923 series Doctor Yellow Retirement Announced

[Kamome]

I guess as the 700 series have already been retired (other than Railstar) it was inevitable that the existing track inspection trains would follow suit. 

 

Looks like the 2 trains will be retired in 2025 and 2027. Wonder what we’ll see in future 

 

https://sp.m.jiji.com/english/show/33570

[Beaver]

No source I'm afraid, but I thought the idea was that modern technology makes dedicated inspection trains obsolete and in future every train will be fitted with sensors and stream the data back to the control centre? So every train plays a part in continuously monitoring the state of the track as it is used?

 

Though in that case there ought to be information somewhere about work ongoing, commencing  or planned to install such sensors on the passenger fleet?

[jappomania]

like happen to previous T2 and T3 around 20 years ago, wait a little bit and the new version (T6 an T7 ? ) will be developed, maybe based on N700S
they need a new version of Dr.Yellow faster than the normal trains, otherwise some measure can't be so accurate, and considering the end of life for some components developed for 700 series, is much more simple to build a new one (or couple) with the latest technical solutions

(maybe they can use the N700S-9000 shortened and modified with sensor set)

[chadbag]

I did see a pic of an N700A where the nose had been painted Yellow (Dr Yellow type yellow) with speculation on whether this was the foundation of a new generation of Dr Yellow.

 

I also read in another article elsewhere the point above that all trains will have sensors to stream back.

Edited June 13 by chadbag

[200系]

4 hours ago, Kamome said:

I guess as the 700 series have already been retired (other than Railstar) it was inevitable that the existing track inspection trains would follow suit. 

 

Though there's certainly a possibility that this might have played a role, both the JR Tōkai and JR West press releases highlight ageing as the primary reason behind the upcoming retirement of both formations. This in itself shouldn't really come as a surprise, as though their relatively relaxed operating schedule means they do not accumulate the same, insanely high, mileage numbers as their in service sisters, both formations will be well over 20 years old when they exit service (formation T4 entered service on October 20th, 2000 while formation T5 entered service on the 18th of March, 2005), which is more or less in line with the 922 type formations that preceded them (formation T2 was scrapped less than a month prior to her 27th year in service (October 25, 1974 -> October 2~5, 2001), while formation T3 was scrapped at 25 years and 11 months (November 13th, 1979 -> September 30th, 2005)).

 

That being said, and I want to stress this is highly speculative, the availability, or lack thereof, of spare parts following the retirement of the 700 series C formations by JR Tōkai and the B formations by JR West back in March 2020 and February 2021 respectively, may of course have played a role in the decision to retire both formations, we just don't know. Like I said, inspection trains simply do not accumulate the same mileage numbers as their in service counterparts, and as such their equipment ages at a different rate as well (each piece of equipment has its own inspection limit (expressed in kilometres an/or years whichever comes first) as well as its own expected lifecycle (in kilometres)), as such, even though both formations were, legally, bound to the same inspection limits as their in service counterparts, which means they have to undergo a general inspection every 1.2 million kilometres/ every 3 years, whichever comes first (for shinkansen inspection cars, that would most likely be every 3 years (in service cars generally reach the 1.2 million kilometre limit first (the general inspection interval for the rolling stock used on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is roughly 2 years and 2 months on average as an example)). That being said, due to their low mileage I expect most general inspections didn't require the same amount of work as their in service sisters, and as a consequence their equipment would've likely lasted considerably longer, at least in terms of years of service, vis a vis the earlier mentioned 700 series formations, but this is, once again, highly speculative on my part.

 

Speaking of the JR West 700 series E formations, the 700 series 7000 sub-type cars (Hikari Railstar), considering this announcement and the fact that they of course have accumulated a much higher mileage in comparison, it will be interesting to see when, how and if they will be announcing the replacement of these formations sometime in the future. 

Back in February of this year JR West did announce they would start converting a number of their 16 car N700a (small a) series (N700 series 5000 sub-type cars, the former N700 series 3000 sub-type cars) K formations into 8 car formations in order to start replacing the 500 series V formations, with the conversion of 4 formations being scheduled to be completed between this year and 2026, so it will be interesting to see whether this will be expanded further after 2026, and if this will eventually encompass the replacement of the 700 series E formations as well.

 

1 hour ago, Beaver said:

Though in that case there ought to be information somewhere about work ongoing, commencing  or planned to install such sensors on the passenger fleet?

 

There actually is, back in August 2019 JR Tōkai announced that they would be fitting three N700S formations, then on order as part of the first batch of mass produced N700S cars, with an overhead wire monitoring system, ATC/track circuit monitoring system and an track condition monitoring system, which would make it possible to perform these inspections during scheduled services as opposed to the nighttime inspections performed once every 10 days by the JR Tōkai and JR West owned 923 type formations, T4 and T5. 

 

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20190807054921/https://jr-central.co.jp/news/release/_pdf/000039804.pdf

 

Both JR Tōkai and JR West also mention the fact that inspections will be performed by, or in the case of JR West that they are evaluating the possibility of, using in service JR Tōkai N700S series formations following the retirement of both formations as well.

