E353: JR East's E351 replacement?

[serotta1972]

At around 2:29, I spy a KUMOYUNI82-800 Yokosuka Color.  Didn't realize these things were still around.

[miyakoji]

Wow, those were taken out of service quickly.  They must be satisfied with the test runs and confident in the new model if the old ones are already being scrapped.

 

Interesting bit from the English Wikipedia page for the E353:

Quote

By March 2018, all Super Azusa services will be operated by E353 series trains, and over the following two years, the E257 series trainsets used on Azusa and Kaiji services are also scheduled to be replaced by E353 series trains.

 

Clicking through to the sankei.com reference, it looks like the E257s will be moved over to Odoriko service.  I wonder if they'll get a new livery.

[Densha]

Yep, the E353 series will take over services on all Kaiji, Azusa and Super Azusa services. Considering that the few remaining 183/189 series formations probably don't have much time left either, the Chuo Main Line is going to see a lot less rolling stock variation in the near future than it does now.

 

The moving of E257s to Odoriko services is new to me, but makes a lot of sense because replacement of the ageing 185 series was to be expected sooner or later. The E257s aren't that old yet, so they should last quite a few years more.

[railsquid]

12 minutes ago, Densha said:

Yep, the E353 series will take over services on all Kaiji, Azusa and Super Azusa services. Considering that the few remaining 183/189 series formations probably don't have much time left either, the Chuo Main Line is going to see a lot less rolling stock variation in the near future than it does now.

 

 

Per this month's "Rail Magazine", the "Grade Up Azusa" M50 set is due for retirement in January...

 

Quote

The moving of E257s to Odoriko services is new to me, but makes a lot of sense because replacement of the ageing 185 series was to be expected sooner or later. The E257s aren't that old yet, so they should last quite a few years more.

 

 

Pity about the impending lack of variation, OTOH the E257s are noticeably less comfortable on the mountainous sections compared to the E351s.

 

The juvenile train community on the bridge at Mitaka will be disappointed, as an E351 is a comparatively rare occurrence and hence a matter of excitement...

[miyakoji]

4 minutes ago, railsquid said:

Per this month's "Rail Magazine", the "Grade Up Azusa" M50 set is due for retirement in January...

 

Any mention of the 185s?  If they're retired before I get to ride one... I guess I'll just have to buy a model

[Sacto1985]

If they're going to replace both the E257 and E351 on the Chūō Main Line limited express services, does that mean by 2019 we will see the E353 travel on the JR East portion Ōito Line all the way to Minami-Otari Station, the dividing point between JR East and JR West operations on the Ōito Line?

[railsquid]

1 hour ago, miyakoji said:

 

Any mention of the 185s?  If they're retired before I get to ride one... I guess I'll just have to buy a model

 

Haven't seen any specific information...

[railsquid]

6 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

Per this month's "Rail Magazine", the "Grade Up Azusa" M50 set is due for retirement in January...

 

 

 

and by freaky coincidence it literally just went past while I was waiting for a Chuo line train to depart Mitaka. Will see if I can hunt it down.

[Sacto1985]

I think the 185's will stay around because they'll likely be used primarily for reserved seat Home Liner services.

[JR 500系]

On a lighter note, here's an interesting video of the new E353s, sounding their musical horn and waving at the people standing on the bridge photographing the new trains zooming by...

 

 

[Kiha66]

As a big fan of the classic JNR EMUs, this new design looks like a good modern twist on the original.  I may have to pick up a model when they become available.  Why does one car have a second pantagraph?

[railsquid]

6 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

On a lighter note, here's an interesting video of the new E353s, sounding their musical horn and waving at the people standing on the bridge photographing the new trains zooming by...

 

Aha, that's "our" bridge at Mitaka.

 

The other week I noticed sometimes the E233 train conductors would tootle the horn from the rear cab. Anyway I caught up with the M50 set at Shinjuku, though I barely had time to take some photos before it zipped back off the way it came.

 

I reckon JR are running it up and down just for the hell of it and/or for the pleasure of railfains, as it was running as "回送" but the service was not displayed on the platform signs, and the interior clearly wasn't ready for service. Saw it again today also as "回送", presumably it was expected by the various toritetsu dotted around.

