Gordon Connell Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 An interesting piece on here about the testing of a train that will be able to use both the shinkansen and (Japanese) standard gauge. There's a video showing the train passing from one to the other. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR(S) Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Japan's levitating maglev train reaches 500km/h (311mph): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30067889 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Japan's levitating maglev train reaches 500km/h (311mph): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-30067889 Full credit to the Japanese. Another British-developed concept that has become commercial reality elsewhere. Professor Eric Laithwaite, formerly of Imperial College London, helped to develop the first working maglev system in conjunction with the BR Research Centre, Derby. He even wrote an article, on linear motors, which was published in the contemporary magazine "Model Railways". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Saw Prof Laithwaite demonstrate his 'transverse flux' linear motor at Queen Mary College as part of a summer lecture series. It lifted off the track when powered up, then shot across the stage, followed the simple bent metal plate track as it transitioned to vertical and climbed the side of the proscenium arch at unchanged speed, and then transitioned to inverted as it ran across the top of the arch. Stopped, reversed, and came back down. Well, any fool could see there was no future in that... Yesterday evening an interesting diversion into Japanese HO thanks to a friend's purchase of a model of the original Shinkansen of 1964, made by a manufacturer new to me, 'Zoukei Mura'. Lovely model if a trifle difficult to fit with the dedicated ESU v4 sound decoder. The limited English text among the mass of incomprehensible ideograms gives me to believe that the decoder is pre-programmed for 'correct operating characteristics' to match the sound. It certainly performed well on track, and the sound was well above average. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted January 27, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 27, 2015 Going OT but on the topic but on the subject of linear motors there is a lot of money going into the technology to develop electro-magnetic catapults for aircraft carriers. The RN wanted an EMCAT for the CVF but reverted to STOVL when costs were spiralling out of control. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Yesterday evening an interesting diversion into Japanese HO thanks to a friend's purchase of a model of the original Shinkansen of 1964, made by a manufacturer new to me, 'Zoukei Mura'. Lovely model if a trifle difficult to fit with the dedicated ESU v4 sound decoder. The limited English text among the mass of incomprehensible ideograms gives me to believe that the decoder is pre-programmed for 'correct operating characteristics' to match the sound. It certainly performed well on track, and the sound was well above average. Zoukei Mura have a small range of HO scale JNR models - the 1964 0系 shinkansen stock, the EF13 electric loco with wartime austerity body, and all the variants of the DD54 diesel hydraulic loco. The electric and the diesel are just as good as the 0系 for detail, finish and performance. I have two of the DD54s which I'm very happy with. http://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/products/srs01_0shinkansen.html http://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/products/srs02_DD54.html http://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/products/srs03_EF13.html Cheers, Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 My first trip to Japan last year was very rushed and I didn't get around everything, so I had a more relaxed trip this year to 'mop up'. First stop of railway interest was the excellent Tobu Group museum at Higashi-Mukojima station on the Tobu Skytree line. Very easy to get to, the museum is a 10min trip away from the Asakusa Kannon temple precinct, starting at the fascinating Asakusa terminal on the first floor of a department store! The short train ride also passes the Skytree tower. The museum is located under the elevated tracks and houses a Beyer-Peacock steam loco, two electric locos (the oldest of which was under restoration when i visited), EMU cars from 1924 and 1951, an articulated tram and various sectioned items. Well worth a visit! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobu_Museum DeHa 5 of 1924 Tobu Museum by Stuart, on Flickr 2015 04 10 02 tokyo tobu museum 044a by Stuart, on Flickr MoHa 5701 of 1951 Tobu Museum by Stuart, on Flickr ED5015 of 1959 Tobu Museum by Stuart, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I also finally made it to the Choshi Electric Railway, a photo of this that I saw over ten years ago having started my interest in Japanese railways. It's a bit off the beaten track, and is the other side of Narita airport to Tokyo so a bit of backtracking is required, but I managed to find some Tokyo-Choshi express trains that only take 2hrs rather than the usual 3hrs. The Choshi trains now only run roughly hourly and don't connect with these expresses very well, but Nakanocho station and depot is only 5min walk from Chosi JR station to fill in some time! Choshi JR station Choshi Dentetsu - Choshi by Stuart, on Flickr Nakanocho Choshi Dentetsu - Nakanocho by Stuart, on Flickr Choshi Dentetsu - Nakanocho by Stuart, on Flickr Choshi Dentetsu - Nakanocho by Stuart, on Flickr Tokawa Choshi Dentetsu - Tokawa by Stuart, on Flickr Choshi Dentetsu - Tokawa by Stuart, on Flickr Choshi Dentetsu - Tokawa by Stuart, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SHMD Posted June 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 28, 2015 ^ I just love that pic of 801 at the end of the platform at Tokawa. Kev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Utsube-Hachioji Line - one the last two remaining 2'6" electric lines near Nagoya. Formerly part of the Kintetsu group (who wanted to close it) from 1st April 2015 it has been taken over by the local council and a new company formed to operate it (Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokkaichi_Asunarou_Railway_Utsube_Line and as it was in the 1960s: http://umemado.blogspot.jp/search/label/%E4%B8%89%E9%87%8D%E9%9B%BB%E6%B0%97%E9%89%84%E9%81%93%20%E5%86%85%E9%83%A8%E3%83%BB%E5%85%AB%E7%8E%8B%E5%AD%90%E7%B7%9A Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Yokkaichi by Stuart, on Flickr Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Utsube by Stuart, on Flickr Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Utsube by Stuart, on Flickr Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Utsube by Stuart, on Flickr Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Utsube by Stuart, on Flickr Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Utsube by Stuart, on Flickr Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Yokkaichi by Stuart, on Flickr <<Click through for Video>> Utsube-Hachiōji Line 内部・八王子線 - Yokkaichi by Stuart, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hokusei Line - the other of the two remaining 2'6" electric lines. Transferred from the Kintetsu group to the local Sangi railway in 2003 (with local authority backing) when Kintetsu proposed closure. With 10 years of investment and strong community involvement it makes an interesting contrast to the run down Utsube-Hachioji line nearby. