|Resistor room
File:JNR ED40 10 2021.jpg
File:ED40 10 2020.jpg|ED40 10 in May 2020
== References==
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Tobu trains
Category:Izuhakone trains
Category:Gakunan trains
Category:Nankai trains
Category:Electric locomotives
Category:D locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge
Category:Narrow-gauge locomotives
Category:Racked locomotives
Category:Sole survivor
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Ōmiya Works locomotives