Area specific EMUs?

[GDorsett]

Since I currently lack any EMU of any sort (I know, heresy), what style should I look for to run in northern, snow-bound areas? Not so much a special train, but a commuter EMU set. Or would I be able to use pretty much anything?

[Kiha66]

Depends on the Era, but 115's are always a good bet, the shonan (green and orange) color ones were (and to a lesser extent still are) found all over the JNR/JR systems, including a variety of mountainous routes.  103's were also found all over Honshu.  Keep in mind the DC trains could be found in both warm and cold climates, but the AC ones seem to be either for very warm areas (ie Kyushu) or very cold regions (ie Hokkaido).   Do you have any region in mind?

[Densha]

What northern, snow-bound areas exactly are you referring to? Especially Tohoku and Hokkaido could be considered to have those features, but even then the differences between these two regions are pretty big.

[GDorsett]

I didn't have a specific place in mind. I just set myself the challenge of snow and figured I'd try to use the appropriate equipment.

[Kiha66]

In that case almost any EMU will work, so just pick one that you like the look of.  Even Kyushu gets snow from time to time, so pretty much all trains will have seen snow at some point in their lives.  If you want to look for pictures of a certain type in the snow try googling for the type name and then "雪" (snow).  For example, "115系 雪" brings up lots of pictures of the 115 series sets running in snow covered landscapes.

[GDorsett]

Okay, good idea.

Any idea on what a basic set would cost and how many cars are in them? To use the 115 as an example, would I find a "base set" as 3 around 150 USD or in a set of six or seven for closer to 200 like the Tomix Blue Train sets?

[Kiha66]

A kato 115 4 car set will be about $100, while the 7 car set is about $150.  Kato also makes a 4 car "add on" set with no motor that will sell anywhere from 60 to 90 dollars depending on the place.

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10512333

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10512329

[Das Steinkopf]

7 hours ago, GDorsett said:

I didn't have a specific place in mind. I just set myself the challenge of snow and figured I'd try to use the appropriate equipment.

 

What electric freight locomotives do you have in your fleet as this does help as well with narrowing down the regions, with diesels you can go for the cold region versions which have the special windscreens with the rotary windscreen wipers to keep the snow off, the Tomix DE10-1500 in the JRF Renewal livery is a cold region version.

[GDorsett]

My current fleet is still in beginner mode.

Bought an EF66 first because I wanted one. It is in the first livery, not any of the later ones

So far, I've got the ED61 from Tomix's track cleaning car set, the EF81 from the Nihonkai set, and an EF510-500 because I had it in HO.

And a C11.

[GDorsett]

I planned on getting a pair of DE10s in the cold version on my next order, that way I know I had at least one compatible engine.

[kvp]

10 minutes ago, GDorsett said:

My current fleet is still in beginner mode.

Bought an EF66 first because I wanted one. It is in the first livery, not any of the later ones

So far, I've got the ED61 from Tomix's track cleaning car set, the EF81 from the Nihonkai set, and an EF510-500 because I had it in HO.

And a C11.

EF66: DC electric, ran around Tokyo and Osaka (Tokaido main line)

ED61: DC electric, ran around Tokyo and Osaka (Tokaido main line), later rebuilt as ED62 for the Iida line

EF81: AC/DC electric, the Nihonkai ran between Osaka and Aomori (Tokaido, Kosei Line, Hokuriku, Shinetsu, Uetsu and Ou main lines)

EF510: AC/DC modern JRF freight loco

 

Half of your locomotives are DC, the rest are AC/DC dual mode. The electrification map for Japan:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japan_Mainline_Railway_Electrification_Systems_Map_日本本線鉄道電化地図.png

 

My best guess for a cold region DC mainline from this list is something around Nagano up in the mountains. One example i know is the Shinetsu mainline through the Usui pass (Takasaki to Niigata via Nagano). The classic emu types were the 107, 115, 181, 132, 165, 485, 489, 583 series trains. Many of these needed EF63 banking locomotives over the Usui pass. Of course this only applies before the shinkansen arrived and the line was cut up. (the EMU-s here are usually the cold region, mountain variants of the more general flatland warm region versions, like the 115 series is the snow proofed variant of the 113 series, the 165 series for the 153 series and so on)

 

 

 

[Das Steinkopf]

1 hour ago, GDorsett said:

My current fleet is still in beginner mode.

Bought an EF66 first because I wanted one. It is in the first livery, not any of the later ones

So far, I've got the ED61 from Tomix's track cleaning car set, the EF81 from the Nihonkai set, and an EF510-500 because I had it in HO.

And a C11.

 

Ouch that is a fairly eclectic mix you have there, the ED61's were converted to ED62's from 1974 to 1979 which is out of period for your EF510-500. My suggestion would be somewhere along the Hokuriku Honsen between Kanazawa and Tsuruga which is in JR West territory and uses 20kV AC. You could run 521 Series and 413 Series on local services and have 681 Series and 683 Series on express services, for freight services you can use the EF81 and EF510 as they work that area as well as the DE10-1500 and DE10-3500 variants, the later were converted from DE15 Snow Ploughs and are well equipped for operations in cold climates, there are a number of them that are allocated to that area and I have seen them in use.

