N700S Shinkansen car numbering

[Kingmeow]

I have a Kato N700S 8 car set (starter plus add-on A).  I noticed that on the rooftop of each car there is a yellow number at the ends signifying the car number.  The peculiarity is that on some cars they are on the left edge while others are on the right edge (when looking fore and aft) as they are packed in the box from the factory.

 

I want to build the train prototypically.  I know the numbers should be increasing from the lead car.  But should all the yellow rooftop numbers be matched to one edge?  Or is "mix and match" fine?

 

I think (I don't have the set in front of me now) the lead car has the rooftop number on the right edge.

 

Obviously it's quite easy to fix by just rotating the car(s) 180 degrees other than the lead and trailing cars to get al the numbers on the same side.

 

Or am I being too anal?  🤣

[SwallowAngel]

As far as I can see you can actually orient yourself by the wayboard display locations: The larger ones should point towards car 16 with the smaller ones pointing to car 1

 

1 hour ago, Kingmeow said:

Or am I being too anal?  🤣

You can never be too anal, as long as you and others are still having fun.

 

Trying to be prototypical can be fun at times though, leads you down some very fun (and way too deep) rabbitholes occasionally (and makes you waste hours trying to find documents in a language you don't know about a topic atmost 3 people in this world care about 🙂 [I am definetly not going insane])

Edited December 22, 2023 by SwallowAngel

[200系]

As shinkansen cars are never turned throughout their service lives, each car within a formation will always be facing in the same direction, regardless of the formation involved. As a result of this, certain details will always be on one side of the formation and as such shinkansen formations are always uniform when it comes to these things, even though the actual cars themselves may change as formations are re-organized or formed when necessary (which was more of a thing for the older National Railway era types like the 0 and 200 series as opposed to more "modern" designs like the 300 series and all related series (700 series, N700 series N700S series etc.)). Because of this the two sides are often referred to as either the mountain or sea side of the car, with the mountain side facing inland while the sea side faces the pacific ocean, as the terms imply. Similarly, car number 1 on Tōkaidō, Sanyō and Kyūshū Shinkansen formations is always facing in the Hakata/Kagoshima direction, while car number 16 (or 4, 6, 8 or 12 depending on the formation in question) is always facing in the Tōkyō direction. JR East shinkansen follow the exact same convention though as the orientation of the formation is identical to that of the western shinkansen, car number 1 always faces in the Tōkyō direction while car number 10 (or 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 depending on the formation, you get the point) faces Morioka/Niigata or Toyama.

 

As an example, on standard cars the two seats side is always on the mountain side, while the three seats side is always on the sea side, regardless of the direction of travel. Similarly, the rest room area is always on the Tōkyō side of uneven numbered car types (i.e. the 747, 745 and 737 type cars on the N700S series) with the same being true for the pantographs which are almost universally installed on the Tōkyō side of (certain) even numbered car types, though the N700 series family and the 500 series V formations are a slight exception to this rule as their pantographs are mounted inwards facing towards the centre of the formation instead (the 500 series W formations did have both pantographs on the same side of their respective car, however they were mounted on the Hakata side instead.), you can substitute Morioka, Niigata or Toyama for JR East shinkansen.

 

So, to make a long story short and answer your question at the same time, the roof mounted car position numbers should all be on the same side, i.e. the mountain side. As yours aren't I suspect either someone removed the cars in question for inspection somewhere in the manufacturing process and putt them back in reverse, or they were packaged facing the wrong way round, as both my Kato N700S formations have the numbers on the correct side of the car.

 

If you're no entirely familiar with the exact layout of each car, the best way to check if your cars are facing the right direction is to check the location of the actual car number, i.e. the road number, which should be on the lower right side of the car when looking down the formation starting from car 1 down the length of the formation (i.e. the Hakata/Kagoshima side for Tōkaidō, Sanyō and Kyūshū Shinkansen formations and the Tōkyō side for Tōhoku, Jōetsu, Hokuriku and Hokkaidō Shinkansen formations) . Some of the mini-shinkansen form an exception to this rule however, with for example the 422 type cars (400 series car no.16 (1992~1995) or no.17(1995~2010)) and E322 type  cars (E3 series car no.13/15 (0 sub-type, 1997~1998), no.16 (0 sub-type, 1998~2013/2022) or no.17 (1000/2000 sub-type, 1999~) having their car numbers on the lower left side of the car. In addition, as @SwallowAngel mentioned, the reserved/unreserved car display (the small side display) should be facing the Hakata side (car no.1) while the destination display should be facing the Tōkyō side (car no.16 etc.).

