1.
East Japan Railway Company
–
East Japan Railway Company is a major passenger railway company in Japan and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English. The companys headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, JR East was incorporated on 1 April 1987 after being spun off from the government-run Japanese National Railways. Following the breakup, JR East ran the operations on former JNR lines in the Greater Tokyo Area, the Tohoku region and its railway lines primarily serve Kanto and Tohoku regions, along with adjacent areas in Koshinetsu region and Shizuoka prefectures. JR East operates all of the Shinkansen, high-speed rail lines and these lines have sections inside the Tokyo Suburban Area designated by JR East. This does not necessarily mean that the lines are fully inside the Greater Tokyo Area, JR East aims to reduce its carbon emissions by half, as measured over the period 1990-2030. This would be achieved by increasing the efficiency of trains and company-owned thermal power stations, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has stated that JR Easts official union is a front for an organized crime syndicate called the Japan Revolutionary Communist League. An investigation of this is ongoing, the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation is a non-profit organization established by JR East for the purpose of developing a richer railway culture. The Railway Museum in Saitama is operated by the foundation, EJRC has bid for the London Midland franchise in the United Kingdom. Winners will be announced on June 2017 and will start operating on October 2017, East Japan Railway Company Web Site JR East official apology for Inaho No.14 accident on 25 December 2005 Company history books. Wiki collection of works on East Japan Railway Company
2.
KiHa 100 series
–
The KiHa 100 series is a series of diesel multiple unit trains operated since 1990 by East Japan Railway Company on non-electrified rural lines in Japan. A total of 247 vehicles were built between 1989 and 1999 by Fuji Heavy Industries and Niigata Transys, the first four pre-production cars were delivered from Niigata Tekkō to Ichinoseki Depot in January and February 1990. Cars KiHa 100-1 and -3 were equipped with one Cummins DMF14HZ330 hp engine per car, while cars KiHa 100-2, the four pre-production cars were initially delivered with black front ends, but these were subsequently repainted white and green to match the later production series cars. Four production-series cars were delivered from Fuji Heavy Industries in March 1991. These were each equipped with one Komatsu DMF11HZ330 hp engine, differences from the four pre-production series cars included abandoning of the three pairs of tip-up seats near the doorways, and elimination of the dummy exterior window at the toilet position. 38 2nd-batch cars were delivered from June to October 1991, cars 9 to 29, built by Fuji Heavy Industries, were delivered to Morioka Depot, and cars 30 to 46, built by Niigata Tekkō, were delivered to Ichinoseki Depot. Cars 9 to 29 are each equipped with one Niigata Tekkō DMF13HZ330 hp engine, differences from the earlier 1st-batch cars included solid front-end skirts instead of the earlier pipe-style skirts. 17 m long single cars built in 1993 with sliding doors instead of the earlier plug doors, five KiHa 100-200 cars were delivered from Fuji Heavy Industries to Hachinohe Depot in 1993. The cab sections were extended by 250 mm to provide additional crash protection, cars are each equipped with one Komatsu DMF11HZ330 hp engine. A wheelchair space was provided next to one doorway, giving a capacity of 44. 17 m long single cars built 1993-1997 for Aterazawa Line services, a total of 13 KiHa 101 cars were built by Niigata Tekkō and allocated to Shinjō Depot for use on Aterazawa Line services. Broadly based on the KiHa 100-200 series cars, these are equipped with one Komatsu DMF11HZ330 hp engine. Passenger accommodation consists entirely of longitudinal bench seating, a wheelchair space was provided next to one doorway, giving a seating capacity of 44 and total capacity of 107 passengers. The fleet is painted in a light blue colour scheme with FRUITS LINER logos. 20 m long single cars built between 1990 and 1991, with plug doors, as with the pre-production KiHa 100-0 cars, these initially had black front ends, pipe-style front-end skirts, black dummy exterior windows at the toilet positions, and plug doors. Cars KiHa 110-1 and 3 were equipped with Niigata DMF13HZA engines, all three cars used lightweight bolsterless DT58 motored bogies and TR242 trailer bogies, with both axles of the motor bogies driven. Two production series cars, KiHa 110-4 and 5 were subsequently delivered to Morioka Depot from Fuji Heavy Industries in March 1991 and these had standard white/green front ends and did not have dummy exterior windows at the toilet position. Both cars are equipped with Niigata DMF13HZA engines, and use DT58A motored bogies, from 2007, four cars, excluding KiHa 110-3, were transferred to Kogota Depot for use as reserved-seating cars on Minami Sanriku rapid services
3.
Track gauge
–
In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
4.