 

 https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10490609

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10433859

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10433865

 

Edited May 28, 2018 by Das Steinkopf

[GDorsett]

Yeah, I know it's a bit of everything. Like I said, still in beginner mode.

But thank you!

I guess I'll go look for a 7-car 115 set to start with and go from there.

 

Are there any specific variants of electrics for cold regions like with the diesels? I'll probably get a few more EF-81s if there isn't a cold version.

[kvp]

1 hour ago, GDorsett said:

Are there any specific variants of electrics for cold regions like with the diesels? I'll probably get a few more EF-81s if there isn't a cold version.

Many electric locomotive types are tied to certain electric districts, depots and lines. For example the EF63-s were only used as mountain pushers and the ED62 series was rebuilt from the ED61 to be able to run on the Iida line, which only allowed a lower axle load. For the EF81, only the first series (EF81-0) was a general purpose type. All other variants were tied to a certain line or depot (-400 and -450 were for the Kanmon tunnel and the -500 series for JRF coastal routes). So in this case the EF81-0 is the cold region /general purpose/ variant as all others were specialized ones. You have to read about each locomotive type to determine which ran on which route or area. (well, besides that most DC electrics ran on the Tokaido and none of the DC only types went to AC territory and vice versa)

 

ps: I would also suggest choosing an area and a time frame as this helps narrowing down the rolling stock quite a bit. For example if you aim for snow (lots of it) then going Usui pass in late JNR times or Aomori in early JRE times before the Hokkaido shinkansen are good choices. Both are distinct areas, with very little overlap in rolling stock and locomotives. (the Japanese Alps being high in the mountains for lots of snow in a moderate base climate while Aomori being high up north to have lots of snow right on the coast)

[Socimi]

On 5/28/2018 at 1:46 AM, GDorsett said:

Since I currently lack any EMU of any sort (I know, heresy), what style should I look for to run in northern, snow-bound areas? Not so much a special train, but a commuter EMU set. Or would I be able to use pretty much anything?

 

Japan sees snow pretty much evrywhere during winter, so you could use any kind of EMU you like, and within Japan the choiche is vast:

 

Here are the typical EMUs for each JR Group company:

 

JR Hokkaido 721 series:

 

https://blog-001.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/res/blog-98-bf/keikyu_vvvf/folder/636050/21/19053021/img_0_m?1425130705

 

From

https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/keikyu_vvvf/19053021.html

 

Hokkaido ses a LOT of snow, as it is Japan's coldest area. These trains were especially built for harsh climates, altough it can't run with your EF66 or ED61 (1500V DC) because it runs on 20Kv AC (50Hz) electrification.

 

JR East E231-1000 series:

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bcdMAdxFnxw/UPQYSHkxXDI/AAAAAAAAAqg/Y09-6ptltnU/s1600/DSC_6822.jpg

 

From

http://wanhou.blogspot.com/2013/01/20130114.html

 

The most generic of generic trains run by JR East, the Tokaido Line E231 series (1500v DC).

Commonly seen around Tokyo on Tokaido, Utsunomiya, Takasaki and Shonan-Shinjuku Line duties.

 

JR Central ("JR Tokai") 313 series:

 

http://blog-imgs-43.fc2.com/e/2/3/e235/IMG_9307.jpg

 

from

http://e235.blog84.fc2.com/blog-date-20130202.html

 

The evolution of JNR classical 113 series, it is the standard EMU of JR Tokai's conventional lines, thus is seen practically evrywhere in central Japan.

 

JR West 223 series:

 

https://blog-001.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/res/blog-5b-ce/picturethegotti/folder/1106069/55/33583755/img_0_m?1436071209

 

from

https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/picturethegotti/33583755.html

 

Designed for Rapid Services, this is one of the fastest conventional EMUs, reaching up to 130 Km/h on Shin-Kaisoku (SpPecial Rapid Service) duties on the western portion of the Tokaido Main line (between Himeji and Maibara via Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto).

 

JR Kyushu 811 series:

 

https://blog-001.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/res/blog-ab-00/morifam01/folder/1823749/37/68715937/img_2_m?1471699215

 

from

https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/morifam01/68715937.html

 

Kyushu sees less snow than other areas of Japan, but still it can get quite cold. The 811 series was introduced in 1989, and proved the basis for newer JR Kyushu commuter trains, altough it can't run with your EF66 or ED61 (1500V DC) because it runs on 20Kv AC (60Hz) electrification.

 

JR Shikoku N2000 series:

 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OBqi_Sl44oY/maxresdefault.jpg

 

from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBqi_Sl44oY

 

Altough not an EMU i've added it for completion, as it also runs on electrified lines between either Takamatsu or Kotohira (on Shikoku Island) and Okayama on Honshu (JR West territory) via the Great Seto Bridge.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Socimi