International Railroad Discussion > Doctor Yellow, the Shinkansen Inspection Train (Japan)

I think I got the Holy Grail of Japan railfanning!

Doctor Yellow is the nickname for the Shinkansen inspection train, used on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines by JR Central and JR West, between Tokyo and Hakata. Current version of Doctor Yellow is a modified Series 700 set with 7 cars, and has various equipment to inspect the conditions of the tracks, catenaries, signal and detection systems, and other tasks. The nickname comes from the fact that the train set is painted yellow. Previous generations of Doctor Yellows, based on the classic Series 0, were also painted yellow.

Last October, I was hanging out in Ginza for dinner and saw Doctor Yellow head outbound from Tokyo near Shinbashi (新橋). Next day, I went to Little TGV and asked the railfans there about Doctor Yellow, and we agreed that I witnessed a deadhead move from Tokyo to the Shinkansen Yard & Facility at Oi.

The saying goes that seeing Doctor Yellow brings good luck. Well, seeing it wasn't good enough. I had to document it, and it had to be on video.

About 2 weeks before my recent visit to Japan (in May), I started to do research on the Internet, and read various blogs to get information about Doctor Yellow sightings. I was able to determine that there are two inspection schedules, one simulating a limited stop Nozomi, and the other simulating Kodama which makes every station stop. Nozomi runs are somewhat predictable - it runs once about every 10 days, give or take, and always starts in Tokyo, overnights in Hakata, and returns to Tokyo the next day. However, it is tough to chase since Doctor Yellow runs close to revenue speed, 270 km/h (168 mph) or higher. The Kodama runs are easier to chase, but tougher to predict. Some months it has ran, some months it hasn't. Neither JR Central or JR West publishes the schedule for the Doctor Yellow runs.

The blogs posted Doctor Yellow sightings doing the Nozomi run on May 8 and 9, so I prepared myself for a potential chase on May 18. I spent half a day on May 17 (after chasing JR Freight Train #3086) rehearsing a chase plan I came up with, where I was going to catch Doctor Yellow at least twice. During the rehearsal, I had a ~30 second margin on one segment and realized that this was going to be risky. It required me to fine tune the "2 minute transfer technique" I've used so often while visiting Japan.

In the end, I got the results I wanted:

First clip is at Tamachi. This is where the tracks from the Shinkansen Yard and Facility merges onto the main. Doctor Yellow is deadheading to Tokyo to get ready for the Nozomi run. One other railfan was at my angle, and the other four went for the going away shot. I immediately went to the platform to catch the next Yamanote or Keihin-Tohoku Line local to Shinagawa.

I'm onboard Shinkansen Hikari #511 in the second clip. Doctor Yellow DID bring me luck - it was my first time seeing the peak of Mount Fuji on a cloudy day!

I detrained Hikari #511 at Gifu-Hashima (岐阜羽島). Hikari #511 is departing there in the third clip. There was a handful of Doctor Yellow fans already there, including the railfan walking towards me, and parents with kids who were holding Doctor Yellow toys in their hands (not visible). If you listen carefully, you can hear a passing Shinkansen going the other direction, view blocked by Hikari #511.

In the fourth clip, I capture Doctor Yellow running at speed. The bells are sounding for an arriving Shinkansen on the other direction, Kodama #658.

- Doctor Yellow at Tamachi (Tokyo).
- Doctor Yellow at Shin-Osaka. I took the next Shinkansen and caught up to Doctor Yellow here.
- Video as described above.

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An average Japanese probably knows what Doctor Yellow is, or at least knows that it brings good luck. There was a bit of a commotion at Shin-Osaka Station as people gathered around and tried to get cell phone photos and selfies with Doctor Yellow.

- "Rear" view at Shin-Osaka. It's bi-directional, so rear of the train means red marker lights.
- Young travellers immediately took action and got themselves a selfie. Note more people on the opposite platform.
- Station crew at Shin-Osaka keeping watch on Doctor Yellow.

