numberplates Japanese Locomotive Numberplates (ナンバープレート)

[SL58654号]

Japanese electric locomotives sometimes had green or red ground number plates as well.
Any reason for this?

[Kamome]

found this - google translated

 

 

 

In the era of national railways, container freight trains that transport between bases became mainstream, and in order to improve the towing constant and operation speed, the brakes of Koki 50000 type, which was the main container freight car at that time, were remodeled and brake power I raised it. This remodeling made it possible to drive 100 km/h or 1,200 tons.

However, this required remodeling not only for freight cars but also for locomotives. Therefore, a construction called "regular decompression promotion remodeling" will be carried out on PF, which was the main force of the Tokaido and Sanyo Main Line. This was to speed up the action of lowering the pressure in the air tube when the automatic air brake was activated, and the turia air reservoir was made smaller and the necessary valves were added.

However, it is the contents of the locomotive, and there is no way to tell from the appearance. Therefore, the remodeled PF also changed the color of the license plate, as the modified car of Koki 50000 (250000 generation) was repainted from jump color to green for easier identification.

Initially, I made it the same green as Koki 50000, but it was unpopular from the site that it was particularly difficult to see at night, so I changed it to the red color used for the test painting machine at that time. Since then, PF, which has undergone a regular decompression promotion remodeling, has become red on both the front and sides of the license plate regardless of the JNR color and renewal color.

Unit 1057 in the picture was also remodeled, so the license plate was red.

[SL58654号]

Thanks for all your answers. This site is a treasure-trove of knowledge for any Japanese rail fan.
Recently, the Moka Railway cast new number plates for their C12.
Very fun to watch. 

[ED75-775]

I just watched that video. Nice that they want to mark C12 66's ninetieth birthday in a tangible way, but I agree with your comment on the video that the previous 'plates look much nicer. Though I'm biased in saying that too - the locomotive had small 'plates when I rode behind it in June 2023, as below. The new 'plates are purely a cosmetic change though, and it's been done in a way that's totally reversible so I think we will see it revert back at some point.

 

 

Just going back to an earlier post about smokebox door handles, I would hazard to suggest that they're purely a cosmetic embellishment and nothing more than that. While perusing YouTube after watching a few random videos from the Moka Railway's official channel, I found this video from 2019 farewelling C11 325 after it was sold to the Tobu Railway. It had a four-point smokebox door handle when it was retrieved for restoration, and it looks to have been kept and refurbished when the locomotive was restored. C12 66 on the other hand only had the classic two-point handle as that's what it had in service. At least, it did have them in service, my West Japan 'locomotives and depots' book features a good front-on shot of this locomotive towards the end of its service life with the two-point handle fitted.

 

Further adding to my theory, C57 139 as preserved at the SCMaglev & Railway Park in Nagoya was a former Imperial Train locomotive from 1945 onwards, which may explain why it has the eight-point handles on its smokebox door. The web link heads through to the Kato Store Kyoto's page for their special model of 139 - I was tossing up on whether to buy one of their special models when I was there - nope, too expensive after my previous binges, maybe next time in mid-2024 if I can restrain myself?

 

Alastair