Electric Locomotive Class EF210-300

EL JR Freight Class EF210-300 travels on the Nambu Branch line

I recently introduced you to passenger trains every time, but feel like doing something different. Do you remember the electric locomotive (EL) Class EF210, which I showed you eight years ago in this blog? I'm going to introduce some more about this EL today.

The Class EF210 is one of Japan Freight's EL fleets for 1,067mm gauge. It was launched in 1996 to replace an old EL, Class EF65. A total of 146 units were built by Mitsubishi Electric and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The Class EF210 is a 1,500V direct current EL with an axis arrangement Bo-Bo-Bo (UIC notation). It has six induction motors with a VVVF inverter (variable frequency drive) control system. Its total power output is 3,390kW. Pulling a total of 1,300-ton cargo container wagons, it can travel with a maximum speed of 110 kilometers per hour.

I'm going to introduce the Class EF210-300, a special group of the EF210 family, today. The EF210-300 debuted in 2013 as a pusher EL that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power to climb a gradient section. For that purpose, the EF210-300 has a large buffer behind the cow catcher. For rail-fans, it's easy to recognize that the EF210-300 (see the top photo) has yellow-colored body stripes; meanwhile, the standard EF210 (see the photo below) has white-colored body stripes. More importantly, the EF210-300 is a specialist, but can also operate on the standard sections with the same performance as the standard EF210. The Class EF 210-300 is versatile.

EL JR Freight Class EF210-100 (standard type) travels on the Nambu Branch line

Q-SEAT Car on the Toyoko Line

Red-colored "Q-Seat Cars" are connected with the EMU Tokyu 5050-4000 series 

Tokyu Railways recently started "Q-SEAT Car" operation on the Toyoko line. I'm going to introduce this topic to you today.

What's Q-SEAT Car? It's a reserved seat car on the Tokyu lines. Japanese workers are very busy. They sometimes need something before getting home as a treat for themselves, but their journey home is hard because urban commuter trains are packed on most of the lines. That's a background to urban-type reserved seat trains appearing. Q-SEAT Car has multi-purpose seats, which the conductor can change from long seats to cross seats using a remote-control system. The cross-seat mode is applied when it's provided as a reserved seat car during rush hour. Tokyu first introduced Q-SEAT Car on the Oimachi line in 2018, then expanded it on the Toyoko line this year. Two Q-SEAT Cars are coupled within a 10-car train on the Toyoko line. The train with Q-Seat Cars is operated from Shibuya, a subcenter of Tokyo Metropolis, to Motomachi-Chukagai in Yokohama City. The operating interval is every 30 minutes in the evening. The fee for a seat reservation is 500 yen (3.4 USD).

Incidentally, the rolling stock used for Q-SEAT Car on the Toyoko line is the Class SaHa 4400 and DeHa 4500 of the EMU 5050-4000 series. The 5050-4000 series is a 10-car train group of the EMU 5050 series. The standard car has red and pink-colored stripes; meanwhile, Q-SEAT Car has a plain red-colored body. Q-SEAT Car is a relaxing train for hard workers in the metropolitan area.

Interior of the Q-SEAT car (long seat mode), the EMU Tokyu 5050-4000 series

Vegetable Juice Factory on the JR East Chuo Line

EMU JR East 211 series arrives at Fujimi station on the Chuo line

It's already late September, but the lingering summer heat is still intense in Tokyo. I evacuated from the urban heat island, and headed to a cool highland in Nagano Prefecture with my family. Our destination was a vegetable juice factory, which is located about 1,000 meters above sea level. We joined a guided factory tour, and viewed vast vegetable farms. It was very interesting to observe the almost fully-automated manufacturing process of vegetable juice. After enjoying the tour, we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant, and bought a bunch of vegetables and juices at a shop attached to the factory.

To get to this highland factory, the nearest station is Fujimi on the JR East Chuo line. Our vehicle was a local train, the EMU 211 series. This model was developed by Japanese National Railways in 1985. It has a bit of an outdated field excitation electric control system, but we must not forget that the 211 series has realized a large amount of operating cost reduction using its regenerative braking system. The 211 series took over the elder 115 series on the Chuo line in 2015, because the 115 series had deteriorated. A total of 50 sets, 192 units, have been moved from the Utsunomiya, Takasaki, and Tokaido lines. The 211 series has a stainless-steel body with light blue and emerald-colored stripes, which is called the Nagano-color among railfans. Long time no see, the 211 series!

I enjoyed both the highland factory and the local trains in Nagano Prefecture.

Entrance of the vegetable juice factory near Fujimi station on the JR East Chuo line

Multi-colored Train on the Senseki Line

Set M4 of the JR East 205-3100 series travels on the Senseki line

There are more topics to post on my early summer trip to Sendai City. I'm going to show you a multi-colored train on the JR East Senseki line today.

To start, let me review the Senseki line. It's one of the main commuting arteries in the Sendai area. Connecting Aoba-dori, the city center of Sendai, and Ishinomaki, the second largest city in Miyagi Prefecture; the total route length is 52 kilometers. It carries an average of 20,000 passengers per day.

Now, let's head to the main topic. The EMU 205-3100 series is the representative train on the Senseki line. It had been operated on the Yamanote and Saikyo lines in Tokyo under the name of the 205-0 series, but was transferred to the Senseki line in 2002. Before the relocation, they were renovated. For example, brakes and door systems were modified to snow and cold-resistant ones, and renamed the EMU 205-3100 series. A total of 17 sets, 68 units, are currently operated on the line.

Most of the 205-3100 series trains have blue-colored stripes, but 3 sets have multi-colored bodies. Please look at the photos. It's a 4-car train, set M4. The one leading car has a light-green-colored body; meanwhile, another leading car has a dark-pink-colored body. These colors stand for the forest in Sendai City (light green) and the azalea blossoms in Ishinomaki City (dark pink) respectively. The other two middle cars have orange and purple-colored bodies. As a railfan, there's nothing happier than to see a train unique to a local city.

Another leading car of set M4 has dark-pink colored body.

Early Summer Trip to Sendai City: Part 3

EMU JR East E721-0 (left) and E721-1000 series (right) stand at Sakunami station

Do you remember that I made a short trip to Sendai City in June of this year? Three months have already passed, but I would like to show you some more memories of my trip today.

When I walked around the whisky distillery near Sakunami station, I found that many plants in the site looked blackened. Please look at the photo below. Was it my optical illusion? After joining a guided distillery tour, I confirmed that it wasn't my optical illusion. According to the guide, those blackened plants were adhered by whiskey yeast. The yeast was leaked from the distillery building. I was surprised that whiskey distillery is blended with nature around there.

Well, I can't be written off here as this is a railway blog. Taking this opportunity, I'm going to show you two kinds of alternate current trains, namely the EMU E721-0 and the E721-1000 series, standing at Sakunami station on the JR East Senzan line. Please look at the top photo. Can you spot the difference between these two trains?

The answer is as follows. The E721-0 series (left) has green and red-colored body stripes; while, the E721-1000 series (right) has green and pink-colored stripes. Was it a piece of cake? Apart from that, one set of the E721-0 series is composed of 2 cars; while, the E721-1000 series consists of 4 cars. Driver-only operation is possible using the E721-0 series; while, the E721-1000 series has to carry a conductor. Finding such subtle differences between trains is the greatest pleasure for trainspotters like me.

Plants in the whiskey distillery site look blackened