International Railroad Discussion > Waiting on the Shim Maebashi platform

Just at dusk while waiting for our train back to Kiryu.

1. Train from Oyama to Takasaki
2. Train from Takasaki on the Joetsu line bound for Minakami
3. Limited express from Kutsatsu Onsen (bus connection) bound for Ueno.

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4. The yard at Shim Maebashi from a pedestrian overpass.
5. Many eras of equipment represented in the yard.

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Busy for sure!!!!

Gus

Wow -- is that 115 in the first two photos still in "everyday service", or is that some sort of heritage unit ? And isn't that vertical ventilation [ ? ] grill by the end something "new"[ in the sense non-original ] ? Could it be for equipment / TM cooling ?

Best rgds, SZ

Yes, the 115 series are in everyday service on the Ryomo and Joetsu lines that we ride.

Railpax71 Wrote:
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> Yes, the 115 series are in everyday service on the
> Ryomo and Joetsu lines that we ride.

Thank you for another fun report from Gunma.

115 Series running on Ryomo and Joetsu Lines have been painted in "Shonan" colors, brown and dark green, which were the colors used on the 115 series on the busy Tokaido Corridor many years ago. So it's accurate to say that these units are "heritage." I overheard many Japanese railfans mumble about these nostalgically-painted 115 series trains sets.

It'll probably take an entire thread to talk about the history of the 115 series. For starters, it was first manufactured in 1963. What's fitting is that the first generation 115s started service in two districts, Mitaka (along the Chuo Line) and here in Shin-Maebashi.

Steinzeit Wrote:
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> Wow -- is that 115 in the first two photos still
> in "everyday service", or is that some sort of
> heritage unit ? And isn't that vertical
> ventilation [ ? ] grill by the end something
> "new"[ in the sense non-original ] ? Could it be
> for equipment / TM cooling ?
>
> Best rgds, SZ

Your inquiry was a bit cryptic, but I think I figured it out.

What you call "vertical ventilation grill" is actually a digital display board on the Series 651 Limited Express train set. I posted a photo below of Limited Express Kusatsu #31, which I caught at Shin Maebashi in March. I hopped on the train (using the JR Rail Pass) to catch up to the steam locomotive D51 498 at Shibukawa. It was a long weekend, so the train was standing room only, filled with people on a weekend getaway to the hot springs. I think I was the only one who got off at Shibukawa.

Series 651 and a few others were manufactured in the early 1990s, just a few years after the government-run JNR was privatized and split into seven groups (1987). The economic bubble had just burst, but Japanese citizens had yet to realize that they were about to enter a recession lasting decades, so the exterior design was still hopeful (and radical). Series 651 was the mainstay of Limited Express Super Hitachi, which runs on the Joban Line out of Ueno. Many 651s were "demoted" to Limited Express Akagi and Kusatsu Services after the E657 train sets went into service in 2012.

- Limited Express Kusatsu #31 and Series 651 at Shin Maebashi. Digital display board is turned on.

- Limited Express Hitachi (forgot the #) and Series E657 at Ueno. Yes, I hopped on this train for a joyride on the Joban Line in April. This is what displaced the 651s from the Hitachi service.

- Another angle in Ueno with Joban Line local Series E231 above. Only the nose of the E657 is visible. Note the poster promoting Gunma tourism and Steam Locomotives (C61 20).

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Well, while I appreciated the additional information, the "vertical grill" I was referring to appears on the 115 vehicles in the the first two photographs;
- In photo #1 it is at the near [ coupled, non-cab ] end of the carbody at "window height"
- In photo #2 it is between the driver's cab door and the passenger compartment.

I don't think they were on the 115's as I remember them, so they were either retrofitted, or appeared in later builds. It seems unlikely that they are concerned with passenger compartment ventilation, though they could be. My theory is that they are for equipment / TM cooling, and located there to reduce snow ingestion. But of course they might not be grills at all......

