EMU multiple working

[Welshbloke]

Just a thought I had today. Do all Japanese EMUs have compatible multiple working gear?

 

The Kintetsu 12200/400/30000 seem to be able to work in any combination, but what about, say, a JR 103 Series and a Kumoni 83-800? No, I can't see what a motor luggage van would be doing on a suburban railway either, but I noticed the similar cab designs and wondered how closely related they were.

 

The British Rail systems were a bit complicated, and used "coupling codes" denoted by a symbol painted on the vehicle. Any DMU fitted with blue square could work with any other DMU with blue square, but not other codes like white circle or red triangle as they used different methods of passing the control signals between vehicles.

[kvp]

The same system existed for the JNR too, except coupling codes are denoted by the connector types as in Europe. Since older JNR trains had many different connectors, there were some partially compatible systems. Most 1xx series systems were pretty much compatible more or less. The same is true for modern JRE 2xx emus. Urban, suburban and interurban trains generally had the same internal electrical layout (actually they still do), so it was possible to mix them. Since most of the work motors were 101 series cars rebuilt into baggage/work cars or built on the same technology, you could run them together and JNR did exactly that. Of course, there could be subsystems (like the pa, signage, door control) that are not compatible.

 

Older sets (pre ww2 and early 50ies) had integrated baggage compartements, so many trains ran with combines or had dedicated baggage motors in them. These trains were also mix and match, resulting in the JNR years in some very strange combinations, especially on rural lines that couldn't get new rolling stock. Many older urban commuter cars became baggage motors too, but it was also pretty common to fill in a door and add transverse seating on a commuter car to turn it into an interurban one.

 

Modern units tend to be compatible within companies and/or manufacturers, but JR East has the easy position of being a train operator and a manufacturer, so most of their trains are pretty standard, even to using common parts. Today some manufacturers use off the shelf parts, like can bus technology, while some companies keep ordering backwards compatible equipment. When the automatic couplers are not compatible, two sets might still be able to couple with cables. Some fixed sets are still cable only, like the Yamanote line 231 series and most inter car connections that are not split and joined daily use cables between cars, including many modern types.

 

The same multiple unit standards were in use for DMU-s, so many different types of diesel cars could be run together, often resulting in strange looking combinations at some of the poorer private railways that inherited old JNR stock. Modern DMU-s are (at least jumper cable) compatible around the same region, usually served by the same manufacturer.

 

ps: To tell you a good example, many 113/115 series suburban units ran with ex 101 series baggage/parcel motors (motor luggage vans aka. kumoni/kumoyuni) on one end. Many of these trains started as subway trains under downtown Tokyo, later surfaced and ran as suburban sets through residential/industrial areas, then left the city and became interurbans. This pattern is still followed by some current day services. There are some good videos here:

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/8982-115-series-kumoyuni-in-shonan-yokusuka-colors/

[Welshbloke]

Thanks for that - I'd been looking at the Kato diagram for 165 series formations and noticed that some of them also involved 153 series intermediate coaches. I realise that the 165s were a more powerful version of the 153s and replaced them on some routes, but wasn't sure how widespread this sort of compatibility was.

 

There were some oddities in the British Rail system. Some first generation DMUs had epicyclic gearboxes while others used hydraulic transmission. The two could be worked together, but the driver needed to remember to change gear in the hydraulic unit (which wouldn't normally be neccessary) in order to stop the gearbox-fitted unit behind from thrashing itself in 1st gear without changing up. After some expensive damage and at least a couple of fires BR simply designated the hydraulic sets as "red triangle" and instructed staff to avoid using them in multiple with blue square stock.

 

Now, I've seen 115 series coaches in the same livery as the 165s, but did they ever mingle?

Edited September 10, 2015 by Welshbloke