Dr. Yellow makes it's last run today. Nippon TV

[bc6]

It's a sad day in Japan today 

https://youtu.be/UD6nW8-Zk28?si=Uf7t7cOsZlyBsXql

 

Fans say goodbye to Dr. Yellow

 

Edited February 9 by bc6

[cteno4]

Sad, but to every train there is a time. 
 

weh  we had the big club show layout and the big shinkansen yard we use to ask the kids what they would like to see run next and 9 out of 10 times it was dr yellow!

 

jeff

[MrLinderman]

Thinking of grabbing a model of Dr. Yellow now, it might become a collectors item 🥰

 

Loved the look of the Shinkansen trains, so much so I am highly contemplating moving my proposed layout to my hobby shed so I can get a decent size run just for them.

Edited February 4 by MrLinderman

[bc6]

Im glad I already have my N scale Dr. Yellow.

[cteno4]

Very popular train forever and one that does get re-released. The rare ones are the series 0 Dr yellows by microace.

 

jeff

[Kingmeow]

Kato's Dr. Yellow is all out from the mail order places.  😞  A friend of mine is in Japan now.  I should ask him to see if they have it in the Stores.  He'll be at SKL in Osaka at the end of the week.

[MrLinderman]

Rokko has the Tomix 4+3 car set available for international buyers if anyone is looking for one.

[kuro68000]

What is it being replaced by?

[MrLinderman]

34 minutes ago, kuro68000 said:

What is it being replaced by?

 

No replacement, according to what I've read the technology that was inside Dr Yellow is being or already added to passenger Shinkansen trains so a dedicated unit is no longer required.

[Beaver]

34 minutes ago, kuro68000 said:

What is it being replaced by?

 

Modern micro sensors mounted on ordinary service trains. You don't really need a dedicated measurement train with today's electronics. The whole reason to create the original Doctor was the enormous size of the analogue devices originally used for measurement.

[ED75-775]

Little bit of extra news, NHK World News reports that JR Central is going to be displaying one of the cars from T4 in at the SCMaglev & Railway Park in Nagoya from June this year. The Red List of Trains website also confirms this. This is purely my speculation, but I'd say that JR West's Doctor Yellow car 922-26 will be removed from display to make room for one of T4's driving cars. Wouldn't be unreasonable given it's the only non-Central-owned vehicle in the collection.

 

Alastair

[200系]

To add a bit of context, though this is indeed a historic event, the retirement in question only involves the 923 type formation owned by JR Tōkai, formation T4. The 923 type formation owned by Jr West, formation T5 is expected to remain in service for a couple more years, with this formation expected to be retired sometime in 2027, though the exact date hasn't been announced as of today.

 

13 hours ago, cteno4 said:

The rare ones are the series 0 Dr yellows by microace.

 

 

It may sound a bit pedantic, and my apologies in advance for using a minor part of your response to address this issue, but none of the MicroAce "Dr Yellow" models are actually based on the 0 series, though to be more accurate, none of the J.N.R. era Shinkansen Electric Track (Comprehensive) Test Cars, as the various shinkansen inspection cars were officially referred to as, were actually classified as part of the 0 series, even though the prototypes of the models released by MicroAce over the years, which is true for both the 922 type 0 sub-type model (formation T1) and the 922 type 10 sub-type model (formation T2), are part of the same familial lineage.

 

Formation T1, i.e. the 922 type 0 sub-type cars, was originally built as 1000 type 4-car formation B, one of two test trains, 1000 type formations, A (2-car) and B (4-car), built prior to the opening of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, intended for high speed testing on the Model Line, today better known as the Kamonomiya Model Line, both of which entered service on June 20th, 1962. With the addition of 1000 type formation C on March 2nd, 1964 as part of the initial delivery of the batch 1 cars of the mass production cars, i.e. what would later become known as the 0 series (1000 type formation C wasn't technically classified as part of the 1000 type cars, having been ordered as part of the batch 1 cars, they did serve as the pre-production prototype cars for the mass production cars however, and as such, even though they were technically identical to their batch 1 sisters, these cars would initially, though unofficially, be classified as part of the 1000 type cars), most of the testing would be taken over by this formation and with the delivery of batch 1, and at that point batch 2, cars accelerating in the early summer of that year, by June of 1964, all testing would be done using the mass production cars, with formation C being integrated in the mass production cars as 12-car formation N1. As they had been built as test trains rather than commercial trains, the original two 1000 type formations would experience a slightly different fate, with formation A being converted into a 941 type Kyūen-Sha, or rescue car, while formation B would be converted into a 922 type 0 sub-type Denki Shiken-Sha, or electric test car (it is important to note that the original "Dr Yellow" wasn't a comprehensive test train, with the formation only being used to inspect the overhead line and ATC-1A/B signaling system, with track inspections being relegated to the 921 type, locomotive hauled cars, unlike the later, purpose built, cars), formation T1. Both formations would remain in service until the mid 1970's, though the 941 type formation never needed to be used, fortunately, and as such never saw actual service in this guise, with both the 941 type cars and the 922 type 0 sub-type cars being scrapped on August 15th, 1975.

