[Bonus: Postcard included] RM Re-Library 24: Genealogy of Japanese National Railways Imported Electric Locomotives

RM Re-Library is a series of reprints of two or three of the best volumes from the long history of RM LIBRARY , which has already exceeded 280 issues. The 24th volume in the series will be a reprint of "The Genealogy of Electric Locomotives Imported by Japanese National Railways" (written by Yoshikawa Fumio) from RM Library volumes 11 and 12 .

The electrification of main lines of the Japanese National Railways began with the Abt section of the Shinetsu Main Line at Usui Pass, but this book does not cover the Abt type electric locomotives, and instead begins with the explanation of the locomotives that were imported in small numbers from Europe and the United States when the Tokaido Main Line between Tokyo and Kozu and the Yokosuka Line between Ōfuna and Yokosuka were electrified.

Broadly speaking, electric locomotives were imported in three waves, with the first wave consisting of only two locomotives of each type imported from America, Switzerland, and the UK. The second wave was a complete change, with all locomotives made in the UK, and the third wave, which was brought in before the opening of the Tanna Tunnel, consisted mainly of American locomotives with the addition of some odd Swiss locomotives. In addition to these, there are the minority of ED56 and ED57 locomotives that were imported by their own manufacturers and incorporated into the Japanese National Railways, and over the years, Japanese technology has been introduced into each of them, and they have also been modified as operation methods have changed.

This book introduces these fascinating early electric locomotives, overflowing with the national character, with a wealth of photographs (note that this does not include locomotives acquired by private railways; see the previously published "Genealogy of Electric Locomotives Acquired by Private Railways"). Some were transferred to private railways and maintained long lives, so it is interesting that it includes locomotives that are familiar even to relatively young people.