 

JR Tōkai press release:

https://jr-central.co.jp/news/release/_pdf/000043619.pdf

 

JR West press release:

https://www.westjr.co.jp/press/article/items/230613_00_press_dryellow.pdf

 

[Kamome]

Considering the huge appeal Dr. Yellow has in terms of popular culture, especially for children, it seems a shame that these trains will be replaced with track safety monitoring equipment fitted to regular services. 

 

I wonder how much was gained in merchandise and licensing revenue. There is not a child in Japan, or adult for that matter, who doesn’t know Dr. Yellow. 

 

I’m sure there will be a fanfare and subsequent rail fan events for their final farewells.

[bc6]

Wow interesting news, Thanks for sharing it. 

[chadbag]

This may mean nothing but these have popped up.  There is a third picture on FB that shows a side view so you see the white and the yellow

 

 

 

[200系]

^More or less.

 

Formation X32 is part of the second group of N700a series formations to be scrapped with the introduction of the second batch of N700S introduced between 2023 and 2026. She was originally delivered on the first of March, 2009 as N700 series 0 sub-type formation Z32 and was converted to N700a (small a) standards in early 2015, and would re-enter service as part of the N700 series 2000 sub-type fleet on the 9th of February, 2015. She was forwarded to the Hamamatsu Workshop on the 27th of March, 2024 and was officially scrapped (as in administratively scrapped) when she arrived at Hamamatsu, becoming the 42nd N700 series X formation to be scrapped by JR Tōkai.

As is usually the case, after the formation was scrapped dismantling work started within a month after the formation was scrapped, and by early April it seems like cars 1~6 had already been dismantled, while cars 7~16 had gone through part of the preparation process, with the high voltage bus bar, inter car cabling, outer hood etc. having been removed/cut through at that point in time. So, with this in mind, and taking into account the fact that a large part of the cars that made up this formation, including the 983 type trailer control car, I would be seriously surprised if this was part of any sort of conversion plan.

 

What is more likely though, and this is also alluded to by a number of people on the Japanese side of the internet, is that they were testing the painting equipment, automated paint equipment was installed at Hamamatsu a couple years ago if I'm not mistaken, and as such were in need of a test vehicle for said tests. As they tend to use scrapped cars for this purpose, they ended up using 784 type 2032, i.e. car number 16 of formation X32 for this purpose which is how we ended up with this combination. This seems to be corroborated by the other pictures being taken, which shows the application of the yellow paint is limited to the contoured part of the nose section, with the flat sections retaining their original color scheme. Similarly, the second picture also clearly shows that the car has already gone through part of the preparatory process prior to dismantling, with the removal of the forward passenger doors, interior fittings and the forward side skirts being clearly visible in said picture. Though no picture of the entire car seems to have been posted, the previously mentioned factors are consistent with the overall dismantling process JR Tōkai uses for their scrapped shinkansen cars at Hamamatsu, and for that matter those used by JR West at the Hakata General Vehicle Centre. 

 

In addition, there's a historical precedent for this as well, as paint tests using scrapped vehicles have been performed at Hamamatsu in the past, as is briefly mentioned in the reddit post above, with one of the scrapped 700 series C formation cars being repainted in a two-tone white and dark blue livery on one side of the car, similar to those used by JR East shinkansen introduced during the mid 1990's and 2000's, while the other side was painted completely white instead, back in 2013, while 723 type 0 sub-type car 723-48, originally part of the 700 series C formation C49, was painted in the doctor yellow scheme after being scrapped on the 11th of July, 2019.

 

 

The remaining cars of formation X32 back in April of this year:

https://ameblo.jp/takemas21/entry-12847519821.html

 

Scrapped 700 series car in two-tone blue/white scheme in 2013:

http://railstars3.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-96.html

 

 

723-48 in doctor yellow livery back in 2019:

 

 

 

The original image source for the reddit/FB post above:

https://x.com/floatrain/status/1792726026747101446

https://x.com/floatrain/status/1792736813809008869

 

 

Cheers!

Edited June 14 by 200系
Forgot to add a couple of sources

[Zeether]

What's the over under on JR preserving one of the cars at a museum like SCMaglev Park, etc? It would be nice to at least have that so everyone can experience the happiness of seeing Doctor Yellow.

[miyakoji]

7 hours ago, Zeether said:

What's the over under on JR preserving one of the cars at a museum like SCMaglev Park, etc? It would be nice to at least have that so everyone can experience the happiness of seeing Doctor Yellow.

Quickly looking over some pictures of the museum’s main hall, I’m not sure if they’ve got more room without shuffling things around or removing something.  They do have a 0 series inspection car, they could replace it with one of these.  I wonder what plans the various museums have for periodically refreshing their collections.

[Zeether]

Ah, I forgot they already have one preserved...still would be nice if it went there or maybe the Saitama museum