Tokyo Rail

[Guest bill937ca]

For those not familiar with Tokyo's rail lines, Tokyo Rail offers information in English.

 

http://tekkenweb.sakura.ne.jp/tokyorail/index.html

 

There is Line Info for JR, private railways, subway lines and miscellaneous lines. Each line has a Profile, a Map/Station section listing stations and distances and a Train section with photos of trains on that line.

 

http://tekkenweb.sakura.ne.jp/tokyorail/trlines/trlinese.html

 

There is also a line map for JR, private railway and subway lines.

 

http://tekkenweb.sakura.ne.jp/tokyorail/trmap/trmap1e.html

[Bernard]

Bill,

Talk about timely. I just took my wife to the airport and we took the new AirTrain to JFK airport. The train look a lot like the train when you open your link, the TOEI Nippori-toneri liner. The first thing I noticed, no patagraphs, but a wide "bar" in the middle of the track, just like the AirTrain. I was told the AirTrain is a monorail and the side rails are for support plus it is totally automated, no engineer, programmed by computers.

Is the TOEI train based on the same principles?

 

I do have to add, riding on an unmanned train doesn't give me a lot of confidence just in case something does go wrong.

[Guest bill937ca]

Bill,

Talk about timely. I just took my wife to the airport and we took the new AirTrain to JFK airport. The train look a lot like the train when you open your link, the TOEI Nippori-toneri liner. The first thing I noticed, no patagraphs, but a wide "bar" in the middle of the track, just like the AirTrain. I was told the AirTrain is a monorail and the side rails are for support plus it is totally automated, no engineer, programmed by computers.

Is the TOEI train based on the same principles?

 

I really don't know anything about that train.  I don't pay too much attention to the gadget trains. Just too many trains in Japan.....  Also this line is really new.

[Dick H]

Bernard,

The Nippori-Toneri line is a rubber-tired guideway designed after the Yurikamome line that goes out to Odaiba, the man-made island in Tokyo Bay - a great ride on a clear day.

It looks like linear motor powered with that "bar" in the center, but nowhere does it say it has linear motors. The "bar" is called a reaction plate. It functions as the stator of the motors, the rotors being on the bogie axels. I believe that is a fairly accurate description, but anyone who knows better, please chime in.

The Oedo subway is linear motor powered and its reaction plate is quite a bit larger than those other two lines, perhaps because it is an earlier design, or the cars are larger.

Photos of the two reaction plates:

Oedo subway:  http://www.pbase.com/dickh/image/9510513

Yurikamome: http://www.pbase.com/dickh/image/1306330

[Bernard]

Dick H - Thanks. The second picture is exactly what the NY-JFK airport train looks like. It runs on the same type of rail system.

[SubwayHypes]

I COSIGN BERNARD!!

 

that tram is a nice ride on a clear day.  i frequently take it to the tokyo convention center on Odaiba for various shows and conventions.

 

 

make sure you try and get the front seats!