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangi_Railway_Hokusei_Line and as it was in the 1960s: http://umemado.blogspot.com.au/search/label/%E4%B8%89%E9%87%8D%E9%9B%BB%E6%B0%97%E9%89%84%E9%81%93%20%E5%8C%97%E5%8B%A2%E7%B7%9A Sangi Railway Hokusei Line 三岐鉄道北勢線 - Nishi-Kuwana by Stuart, on Flickr Sangi Railway Hokusei Line 三岐鉄道北勢線 - Nishi-Kuwana by Stuart, on Flickr Sangi Railway Hokusei Line 三岐鉄道北勢線 - Sohara by Stuart, on Flickr Sangi Railway Hokusei Line 三岐鉄道北勢線 - Sohara by Stuart, on Flickr Sangi Railway Hokusei Line 三岐鉄道北勢線 - Ageki by Stuart, on Flickr Sangi Railway Hokusei Line 三岐鉄道北勢線 - Nishi-Kuwana by Stuart, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Great photos, Stuart, thanks for sharing them. I love the view of the 200kei articulated set in it's original Mie Kotsu livery. Cheers, Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Thanks everyone for some really fascinating photos of Japan's railways, I never realised just how varied they are. How many different gauges are in common use please? I notice from the photos that Japan's railways seem to be principally concerned with moving people, are there any freight trains please? Cheers, John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 G'day John, Currently there are 5 track gauges in common use in Japan. The most common gauge is 1067mm/3'6", which forms the bulk of the JR Group network and connecting private railways. 610mm - Tateyama Sabo railway in Toyama prefecture. I think this would be the last non-museum/preserved line using 610mm gauge, which was once common for local and industrial railway operations, known as "keiben", throughout Japan. 762mm - the three former Kintetsu lines featured in Stuart's photos, and the Kurobe Gorge railway. This gauge was also once very commonly used by keiben lines throughout Japan, but in many cases the lines were converted to 1067mm gauge and electrified as traffic increased, such as Kintetsu's Yunoyama line. The famous Kiso Forest Railway was 762mm gauge. 1067mm - JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Tokai, JR West, JR Shikoku, JR Kyushu, all JR Freight operations on these lines, and many private railways and tramway, big and small. The reasons for choosing 3'6" gauge for the original Tokyo-Yokohama line in 1872 are not apparent these days, but that choice greatly influenced subsequent government and private railway construction. 1372mm - Toei Shinjuku line, Tokyu Setagaya line, Toden Arakawa line, Keio Teito Corporation lines, and the Hakodate city tramway. The once-huge Tokyo municipal tramway sytem was built to this gauge, plus some private railways and tramway in the Tokyo area. Some of these lines have been re-gauged twice, going from 1067mm to 1372mm, then 1372mm to 1435mm! 1435mm - Shin Keisei railway, Hokuso Railway, Keihin Express Railway, Keisei Electric Railway, Eidan Ginza and Marunouchi lines, Toei Asakusa line, Yokohama metro, Hakone Tozan Railway, Nagoya metro, Kinki Nippon Railway/Kintetsu main lines, Keifuku Electric Railway, Eizan Electric Railway, Keihan Electric Railway, Kyoto metro, Osaka metro, Hankai Electric Tramway, Hankyu Electric Railway, Nose Electric Railway, Hanshin Electric Railway, Kobe metro, San-Yo Electric Railway, Hiroshima Electric Railway, Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railway, Chikuho Electric Railway, Nishi Nippon Railway main lines, Nagasaki Electric Tramway, Kumamoto city tramway, Kagoshima city tramway, and of course the JR Shinkansen network. So there's more standard gauge trackage in Japan than you might think at first. Historically there were a number of other gauges used. There were once a number of man-powered tramways, known as "jinsha kido", some of which used 737mm gauge. Kaimaishi Iron Works and the Hankai Railway used 838mm. In northern Kyushu there were a number of local lines that used 914mm/3' gauge. In total there have been 16 different track gauges used in Japan in the railway era. I've not gone into the various monorails and guideway lines there, as I'm not sure how you'd even measure their gauges! As you noticed, passenger traffic is the main game in Japan. The former Japanese National Railway abandoned individual carload freight service around 1984. Prior to that they interchanged freight traffic with many of the 1067mm gauge private common carrier railways. Those private railways had their own locos and often their own freight cars. Until the late 1960s the Tobu Railway hauled freight around Tokyo with some lovely old UK-built 4-4-0 tender engines alongside modern electric locos. Other lines used ex-JNR 2-4-2Ts and 0-6-2Ts, along with other ancient steamers from UK and US builders. When JNR was corporatised and broken up in 1987 a new company was formed known as JR Freight. They operate throughout Japan, running unit trains consisting of mainly container traffic. Apart from JRF the only freight traffic nowadays is on a small number of industrial and port lines, known collectively as "rinkai". The last private railway hauling freight was the Gakunan Railway, which I think stopped running freight trains in 2012? Anyway, I hope this answers your question. As you can see, the railways of Japan are of great interest to me. By the time you wade through all this you'll probably be sorry you asked! All the best, Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 G'day Mark, Phew! That was most interesting, thanks very much indeed. As you may tell, I do have a passing interest but then I am interested in railways from every part of the world! I certainly wouldn't mind visiting Japan one day but it is a heck of a long haul from UK. Bizarrely, I do have distant cousins who are Japanese (with Stone as family name!) but sadly never met them. Cheers, John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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