Two views from my recent trip to Japan.

JRF1184GB_230709_01

ONE OF THE oddest Japanese locomotive designs that I’ve come across, the JR Freight (JRF) DD51 B-2-B diesel-hydraulics have a unique charm all of their own. On July 23rd, 2009, a broadside of No. 1184 was recorded at Tsuchizaki, in Akita Prefecture, as the 18-metre long machine worked an Akita-ko docks to Tsuchizaki yard transfer job.

JR貨物 DD51 B-2-B 油圧式ディーゼル 1184 @ 土崎駅, 秋田県, 日本, 2009/7/23.

JRF1022GB_190709

With a short train of empty container flats in tow, JR Freight (JRF) EF64-1000 Bo-Bo-Bo 1,500V dc electric No. 1022 rolls northbound through Kawasaki-Shinmachi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on July 19th, 2009. This sub class - built in the 1980s for the Jōetsu Line - was almost a complete reworking of the original EF64 design, but still kept that trademark JR front end look with wrap-around windows.

JR貨物 EF64-1000番台 Bo-Bo-Bo 直流1,500V 電気機関車 1022 @ 川崎新町駅, 神奈川県, 日本, 2009/7/19.