Niigata to Minakami on the NO.DO.KA "Joyful Train"

[Sacto1985]

YouTube member nagomi view just recently posted this excellent zenmen tenbou video of a trip on the NO.DO.KA Joyful Train (a modified 485 Series EMU) from Niigata to Minakami Stations via the Shin'etsu Main Line and Jōetsu Line:

 

 

This is the view train drivers on limited express trains would have seen on a regular basis before the Jōetsu Shinkansen opened in 1982

 

[kvp]

Thanks for posting it! Somehow i prefer this kind of ground level view to the shinkansen's, but seeing all those abandoned station tracks and platforms is imho sad.

[JR 500系]

Nice! I always loved these 4K HD video quality... really clear, like being there yourself!

 

It's nice to see the 485 No.Do.Ka carpet train is still running...  :)

[Sacto1985]

Thanks for posting it! Somehow i prefer this kind of ground level view to the shinkansen's, but seeing all those abandoned station tracks and platforms is imho sad.

 

You have to remember until the Jōetsu Shinkansen opened, the Jōetsu Line was quite busy with quite a lot of limited express train traffic. That's why you see a lot of stations along the way that were designed to handle a lot more traffic than it does now. Indeed, the most common traffic now are E129's on all-stops local service, usually operating from Nagaoka to Minakami.

[westfalen]

I must watch this all the way through when I get the time.  This is one line I've always wanted to do but never get around to it, parts of it are like a time capsule of 1980's JNR.

[Sacto1985]

I must watch this all the way through when I get the time.  This is one line I've always wanted to do but never get around to it, parts of it are like a time capsule of 1980's JNR.

 

You mean 1970's JNR. The Jōetsu Line was a very busy line for many years with a lot of limited express traffic--small wonder why then Japanese Prime MInister Tanaka Kakuei--a native of Niigata--proposed building the Jōetsu Shinkansen in 1971.

Edited October 30, 2016 by Sacto1985

[westfalen]

I was thinking of when the Shinkansen opened but investment in the Joetsu Line, passenger infrastructure at least, probably ceased when construction of the Shinkansen started.

[miyakoji]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakuei_Tanaka

 

Fascinating character.

 

Luck favored Tanaka during the endgame of World War II. None of his major buildings were damaged in the firebombing of Tokyo, and just weeks before the Japanese surrender, he travelled to Seoul and cashed in ¥15b (about US$78m) in Japanese war bonds. In December 1945, as the first postwar Diet was being planned by the American occupation authorities, Tanaka was able to give generous donations to an associate affiliated with the Japan Moderate Progressive Party (Nihon Shinpoto).

 

"Hey hon, Imma go cash these 15 billion yen in bonds.  Be back a few days."

 

Didn't the debt incurred by constructing the Joetsu Shinkansen cement the fate of JNR?

[Jcarlton]

Interesting video.  I'm wondering why a joyful train is making stops.  I thought that joyful trains were chartered by customers for special travel. 

[Nick_Burman]

Didn't the debt incurred by constructing the Joetsu Shinkansen cement the fate of JNR?

 

The Seikan Tunnel was the real killer, AFAIK.

 

Cheers NB

[Nick_Burman]

Interesting video.  I'm wondering why a joyful train is making stops.  I thought that joyful trains were chartered by customers for special travel. 

 

So did I, but I think this is a special holiday service; JR was probably caught short of rolling stock and pressed the No.Do.Ka. into service to make up for it.

 

Cheers NB

[Jcarlton]

So did I, but I think this is a special holiday service; JR was probably caught short of rolling stock and pressed the No.Do.Ka. into service to make up for it.

 

Cheers NB

There also seemed to be railfan associated stuff going on at the last stop with the D51 there and the C61 was running too.

[katoftw]

Most if not all joyful trains are limited expresses on regular timetabled services.

[Kabutoni]

Interesting video.  I'm wondering why a joyful train is making stops.  I thought that joyful trains were chartered by customers for special travel. 

 

Joyful trains are leisure trains that don't necessarily need to go speedy from point A to B, so stops can be scheduled in between, so there is no interference with regular or freight trains. During my trip on the Resort Express Yuu (rebuilt 485 Series) a few months ago, we had very long stopovers (one was half an hour) at either freight sidings or passing tracks.

 

Most if not all joyful trains are limited expresses on regular timetabled services.

 

That's not true. IIRC half of the Joyful trains run irregular services that can be scheduled according to the organiser's wishes/demands (usually via a travel agency like View Travel Service). Those 'we' see are indeed regularly scheduled, since they aren't intended to be full-group reserved trains, but there are quite a few trains not used for these regular services. Some of these are the Resort Express Yuu, Utake, Hana, NO.DO.KA., Irodori, Nagomi, etc.), usually these are a bit older models (or very specific models) that are based on designs from the sixties and seventies, so reliability on a daily or any other regular basis might be an issue.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Kabutoni

[Sacto1985]

Actually, with the retirement of other 485 Series trainsets, there are actually plentiful spare parts now for the remaining 485-based Joyful Train trainsets. And the 485 may (surprisingly) stay around because the trainset can run both on 1,500 V DC and 20,000 V 50 Hz AC power, which means essentially anywhere in JR East territory with electrified lines.

 

As for the thing that sank JNR, I think it was the combination of the cost of building the San'yō Shinkansen during the 1960's to middle 1970's and the cost of building the Tōhoku Shinkansen from Omiya to Morioka. That's why the Tōhoku line didn't reach Shin-Aomori until 2010!

[Kabutoni]

The 485 Series Joyful trains are being phased out slowly. For instance, the Resort Express Yuu will be gone by March, and others will very probably follow afterwards. Spare parts may be plentiful, but they're old. Maybe it might actually be cheaper for JR East to actually build completely new ones or rebuild more recent models, like the 651 (e.g. Izu Craile) and E653 Series.

 

Still, the 485 Series are the mainstay of the Joyful Train fleet of JR East, especially in the AC/DC operational area. Then again there isn't much inter-AC/DC Joyful train action going on anyway. Most Joyful Train action that happen(ed) in the Jyoban Line area were empty runs between Oyama Depot and the Katsuta depot via the Mito Line. Now with most 485 Series Joyful Trains having transferred to the Takasaki depot, deep into the DC region, I doubt the AC part of the 485 Series will be of use anymore.

 

But anyway, let's see what JR East will cook up next.

[Sacto1985]

Toni, I do agree that given the age of the old 485's, they should be phased out. Building new Joyful Train excursion sets will likely come from modified 651 and older E653 trainsets. I wouldn't be surprised when the full Jōban Line reopens in 2019, we'll see a number of excursion trains operating on the reopened line.