Jump to content

In case you're wondering why the Shinkansen smells a bit fishy...

railsquid

By railsquid
in Japan Rail: News & General Discussion

Recommended Posts

railsquid

railsquid

Posted
Posted

Japan bullet train to carry seafood for faster tunnel speed


 

Quote

 

...

One possible answer is for these bullet trains to carry cargo themselves. JR Hokkaido has partnered with delivery company Sagawa Express to test transporting seafood on bullet trains alongside passengers. The trials will start this year at the earliest.

Before trains enter the tunnel, JR Hokkaido and Sagawa plan to load squid, fish and other seafood caught near Hakodate onto a shinkansen heading toward Aomori, Honshu's northernmost prefecture. The two companies anticipate strong demand for the freshest seafood, enough to command high transport fees.

...

 

 

(Hmm, I wonder if that means I can travel for free between Hakodate and Aomori?)

 

 

 

  • Haha 4
Link to comment
marknewton

marknewton

Posted
Posted

Interesting. The original proposal for the Shinkansen included dedicated freight stock that would run in the early hours of the morning when the passenger services had stopped.

 

Mark.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Ochanomizu

Ochanomizu

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

(Hmm, I wonder if that means I can travel for free between Hakodate and Aomori?)

 

 

Are you asking for flavours or are you just being shell fish?

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
ben_issacs

ben_issacs

Posted
Posted

Folks, 

Yes, as Mark wrote, the initial Shinkansen project assumed the operation of fast freights in the seven hour window between the last and first passenger trains, but it turned up that this time was required for track maintenance etc.

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

Link to comment
ben_issacs

ben_issacs

Posted
Posted

Folks, 

Where on a Shinkansen would one store iced fish?

The only place that I can think of is the conductor's cabin, and he might'nt be too happy with this!

If this cargo is loaded at an ordinary passenger platform, would the platform have a special 'Fish' logo marking on the platform?

Perhaps each passenger is handed a frozen fish instead of a ticket, which is handed in at the destination

This all sounds like a Japanese version of 'April Fool's Day'!

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

 

Link to comment
katoftw

katoftw

Posted
Posted

Trolleys in tubs with wheels. Same for some of those combined service buses.

 

They might use a reserve only car and block bookings for that car for that service/train.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Kiha66

Kiha66

Posted
Posted

I think katoftw is correct.  That sounds very similar to the system used on some commuter trains in Japan to ship newspapers early in the morning.

Link to comment
bikkuri bahn

bikkuri bahn

Posted
Posted
Quote

Where on a Shinkansen would one store iced fish?

On a previous trial on the Joetsu Shinkansen, the space used by the food service cart attendants was utilized. The space is only 1.62 sq. meters, so only high value, low volume products can be carried. 

Link to comment
Cat

Cat

Posted
Posted

Back in the day, US railroads used to have express reefer cars painted in the same livery as their passenger cars and hitched at the front end just behind the locomotive.  These were especially used for getting fruit from California to Chicago.  Would take a boatload of fish to fill a Shinkansen freight car though.

Link to comment
ben_issacs

ben_issacs

Posted
Posted

 

folks,

It all depends on economics, if the revenue lost by taking over passenger space is less than that gained by the fish traffic, this idea will work.

A special reefer car inserted into the consist would have to have a side passage to allow conductors and passengers to pass through it, no matter where it is in the train.

Where would it be loaded, not at the platform, too time consuming, in the storage yard perhaps?

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

Link to comment
Cat

Cat

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, ben_issacs said:

Where would it be loaded, not at the platform, too time consuming, in the storage yard perhaps?

In the old US practice, the freight cars were cut out just before shunting the passenger cars to the station platform.

Link to comment
chadbag

chadbag

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Cat said:

In the old US practice, the freight cars were cut out just before shunting the passenger cars to the station platform.

 

I am pretty sure Shinkansens are kept together as sets most of the time so I am not sure that would work.

 

Link to comment
RossDensha

RossDensha

Posted
Posted (edited)

Slightly on topic, a video demonstrating the 'train on train' proposal for Hokkaido Shinkansen.

 

There would be a gauge change station at each end of the tunnel.

This video was made in 2010.

Edited by RossDensha
  • Like 1
Link to comment
ben_issacs

ben_issacs

Posted
Posted

Folks, 

Something similar to this was done in Australia some years ago, where 3'-6" gauge trains of the Central Australia Railway were shunted , along with their 4-8-0 steam loco, onto a rake of Commonwealth Railways std. gauge flats which had the narrow gauge track laid on them.

Regrettably, can't remember where this was done, possibly Terowie in South Australia.

Regards,

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

Link to comment
ben_issacs

ben_issacs

Posted
Posted

Folks, 

Back to fish transport by rail, in JNR days there were special fish expresses from Shimonoseki up to Osaka and Tokyo, 'Tobiu' (?) and 'Ginrin', all ReKi's with an ReKiFu  on the end, and an EF58 on the front.

I have the double Kato set for this train, 13 or 14 cars, very impressive, probably should have a head board, but not so.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...