JNR Class DE11

Data (as of 5 Apr 2025)

History

Class DE11 is a type of diesel locomotive developed by Japanese National Railways. JNR had been working hard to replace steam trains as a part of its modernisation programme, and they had already been introducing diesel locomotives for passenger and freight trains. JNR then decided to replace steam shunters with diesel ones.

The DE11 is similar to Class DE10, but there are some differences. The DE11 is not designed for passenger trains so that there is no steam heating boiler. The DE11 is slightly heavier than the DE10 to prevent locos from slipping at depots.

116 locos were introduced in total, and four of them could work by remote at Musashino Rail Yard (Saitama Prefecture). It was one of the most advanced system controlled by computers in the world at that time, but they did not last long as the Rail Yard itself was closed.

The DE11 declined faster than the DE10, as the DE11 could not haul coaches on mainline. When Japanese National Railway was privatised in 1987, only 18 locos were succeeded to JR East and JR Freight. JR East had been using them at Oku Depot (Tokyo) and later Utsunomiya Depot, but all of them have been deregistered by 2023.

Current Operations & Future Prospects

JR Freight owns two. They are registered for mainline use but nobody has witnessed it running mainline since 2023.

Photo

The original livery.