Yonsantoo : High speed for October 1968

[stevenh]

Ok,

 

Thanks to Tsubasa119's topic on the latest freight train timetable I have found out all about this topic. It turns out that my friend in Osaka went to a big book store in Namba (Junkudo) and searched for "Kamotsu Jikokuhyou" and came up with a Showa 43 October version. It's expensive, but I wanted it as soon as she sent a pic. I then read the top line along the book and it had "Yon San Too".. of course, I was interested in what this meant.

 

After google tried to correct me to 'Monsanto' it eventually came up with the following link:

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ヨンサントオ

 

It seems that in October, 1968, the JNR released the 583 Series in to the wild and revamped the timetable all over the entire network. The goal was to bring faster services, provide new naming conventions and bring in new rolling stock. The english translation is very lacking (google translator.)

 

Well, this is what I understood... and where I am asking everyone for help :) Why exactly is this date so special and who can properly translate that wikipedia page? I believe we should get together and create the English version :)

[bikkuri bahn]

The S43 October timetable revision is one of the more famous revisions in Japanese railway history.  It was not as extensive in its changes as the S36 October (1961) timetable revision (san roku tou), but it claims a place in the consciousness of older railfans, mainly because it saw the end of many steam locomotive hauled services (muen-ka), replaced either by electrification or diesel multiple units. Up to then, it was not unusual to see steam locomotives in service in most areas in Japan outside of Shikoku, to the extent that many fans still took them for granted. However, with the revision, steam locomotives began to be more restricted in distribution and concentrated in certain areas, with the coal producing regions of Kyushu and Hokkaido being the last bastions of intensive steam workings.   It precipitated the "SL boom" among railfans which continued until the end of steam around 1975.  This is one reason why most steam locomotive photographs tend to be dated from the late sixties and early seventies.

 

The revision also was concurrent with the completion of electrification of the Tohoku Main Line in its entirety.  Limited express trains were increased in number, semi-expresses (jun-kyu) were eliminated, and freight trains were sped up. The overlying theme is "speeding up", as by then the railways were facing competition from motorization and increasing private car ownership (mai ka), and wide bodied jets were on the horizon...