NHK Bura-Tamori - Subway Special - Thursday at 22:00, Dec. 8 and 15

[gmat]

Just saw the commercial on NHK. Tamori will have a two episodes on Subways at 10:00 at night on Thursday, Dec. 8 and 15.

 

Looks interesting.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

Thanks for the heads up.  This program is one of the better ones on TV, free of mind-numbing geinin "talents".  Helps that Tamori's co-host on this program, Ms. Yuka Kubota, is easy on the eyes.

[The_Ghan]

Since I'm building a subway ... and I'm in Sydney ... can someone record these and save in .avi format or similar for me?

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[keitaro]

on 9/12 there is a show on ntv plus ch.278 with a show Switchback Railway in the north 01:00 - 02:00

 

about railway lines prior to the hokkaido changes before closures and such

[bikkuri bahn]

Watched the program tonight.  Focused on the stretch of the Ginza Line between Asakusa and Shimbashi.  Mainly the historical aspects, including a couple of "ghost stations".  Interesting factoids- the subway tunnel in the Asakusa Station area was built to feet and yards measurements, while the rolling stock was built to the metric system.  The outdoor coach yard with grade crossing in the Ueno area is well known, but there is also an underground coach yard directly underneath, which was built in 1968.

 

Part two is bound to be interesting also, focusing more on current operations, including the introduction of the new 1000 series, and a visit to the maintenance facilities, which I'm especially interested in- some scenes of bogies being swapped, etc.

[gmat]

Did anyone record it? My machine died on me.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

The program started at the Ginza Line coach yard/Ueno Inspection Division (上野検車区 Ueno-kensha-ku)

http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitxer:上野検車区.JPG

 

 

and Tamori and crew took a Ginza train from the yard down the tunnel.

 

 

At the bottom of the tunnel, the train switched back and went on another track that entered the underground coach yard. There Tamori watched as a workman used a clamp or claw device while another used a crowbar lever to lift a spike from the tracks. Tamori mentioned that it was an old style 'inu/dog something' type. He kept it as a souvenir. They went to the end of the line near Asakusa Station and showed the shrine style entrance.

 

http://www.donklosterman.com/tokyo/subway.jpg

 

It apparently dates from when the line was built in the 1920s. They showed how the underground line was built, including how they used cofferdams (one one each side with the river passing in between) to build the tunnel across the Kanda river. Apparently the work was done aboveground and later covered. Next there was a transfer station in Akihabara. (Mansebashi Station) It was/is located in front of Ishimaru Store #1. They opened the grill covering the steps leading to the station and went down. The corridor leading to the platform was very narrow. It looked very grimy and unpainted. The station was only open for about two years.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manseibashi_Station

 

Next they rode the train past Ginza Station (?) and you could see a spur running off to the side. They went topside and went down to the spur and apparently it lead to the old Tokyo Rapid Railway Company (TRR) Shinbashi Station. The underground space next to the station is used as office space for the Ginza Line.(?) They light it up and sat for a while. It looked very nice and even had the station name on the side of the station platform.

After that they walked around Akihabara and looked at some manhole covers. Some had the old stylized 'S' They mentioned the 4 'Ss,' subway, safety and I didn't catch the others.

 

 

One even older one had a ring of kanji words on it.

Kind of in this arrangement.

 

http://www.eps.vic.edu.au/japan/coverj.jpg

http://www.eps.vic.edu.au/japan/cover.htm

 

They showed one with the Metro logo on it, but I haven't found a photo of one on the internet.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[The_Ghan]

Did anyone record it? My machine died on me.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

 

:angry4:  :angry4:  :angry4:

[bikkuri bahn]

Sorry, I didn't record it.  My blue ray disk player records, but fails to playback.  Anyway, I have no way at the moment to convert blue ray to other formats.

[Nick_Burman]

Tamori mentioned that it was an old style 'inu/dog something' type. He kept it as a souvenir.

 

Possibly a "dog spike".

 

 

Cheers NB

[gmat]

Thanks, Nick. I think you're right, but what they pulled out looked more like an old fashioned cut spike.

 

Wiki photo of a dog spike.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spike_001.jpg

 

Wiki on rail fastening systems..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_fastening_system

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[gmat]

Part 2 on tonight at 10:00.

 

Grant

[bikkuri bahn]

The new Ginza Line 1000 series was featured.  All-LED lighting (a first in Japan), including the twin headlights.  Also, a classic brass horn has been fitted- if the driver taps the horn pedal lightly, a pleasant flutelike sound eminates, floorboard it, and you get a full-on blast.  There was a visit to the Tokyo Metro control center (CTC).  While filming, by happenstance an incident on the Marunouchi Line occured, which gave the viewers an opportunity to see the professional schedulers known as sujiya in action-they brought out a table, spread out the paper diagrams, and with pencil and ruler, mapped out the modified schedule to recover the lost time.  Basically, a train that was due to go to shed was re-routed to a revenue run, and the other trains were shifted and given new train numbers.

 

*interestingly, the rulers (slide rulers?) the sujiya were using had their calibration sections blurred deliberately, there must be some sensitive/confidential information on those devices that was deemed not for public viewing.