 

3 hours ago, Kingmeow said:

Or am I being too anal?  🤣

 

*looks at his own post* nah, I think you'll be fine *slowly walks away*

 

In all seriousness though, I think that as long as it's something you enjoy doing there shouldn't be an issue in the first place. In my opinion things like these can only be classified as being anal if they either become obsessive, or if you expect others follow in your footsteps start criticising those that don't take it as seriously etc. It's a hobby and we all enjoy it in our own way, and there is no right or wrong way to experience a hobby in my opinion, so long as it doesn't bother others.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

 

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by 200系

[Kamome]

Yes, some of the Kato foam inserts can sometimes throw up a few challenges in storing shinkansen in correct coach order and direction. Essentially due to most consisting of 3 separate sets, there is the obvious issue of the cab ends, but on occasion room for roof equipment and pantographs can mean intermediate coaches may need to be stored out of order or in the opposite direction from the rest of the train. This is true for my Kato 0 and E7 and my 700 series coaches with pantograph need to be reversed in the case IIRC. 

 

I tend to refold the included booklet so that the formation information can be seen. This usually states which end of each coach the door or the destination board is so you can replicate an accurate formation. Upon checking the Assy Parts PDF for the N700s, it doesn't state either which is less useful but now they're printing the yellow car roof markers, also present on other shinkansen types, it makes it easier to put the train together I suppose.

 

I once got told at a rental layout by the owner that one of the green cars in my 189 series Asama was facing the wrong way. I took appropriate action and gave a deep bow to show my gratitude and the obvious dishonour I had bestowed on my family name.😁 Don't worry, in this hobby there'll always be someone to pick you up on mistakes. 

[Kingmeow]

20 hours ago, 200系 said:

So, to make a long story short and answer your question at the same time, the roof mounted car position numbers should all be on the same side, i.e. the mountain side. As yours aren't I suspect either someone removed the cars in question for inspection somewhere in the manufacturing process and putt them back in reverse, or they were packaged facing the wrong way round, as both my Kato N700S formations have the numbers on the correct side of the car.

 

If you're no entirely familiar with the exact layout of each car, the best way to check if your cars are facing the right direction is to check the location of the actual car number, i.e. the road number, which should be on the lower right side of the car when looking down the formation starting from car 1 down the length of the formation (i.e. the Hakata/Kagoshima side for Tōkaidō, Sanyō and Kyūshū Shinkansen formations and the Tōkyō side for Tōhoku, Jōetsu, Hokuriku and Hokkaidō Shinkansen formations) .

 

Wow!  Great information by everyone and I'm glad I'm in good company and not a blip outside the Bell curve on detail craziness.  As an engineer (not the train kind) I tend to over analyze everything and try to find answers to the Universe.  😂

 

So....I found the idiot and it is me!  🤣  There were only two cars in the bookcase (Add on A set with Basic set thrown in) that were "misbehaved".  Your statement about the road number on the lower right side keyed me in.   These two were on the left side.  I was going to take a picture of the set and post here to let all to analyze as to why these two specific cars.  Then it occurred to me that I always take a picture of any trains I buy, especially sets, right after receiving them and taking them out of the box.  This way I know "that's how the factory packed them".

 

So why take another photo?  I found the picture on my phone and was about to email it to myself for posting here.  That's when I zoomed in and low and behold!  ALL of the road numbers are on the lower right...including the two "misbehaved" ones.  And since no one touches my train except me, I wonder who put it back in wrong???!!!!!  🤪🙄🤣

 

So mystery solved.  But it was not in vain as I learned about the mountain side and sea side on how these trains are set up prototypically.

 

Thank you all!  I know someone here could explain things.  BTW, I Google'd all over the place and could not find anything that was remotely an answer!

Edited December 22, 2023 by Kingmeow

[cteno4]

21 hours ago, 200系 said:

In all seriousness though, I think that as long as it's something you enjoy doing there shouldn't be an issue in the first place. In my opinion things like these can only be classified as being anal if they either become obsessive, or if you expect others follow in your footsteps start criticising those that don't take it as seriously etc. It's a hobby and we all enjoy it in our own way, and there is no right or wrong way to experience a hobby in my opinion, so long as it doesn't bother others.

Very nicely put 200!

 

jeff

[brill27mcb]

The answers you can't find anywhere else are here on JNS Forum! We're an eclectic and esoteric bunch...

 

Rich K.