Nagasaki Electric Tramway Tram Prototype

[bill937ca]

Nagasaki Electric Tramway  (NET) or 長崎電気軌道, Nagasaki Denki Kidō operates the Nagasaki tram system. Wikipedia notes locals call the trams “the electric train (電車, densha), while JR lines are called JR, the train cars (列車, ressha), or the locomotive train (汽車, kisha).”

 

There are 5 lines and 71 trams of 19 different types. The system reached its current 11.5 route km. state in June 1968 with a short extension on lines 1 and 4 to Shokakuji-shita. It is a tram only private railway and is profitable and has been for years.

 

At one time there was a bus division, but this was separated on 1971.3.1 and since then the company has been tram only.

 

Old bogie cars, which account for the majority of the fleet, are small cars of 11 or 12m.  Cars of the 201, 202, 211 and 300 classes were manufactured in 1950-54 and are laid out with front and rear doors. Starting with the 360 class in 1961 cars became center entrance and front exit usually running 11500 or a bit more in length.  Although cars of the 1200, 1300, 1500, 1700 and 1800 classes have new bodies the bogies and controls were salvaged from old trams. Almost all Nagasaki trams make traditional motor and metal on metal noises.

 

There have been 3 batches of low-floor trams, 3000, 5000 and 6000 types, but these only account for 7 trams. The majority of service is run by good old high floor trams which don’t destroy tram track as much as low-floor trams.

 

Tomytec Models

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 300 #306 – 2019

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 300 #310 – 2019 (Minato)

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 1500 #1501 – 2020

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 1500 #1505 – 2020

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 200 #215 – 2021

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 3000 #3002 – 2022

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 200 #207 – 2021( City Cruise Akari aka beer tram)

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Type 3000 #3001 – 2023 (V-Varen Nagasaki Wrapping)

 

NET is a heavy seller on tram advertising outside, inside and broadcasted between stops on the trams. Single wrapped tram adds the equivalent of 3500 fares at 140 Yen each to company coffers each month. Outside wraps are very common in You Tube videos. Currently, the system averages 942,333 fares a month.

 

Nagasaki has had a big influence on Japanese model tram track.  Nagasaki was the prototype for the original Tomix 3076 track covers.

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nagasaki_Trolley_M5199.jpg

 

But in an era of minimum maintenance, monolithic setts have been falling out of favor in Japan and Europe. Monolithic setts when out of position and not secured can derail trams, flip small cars or vans on their roof and are a hazard to scooter riders and bikers.  Below JR Nagasaki Station you will find a newer type of track construction typical of Unitram.

 

Track below JR Nagasaki Station starts off with monolithic setts in the station, then the newer pavement and back to monolithic setts. Video by みょんchan.

 

 

 

New and old track. Video by みょんchan

 

I’m sure this is not unique to Nagasaki now, in fact there is track similar to Unitram in Kochi.

 

Nagasaki Electric Tramway was renowned for having the lowest fare in Japan at 100 Yen from 1984 to 2009. Fares were held steady even when the consumption tax was introduced in 1989 and increased in 1997. Since 2009 there have been 3 fare increases and the current fare is 140 Yen.

 

Ridership has been on the decline in recent years.

1985….more than 19 million passengers

2001….21,150,000

2017….16,738,000

2018….16,975,000

2019….16,357,000

2020….10,617,000

2021….11,308,000

 

Lines 1 and 3 serve JR Nagasaki station, the Atomic Bomb Memorial and there is good school traffic with 6 high schools along line 1. The reduction in service on line 4 is recent since September 2022.  It requires more transfers, but now that everybody is using a fare card this is easy.

 

Currently, tram service is largely confined to trams 1 and 3. There is a significant morning rush followed by steady headways on lines 1 and 3 from 0900 to 1959. Line 1 is every 5 minutes (or 12 cars an hour) and line 3 is every 6 minutes  (or 10 cars an hour). On the combined main line north of JR Nagasaki Station there is a car less than every three minutes.

 

  Line

1              322 one-way trips a day

2              1 late night last flight (combines parts of lines 1 and 3)

3              267 one-way trips a day

4              AM and PM rush only with 6 trip each way in each rush

5              194 one-way trips a day

 

Trams are rear (or center door) entrance and the fare is paid on exiting at the front door.

