Nagasaki Shinkansen maybe not to use Free Gauge Train

[Densha]

7 hours ago, kvp said:

As Densha pointed out, i was talking about allowing full shinkansen loading gauge like in the Seikan tunnel.

Welp, I actually forgot that with Shinkansen you don't have just the track gauge difference, but the loading gauge difference as well!

 

Anyway, can't change the past. So the Nagasaki to Takeo-Onsen section is pretty much finished by now. Leaving that stretch of track to the elements until the section to Hakata is finally finished is just a no-go, so a relay service it will be.

 

The best option for the future now is to build a full Shinkansen line from Takeo-Onsen to Shin-Tosu or Hakata. The other option is to someway or the other convert part of the Nagasaki Main Line to 1435mm gauge, with whatever tracks and gauges it will be.

[Khaul]

14 hours ago, kvp said:

Imho mostly cost and patents. The spanish system moves the wheels on the axles while the weight of the train is still supported on them. The japanese system stretches the axles while the weight of the train is supported on rollers under the side bearing blocks. The japanese system allows relatively speedy movement through the passive changer system, while the spanish system is slower and has active components in the changer gate, not in the bogies. In the end it would be cheaper to just build the missing link between the two existing shinkansen systems than to build and maintain a fleet of gauge changing mini shinkansen sets. The tech is good in both cases but the price points are different.

 

There are two gauge change systems in Spain that require different gauge change infrastructure. One is the Talgo system which originally was not available for motorised axles. CAF’s Brava system relies on Swiss patents, I think. Both Brava and Talgo can operate with motorised bogies so there self propelled gauge change trains in Spain.

 

Cost may be indeed the culprit for the Japanese not to adopt the Spanish technology and indeed, railways in Spain are run in a political rather than economically efficient way. Every third rate provincial capital wants an AVE to Madrid so they get maybe four daily change gauge trains and that’s it. Madrid Barcelona and Madrid Andalusia have decent patronage but the rest is a disaster.

 

 

[Densha]

This map shows how a fully separated 1435mm gauge Nagasaki Shinkansen that joins with the Kyushu Shinkansen at Shin-Tosu could look like: https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=43969898

 

For completion's sake, here you can find the Takeo-Onsen to Nagasaki section: https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?illust_id=44103548

[katoftw]

The Nagasaki section looks pretty boring.  Most tunnel except near Omura.

[kvp]

8 hours ago, katoftw said:

The Nagasaki section looks pretty boring.  Most tunnel except near Omura.

Imho it looks more like a metro than a train service, but at least the route allows pretty high speeds due to being mostly staight.