This is an early mass-produced DD51 car manufactured between 1964 and 1965.
Among the DD51s that were in service all over the country, this group can be broadly classified as non-multiple-unit type, and since they were not compatible with multiple unit operation, they are characterized by clean end sills without jumper plugs, front handrails, and the two-leaf front inspection door that is unique to early cars.
All warm-weather locomotives were mainly deployed in Kyushu, and in addition to pulling passenger and freight trains, they also led the blue trains "Sakura," "Hayabusa," and "Akatsuki" that ran on the Nagasaki Main Line.
In the 1970s, it was transferred to the Yonago district, where it continued to serve on the Fukuchiyama Line and Sanin Main Line, before being retired by the time of the privatization of Japanese National Railways.
This diesel locomotive was suitable for trains in Western Japan and Kyushu during the JNR era. It was also suitable for pulling the "10-1872/1873 20-series sleeper express "Sakura" Nagasaki/Sasebo formations."