Monday 25 June 2018

Unique Kiosk on the Tokaido Main Line

Unique kiosk at Fujisawa station on the Tokaido main line

Whenever I take the Tokaido main line, I see a unique shed on the platform 3 and 4 at Fujisawa station. It has two tones of green and orange colors. It is made to look like a train. What is that?

The answer is a kiosk which looks like the EMU 80 series. The 80 series was launched as a long distance train by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) in 1950. Before debuting the 80 series, the long-distance trains on the Tokaido main line were coaches pulled by locomotives. They were decrepit and outdated. Passengers had expectations for the emergence of a new age train. The 80 series appeared at this time.

The EMU 80 series was a 1500 V DC train with DC motors. The electric control system was rheostatic. The driving system was nose suspension. A total of 632 units were built by Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki Sharyo, Kinki Sharyo and others. Its two large frontal windows and a large rounded top light are definitely my favorite.

The 80 series was called Shonan Train. Shonan is a 30 km long beach facing the Pacific Ocean located southwest of Tokyo. The Shonan Coast has been one of the top-rated residential areas in the Tokyo metropolitan area since the 1950s because the area has a beautiful beach and a historical city such as Kamakura. The 80 series had been active on the tracks for 33 years.

The unique kiosk at Fujisawa station makes us recall the past days of the Tokaido main line.

Entrance of unique kiosk at Fujisawa station