Standardized pantographs?

[Nick_Burman]

Looking at prototype and model literature, I noticed that Japanese pantographs are known by type designations like PS13, PS17B, etc... are pantographs in Japan by any chance standardized? Is this standardization industry-wide or is it just a JNR/JR phenomenon?

 

Cheers NB

[Guest JRF-1935]

Nick -

  Thats a great question and I would certainly like to know the answer to that.

Thanks, and Regards,

Rich C

[bikkuri bahn]

The PS designation is used for JNR rolling stock, I assume regardless of manufacturer.  As for private railways, the company with the biggest market share is Toyo Denki Seizo, and their products begin with the PT designation.  Mitsubishi Electric also supplied pantographs, mainly to Kansai area railways, but they have withdrawn from the market.  Their products typically begin with the S designation.

 

*if you look up at the pantographs while stopped at a station, you may see this symbol, which is Toyo Denki's trademark:

source: http://www.toyodenki.co.jp/shop/rf/rf_goods_mon.html

[jappomania]

Hi Nick,

about standardization, It's the same for every train Company in any place.

Normally the pantograph is built from another/separate company (Shunk, Siemens, Faiveley) because this need to work fine with catenary geometry/voltage and only a small number of type equiped large number of locos and EMU

For example in Italy from 1927 until now you can find only a small numer of panto types, type 32, type 42, type 52, type ATR90 and ATR95 (sometime with minor adaptation) applied to all the italian rolling stock.

Standardization is also a good choice for spare parts management, for example I think that's the reason for the panto exchange on the reduced 500 V set (the old T type was removed and changed with the 700 type panto)

 

Ciao

Massimo