Mooka Railway

[ToniBabelony]

Today, I was kind of looking for front-view videos of 3rd sector lines in Japan and found out that the entire Mooka RR was taped, so I made a playlist (since I didn't find one) with all six videos in a row.

 

My girlfriend used to ride this line from Shimodate to Shimodate Nikômae when she was in middleschool. The then new MOOKA 14 Types were instantly called 'Suika' (Water Melon), due to their livery.

 

I hope you enjoy it!

 

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=A78EF0FEA029DCE7

 

[Nick_Burman]

Tony, do these railcars have any sort of dynamic braking? When approaching stations I noticed that the engine seems to rev up, as if the driver had engaged motor brakes (akin to slowing a car for traffic lights without using the brakes).

 

 

Cheers NB

[ToniBabelony]

Tony, do these railcars have any sort of dynamic braking? When approaching stations I noticed that the engine seems to rev up, as if the driver had engaged motor brakes (akin to slowing a car for traffic lights without using the brakes).

 

Yup, the brakes are ECB (Electric Commanding Brake). The electric system of the MOOKA 14 Type is based on the Matsuura Railway MR-600 Type that also has ECB. The controls are, in contrary to most rolling stock, with one Master Controller (one handle), rather then the accelerator and brake controls separated.

 

Anyone already noticed the unusually quick acceleration for a DMU? I really want to have a ride on these newer DMU types. The sound is still classic, but the acceleration is just incredible!

[Nick_Burman]

So they are diesel-electric rather than diesel-hydraulic?

 

I noticed that...it might be a rural line but the railcars seems to waste little time between stops. It hums along...

 

Cheers NB

[ToniBabelony]

I tried a quick search for it, but didn't find anything about them being diesel-electric or hydraulic. From the engine sound, it sounds like it's diesel electric, which used to be rather uncommon in Japan. Traditionally Japanese DMU and DL have torque-converters, but recently electric transmission has revived in 3rd sector DMU (mainly Fuji Heavy Industry made).

[bill937ca]

These DMUs are Fuji Heavy Industries-Nippon Sharyo products.  Here's the Japanese language Wikipedia sites.

 

Mooka Railway

 

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9C%9F%E5%B2%A1%E9%90%B5%E9%81%93

 

14 DMUs

 

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9C%9F%E5%B2%A1%E9%90%B5%E9%81%93%E3%83%A2%E3%82%AA%E3%82%AB14%E5%BD%A2%E6%B0%97%E5%8B%95%E8%BB%8A

 

Nippon-Sharyo Mooka Railway 14 page

 

http://www.n-sharyo.co.jp/business/tetsudo/pages/mooka.htm

[Nick_Burman]

Diesel-electric drives for single-unit railcars are rare everywhere. The weight and bulkyness of diesel-electric drives precluded their use in such applications. However recently three-phase AC drives have made use of electric drives more feasible. Given the way that the railcar "launches" itself I wouldn't be surprised if it was fitted with such a propoulsion package.

 

 

Cheers NB

[ToniBabelony]

Bumping from the grave to announce a more positive message from the region, other than the floods. The Mooka Railway recently purchased the D51 146 from a park in Shizuoka and arrived today at Mooka station in Tochigi prefecture.

 

http://shimodate.blog.shinobi.jp/news/d51_146

 

AFAIK, this will be a display model only, unlike the 9600 (49671), which can move on pressurised air. KiHa 20 247 has been moved (back), next to platform no. 1 to make way for the D51 146, which will be parked next to the Kyūroku-kan, where the 9600 is housed.

[katoftw]

Thanks for the update.  Interesting to see a few static D51s moving around recently.