A recent e-mail from Clive Barlow tipped me off about a class of locomotive that I had been unaware of. Between 1966 and 1971, 54 locomotives of class DD54 were constructed in Japan, fitted with a Maybach MD870 rated at 1820hp driving into a Mekydro K184u transmission. It is possible that both engine and transmission were constructed under licence in Japan. The wheel arrangement was unusual, B-1-B, the middle unpowered axle presumably provided to help spread the 70 tons weight of the locomotives on the track. The locomotives were built to a narrow gauge though I am not sure which as there appear to be several different gauges below standard gauge in use in Japan - the modelling link quotes one of the statistics as 860mm, whether that is a track gauge is anyone's guess unless you can read Japanese. There appears to be a single survivor, DD54 33 at the Osaka Modern Transport Museum. These locomotives are quoted on the Osaka MTM site as working the San-In & Bantan lines.
For a picture of a model, which shows how the locomotives look, plus some statistics:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/JNR-JR_syaryou/DL/DD54.htm
There are plenty of links to pictures and information (again almost entirely in Japanese):
This link has some very nice pictures that look like they are all of the same locomotive, perhaps the Osaka Museum one:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/fujishirou/site2/contents31-DD54-1.htm
A page of links to photographs by Shiro Shimizu, plenty of detail pics:
http://www2.justnet.ne.jp/~gilthead.ss/p1a_web/index.html
Some pictures from the eary 1970's, plus some details, mostly in English:
http://tokyorai.hp.infoseek.co.jp/loco/locodl/ldd54.html
Links pertaining to the preserved DD54 33 at the Osaka Modern Transport Museum:
http://www.mtm.or.jp/eng/guide/body12.html - No pictures, English text
General photography featuring DD54's:
http://www.sa.sakura.ne.jp/~rtm/photo/dl/dd54F.htm
http://hp1.cyberstation.ne.jp/shasou/bantan/bantan1.html
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/ikuomasd/dd54.html
http://rre-album.hp.infoseek.co.jp/jrjnr/jnrdl1/jnrdl11.htm
http://kirishimamidori.hp.infoseek.co.jp/dd54.html
http://www.kururin.jp/japan/bantan1.htm
http://wind.freespace.jp/JNR/DD54-No2.htm
http://www.people.or.jp/~hyon-kun/dd54.htm - has some pictures of DD54 33 after withdrawal too