The Only Preserved Tramcar in Kawasaki City

Unit 702 of the electric car ex-Kawasaki City Tram 700 series in Sakuragawa Park

I continue walking along Tama River. After visiting the old railway bridge on the JR East Chuo line, I went downstream to Kawasaki City another day. While I enjoyed the walking, I stopped by a public park to see a precious preserved tramcar, unit 702 of the Kawasaki City Tram 700 series.

Let me quickly explain the Kawasaki City Tram to start. Kawasaki is located southwest of Tokyo, and the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture. Kawasaki once had a 6.7-kilometer-long tramline. It was opened in 1944 by the Transportation Bureau of Kawasaki City. The gauge size was 1,435 millimeters. The electric system was 600 V DC overhead. The Kawasaki City Tram was unfortunately abolished in 1969 for management rationalization. Only one vehicle, namely unit 702 of the electric car 700 series, is preserved in Sakuragawa Park.

Let's head to the main topic. Unit 702 was originally designed for tramlines in Tokyo Metropolis. It was built in 1922 by Nihon-Tetsudo-Jidosha Company. After being operated in Tokyo, unit 702 was transferred to the Kawasaki City Tram in 1947. Its pantograph was replaced by a Z-shaped one in 1959. The electric control system was changed from a direct to an indirect non-automatic system in 1965. Its wooden body was also renovated for fireproofing. After operating for 47 years, unit 702 was retired from the track in 1969, when the Kawasaki City Tram was abolished.

Enjoying the riverside walking and observing the precious tramcar, I spent a great weekend again.

Tama riverbank in Kawasaki City

Reunion with TOQi

Inspection train, "TOQi", travels on the Tokyu-Toyoko line

I recently took the Tokyu-Toyoko line, and met "TOQi" again for the first time in four years. TOQi... what's that? It's an inspection train whose formal name is the EMU Tokyu 7500 series. TOQi can inspect all Tokyu lines except the Setagaya line. The targets of the inspection are overhead wires, signal safety facilities and train radio systems.

TOQi is a 2-car train consisting of DeYa 7500 and DeYa 7550, but I found one more colorful car this time. It was coupled between the two cars, and operated as a 3-car train. What's this additional car? It's SaYa 7590. The mission of SaYa 7590 is the track inspection, so this special 3-car TOQi train was inspecting not only overhead wires and related systems but also railway tracks.

For your information, DeYa 7500 and DeYa 7550 of the EMU Tokyu 7500 series was built in 2012 by Tokyu Sharyo to replace the old inspection train named the EMU 7200 series. They are motorcars. Each car has an 18 meter-long body. Its travelling devices are similar with those of the commuter train, the EMU 7000 series. On the other hand, SaYa 7590 is a trailer without a motor. It was built in 1998 as one of the EMU 7200 series. Although most of the 7200 series had already been scrapped, only SaYa 7590 has been surviving. Teaming up with the newly built 7500 series, it still works as an inspection car.

I hope that you understand the history of Tokyu Railway's inspection train.

Interior of TOQi inspection train (November, 2019 at Tokyu Nagatsuta Railyard)

Preserved Subway Train in Hachioji City

Unit 652 of the EMU ex-Eidan 500 series

I recently visited Hachioji Science Dome in the western suburb of Tokyo Metropolis. It's a science museum for local children. Along with many interesting exhibits, visitors can observe an old electric car in front of the museum. That's unit 652 of the EMU ex-Eidan 500 series. Before introducing this precious car, I must explain about "Eidan". Eidan, also known as Teito Rapid Transit Authority, used to be a subway operator in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was privatized in 2004, and taken over by newly established Tokyo Metro Company. Eidan owned many trains, but most of them had already been retired from the track.

Unit 652 of the EMU 500 series is one such electric car. It was built in 1960 by Nippon Sharyo. After travelling 3.1 million kilometers on the subway Marunouchi line, it was retired from the track in 1992. Unit 652 currently spends its second life as a precious study material for children. You may think that the 500 series is similar with the 300 series, which was exhibited in the Subway Museum. Yes, but the details are different. For example, the 300 series has both sides driver's cab; while, the 500 series has one side driver's cab. The 300 series is a double roof car; while; the 500 series is a single roof car, so you can see many ventilation ducts at the upper part of the side body of the 500 series.