 

A good tram viewing vantage point is from the overpasses at JR Nagasaki Station.    Nagasaki Eki-Mae (great track and motor noises). Video by  ErebosSan.

 

 

When a second tram comes into the platform, they do a safety stop and then creep up to just behind the tram ahead as this video below shows.  Video by 定点観測ー長崎駅前電停.

 

 

 

There is much shunting that goes on at the tram depot at Urakami. The loud Wham sound is a spring switch set against the main line (for getting pullins off the main line quick).  Video by ジリティス.

 

 

 

Video by nekθmask55.  

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

A cab ride on the rather short Route 4 (Sofukuji Temple～Hotarujaya). In Japanese style its going from a temple to a teahouse.

 

 

[bill937ca]

There has been an ongoing project to relocate the tram tracks in the vicinity of JR Nagasaki Station.  The paving stones have changed from weathered stone to tightly packed light grey stone.  Video by 中馬大蔵.

 

 

[Aleks]

 

On 2/11/2023 at 3:25 PM, bill937ca said:

Nagasaki Electric Tramway  (NET) or 長崎電気軌道, Nagasaki Denki Kidō operates the Nagasaki tram system. Wikipedia notes locals call the trams “the electric train (電車, densha), while JR lines are called JR, the train cars (列車, ressha), or the locomotive train (汽車, kisha).”

 

When a second tram comes into the platform, they do a safety stop and then creep up to just behind the tram ahead as this video below shows.  Video by 定点観測ー長崎駅前電停.

 

 

汽車, kisha, is actually steam loc train. The first symbol means steam. If this is how they call regular trains, this is a long-lasting public memory...

 

At the Nagasaki Station, if you look at the video, you can see different stop positions for routes 1 and 3. Coming from the North, route 1 arrives at 3:36 and stops at the 2nd position (from the vantage point), a little further away. Route 3 arrives right behind, and waits until route 1 tram clears the 1st position where route 3 stops at 4:08. I was there in person in December and this is how they operate.

 

The tram at 1:38 is headed from the depot with the stated destination 築町 (Tsukimachi). There is no such terminus and no such stop name today in the system. This is the old name (until 2018) of what is today called Shinchi Chinatown stop, where lines 1 and 5 merge. There is no right turn coming from Nagasaki Station onto line 5 route leading to its terminus at Ishibashi (nor a left turn going back). So to get from the depot onto the line 5 terminus (or back) trams have to get to the next stop after the lines merge - which is Shinchi Chinatown - and then reverse, cross over to the opposite track and head to line 5 terminus. So this tram (which proceeds along line 1 track after Nagasaki Station) is on its way to work on line 5 starting from the Ishibashi terminus. (Note there is likewise no right turn at Civic Hall station from line 3 onto line 5 route... so no real way to get from the depot to Ishibashi unless you either go through another terminus or a cross over as I described).

 

In the opposite direction, it looks like route 3 also takes the 1st position (there are two of them at around 6:00 next to each other), and route 1 takes the 2nd position. The 4th tram has destination Urakami Depot.

 

You can find a good overview of the Nagasaki tram system along with many photos at Yuri Maller's website here:

 

http://ymtram.mashke.org/japan/nagasaki/

 

Among other points of interest he notes, "the single track Ishibashi line along the canal; the central trunk line along the Nakashima River bank; the short tramway-only street in the city center; two tramway-only bridges and two tramway tunnels (one in mixed traffic and one tramway-only)".

 

The line to Ishibashi, once it becomes single track, continues as such into the terminus. There are no passing tracks anywhere, including not at the terminus. Of course, a tram can still pass another tram if it continues after the 1st one onto this single track stretch.

 

The tram terminus of lines 1 and 3 at Akasako has a long single track at the end, which I think is used for longer breaks (lunches?) by drivers. I sat in a tram right in front of this final stop for good 5 minutes before we proceeded to the stop site, because the driver was waiting for another tram to leave. Then he pulled right into the very end of the single track, and actually the tram that came up right behind us followed into the single track too and was of course the first one to depart.

 

Of note, the nuclear bomb in Nagasaki actually dropped outside the city center, and right next to the then-depot (not far away from the current Urakami depot). So the depot and everyone inside sadly perished, around 150 people. The city center was not significantly affected due to landscape (protected by hills from the blast).

