JR West - new 35-4000 series coaches for SL Yamaguchi

[miyakoji]

New build cars from Niigata Transys.

 

by akagita

 

by JNRKazu

 

by Masaharu Aono

[Densha]

Meh, I'd rather they used some original wooden Showa-era coaches...

[Kiha66]

Very cool! What are the coaches going to be used for?

[Sacto1985]

Meh, I'd rather they used some original wooden Showa-era coaches...

 

While that sounds like a good idea, I think modern safety standards mitigate against using them, though. Especially since SL Yamaguchi travels quite a ways on the Yamaguchi Line.

[katoftw]

Old trains dont last forever. Sometime easier to build new when updating.

 

These new ones look like the are open at both ends abd have a galley/kitchen/shop area also.

[Kiha66]

These also seem to have AC units, which I'm sure the passengers will appreciate in the warmer months.  Are there any EF58's still running?  It would be cool if they made a modern Tsubame run with this older looking stock.

[railsquid]

No, alas.

[Kabutoni]

Nice. Stayed close to original JGR designs but with modern comfort. I already saw jokes abound online in regards to the airconditioners, but most in a relatively positive way.

[ayokoi]

I posted the video of 35-4000 hauled by EF66.

 

[Sacto1985]

Nice. Stayed close to original JGR designs but with modern comfort. I already saw jokes abound online in regards to the airconditioners, but most in a relatively positive way.

 

Note that the roof of these new passenger cars are designed so they "hide" most of the roof-mounted air conditioning units. You want these units because the route where the SL Yamaguchi runs can get quite hot in summer, since this is the western end of Honshu we're talking about.

[Kiha66]

I'm surprised that even with the AC units, they kept the garland vents on the roof.  Well done to the builders!  They even have some of the cars with riveted side strips like the prewar oha35s, while some are welded like the postwar builds.  

[Densha]

There was a test run today with the coaches being towed by a pair of KiYa 143s:

https://twitter.com/9001YOSSY/status/873811044602216449

https://twitter.com/HouraiDentetsu/status/873826984471576577

[katoftw]

What is a Kiya 143?  Where can I get one?  It is the love child of a Hokkaido JRF DF200 and a Chicago Metra F40PH.

[Kiha66]

Wow, those Kiya 143's are good looking locomotives, love how the vents on the side open up for easy maintenance.  Looks like they're to replace the DD and DE15s on snowplow duties, but also some light work durring the summer months.   Reminds me of the old boxcab electrics, in the JNR diesel paint scheme. 

 

http://kita-s.tomaremiyo.net/article/105663973.html

[Densha]

Yup, the JR West KiYa 143s were built for snowplough duties. I saw KiYa 143-3 off-duty at Toyooka station this January:

 

 

Also caught a glimpse of a DE15 sitting in a depot. Good thing they had these because severe snowfall was about to fall in that area during the following weeks.

[westfalen]

Seriously, air conditioning on a steam train? A bit of a turn off as far as I'm concerned, if you're going to sit there with the window closed and not enjoying the sight sound and smell of a hard working C57 you might as well be on an ordinary train.

Edited June 14, 2017 by westfalen

[Kiha66]

Another picture with a KiYa 143, at first glance you barely even notice that they're new builds.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1396457950436409&set=gm.2021801541439355&type=3&theater

[kvp]

If you take the old blueprints and build new cars based on them, they will be old types, just ones that are built relatively recently. A good example is the german Adler replica built years after the original was scrapped. Another good example is the LNER A1 Tornado built recently based on the old plans. In this case, the new cars have a few features added, but this was done the same way one would upgrade a restored historic car.

[Sacto1985]

By the way, YouTube member superknightrider3000 posted this video of JNR Class D51 200 pulling the 35-4000 trainset on a JR West Yamaguchi Line test run.

 

[katoftw]

Nice.  I didn't realize the D51-200 was out and about running mainline yet.

[Sacto1985]

YouTube member kazu9521 posted two videos showing the 35-4000 Series coaches being pulled by two different types of steam locomotives on the JR West Yamaguchi Line in recent test runs:

JNR Class D51 200:

 

 

JNR Class C57 1:

 

[Sacto1985]

YouTube member kazu9521 just posted a video of the end of the "old" SL Yamaguchi trainset run on 2 September 2017 (five 12 Series passenger cars pulled by JNR Class C56 160 and JNR Class DD51 1043) and the first day of service of the "new" SL Yamagushi trainset (five 35-4000 Series passenger cars pulled by JNR Class C57 1): 

 

 

[katoftw]

What does the single white line mean on the new sets?