Kinki Sharyo's LRVs in the U.S. and Japan

Electric car LACMTA 1000 series (Kinki Sharyo P3010) travels on the Expo line 
Photo: Paul Schipitsch

One of my blog readers kindly sent his photograph of the new LRV in the U.S. to me. I am going to show you his beautiful photo today. Thanks, Paul-san, for sending the precious photo.

The Los Angeles Metro Rail (hereafter Metro) is an urban rail transportation system in Los Angeles County, California. Metro is operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA). The Metro network is composed of two subways and four light rail routes and its total operating length is 169 kilometers. The gauge size is 1,435 millimeters. The electric system is 750 V DC third rail for the subway lines; meanwhile, 750 V DC overhead catenary for the light rail lines.

The electric car 1000 series, which is also known as the Kinki Sharyo P3010, is the newest rolling stock launched in 2016. P3010 is an articulated light rail vehicle (LRV) built by Kinki Sharyo. A total of 175 sets are operated on all the four light rail lines. Although it really just looks like a slow streetcar to me, the maximum operating speed of the P3010 is 105 kilometers per hour, whose power is generated by four 145 kW induction motors with IGBT-VVVF (variable-frequency drive) electric control system.

Incidentally, I am going to show you another Kinki Sharyo's LRV in the margin of the blog. It is the electric car 5100 series on the Hiroshima Electric Railway lines, Japan. We can see the Kinki Sharyo's LRVs on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Electric car Hiroden 5100 series, built by Kinki Sharyo, travels in the Hiroshima urban area

Officil information about the Kinki Sharyo P3010:

http://www.kinkisharyo.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/LACMTA.pdf

Official information about the electric car Hiroden 5100 series (in Japanese):

http://www.hiroden.co.jp/train/train-list/gm5100.html

EMU 2020 Series: New Model on the Den-en-toshi Line

EMU Tokyu 2020 series arrives at Tama-plaza station on the Denentoshi line

On March 28th 2018, Tokyu launched a new commuter train, named the 2020 series, on their Den-en-toshi line. Introduction of the new EMU (electrical multiple-unit) was for the first time in 16 years, since they launched the EMU 5000 series in 2002.

The EMU Tokyu 2020 series is a 10-car train including five motor cars. Each motor car has its own electric control unit. The name "2020" came from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 2020 series is characterized by its unique "face". It is white and round. The crescent-shaped accent, which is similar to that of the EMU Sendai Municipal Subway 2000 series, strikes my eyes. The large cowcatcher integrated with the face also stands out conspicuously. The only thing is that the face doesn't fit the naked stainless-steel bodies. Ideally, the side body should be painted with a white color.

The interior of the 2020 series is good enough as a commuter train. For instance, it has triple liquid crystal displays above the passenger doors. They are very convenient for passengers to get information such as the route map, next station, TV news and so on. The special deodorant and antibacterial air cleaners are also welcome to passengers. 

Tokyu has ordered J-TREC with 6 sets of the 2020 series in the fiscal year 2018. With this introduction, the old EMU 8500 series will be retired in the not too distant future. Please ride and take photographs of the 8500 series before it is too late.

Side view of the EMU Tokyu 2020 series

Official movie about the EMU Tokyu 2020 series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVePxwziG9Y

Preserved SL and Unique Flowers in Atami City

Steam locomotive ex-Atami Railway No.7 is preserved in front of Atami station

You may remember that I visited Atami City in May. A lot of time has passed since then, but I am going to continue some more topics there.

When I got off at Atami station, I found a lovely steam locomotive (SL) in front of the station building. It was a preserved SL No. 7 operated on the ex-Atami Railway. Atami Railway was opened under the name of Zuso Hand-car Railway in 1895. This tramway later had a name change to Atami Railway; the hand-car railway was reconstructed into a light railway using steam power in 1908. Connecting Odawara and Atami, its total operating length was 25.3 kilometers. The gauge size was 762 millimeters.

The SL No.7 was built by Amemiya Seisakujo in 1907. It is 3.36 meters long and 3.6 tons weight. The SL No.7 has a slender figure, but it could transport up to 50 passengers per train. Its operating speed was 9.7 kilometers per hour. It took 160 minutes from Odawara to Atami; meanwhile, it takes only 8 minutes by the Shinkansen train today. Unfortunately, Atami Railway was abolished in 1923 due to the Great Kanto earthquake.

After observing the precious preserved SL, I enjoyed walking in the downtown area of Atami City. I came across unique flowers on the esplanade. It was Scarlet bottlebrush native to Australia. As its name suggests, this flower looks like a bottlebrush and its color was scarlet. I was fascinated by these tropical flowers shuddering in the spring breeze.

Atami has endless discoveries.

Full blown Scarlet bottlebrush is seen on the esplanade of Atami city