Edited February 14, 2023 by Aleks

[katoftw]

On 2/13/2023 at 9:06 AM, bill937ca said:

A cab ride on the rather short Route 4 (Sofukuji Temple～Hotarujaya). In Japanese style its going from a temple to a teahouse.

 

 

Did this route last trip. The temple was pretty ran down and underwhelming. Tram station was interest though.

[bill937ca]

The building over the tram line is owned by the tramway company but occupancy rates have dropped and the building will close May 2023.

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/長崎西洋館

[Aleks]

I did not realize there was a tram museum inside, otherwise would have ventured in. I spent around 10 minutes taking photos of trams passing through.

[bill937ca]

In March 2019 three heritage trams from the Taisho to Showa era were removed from the property.  This includes:

150 class Hattori Seisakusho : 1 car [appx. 1925, rebuilt], ex-Ōdawara (1957), ex-Tokyo

700 class Naniwa Kōki : 1 car [1955] ex-Tokyo (1969)

1050 class Niigata Engineering : 1 car [1952] ex-Sendai (1976)

 

No idea where they are now. Perhaps on static display.
 

Video by Mainichi Shimbun

 

Video by Kyodo News

 

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Official Channel videos.

1051 carry-out time lapse

 

151 Loading timelapse

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

8 minutes ago, Aleks said:

I did not realize there was a tram museum inside, otherwise would have ventured in. I spent around 10 minutes taking photos of trams passing through.

It's really a unmanned display like you might set up in a mall or some other place.  There is a tram front which was probably used for training new drivers.

 

https://www.naga-den.com/pages/49/

[Aleks]

1051 really looked cool on the video parading sayonara through the city. Looks like 151 worked at some point on Hakone Tozan line - wow.

[bill937ca]

151 ran until 1957  per Electric Railways of Japan Volume 3. It ran on Hakone Tozan's Odawara town tramway and was ex-Oji Electric Railway.1

 

Here  is 151 near the end sprinkling sand following Spirit Boat festivities.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

4 hours ago, Aleks said:

(Note there is likewise no right turn at Civic Hall station from line 3 onto line 5 route... so no real way to get from the depot to Ishibashi unless you either go through another terminus or a cross over as I described).

 

 

There used to be  a second turnout at the Civic Hall Station.  You can see in this September 16, 2017 video by odoriko55. There were multiple derailments at this intersection and it looks like they simplified the track layout.

 

 

[Kamome]

There’s a great eclectic mix of rolling stock and some really nice scenes to model. The busy end by the main streets and station or quieter back streets. 

 

 

 

I particularly like the quieter bi-directional line close to Glover Gardens. This was taken close to Oura Cathedral Station (50) and feel it would make a great diorama or part of a layout.

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Kamome

[Aleks]

5 hours ago, bill937ca said:

There used to be  a second turnout at the Civic Hall Station.  You can see in this September 16, 2017 video by odoriko55. There were multiple derailments at this intersection and it looks like they simplified the track layout.

 

 

Interesting! Probably the 3rd largest tram system in Japan, and they cannot make a simple triangle work reliably. They do have one remaining triangle, with rush hour traffic only on one of the sides.

 

I presume the 3 older trams that departed from the system in the videos went to the scrap yard?

[Nick_Burman]

9 hours ago, bill937ca said:

151 ran until 1957  per Electric Railways of Japan Volume 3. It ran on Hakone Tozan's Odawara town tramway and was ex-Oji Electric Railway

 

Both HT and the Odawara tramway were/are in the Odakyu sphere of influence. However one thing I've never understood was if HT ever ran through onto the tramway, given the fact that its cars were originally fitted with folding steps, a sure sign of street operation.

 

Cheers Nicholas

 

[ED75-775]

11 hours ago, bill937ca said:

In March 2019 three heritage trams from the Taisho to Showa era were removed from the property.  This includes:

150 class Hattori Seisakusho : 1 car [appx. 1925, rebuilt], ex-Ōdawara (1957), ex-Tokyo

700 class Naniwa Kōki : 1 car [1955] ex-Tokyo (1969)

1050 class Niigata Engineering : 1 car [1952] ex-Sendai (1976)

 

No idea where they are now. Perhaps on static display.
 

