Best looking trains

[marknewton]

I've always liked the proportions of the C58, the C57 always seems a bit ungainly looking to me with those tall drivers under such a small boiler.

 

Funny thing, that's exactly what appeals to me most about the C57s - big wheels go fast!

 

But I'm with you 100% on the C58s, they're very handsome engines. The two Tenshodo models I have are firm favourites.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Ochanomizu]

I haven't seen any votes yet for the 100 series Shinkansen, it's my favorite. I think Shinkansen design had nowhere to go but downhill after that.

 

I've always liked the proportions of the C58, the C57 always seems a bit ungainly looking to me with those tall drivers under such a small boiler.

 

Hello Mr Westfalen,

 

I agree with your assessment of the shinkansen.  But I would give some credit to 500 series.  To me, there is a natural progression from 0 - 200 - 100 - 500 series.  For the aesthetic, the "E" series' must represent a step sideways and for me, the 700's, E5, and E6 demonstrate just how easily design can be dictated by the minority.

[E6系]

Hello Ochanomizu-san,

 

So sorry, I cannot agree with you completely.  E6系 is one of the most elegent trains ever made in Japan.  Every detail has been considered.

[JR 500系]

*High Five* KenS!  500 series rocks! It's more than just a train, really sets the eyes looking each time they zoom past stations... Really hope to still get the chance to ride in one before it retires from Kodama service....

[cteno4]

Ive never gotten really excited about the 500 series look. it is nice and clean and sleek, but it just screams star fighter jet to me turned into a train. Of course its story is from Mr Nakatsu-san's vision of the head of a kingfisher being able to break the water's surface for the inspiration of the nose design (ironically was part of an exhibit i worked a few years back on at the Monterey Bay Aquarium about taking designs in nature to help solve environmental issues with engineering).

 

I really love the 700 and E4 with the real beginning of the bill evolution. the curves i think were mostly done by hand at the time and there is a nice simple, clean aesthetic to them (sort of a 0 series thing) trying to blend this new functional design feature into the nose of a train, no longer just a bullet or an arrow or a jet and not a formula racer either. it was the start of a new direction. as the evolution went forward less and less of the curves were i think allowed to be designed for aesthetics and more and more for just sheer functionality in computer and wind tunnel simulations to max the efficiency and noise reduction.

 

plus the E4 just takes my breath away in person when it slides into a station almost silently and this form grows and grows and grows very gracefully but powerfully. in an inclosed station the reflections of a shiny E4 front end are also very graceful as it moves.

 

jeff

[Guest keio6000]

I really love the 700 and E4

 

The original 700 didn't get much love when it first came out because of the 'extremeness' of the duckbill.   Now, its duckbill looks almost comically small.  It's like how I remember being in the USA some years back when the Chevy "Expedition" first came out and I was assured that thsi was an SUV monstrosity of such enormous size that surely that this was the pinnacle of the SUV size arms race.  I was just in the USA a few weeks ago and was driving in my rental car and noticed an Expedition - positively mundane compared to the other newer even more environmentally ruinous super-jumbos still on the roads there.

 

I liked the E4 from the minute it was released--I think it's distinctive and elegant and Kato makes an elegant version.   The 700 took a bit more persuading for me to get, but eventually I got the "Ambitious Japan" (tampo'd, not stickers) which adds a bit of interest.

 

[Densha]

Now that you're talking about the 700 series Shinkansen, I think the Hikari Railstar livery is amazing as it fits the train completely.

 

 

Actually, now that I think about it, it may be my favourite Shinkansen in this livery. It's very close to the 200 series now.

[tantousha]

I'm surprised no one here has nominated the Keisei AE Series. Now that's a slick, good-looking train.

 

I would also vote for the Nankai 50000 series, N700 series, and the E655 series.... All of which I have in my collection? Huh...

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

I must agree with nearly all comment in this section.  There are so many interesting and exciting train in Japan.  I cannot choose one single favourite. 

[miyakoji]

I'm still thinking about it!

[cteno4]

Yes it's near impossible to have a true favorite with so many different directions the designs and trains go! I have different favorites for different reasons and even then I find it hard to rank many! The joy of Japanese trains!

