Hakata "Express Museum" on Kyushu Island

EMU 783 series, limited express "Midori" (left) and EMU 787 series, "Kirameki" (right)

Hakata is the largest railway station in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu Island. Many kinds of trains continuously arrive at and leave this giant terminal. As a rail-fan, my greatest pleasure at this station is to see the variety of limited express trains. Let's take a look at some of those trains.

The EMU 783 series, Midori (green), is operated between Hakata and Sasebo, the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture. It was launched in 1988 under the name of Hyper-saloon. The 783 series is alternate current (AC) electric cars with a thyristor continuous phase control system. This system converts AC to a variable voltage of direct current (DC) using thyristor semiconductor devices.

The EMU 787 series, Kirameki (shining), is operated between Hakata and Mojiko, the gateway station to Kyushu Island from the main island of Japan. Please look at my previous post describing this model.

The EMU 883 series, Sonic, is operated between Hakata and Ooita (or Saeki). It was launched in 1995 to compete with the express way bus services. It is not as fast as a sonic wave, but the 883 series has a tilting system to pass through tight curves at a high speed.

The EMU 885 series, Kamome (seagull), is operated between Hakata and Nagasaki (or Saga), which are the main cities in Nagasaki and Saga prefectures. The white colored streamlined body is elegant and popular among tourists. It is a representative inter-city limited express train of JR Kyushu Company.

Hakata Station is just like an "express museum".

EMU 883 series, limited express "Sonic" (left) and EMU 885 series, "Kamome" (right)

Official information about JR Kyushu's limited express train, Sonic:

https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/train/sonic.jsp

Official information about JR Kyushu's limited express train, Kamome:

https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/train/kamome.jsp

Official information about JR Kyushu's limited express train, Midori, Kirameki and the others:

https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/train/otherexpress.jsp

Extended Operation of Chibi Maruko-chan

Set 1011F, Chibi Maruko-chan poster train, of the EMU Shizutetsu 1000 series

On November 25th, Shizuoka Railway (Shizutetsu) announced that the Chibi Maruko-chan poster train on the Shizuoka-Shimizu Line is extended to operate until March, 2017 due to high popularity. It is good news for the local people and the Shizutetsu rail-fans.

What is Chibi Maruko-chan? As I introduced before, Chibi Maruko-chan (a little Maruko) is a popular TV animation series created by Ms. Sakura Momoko. The series depicts the everyday life of Sakura Momoko living on the Shizuoka Railway, when she was a little girl in the year of 1974. Chibi Maruko-chan was her nick name at that time.

Set 1011F of the EMU Shizutetsu 1000 series is used for the Chibi Maruko-chan poster train. It is a 2-car stainless-steel train built by Tokyu Sharyo in 1984, as the 11th set of the 1000 series. Being decorated with Chibi Maruko-chan's characters, set 1011 has been operated as the poster train since July, 2015. Its pink colored bodies are very unique and my favorite.

The poster train is very popular especially among the local children. When I visited Shizuoka City this summer, I saw that the poster train was hired by local families with children, and operated as a special group tour train. It was proof of its popularity with the local people.

The last run of the Chibi Maruko-chan poster train will be on March 31st, 2017. Set 1011F will, then, soon revert to an ordinary commuter train. Please ride it now or never!

Chibi Maruko-chan poster train arrives at Naganuma Station

Keisei Skyliner AE Series: 20 Million Passengers

EMU Keisei AE series, Skyliner, displaying "Thanks 20 million passengers" (October, 2016)

On September 13th, Keisei Electric Railway made a press release announcing that the passengers of the third generation Skyliner exceeded 20 million on that day. At the same time, Keisei held a commemoration ceremony at Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station. The 20 millionth passenger was a German lady, who lives in Shibuya Ward in Tokyo Metropolis.