With best regards, SZ

Edited to add: Or maybe they were there all along and I just forgot -- imagine that !!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/14 19:38 by Steinzeit.

Steinzeit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, while I appreciated the additional
> information, the "vertical grill" I was referring
> to appears on the 115 vehicles in the the first
> two photographs;
> - In photo #1 it is at the near [ coupled,
> non-cab ] end of the carbody at "window height"
> - In photo #2 it is between the driver's cab
> door and the passenger compartment.
>
> I don't think they were on the 115's as I remember
> them, so they were either retrofitted, or appeared
> in later builds. It seems unlikely that they are
> concerned with passenger compartment ventilation,
> though they could be. My theory is that they are
> for equipment / TM cooling, and located there to
> reduce snow ingestion. But of course they might
> not be grills at all......
>
> With best regards, SZ
>
> Edited to add: Or maybe they were there all along
> and I just forgot -- imagine that !!

Nope, you did not forget. It's time for a video response, and I got proof that some 115 cars have the vertical grills, and some don't. I'm not a Series 115 foamer, but maybe I should become one!

According to my research, the verical grills are intake louvers to cool electrical equipment below. It is also a snow/rain diffuser to prevent moisture from being blown into the equipment, so your initial guess is right on. It's supposed to be a recent modification, so in a sense, it is something "new."

In the video, I catch a Series 115 heading south (toward Takasaki) at Ino after D51-498 had passed the station going the opposite direction. The 115 Series is coming to a stop, so you get a good look at each car. The first car has the small openable windows where the "louver" is supposed to be, the second and third cars have the louvers, and the fourth car has the large windows in place of louvers. It's probably no coincidence that the louvers are near the pantograph.

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Thank you very much for going to the additional effort to help answer my question. In your video I believe the reason the leading and trailing vehicles do not have the vents is that end vehicles are [ control ] trailers, and thus [ = unmotorized ] wouldn't need the vents. In the set(s) in Photos #1 and 2 of the OP the end vehicles are motored.

I've been trying to locate the slide file that has some photos of 115's that I took years ago, but with no success so far. My thinking is that what triggered my initial "Whoa" response was the grill on an end vehicle, where it is visually more noticeable.

The following is pure speculation: Have you seen any indication that 115 sets were reformed into shorter formations, thus requiring additional cab vehicles to be created either through a new build or conversion ?

With best regards, SZ

Steinzeit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The following is pure speculation: Have you seen
> any indication that 115 sets were reformed into
> shorter formations, thus requiring additional cab
> vehicles to be created either through a new build
> or conversion ?
>
> With best regards, SZ

I think I'll join the speculation, and maybe someone else can chime in while we're at it.

Series 115 EMUs were originally utilized on heavily congested long distance commute routes, like the Tokaido Line, Yokosuka Line, Chuo Line (outside the Tokyo 23 wards), Sobu Line, Takasaki Line, and so forth. It was normal for 115 sets to be as long as 15 cars, but this was decades ago. Newer EMUs (with AC traction) have taken their place.

Nowadays, 115 sets have been demoted to less congested corridors, and the consist can be as short as 3 or 4 cars. I did a quick read, and some 4 car sets have the motorized end/cab units, while some don't, so Railpax71 and I caught two different consists in service.

I believe the motorized cab units have been around since the beginning, especially if the sets were destined for steeper grades and needed as many powered units as possible. Various service units probably wanted flexibility in building their consists for optimal power.

While the 115 Series is gone from the Tokaido Line (and JR Tokai, a.k.a. JR Central), plenty remain in JR East territory, such as the area we're talking about here at Shin Maebashi/Takasaki. There are even more sets in service in JR West, especially near Okayama and Hiroshima. Non-JR Shinano Railway (near Nagano) also has numerous 115 Series in service - I rode one when I made a day trip to Nagano in April.

I found this shot I took back in 2006 of a Chuo Line Series 115 coming out of the yard at Mitaka, I think. The distance shadow of a mountain to the right is Mount Fuji.