 

 

[railsquid]

Ooh, and I also saw the Asama set at Hachioji, where the Squidlet and I were admiring some takis from the Yokohama line platform and just had time to squidhandle the Squidlet back to the Chuo line platform to see it pull away.

[kvp]

2 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

As a big fan of the classic JNR EMUs, this new design looks like a good modern twist on the original.  I may have to pick up a model when they become available.  Why does one car have a second pantagraph?

Actually two cars, one motor car on each sub set. On DC only trains like these, they tend to be spares or a way to increase current pickup on steep slopes (the RhB Allegra uses both pantos only on the steepest DC section), while on some older AC/DC sets these were the AC pantorgraphs (often with a different profile). In this case it's not that clear though. This train has motor (cow-calf) groups of 2 cars, but equipment groups of 3 cars with mixed motor trailer groups. The 3 car booster set has a motor group of 3 cars with the center car having two pantographs feeding 3 motor cars. On the other sub set, the double pantograph car has a control trailer next to it and one motor car has a middle trailer as its equipment partner. No clear standalone car groups anywhere. Quite a mix compared to the common JNR practice of simple Mp-M' pairs. Also this series has 4 different and non interchangable cab car types.

 

Reminds me of the siemens combino supra mess, with Mc-Tp+M'-M'+Tp-Mc setup, so each set is built from two 3 section parts electronically, but three 2 section short coupled parts mechanically. In case of the e353, this means serious rebuilds are needed if JRE ever wants to reconfigure the sets. (for old JNR emu-s, you could take or add motor groups of twos, trailer groups of one or twos and solo control trailers almost anywhere depending on needs)

 

ps: the new Tobu Revaty sets at least have nice clean subsets of 3 cars (Mcp-T-Mcp) easing maintenance and flexible operations

[Sacto1985]

YouTube member ichi pika just released another video of the retired E351系 trainsets on the scrap line at the Nagano train yard:

 

 

[JR 500系]

On ‎30‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 3:48 PM, railsquid said:

 

Aha, that's "our" bridge at Mitaka.

 

The other week I noticed sometimes the E233 train conductors would tootle the horn from the rear cab. Anyway I caught up with the M50 set at Shinjuku, though I barely had time to take some photos before it zipped back off the way it came.

 

I reckon JR are running it up and down just for the hell of it and/or for the pleasure of railfains, as it was running as "回送" but the service was not displayed on the platform signs, and the interior clearly wasn't ready for service. Saw it again today also as "回送", presumably it was expected by the various toritetsu dotted around.

 

 

 

 

I see... definitely a nice bridge to visit! Those drivers are so kind to sound and wave!

 

I didn't know the M50s were only used for special occasions... I thought they were used regularly for Holiday Rapid Fujisan Express and Holiday Rapid Kawaguchi-Ko Express... then my friend must have gotten so lucky riding it last year!

[railsquid]

The M50 is the specific set number.

 

The 189s are presumably used on the various holiday services, excursions etc., TBH I haven't paid much attention, maybe I should find out while they're still around.

[Sacto1985]

And the scrapping has begun. YouTube member ichi pika posted a video of E351系 set S5 beginning the process of being scrapped:

 

 

[Sacto1985]

ichi pika just posted a longer video of E351系 trainset S5 being cut up for scrap:

 

 

[railsquid]

The still gives the impression it's being consumed by a metallic dinosaur ;)

[Sacto1985]

More on the E351 scrapping--in the latest YouTube video from ichi pika, you see various E351 trainsets awaiting scrapping. Note they quickly scrapped the 485 Series NO.DO.KA trainset very quickly, and it appears the 189 Series M50 will soon be meeting the same fate.

 

 

[railsquid]

There was a short piece on NHK news the other week showing the M50 set leaving Toyoda on its way to Nagano.

[Densha]

Well, that's it for Super Azusa services with the E351 series. Today was the last run, which happened sooner than I had expected.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Densha

[railsquid]

There will be a final "last run" special on April 7th, apparently.

[Densha]

Do you know if the one on 7 April will be the last run for the E351 series altogether? Or can we still expect them to appear on special services for a while?