What is the third generation Skyliner? It is the airport access train, EMU Keisei AE series. The AE series was launched in 2010 to replace the old model, the AE100 series. It is an 8-car train with crow-shaped black faces. A total of 8 sets, 64 units have been built by Nippon Sharyo and Tokyu Sharyo. Its maximum speed is 160 km per hour. The AE series won the 2011 Blue Ribbon Prize by Japan Railfan Club as the best train that debuted in 2010.

Following the debut of the AE series, Keisei changed their airport access train route from the Keisei Main Line to the Narita Sky Access Line in 2010. As a result, the AE series connects Nippori in downtown Tokyo and Narita Airport Terminal 2 in only 36 minutes, which is much faster than their rival, JR East's Narita Express. Currently, one set of the AE series, namely set AE5, has a gold colored commemoration display on the front of the train. It says "thanks 20 million passengers".

For your information, the old (second generation) Skyliner, namely the AE100 series, was retired from the track on February 28th.

EMU Keisei AE series, Skyliner, displaying "Blue Ribbon 2011" (November, 2011)

Official information about Keisei Skyliner:

http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetudou/skyliner/us/ae_outline/index.php

Lovely Narrow Gauge Train on the Hokusei Line

EMU Sangi Railway 270 series arrives at Sohara Station on the Hokusei Line

There are four kinds of railway gauge sizes in Japan. They are the 1,435 mm, the 1,372 mm, the 1,067 mm and the 762 mm-wide gauges.

The 1,435 mm-wide gauge is adopted by the Shinkansens and several major railways such as Keikyu and Kesei. Several subway routes, such as the Toei-Asakusa Line and the Tokyo Metro-Ginza Line, are also 1,435 mm-wide tracks. Needless to say, they are suitable for high speed train operations. The 1,372 mm-wide gauge is quite unique. It was originated from horse tramways. You can see it on the Keio Line of the Keio Electric railway, the Toei-Shinjuku Line, the Toei-Arakawa Line, the Tokyu-Setagaya Line and Hakodate City Tram. The 1,067 mm-wide gauge is the most common one in Japan. It was originally introduced by the U.K. when the first railway route was constructed between Shimbashi and Yokohama in 1872. Most of the JR group and private railway lines are this size of gauge.

One more... the 762 mm gauge. It is also quite unique. We can see it only on the Kurobe Gorge Railway, Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway and the Hokusei Line of Sangi Railway. Due to the narrow size, the trains on the 762 mm-wide tracks are also small. For instance, the train of the Hokusei Line looks like a mechanical ride at an amusement park. This lovely train, the EMU 270 series, is definitely my favorite. Because of its size, the maximum speed of the train is only 45 km per hour on the Hokusei Line.

EMU Sangi Railway 270 series stands at Ageki Terminal on the Hokusei Line

View of Autumn Mt. Fuji from the Tokaido Shinkansen

EMU JR Central N700A series arrives at Atami Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen

Whenever I take the Tokaido Shinkansen, my greatest pleasure is to view Mt. Fuji in a train. If it is clear, we can see the beautiful conical edifice from a train window. I have already uploaded the snow-capped winter Fuji, so, I am going to show you the autumn Fuji without snow today. Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. It is 3,776 m above sea level, and known as an active stratovolcano that last erupted from 1707 to 1708. Mt. Fuji is also a symbolic mountain, which has been appearing in numerous tales in this country.

Please look at the following picture. It was shot from the shinkansen train traveling near Shin-Fuji Station. The train speed at that time was 285 km per hour. It is not easy to shoot this volcano, since there are many objects, which obstruct photographing, on this side of Mt. Fuji. From my experiences, a total of the best shooting time is less than one minute.

In the meantime, the major fleet on the Tokaido Shinkansen is the EMU N700 series. Recently, the renovation of the N700 series has been completed. It is currently operated under the new name of the N700A series. The main difference between the N700 and the N700A series is their brake performance. The N700A series is equipped with the new disc brake to stop trains steadily without derailment as soon as an earthquake hits the track. The Tokaido Shinkansen is now in the final stage of its evolution. The next leading role will be SCMAGLEV.

View of Mt. Fuji (3,776m) from the Shinkansen window