Japanese Videos Train Sex
Linda Berens
Looking at the videos of the newest E7 sets I wonder about the design of various japanese trains. Today's commuter trains have the no nonsense box on wheels look and I feel this is a good style for them. On the other side shinkansen have a rather different style with their long noses and tiny windows. Interesting is that these two styles almost never mix. (I don't count joyful trains as they are usually one off) In europe high speed and commuter trains have a very similar design. Just look at a railjet, ice or tgv and you can see the similarities with a desiro or a flirt. They all have the now standard rounded nose and large windows, even though the desiro is a branchline dmu. In japan the difference in nose forms is understandable, since for commuter trains the best space utilisation and train to train connectivity is more important and for the shinansen noise and pressure control is a priority, but the windows are really different. The only exception seemed to be the 400 series, where large panorama windows were used. Is there a cultural or an engineering reason for this?
Another thing is the use of fixed sets on the shinkansen networks. Sets are almost never changed outside of bigger overhauls, so the use of jackobs bogies would be a viable option to increase ride smoothness, decrease wheel noise and avoid complex dampers between cars. However most trains is japan use the conventional two bogies per car layout, except for odakyu where many romancecar sets used jackobs bogies and some one off prototype trains. Is there a reason for this?
Designs are almost always a result of engineering and service requirements, not "cultural". Windows are small on shinkansen because of the numerous (narrow) tunnels on shinkansen lines, compared with European HSLs. Jacobs bogies are not really the standard on high speed train sets, just those built by Alstom. In Japan, standard layouts are preferred for ease of maintenance, as rolling stock availability is a cornerstone of Japanese railway operations. Also the diversity of rolling stock on Japanese railways is part of the tradition of custom building for individual customers, though this is changing, led by JR East/JTREC. In the end, the Japanese railways use designs that best fit what they need, not what some European builder declares as "the world standard" but may be a case of forcing a square peg in a round hole.
Could you explain this to me? I don't really understand why a narrow tunnel would mean small windows are needed. The special engineering behind shinkansen trains is not really understood on most parts of the world, except maybe the requirements for the special noses. Most European and US high speed trains look like the nicer styled limited expresses in Japan.
They do, but they are a whole different world and have to get into places (like tight city corners) where normal trains rarely go. (except a few exceptions in Japan) Sadly jackobs bogies are also increasingly rare in modern trams too.
The original 0系 production cars (batch 1 till 21, built from 1964 till 1976), the 0系0番台 had large 'picture windows' as well which where based on the big windows introduced by the 151系 and subsequently used by all J.N.R. Limited Express units (the 0系 windows where shaped slightly different though, and used triple glass as opposed to double) as can be seen on this picture:
- 100系, with the exception of the prototype formation X1 (former X0) which still had the 0系2000番台/200系 style small windows, the 100系 reverted back to the same window shape and size of the 0系0番台 for all production formations (X, G and V).
- The ability to place up to 4 traction motors per car, this adds additional tractive effort acceleration and reliability (enough spare power to keep the train going if a traction motor malfunctions). though nowadays shinkansen are mostly using 3M 1T blocks of cars (3 motorized cars, 1 trailer).
As for ride smoothness, I personally think this is hit or miss with articulated units, they can be reasonably smooth like the TGV (though to be fair, I found the shinkansen smoother all around, and the ICE3 felt smoother then the TGV at speed) but they can be horribly rough as well , good examples (in my view) are the Dutch class 1946 stock (Mat'46, retired in 1983) and the much newer German BR425, both having the same pronounced lateral sway, especially when sitting above the Jacobs trucks. While the rough ride quality of Mat'46 could be attributed to more then just the Jacobs trucks, especially concerning it's age and story, I find it more worrying that a much newer train has some of the same problems as it's 60 year older sister.
The above is just my opinion, but I don't think it's fair to say that Jacobs trucks are necessarily smoother, nor that they are necessarily inferior. Each configuration has it's strengths and weaknesses and can be used effectively.
Second that. The Dutch SLT type, derived from the BR425, doesn't really have very good 'ride comfort/quality'. The types from the '70s and '80s with conventional bogies are better in that way. The ICE3 felt smoother than the TGV to me as well, and I don't like the small cars of the TGV because they feel cramped in multiple ways, which is a direct disadvantage of the use of jacobs bogies.
But more than that I'm always questioning myself why they would actually even use jacobs bogies on conventional trains. I have never found the answer (yet). I just can't comprehend it because normally you only use them when you need to go through tight curves but that is certainly not the case with normal heavy rail.
Wow, thank you! You really know all the types and subtypes. Imho the original series 0 cars looked much better, regardless of the window cracking problem, but it's understandable that they wanted to avoid the problems. I didn't know about the other cars either and that means I still have much to learn. I think the smoother ride on japanese trains can be accounted to the much better tracks. Even the german ICE had some problems when they were run over the TGV network. The br425 problem is caused by the hunting of the trucks and that is caused by the incorrect wheel profile combined with the inadequate damping in the suspension. This can be so serious that the brake disks continously hit the pads at full speed even with fully released brakes, causing a bumpy ride.
The idea was that the shorter cars with less overhang on the outside could be wider and the train is less likely to jackknife in case of a derailment. Besides the french, many german and swiss designs use them, for example the siemens desiro railcars (following the plans of the flying hamburger), the bombardier talents and the stadler flirts. All units are commuter trains with motors only under the end sections and a very lightweight low floor construction. (like a tram) Even the tgv has motors only in the 6 non jackobs bogies. It's true that maintenance is harder, since usually they have to jack up the whole train. This layout along with locomotive hauled push-pull stock (railjet) is very popular in hungary. Considering the differences between the two train networks, the japanese seem to be doing something (or everything) better.
There was quite a lot of experimentation by the private railways in the post war era (though actually the 500 type was introduced in 1943!)- they were much more willing to try new designs than JNR, though the introduction of the 101 series and it's subsequent success and influence on rolling stock design put an end to dabbling with quirky designs by most lines.
Along the Kintetsu lines, there are many sights that give you a sense of the four seasons, history, and culture that are uniquely Japanese. On top of that, Kintetsu runs fascinating sightseeing trains that elevate the mood of your trip to visit such sights. We encourage you to view the videos as a guide to plan your trip.
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