KuMoHa 12

[kvp]

I'm looking for information on the old KuMoHa 12 series cars. Especially those days when they were in mainline commuter service as MoHa 31-s and after 1959 as KuMoHa 12-s. Technical details, consist info, usage of cab/trailer cars (salo/saha/kuha), photos, films, etc. So if anyone has info on this old type, please share it here.

[bikkuri bahn]

The 31 series were 17m, 3 door all-steel body rolling stock, and the first Railway Ministry motorcar designs with round roofs, rather than the monitor/clerestory type.  Built between 1929~1931.  They were introduced on the Yamanote and Chuo Lines, and proved popular with passengers due to their spacious and bright interiors, to the extent that they spurned the older trains and rushed to board these whenever they appeared on a service (according to wikipedia, "a jewel on a dunghill" effect).  The old wooden body moha1 types were then retired from Chuo Line service.

 

The kumoha 12 designation was instituted with the 1953 renumbering scheme, and was assigned to the motor driving cars with drivers cabs on both ends.

 

There are numerous videos on youtube of moha 12 working the Tsurumi line, unfortunately interspersed with numerous video captures of PC game driving simulators (yecch!!)

 

One sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHLR6Ykjw1I

 

search keyword:

クモハ１２

Edited November 18, 2014 by bikkuri bahn

[kvp]

Thanks. Most of the videos i've found are from the Tsurumi line and Iida line, but on these services they were used either in solo or coupled in motor-motor pairs. I did find info on the japanese wikipedia page about longer trains that did include cab cars, trailer cars and and even a few green cars with 2 doors per side and bay seating, that were later modified to 3 doors. So far the variants i've found are the single and dual cab motor units, the single cab driving trailers and the cabless trailers. Some had front doors with small cabs, some had full width cabs or a mix of both on a single car. And then there is the roofline with flat and rounded roof ends. So far i've only found 2 poor quality pictures of cab cars, but they are only in the background. Unfortunately i were unable to locate any pictures and/or consist info from their Chuo and other mainline days, only 2 and a single 3 car consists. Both pre war and post war info would be great.

Edited November 18, 2014 by kvp

[kvp]

Some googling later...

 

Photos from the various car types:

http://www.geocities.jp/h6feet/album1.html

Some example consists:

http://home.a00.itscom.net/yosan/densya/syutoken/syutoken.html

(They look like they strictly followed the 'anything goes' style.)

The only more or less clean looking set looks to be this one, from the Nambu line:

http://home.a00.itscom.net/yosan/densya/syutoken/nanbusen1.jpg (kumoha-saha-moha-kuha)

I still don't have much info on the Chuo line consists.