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- N700 set arrives and blocks the view of Doctor Yellow. Revenue trains don't pause for the Good Luck Train.
- There's a Shinkansen gift shop in Shin-Osaka Station. I think the Doctor Yellow theme is rather obvious. :-)
- I won't spoil it for future Doctor Yellow Hunters, but consider this a hint.

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Doctor Yellow often attends JR Central and JR West open houses, for example, there was one in Hakata in May, and there will be one at the Hamamatsu Shinkansen Factory (浜松工場) on July 25-26:

http://recommend.jr-central.co.jp/naruhodo/ (Japanese)

It's very possible to guess the day of the deadhead run from Tokyo to Hamamatsu, and catch it running.

- Another view of Doctor Yellow at Shin-Osaka.
- Original Doctor Yellow based on the 0 Series.

The lead car is on display at SCMaglev & Railway Park near Nagoya. I posted a report last year:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3557928

That's all folks.

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Thank you for another "It's almost like being there" post, with the usual informative text.  Here's some additional photos from Almost-the-Dawn of the NTL:

1)  This non-self-propelled track recording coach 921-1 was the predecessor of The Doctors;  it was hauled by a 911 class diesel [ I recall there were two ], as photo (2) , because the original concept was to do this testing at night [ when the cat was de-energized ].
3)  There were, and perhaps still are, 912 class diesels to haul the work / construction trains.

Just to clarify:  While the Dr Yellow in the museum may be the first one built from a Series 0 set, the first emu track / catenary testing set was converted from the second 'pre-series' set, the first four car set which preceded the Series 0 production sets.  As I recall, it was painted yellow -- but perhaps the Doctor prefix had not yet been applied.........    I think both of these sets were scrapped.

Best regards, SZ

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Nice post!  Reminds me of the other yellow trains I have seen (Via Turbo, SNCF La Poste TGV, NS (Netherlands) EMU sets).

Ray

Steinzeit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just to clarify:  While the Dr Yellow in the
> museum may be the first one built from a Series 0
> set, the first emu track / catenary testing set
> was converted from the second 'pre-series' set,
> the first four car set which preceded the Series 0
> production sets.  As I recall, it was painted
> yellow -- but perhaps the Doctor prefix had not
> yet been applied.........    I think both of
> these sets were scrapped.
>
> Best regards, SZ

Once again, your historic photos of Japanese railroading is extraordinary. Thanks for sharing them! I guess I have to post more stuff to encourage you to post yours.

Type 912 diesel locomotive is based on the DD-13. While there's no surviving 912, a few of its cousins, the DD-13s are still being used by the smaller railroads. None survive within the JR system.

Type 911 was world's fastest diesel locomotive at the time (1964), with a top speed of 165 km/h (103 mph). One was preserved at the Hamamatsu Factory/Facility, but it is NOT listed as one of the exhibits at the upcoming open house, so I don't know what happened to it. It was seen as recently as 2000. Two others were scrapped before JNR was privatized into JR Group of companies.

cchan006 Wrote:
 I guess I have to post more stuff to
 encourage you to post yours.

Yup, that's my plan !   Seriously, your very informative posts provide a good background for what I then post, and that reduces the amount of time, which I don't have a lot of right now, I need to put together a good stand-alone post -- but I will be making some soon, I think.  [ The photos are the easy part, it's the text that takes time I find, since my memory needs not only refreshed but sometimes rebooted....]

Regarding the 911 class diesels:  When I first found out about them I thought they must be the world's fastest diesel locomotives, and I was disappointed when I found out what their top speed was.  Certainly there have been diesels that went faster at that time:  EMD E units with the highest gearing, and BR Deltics came immediately to mind.  Subsequently, even some F40PH's had a faster gearing. 

With best regards, SZ

Other NTL work equipment had also been given 9xx series numbers and [ where applicable ] the yellow with blue stripe livery.  Unfortunately I don't know what the car on the left was used for -- anyone take a good guess, preferably the educated kind ?   The underbody stuff looks like it could be rail grinding, which might make the tanks on either end for water -- or perhaps some sort of dynamic track stabilizer, with water tanks or concrete blocks for weight ???

SZ

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