Video by Mainichi Shimbun

Video by Kyodo News

Nagasaki Electric Tramway Official Channel videos.

1051 carry-out time lapse

151 Loading timelapse

 

Some applied Wikipedia-fu reveals the following information:

• 1051, ex-Sendai 117, was withdrawn in 2019 due to difficulty in keeping it running. Its body and trucks were handed over in 2020 for display at the Seibuen Yuenchi theme park in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture. It was installed at the entrance to the park in May 2021, carrying of all things... Toden livery.
• 701, ex-Toden 2018, was also withdrawn in 2019 due to difficulty in keeping it running. As the carbody contained asbestos, the decision was made to scrap it. At the time, it was the last of the Toden 2000-series trams in existence...
• 151, ex-Hakone Tozan MoHa 201, was also withdrawn in 2019 due to difficulty in keeping it running (there's a recurring theme here). Its body and trucks were handed over to "Ōdawara Related Tram Preservation Association" who raised ¥‎23m to purchase it and bring it back to Ōdawara, where it has been displayed at Hakoneguchi Garage Hotoku Square since March 2021.

Although the 1050 type is now long gone, one of 1051's sisters is still running: 1054, ex-Sendai 121, is based at the Sydney Tramway Museum in Loftus, NSW, Australia. I have seen it, although at the time I saw it in 2019, it was undergoing repair work due to an accident when it and a Sydney tram collided. From recent Facebook posts, I believe it's now back in service, maybe @marknewton can confirm that?

 

I hope that helps!

 

Alastair

[marknewton]

Yes Alistair, NETCo 1054 is back in service, it was running last weekend.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[bill937ca]

On 2/15/2023 at 3:28 AM, Aleks said:

 

Interesting! Probably the 3rd largest tram system in Japan, and they cannot make a simple triangle work reliably. They do have one remaining triangle, with rush hour traffic only on one of the sides.

This is a wider problem than just Nagasaki. Low floor trams with independent wheels with motor attached to the wheel cause heavy wear on the track. Manyo Line had numerous derailments after it adopted the JTRAM.  In fact I often now hear these incidents in Europe are called technical failures. The low floor revolution is driven by politics and not good tramway design.   Interestingly, the newest Nagasaki low floor car 6001 has bogies.

 

After the fifth derailment, NET was ordered by regulators to widen the radius from 20m to 35m.  This may be why the additional curves were removed.

 

There is a detailed article in Japanese by a railway journalist that has been revised as additional facts became available.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/umeharajun/20200424-00175084

Edited February 16, 2023 by bill937ca

[Aleks]

I read this article. Seems like a classic illustration of how good intentions result in bad outcomes. It is often critical  on heavy rail to interlock points so a train running a red light would not enter the main line to crash into a passing train. At tram speeds on sharp curves inside a city, in my mind this is an overkill. This seems to be what led the poor driver of the derailed tram #5 to engage in a sequence of missteps that ultimately resulted in the point switching under his car. If the interlock was not in place, this derailment would have been avoided.

[bill937ca]

Seeing it appears that Nagasaki was the prototype, if not a major influence for Tomix track covers and Unitram, and the prototype has been changing over the last year or so could we see a new Unitram pattern?  There was a long gap between the original Kato Portram trams which was followed with a completely new Hiroden LEX. It would not surprise me if Kato produced a revised Unitram.  The track design Unitram was based on dates back to at least 2004. Almost 20 years.

 

The Kato 43-730 tram shelter is found all over Nagasaki both as a tram shelter and on the sidewalk as a bus stop shelter.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=市民会館駅長崎&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:Cc6nI_16OtudnYcA5RxnWgsrA8AEA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihsKDe1Zn9AhU7gokEHT-ZCEoQuIIBegQIABAp&biw=1343&bih=625

 

There is a video that shows the intersection at Central Bridge was still asphalt in 2010. By 2013 it mirrored Unitram turnouts. Unitram turnouts were released in early February 2013.  The initial Unitram V50 basic set was released in late December 2009.

Edited February 16, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

I have gone deep on Nagasaki trams in the last two weeks.  I now have 7 of 8 trams issued by Tomytec.