It's fun to observe a train. I hope that children also enjoy it.

Side view of unit 652

Serving a Double Purpose on the Tobu and JR East Lines

Set 81107 of the EMU Tobu 8000 series approaches the 2nd Kubo railway crossing

Here we're in the middle of winter in Tokyo. It's clear every day in the regions here on the Pacific Ocean. Winter is one of the best seasons to take railway pictures in the Pacific Ocean side including the Tokyo metropolitan area. The blue sky gives railway photographers many beautiful subjects.

One day, I headed to the northern suburb. My destination was "the 2nd Kubo railway crossing", where we can take photos of the Tobu Ogose line trains. The Ogose line is a local branch route of the Tobu-Tojo line. A 4-car train, EMU 8000 series, is operated every 15 minutes. After arriving at the railway crossing, the southbound train soon approached. That's a special-colored train, trainset 81107 of the 8000 series. The orange and dark beige colored bodies are a revival of the Tobu trains in the 1960s. It was very beautiful under the winter sunlight.

Is that the end of today's post? No, I'm still in the middle of it. Five minutes later, the other train approached the railway crossing... a diesel railcar, JR East KiHa 110 series, not a Tobu train. What was going on there? The gimmick is as follows. The 2nd Kubo railway crossing is used by two companies, namely Tobu Railway and JR East. Tobu uses one track as the Ogose line, while JR East uses another track as the Hachiko line. The latter is not electrified, so we can see the diesel railcar.

I served a double purpose at the 2nd Kubo railway crossing.

Diesel railcar JR East 110 series approaches the 2nd Kubo railway crossing

The Keio-Inokashia Line: Update

Trainset 1757 (1757F) of the EMU Keio 1000 series arrives at Takaido station

I often take the Keio-Inokashira line, but I haven't seen the tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) family at Shindaita station lately. I wonder where they are now. They may have moved, or staying inside the drain beside the track due to the cold winter. You may have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? If so, please review my post in September last year.

Instead of the topic of the animals, I'm going to show you a railway topic as usual. Keio Electric Railway recently operates trains on the Inokashira line with special round plates celebrating New Year on the front. They're trainset 1757 and 1773 of the EMU 1000 series. The first sunrise of the year and the kadomatsu (the New Year's decorative pine trees) are depicted on the plate. It's Keio's annual event, but I again realized that the new year has begun after looking the celebrating plates. The meaning of the word on the plate is "New Year's greetings".

Incidentally, Keio recently announced a new timetable on the Inokashira line starting March 18th. According to the news release, less trains will be running than the present timetable specifically in the night. As you may know, the number of the railway passengers has been decreasing since the spreading of COVID-19. Many office workers and students use the online meeting systems at home instead of going to their offices and schools. Although it's getting back to normal, the period of hardship continues for railway companies even in the urban areas.

A special round plate celebrating New Year

Class 8620: Masterpiece Locomotive in the 1910's

Unit 8620 of the SL Class 8620 is exhibited in the Ome Railway Park

Following the steam locomotive (hereafter SL) Class E10, I'm going to show you the other impressive exhibit in the Ome Railway Park today.

The Class 8620 was one of Japan's masterpiece SLs. It was developed by the Ministry of Railways in the early 1910's. In those days, the Japanese government made plans to strengthen its railway industries by domestically manufacturing its standard SLs, all of which were previously manufactured abroad. Although the large SLs for limited express trains on the trunk lines continued to be imported from U.K., U.S. and Prussia, the middle-sized SLs for express trains on the semi-trunk lines started being manufactured in Japan. The Class 8620 is the example of the latter.

Let's take a look at the specifications. The Class 8620 is a 2-6-0 (Whyte notation) type SL that has a tender attached. It's 16.765 meters long, and weighs 83.33 tons. The driving wheel diameter is 1,600 millimeters. It produces an output of 558kW and a maximum speed of 95 kilometers per hour. A total of 672 units were built by Kisha Seizo, Kawasaki Zosenjo and the others. The most important feature was its high curve passage performance by connecting the leading and the first driving wheels.