 

Jeff

Edited July 2, 2013 by cteno4

[miyakoji]

I think in order to answer this, I'll have to break it down by type (commuter, rapid, limited express) and railway (JNR, JRs, private).  Otherwise, this is basically an impossible task

[JR 500系]

I think in order to answer this, I'll have to break it down by type (commuter, rapid, limited express) and railway (JNR, JRs, private).  Otherwise, this is basically an impossible task

 

Yes, that's why i posted in various types in my first post, as it really is too difficult...

 

Besides that, i think it's a very thin line between best looking trains and favourite trains... I mean, you LIKE the look of the train in order for that to be your favourite train, right? Having said that, wouldn't that make that particular train the 'best-looking' in one's opinion? ike for myself, i love the 500 series very much, so it almost automatically become my choice for the best-looking train, but others might not think the 500 is the best looking... Hence it's almost impossible to find a best looking train as beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

 

However, it's nice to see a wide spectrum of interest and preferences, from jet-speed looking shinkansens to slow-crawling road trams...

 

@ Densha- Yes i like the 700-7000 railstar! In fact, the colour grew on me so much i've decided to get it!  ^_^

[Ochanomizu]

miyakoji-san,

 

Yes, so sorry.  I commenced a detailed reply to choose my favourite by type.  It too was impossible.  For example, how to choose favourite tram? Hiroshima or Nagasaki tram?  Which series?  Even I cannot choose just that one.

 

I cannot even choose my favourite Odakyu Romance Car series.  Can you?  3000, 3100, 7000, 10000, 20000, 30000 50000 60000?  Perhaps I do not like 30000 and 60000 so much.  But I love all the other series.

 

Exception: C56 is most certainly my favourite Japanese steam locomotive.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Ochanomizu

[Guest keio6000]

I'm surprised no one here has nominated the Keisei AE Series. Now that's a slick, good-looking train. I would also vote for the Nankai 50000 series, N700 series, and the E655 series.... All of which I have in my collection? Huh...

 

I think the new Keisei AE (which I presume you're talking about) would look perfect for Amtrak.  Between the colors and the look, it just looks like it's made for the USA, not Japan.   Like an Acela successor.

 

As far as the others go.. well.. while I do appreciate the 655's old-new looks, the others.. well.. umm.. well..

 

Favorite Romance Car?  I'd have to say 3100 or 7000, but it is indeed a hard choice.   The VSE is beautiful as a model, but in real life it does not have the same elegance to my eye.

 

 

of course, taking the cake for Odakyu ugliness..

 

Edited July 2, 2013 by keio6000

[cteno4]

wow, now thats something to model! where am i going to get an old romance lead car like this?! i dont think there was one done in the bandai star trains, but ill have to look thru that box! wonder if they were made in the metal end car sets?

 

jeff

 

[Densha]

That Romance Car came to a hideous end... :(

[cteno4]

use a pun go to jail, im a big fan of pun control...

 

jeff

[bronzeonion]

The new JR East E657 series looks very good and the livery suits it very well.

[Ochanomizu]

Hello Mr bronzeonion,

 

Yes, I agree.

[Mudkip Orange]

For a snub-nosed train, Keihan 3000 (new).

 

For a bullet-nosed train, 0 series Shinkansen or Kintetsu 10100.

[miyakoji]

Mudkip, yeah the Kintetsu 10100 is pretty good looking, and I don't think I've ever seen one before.

[cteno4]

Always thought the kintetsu 10100 was designed by three completely different design teams! It is a very interesting looking train. Definitely find it makes you keep looking at it. The three different cars do go well together though.

 

Jeff

Edited July 8, 2013 by cteno4

[Mudkip Orange]

Mudkip, yeah the Kintetsu 10100 is pretty good looking, and I don't think I've ever seen one before.

 

Machine-translated JA wiki says they were all scrapped in October of 1979.

 

:(

[Guest keio6000]

Machine-translated JA wiki says they were all scrapped in October of 1979.

 

i always thought that the tobu drc  kegons were nice looking trains in an odd 'cadillac with fins' sort of way.  unfortunately, the microace model to me does a very poor job of portraying this train.  the color is.. i dont know. too dark or too dim or something and the whole thing looks plasticky and cheap, which is why i never got it (plus, like most foreigners, i dont collect tobu)

 

im not sure this belongs in a list of 'best looking trains,' but it certainly does deserve to be well remembered for its uniqueness and elegance, again, even if it does have a bit of 1970s cadillac about it.