3 ft 6 in gauge railways
–
Railways with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in/1,067 mm were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. From the mid-nineteenth century, the 3 ft 6 in gauge became widespread in the British Empire, there are approximately 112,000 kilometres of 1,067 mm gauge track in the world. 1795 One of the first railways to use 3 ft 6 in gauge was the Little Eaton Gangway in England, other 3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways in England and Wales were also built in the early nineteenth century. 1862 In 1862 the Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl constructed the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Norway,1865 In 1865 the Queensland Railways were constructed. Its 3 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by the Irish engineer Abraham Fitzgibbon,1868 In 1868 Charles Fox asks civil engineer Edmund Wragge to survey a 3 ft 6 in railway in Costa Rica. 1871 In 1871 the Canadian Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway,1872 In January 1872 Robert Fairlie advocated the use of 3 ft 6 in gauge in his book Railways Or No Railways, Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance. 1872 also saw the opening of the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Japan,1873 On 1 January 1873, the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway was opened in New Zealand, constructed by the British firm John Brogden and Sons. Earlier built 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in and broad gauge railways were converted to the narrower gauge. Also in 1873 the Cape Colony adopted the 3 ft 6 in gauge, after conducting several studies in southern Europe, the Molteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges. Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger, the Cape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa. 1876 Natal also converted its short 10 kilometres long Durban network from 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in broad gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the colony in 1876. Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, after 1876 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous 3 ft 6 in gauge tram systems were built in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge. An alternate name for this gauge, Cape gauge, is named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, the term Cape Gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutch kaapspoor, German Kapspur, Norwegian kappspor and French voie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as 1065 mm instead of 1067 mm, the gauge is sometimes referred to as CAP gauge, after C. A. The gauge name Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand, in Australia the imperial term 3 foot 6 inch is used. In some Australian publications the term medium gauge is also used, in Japan 1,067 mm gauge is referred to as kyōki, which directly translates as narrow gauge. It is defined in metric units, Cape Government Railways Heritage railway List of track gauges Norwegian gauge controversy South African Trains – A Pictorial Encyclopaedia Why Did Japan Choose the 36 Narrow Gauge
5.
Railway electrification system
–
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure, selection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply, maintenance, and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic. Different systems are used for urban and intercity areas, some electric locomotives can switch to different supply voltages to allow flexibility in operation, Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network, some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own lines, switches and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track usually takes one of two forms. The first is a line or catenary wire suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Locomotives or multiple units pick up power from the wire with pantographs on their roofs that press a conductive strip against it with a spring or air pressure. Examples are described later in this article, the second is a third rail mounted at track level and contacted by a sliding pickup shoe. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the rails as the return conductor. In comparison to the alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions. Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and they have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service, the limited clearances available under catenaries may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Possible lethal electric current due to risk of contact with high-voltage contact wires, overhead wires are safer than third rails, but they are often considered unsightly. These are independent of the system used, so that. The permissible range of voltages allowed for the voltages is as stated in standards BS EN50163. These take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation, railways must operate at variable speeds. Until the mid 1980s this was only practical with the brush-type DC motor, since such conversion was not well developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, most early electrified railways used DC and many still do, particularly rapid transit and trams
6.
Aomori Prefecture
–
Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region. The capital is the city of Aomori, until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as the northern part of Mutsu Province. During the Edo period the Hirosaki clan began building a seaport at the current city of Aomori, there were green woods near the city which were used as landmarks for the ships that came into port. These green woods called aoi-mori is where Aomori got its name, the prefecture came into existence in 1871. The town of Aomori was established in 1889, the town was incorporated as a city in 1898 with a population of 28,000. On May 3,1910 a fire out in the Yasukata district. Fanned by strong winds, the fire devastated the whole city. The conflagration claimed 26 lives and injured a further 160 residents and it destroyed 5,246 houses and burnt 19 storage sheds and 157 warehouses. At 10,30 p. m. on July 28,1945 a squadron of American B29 bombers bombed over 90% of the city, radio Aomori made its first broadcast in 1951. Four years later, the first fish auctions were held,1958 saw the completion of the Municipal Fish Market as well as the opening of the Citizens Hospital. In the same year, the Tsugaru Line established a connection with Minmaya Village at the tip of the peninsula. Various outlying towns and villages were incorporated into the city and with the absorption of Nonai Village in 1962. Almost exactly three years later, on March 13, railroad service was inaugurated on the Tsugaru Kaikyo Line and that same day saw the end of the Seikan Ferry service. During their 80 years of service, the ferries of the Seikan line sailed between Aomori and Hakodate some 720,000 times, carrying 160 million passengers. In April 1993, Aomori Public College opened, in August 1994, Aomori City made an Education, Culture and Friendship Exchange Pact with Kecskemét in Hungary. One year later a treaty was signed with Pyongtaek in South Korea. In April 1995, Aomori Airport began offering regular international air service to Seoul, South Korea, and Khabarovsk, Russia. In June 2007, four North Korean defectors reached Aomori Prefecture, after having been at sea for six days, in March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan on the east coast
7.
