Type ED15 Electric Locomotive

The Type ED15 electric locomotive is the first purely domestic freight and passenger-use electric locomotive which Namihei Odaira, the founder of Hitachi Ltd., designed and developed with full corporate technical capabilities as a project associated with the electrification plan of the Tokaido Line. The electrical parts were designed and manufactured at Hitachi Works (Ibaraki Prefecture) and the mechanical parts at Kasado Works (Yamaguchi Prefecture). The electric locomotives were used for at least 35 years since 1924 for the Tokaido Line and the Chuo Line.

The electric locomotive is the only existing car of its type and is a heritage situated at the origin of domestic electric locomotives, which replaced steam locomotives as a result of the electrification of railways.