 

Though the mass production cars (0 series) were in part based on the experience gained with the 1000 type cars, with a number of structural elements, like for example the design of the bogies, traction motors, gearbox, WN/gear coupling joints, pantographs, centre windshield and the overall structure of the carbody (as in the actual structural elements that make up the carbody structure, not necessarily the overall design) being based on, improved versions of, the designs first tested on the 1000 type cars, the mass production cars are a totally separate entity in comparison to their older cousins. As such, even though they do bare a familial resemblance to the mass production cars, the 1000 type cars are in fact not as closely related to the 0 series cars as they may appear to be, though charting out the difference between the two would be well beyond the scope of this, already way too tangential, response.

 

For formation T2 however, and by extension formation T3 though no model of this formation has ever been released as of yet, the situation become a bit more muddy however, and as such it's quite understandable that people tend to group these two formations as part of the 0 series. Though neither formation is/was actually classified as part of the 0 series, their overall design, in terms of the overall structure, electrical equipment, exterior design etc. is directly derived from the 0 series design, with the 922 type 10 sub-type cars being derived from the batch 18 cars (0 series 0 sub-type cars, late production), while the 922 type 20 sub-type cars were derived from the batch 27 cars (0 series 1000 sub-type cars). That being said, despite the direct connection to the 0 series, the 922 type cars were treated as a distinct class, independent of their commercial sisters, with for example a number of changes to the existing 0 series fleet, like for example the increase in max operating speed from the original maximum of 210 km/h to 220 km/h with the December 1986 timetable revision, never being implemented for the 922 type formations (both formation T2 and T3 would be limited to a maximum operating speed of 210 km/h till the end of their service live). As such, I think it is fair to state, that despite all similarities, these are two entirely different of trains, both from an official and from an enthusiast point of view.

 

 

59 minutes ago, ED75-775 said:

This is purely my speculation, but I'd say that JR West's Doctor Yellow car 922-26 will be removed from display to make room for one of T4's driving cars. Wouldn't be unreasonable given it's the only non-Central-owned vehicle in the collection.

 

I wouldn't really classify this as speculation per se, as both JR Tōkai and JR West have already confirmed this to be the case back in January😉. JR Tōkai and the SCMaglev museum announced that 922-26 would be returned to JR West as part of the announcement that car No.7 of 923 type formation T4 would be added to the museum collection, on the 15th of January this year:

 

https://jr-central.co.jp/news/release/_pdf/000044016.pdf

 

Meanwhile, on January 30th, JR West announced that 922-26 will be preserved at Train Park Hakusan, which, as the name suggests, is a newly constructed visitor centre/museum attached to the JR West Hakusan General Vehicle Centre, which is JR West's maintenance centre for the Hokuriku Shinkansen:

 

https://www.westjr.co.jp/press/article/items/250130_00_DoctorYellowT3inHakusantrainpark.pdf

[brill27mcb]

The incorporation of the track and catenary measuring sensors and logging devices in regular revenue trains was covered in a recent NHK Japan Railway Journal episode. They reported that this change will have several advantages: relieve personnel from manning the special train, avoid the special Dr. Yellow train taking up scheduling slots, and avoid the issue with Dr. Yellow not being able to run at the same top speed as the revenue trains.

 

Rich K.

[miyakoji]

9 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

Little bit of extra news, NHK World News reports that JR Central is going to be displaying one of the cars from T4 in at the SCMaglev & Railway Park in Nagoya from June this year. The Red List of Trains website also confirms this. This is purely my speculation, but I'd say that JR West's Doctor Yellow car 922-26 will be removed from display to make room for one of T4's driving cars. Wouldn't be unreasonable given it's the only non-Central-owned vehicle in the collection.

 

Alastair

 

Interesting point.  I wonder if JR West has room for it at the Kyoto museum.  Based on some pictures, there doesn't seem to be room inside, but there's the so called promenade which has three 0 series cars.  Maybe they could swap one out with this.  Given the public interest, the uniqueness of the cars, and that there won't be any more as the inspection instrumentation will just be added to revenue trains, it seems like it's worth preserving.