The front 3 car consist is coupled to another consist of unknown length behind it. Single arm pantograph means the powered cars were recently renovated (at the time), but no louvers visible on any of the cars in the composition.

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Steinzeit-san

Major upgraded version of the Class 115, e.g., 1000s series has that vertical air intakes with staging rooms, which are designed to prevent snow and/or rain to get into the motor cooling system.

Hope this helps,

Hiroshi

Steinzeit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow -- is that 115 in the first two photos still
> in "everyday service", or is that some sort of
> heritage unit ? And isn't that vertical
> ventilation [ ? ] grill by the end something
> "new"[ in the sense non-original ] ? Could it be
> for equipment / TM cooling ?
>
> Best rgds, SZ

cchan006-san

It seems a bit more explain of the Class 115.

Those EMUs used on Tokyo bound Tokaido, Sobu and Yokosuka were the Class 111s then the Class 113s. They got similar car styles and colours but they were indeed different. On the front end, green for "Shonan"-colour scheme, blue for "Suka" got a 45 degree angled, we call it as "V-shape" whilst the Class 115 got a 90 degree angles, we call it as "U-shape".

The Class 115s were originally designed to use on mountain lines such as Cyoou line or Takasaki line operation. And stayed that way. One exception was when the Class 217 showed up in Yokosuka-sobu line operation, "Suka" 113 were sent to Takasaki line to replaced aged class 115s for a short time period. They were of course repainted to "Shonan" scheme.

Hope this helps,

Hiroshi

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steinzeit Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The following is pure speculation: Have you
> seen
> > any indication that 115 sets were reformed into
> > shorter formations, thus requiring additional
> cab
> > vehicles to be created either through a new
> build
> > or conversion ?
> >
> > With best regards, SZ
>
> I think I'll join the speculation, and maybe
> someone else can chime in while we're at it.
>
> Series 115 EMUs were originally utilized on
> heavily congested long distance commute routes,
> like the Tokaido Line, Yokosuka Line, Chuo Line
> (outside the Tokyo 23 wards), Sobu Line, Takasaki
> Line, and so forth. It was normal for 115 sets to
> be as long as 15 cars, but this was decades ago.
> Newer EMUs (with AC traction) have taken their
> place.
>
> Nowadays, 115 sets have been demoted to less
> congested corridors, and the consist can be as
> short as 3 or 4 cars. I did a quick read, and some
> 4 car sets have the motorized end/cab units, while
> some don't, so Railpax71 and I caught two
> different consists in service.
>
> I believe the motorized cab units have been around
> since the beginning, especially if the sets were
> destined for steeper grades and needed as many
> powered units as possible. Various service units
> probably wanted flexibility in building their
> consists for optimal power.
>
> While the 115 Series is gone from the Tokaido Line
> (and JR Tokai, a.k.a. JR Central), plenty remain
> in JR East territory, such as the area we're
> talking about here at Shin Maebashi/Takasaki.
> There are even more sets in service in JR West,
> especially near Okayama and Hiroshima. Non-JR
> Shinano Railway (near Nagano) also has numerous
> 115 Series in service - I rode one when I made a
> day trip to Nagano in April.

Hiroshi-san, thank you very much for the additional information; it is much appreciated.

Here are two photos taken in 1971 of 115 vehicles:
(1) I clipped off the very end of the unit, but enough shows that there was no bodyside ventilation grill; the bits of paper stuck to the intake amidships show why relocation upwards could be a good idea. Taken at one of my fav train watching spots, Omiya; I'll post more from here in the future.
(2) Taken from a platform at Nishi Nippori, a 115 rake composed of at least 12 [ 3 x 4 ] vehicles.

With best regards, SZ

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To illustrate Hiroshi's comment regarding the 'V' vs 'U' paint treatment for the front ends of 111 / 113 class sets, here are a pair taken at Tokyo [ Central ] in July and August 1971. Notice [ by comparison with today's scene ] the open windows; for suburbanites, air conditioning is on only a few test sets....

Best, SZ

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