Revisit to Okayama Electric Tramway

Set 1011 of the electric car 9200 series, Okayama Electric Tramway

Okayama is the main city in Okayama Prefecture, about 730 kilometers west of Tokyo. It's one of the business centers of the Chugoku District in the western part of Japan. The population is about 718,000. Okayama is famous as a city of fruits producing peaches, grapes and pears. I recently visited this fruitful city for the first time in eleven years.

One of the main modes of transport in the city is by tram. Okayama Electric Tramway, which is a local private company, operates two routes in the city. The operating length is 4.7 kilometers. The track is 1,067 millimeter-wide and double. The electric system is 600 V DC with overhead lines.

The most eye-catching vehicle is a gold and black-colored electric car, set 1011 of the 9200 series. It's a poster train to promote tourism to Okayama Castle on the line. The castle was renovated a few years ago, and is gaining in popularity. Gold and black are the symbol colors of the castle. The gold color is taken from the ornaments on the roof; meanwhile, the black color is from the outer wall. The 1011 is the second set of the 9200 series. It's a low-floor tram commissioned in 2011. One set is composed of two cars. Its overall length is 18 meters. Each car has one independent wheel-type bolster-less bogie, which was designed by Bombardier Transportation in Germany. The electric control system is an IGBT-VVVF inverter (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor - variable frequency drive) with induction motors.

Side view of set 1011,  

Railway Bridge on the Tokyu-Toyoko and Meguro Lines

The EMU Toei 6500 (left) and the Tokyo Metro 17000 series (right)

I still enjoy strolling along Tama River. After observing the preserved streetcar on the ex-Kawasaki City tramline, I went upstream another day. My destination was Tamagawa station on the Tokyu-Toyoko and Meguro lines. I walked along the river, and stopped by a shrine named Sengen-jinja, which is located on a hill adjacent to the riverbank.

There was a reason for visiting this shrine. That's because a railway bridge across Tama River can be viewed from the shrine. I could see a bridge of a double-double track. Many kinds of trains constantly crossed the bridge. For example, I saw two kinds of subway trains at one time. They were the EMU Toei 6500 series and the Tokyo Metro 17000 series. The former was directly operated from the Toei-Mita line; meanwhile, the latter was from the Tokyo Metro-Fukutoshin line. The subway trains of two different operators meet each other on the bridge... it's rarely do you ever get to see. I felt this superb view like a reward given by the God of railways. Is that a bit of an exaggeration?

For your information, both the Toei 6500 and Tokyo Metro 17000 series trains debuted in 2021. The former has free Wi-Fi service on the train. That would really help passengers take specifically subway lines. On the other hand, the latter was elected as a winner of the Laurel Prize by the Japan Rail Fan Club last year. It's implemented an advanced train information monitoring and analysis system.

Sengen-jinja near Tamagawa station on the Tokyu-Toyoko and Meguro lines

2023 Cherry Blossom Season: The Keio-Inokashira Line

1751F of the EMU Keio 1000 series travels on the Inokashira line

After visiting the Toei-Arakawa line, I moved to the Keio-Inokashira line to continue enjoying the 2023 cherry blossom season. My destination was Takaido, where I visited for the first time in four years.

Let me review the Keio-Inokashira line and Takaido station. The Inokashira line is Keio Electric Railway's short commuter route connecting Shibuya and Kichijoji terminals. The line length is 12.7 kilometers. The track is 1,067 mm-wide and double. The electric system is 1,500 V DC with overhead catenaries. Takaido is the twelfth station from Shibuya terminal. It's located within a residential area of Tokyo Metropolis, and close to my kindergarten. Although I went to kindergarten by school bus at that time, I sometimes used a train, if the school bus didn't run. It's already a long time ago.

There're cherry trees along the track of the Inokashira line. I admired the blossoms in full bloom from the platform of the station and a railway crossing near the station. They were shining under the morning sun light. Spring was in full swing. I was also able to take many train photos against the cherry blossoms. I'm posting two images on behalf of the EMU 1000 series trains. The top photo is bluish-green-colored 1751F (set 1751) from the 1st batch trains; meanwhile, the bottom photo is light-green-colored 1782F (set 1782) from the 6th batch trains. Please confirm that the shapes of the LED destination display on the front are different. Did you enjoy the cherry blossoms and trainspotting in the two photos?

1782F of the EMU Keio 1000 series arrives at Takaido station

The 12th Anniversary of Tokyo Railway Labyrinth

Electric car unit KuMoHa 12041 of the Class KuMoHa 12

Tokyo Railway Labyrinth had its twelfth anniversary. Time moved quickly. I thank all my blog readers for visiting this website over the last twelve years. According to the oriental zodiac, one cycle is completed every twelfth year, so, today is the start of the new cycle of my blog.

In commemoration of the twelfth anniversary, I'm going to show you a train with number "12" in the name. The Class KuMoHa 12 is an electric car commissioned in 1953 by the Japanese National Railways. The definition of the Class KuMoHa 12 effective since 1953 was a 17-meter-long, 6 doors and double-cab motorcar. The Class KuMoHa 12 was originally developed by the Japanese Government Railways in the 1920s and 1930s under the names of the Class MoHa 30, 31, 34 and others. 33 units in total were operated on the track, but most of them had already been scrapped. Only two units are currently preserved.

Unit KuMoHa 12041 is one of the above preserved cars exhibited in "SCMAGLEV and Railway Park" in Nagoya City. It was originally built in 1927 as a single-cab motorcar of the Class MoHa 30. After being remodeled several times, it was converted to a double-cab car unit KuMoHa 12041 in 1987. It was retired from the JR Central Iida line in 2002, and has been exhibited at SCMAGLEV and Railway Park since 2011. Its gable-shaped face was caused because the cab was added later. I like very much this electric car with a rustic steel body.

Side view of unit KuMoHa 12041

Official website, SCMAGLEV and Railway Park:

https://museum.jr-central.co.jp/en/

60 Doors on One Side: The Joban Monster Train

EMU JR East E231 series travels on the Joban line

This might be sudden, but what is the longest passenger train in Japan? The answer is the super-express train on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansens. It consists of 16 units of 25-meter-long cars, so that it attains a total length of 400 meters. Was it a piece of cake for you? Now, we go to the next question. What's the longest commuter train in Japan? The answer is the JR East commuter train operated on several commuter lines. For example, the E233-3000 series on the Tokaido main line is composed of 15 units of 20-meter-long cars, so that it attains a total length of 300 meters. Was it also easy? Well then, here is a formidable question. What's the train with the maximum number of passenger doors in Japan?

Please look at the photos. It's the EMU JR East E231 series on the Joban line. It's composed of 15 cars. Each car has four passenger doors on one side; therefore, one train has 60 passenger doors on one side. This is the train with the maximum number of passenger doors in Japan. A conductor, who works on board this train, has to close the passenger doors after confirming the safety of all 60 doors all at once. It's a tough job, isn't it?

For your information, there are some other 15-car-commuter-trains in Japan such as the above mentioned E233-3000 series on the Tokaido main line; however, they have Green Cars (the 1st-class car), which has only two passenger doors each on one side.

One set of the E231 train on the Joban line has 60 passenger doors on one side