The exhibit in the Ome Railway Park is the top number unit, namely unit 8620. It was built by Kisha Seizo in 1914. After operating for 44 years on the semi-trunk lines on Kyushu and Shikoku islands, it was retired from the track in 1958.

Tender of the SL Class 8620

Official website, Ome Railway Park: https://www.ejrcf.or.jp/ome/english/index.html

Spot the Difference: EMU Tobu 50000 Series

51001F (a prototype set) of the EMU Tobu 50000 series

I'm not a native English speaker, but suppose that "spot the difference" in English is the same as "machigai-sagashi (a mistake-searching game)" in Japanese. Let's give it a try!

The top photo is trainset 51001 of the EMU Tobu 50000 series (hereafter 51001F). It's a prototype of the 50000 series, so, only one set of this type of train is operated on the track. On the other hand, the photo below is trainset 51002 (hereafter 51002F), which is one of the mass-produced sets of the 50000 series. Can you spot the difference between 51001F and 51002F?

The correct answer is listed below. Firstly, 51001F (a prototype) doesn't have a gangway; while, 51002F (one of the mass-produced sets) has a gangway on the left-hand side of the front. Secondly, positions of the front lights are different. They're arranged at the right and left lower ends of 51001F. On the other hand, the positions of the front lights on 51002F are higher than those of 51001F. I'm happy to perceive this kind of fine differences among trains as a trainspotter.

Incidentally, the EMU Tobu 50000 series is a direct current commuter train commissioned in 2005. It's known as Tobu's first aluminum body train. One set is composed of five motorcars and five trailers (5M5T). The electric control system is an IGBT-VVVF (insulated gate bipolar transistor-variable frequency drive) with a regenerative braking system. A total of 9 sets, 90 cars, were built by Hitachi. Their brothers, namely the 50050, 50070 and 50090 series, are also operated on the Tobu lines.

51002F (one of the mass-produced sets) of the EMU Tobu 50000 series

Another Rail Carrying Train on the JR East Lines

ST Set (Set ST-21) of the DMU JR East KiYa E195 series

One year ago, I showed you JR East's rail carrying train, "LT set" of the DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) KiYa E195 series, on this blog. It was a monster train for carrying 150 meter-long welded rails. Today, I'm going to show you another type of rail carrying train.

"ST set" of the DMU KiYa E195 series (hereafter "ST set") is a train for carrying 25 meter-long standard rails. It was commissioned in 2017 to transport rails for various places on the JR East lines. 25 sets in total were built by Nippon Sharyo. The ST set is composed of 2 engine cars, and each car has a 265kW diesel engine. You may feel that the ST set is similar to JR Central's rail carrying train, namely the DMU KiYa97 series. Well observed! Actually, they're sister trains. Technical specifications of the two kinds of trains are mostly same. The only difference is that JR East's ST set has special cold-proof and snow-proof equipment on the trains.

Where should we go to see the ST set? JR East doesn't release the timetable of the track maintenance vehicles including the rail carrying trains, so what I can do is leave it to fate. Happiness always comes suddenly. I came across the ST set, when I was taking commuter train photos at Yoshikawa-minami station on the JR East Musashino line. It was my first time coming across the ST set outside of the railyards. Needless to say, I clicked away with my camera.

Set ST-21 of the DMU JR East KiYa E195 series leaves Yoshikawa-minami station

Official information, the DMU KiYa E195 series by Nippon Sharyo (in Japanese):

https://www.n-sharyo.co.jp/business/tetsudo/pages/jre195dc.htm

Official information, the DMU KiYa E195 series by JR East (in Japanese):

https://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2017/20170902.pdf

Electric Car Preserved by a Model Railway Manufacturer

DeHa268 of the ex-Keikyu 230 series is preserved in front of KATO's main office

There're many preserved rail cars in Japan, but most of them are steam locomotives (SLs). It's probably because regular trains pulled by SLs had already been abolished in this country. SLs must be nostalgic for people. In contrast, preserved commuter trains are quite rare. There're not many commuter trains even in railway museums. Following the old Keikyu commuter train exhibited in Keikyu Museum, I'm going to show you the other precious preserved ex-Keikyu electric car today.

