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A rare bird. JR Hokkaido's new MAYA35-1 track inspection car, built at Hitachi Kasado Works, should be arriving at Teine by Friday the 12th. Off the top of my head I don't recall the last track inspection vehicle built. It seems like it's been a while. http://railf.jp/news/2017/05/09/120000.html video by Ayokoi by Watanabe Yo at Kyoto Station by tobu8111f at Akita (gettin' there!) by Masaharu Aono https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xJEPp09_Og edit: additional vids

JR East's new battery electric multiple unit model on its way from Hitachi's Kasado factory to JRE territory. I wonder if JR Kyushu owns any rights to that carbody design. No good YT vids of it stopped anywhere yet. by Masaharu Aono by KENKENKAICHO by yuuya0381 at Okayama, lots of cabinets (batteries?) under the blue car by cookie 99 at Shin-Kurashiki, viewing the opposite side as the video above. I thought the red car would have those cabinets on this side, but no.

Company video featuring the manufacture of rolling stock at the Kasado Plant:

An old Hitachi color film, unfortunately suffers from color shift, but very informative about the civil engineering of this monorail line. Also scenes of railcar construction at the Kasado factory starting at 9:00. *h/t to quashlo at ssc forum for this find

I think I may have posted this video before, but it's a nice Hitachi PR film worth seeing again, about the introduction of the 20 series rolling stock on the Asakaze overnight service between Tokyo and Hakata. This rolling stock, along with the 151 series ltd. express emu, the kiha 80 dmu, and 101/103 series, came to symbolize the modernization of Japanese railways and indeed a symbol of postwar recovery (culminating in the 0 series shinkansen). To the average passenger circa 1958, seeing these smooth welded steel designs pull up to the platform for the first time must have been a revelation, coaching stock hitherto having been heavyweight riveted steel types. They certainly look beautiful fresh out of the Hitachi plant at Kasado in their blue with white striping. The body shell design was based on the earlier 10 series express stock, which in turn incorporated ideas from the SBB's Leichtstahlwagen design. Notice the film focuses often on the bogies, emphasizing the ride quality of the stock, important considering that these were for night train use.