DeHa268 of the DeHa230 series is a 16-meter long electric car. It was a lightweight and high-speed commuter train built by Kisha Seizo in 1936. The original name of DeHa268 was De83 of the Keihin Electric Railway De83 series. Its curved face with three large front windows was state of the art design at that time. The electric control system was rheostatic, and the nose-suspension drive system was used. After operating for 41 years, DeHa268 was retired from the track in 1977.

The present owner of DeHa268 is a model railway manufacturer, Sekisui Kinzoku Company, also known as KATO. You may have KATO's model train sets. I have some of those. KATO took over DeHa268, and has been exhibiting it in front of their main office since September, 1977. Anyone can observe DeHa268 for free. When I recently visited there, local kindergarteners accompanied by nursery teachers were passing by and observing DeHa268. It must be an exciting promenade for children. For your information, KATO's headquarter is located near Minami-Nagasaki station on the Seibu-Ikebukuro line. Thank you, KATO.

Side view of DeHa268

Official website, Hobby Center KATO Tokyo (in Japanese):

https://www.hobbycenterkato.com/tokyo

Shooting the Rare Train: EMU JR East E257-5500 Series

Set OM-51 of the EMU JR East E257-5500 series travels on the Yokosuka line

It's fun to take photos of rare trains. The exhilarating feeling is exceptional when I could shoot a rare train successfully. Last October, I went to Kamakura to shoot a limited express train, EMU JR East E257-5500 series. This rare train has green-colored stripes, whereas the standard E257 series, namely the E257-2000 series, has blue-colored stripes. They're just different in terms of the color of stripes, but that's important for trainspotters. That's what a hobby is like.

Firstly, I got information that the E257-5500 series will be operated as an extra train bound for Kamakura. Next, I checked the timetable, and found that I will be free on the day of operation. The weather forecast predicted sunny on that day, so, I gave the go-ahead to this photography plan. The last challenging problem was identifying the best spot for taking photographs. I needed to stay south of the track to keep the sun behind myself, but there were very few such idealized places.

On Sunday, October, 23rd, I visited a precious spot, which I found on a map and an aerial photograph. It was located outside of the gently curved tracks of the JR East Yokosuka line. It looked an idealized place to shoot the rare train, but my only concern was whether the whole train could be contained properly within an image. Five minutes later, the time has come. It's now or never... shooting. Thank goodness! Please look at the top photo.

I fully enjoyed this rare train shooting.

Set OM-51 of the EMU JR East E257-5500 series leaves Kita-Kamakura station

Lina Bell Train on the Disney Resort Line

Set 3 of the EMU 10 series (Type X), "Lina Bell Train", on the Disney Resort line

Happy New Year! The year 2023 has begun. At the opening of New Year, I'm going to continue to introduce a special monorail train that came to my mind... "Lina Bell Train" on the Disney Resort line.

Let's quickly review the Disney Resort line. It's a public transport under the Railway Business Act, NOT an attraction inside the resort. The route is a looped single track running through amusement facilities, official hotels and JR East Maihama station. There're four stations over the total operating length of 5.0 kilometers. The trains run counterclockwise throughout the day.

Let's head to the main topic. Lina Bell is one of Disney's mascot characters. She is a fox, who likes solving mysteries. Duffy, a bear boy, is a good friend of Lina Bell. "Lina Bell Train" is a special poster train launched on September 8th, 2022. We can see Lina Bell, Duffy and the other Disney characters here and there interior of the train. The vehicle operated as Lina Bell Train is set 3 of the EMU 10 series. The 10 series was commissioned in 2001. Five sets in total were built by Hitachi. Each set has a different body color, namely blue, yellow, green, peach and purple, but only the purple (set 3) and the green (set 4) are currently operated. The new model, named the 100 series, has been replacing the old 10 series

The train operator announced that the set 3 will be operated as Lina Bell Train until March 2023. The set 3 will be retired at that timing.

Interior of "Lina Bell Train"

Official information about "Lina Bell Train" (in Japanese):

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/tdrblog/detail/220831/