Japanese National Railways
–
Japanese National Railways, abbreviated Kokutetsu or JNR, was the body which operated the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987. As of June 1,1949, the date of establishment of JNR and this figure expanded to 21,421.1 km in 1981, but later reduced to 19,633.6 km as of March 31,1987, the last day of JNR. JNR operated both passenger and freight services, Shinkansen, the worlds first high-speed railway was debuted by JNR in 1964. Unlike railway operation, JNR Bus was not superior to local bus operators. The JR Bus companies are the successors of the bus operation of JNR, a number of unions represented workers at JNR, including the National Railway Workers Union, the National Railway Locomotive Engineers Union, and Doro-Chiba, a break-away group from Doro. Later, the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Transportation, the ministries used the name Japanese Government Railways to refer their network in English. During World War II, many JGR lines were dismantled to supply steel for the war effort, on June 1,1949 by a directive of the U. S. General HQ in Tokyo, JGR was reorganized into Japanese National Railways, JNR enjoyed many successes, including the October 1,1964 inauguration of high-speed Shinkansen service along the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line. However, JNR was not a corporation, its accounting was independent from the national budget. Rural sections without enough passengers began to press its management, pulling it further and further into debt, in 1983, JNR started to close its unprofitable 83 local lines. By 1987, JNRs debt was over ¥27 trillion and the company was spending ¥147 for every ¥100 earned. By an act of the Diet of Japan, on April 1,1987 JNR was privatized and divided into seven companies, six passenger and one freight. Long-term liabilities of JNR were taken over by the JNR Settlement Corporation and that corporation was subsequently disbanded on October 22,1998, and its remaining debts were transferred to the national budgets general accounting. By this time the debt has risen to ¥30 trillion, many lawsuits and labor commission cases were filed over the decades from the privatization in 1987. Kokuro and the National Railway Locomotive Engineers Union, both prominent Japanese railway unions, represented a number of the JNR workers, lists of workers to be employed by the new organizations were drawn up by JNR and given to the JR companies. There was substantial pressure on members to leave their unions, and within a year. Workers who had supported the privatization, or those who left Kokuro, were hired at substantially higher rates than Kokuro members. Around 7,600 workers were transferred in this way, and around 2,000 of them were hired by JR firms and this period ended in April 1990, and 1,047 were dismissed
8.
Noheji Station
–
Noheji Station is a railway station in the town of Noheji, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, jointly operated by the East Japan Railway Company and the third sector railway operator Aoimori Railway Company. Noheji Station is served by the Aoimori Railway Line, and is 44.6 kilometers from the terminus of the line at Aomori Station and it is also the terminal station for the Ōminato Line. Noheji Station has a single side platform and two ground-level island platforms serving five tracks, connected by a footbridge. The station building has a ticket office, as well as an automatic ticket machine. Enburi, For Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station Noheiji Station was opened on September 1,1891 as a station of the Nippon Railway and it was nationalized on July 1,1906 and became a station of the Japanese Government Railways Tōhoku Main Line. On March 20,1921, it became the terminus of the Ōminato Line. After the end of World War II, the JGR became the Japanese National Railways, on March 15,1954 a F-84 Thunderjet from nearby Misawa Air Base crashed on top of Noheji Station, destroying the station building and killing twelve people. The explosion left a crater thee meters wide and two deep, and set fire to one of the carriages of the Tōhoku Main Line. Platforms 1 through 3 were also destroyed, the pilot ejected, but his parachute failed to open and he was also killed. From August 5,1968, the Nanbu Jūkan Railway began operations from Noheji, with the privatization of JNR on April 1,1987, it came under the operational control of JR East. The control of the Tōhoku Main Line was transferred to Aoimori Railway on December 4,2010, in fiscal 2015, the station was used by an average of 290 passengers daily. National Route 4 National Route 279 Aomori Prefectural Noheji High School List of Railway Stations in Japan JTB Timetable December 2010 issue Noheji Station Noheji Station
9.
Noheji, Aomori
–
Noheji is a town located in Kamikita District of northeastern Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. As of 28 February 2017, the town had an population of 13,728. Its total area was 81.68 square kilometres, Noheji occupies the southeastern coastline of Mutsu Bay at the base of the Shimokita Peninsula. The village has a maritime climate characterized by cool short summers. The average annual temperature in Noheji is 9.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1243 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 22.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.1 °C. Aomori Prefecture Yokohama Tōhoku Rokkasho Hiranai Per Japanese census data, the population of Noheji has declined over the past 40 years. During the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, the Battle of Noheji occurred between the Tokugawa loyalist forces of Morioka Domain and pro-imperial forces of Hirosaki Domain on November 11,1868, during the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reform of April 1,1889, Noheiji Village was proclaimed. Noheji was elevated to town status on August 28,1898, the economy of Noheji is heavily dependent on commercial fishing, especially for scallops, and on agriculture with the raising of mountain yams predominating. The town also serves as a commercial and transportation center for the rural areas. Noheji has three elementary schools and two public middle schools operated by the town government, and one public high school operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education. The town also has one high school
10.
Japanese Government Railways
–
The Japanese Government Railways was the national railway system directly operated by the central government of Japan until 1949. It is a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the Japan Railways Group, the English name Japanese Government Railways was what the Ministry of Railways of Japan used to call its own Ministry Lines and sometimes the ministry itself as a railway operator. Other English names for the government railways include Imperial Japanese Government Railways and Imperial Government Railways and this article however covers the railways operated by the central government of Japan from 1872 to 1949 notwithstanding the official English name of the system of each era. By the end of World War II in 1945, the Japanese Government Railways operated on the main Japanese islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku, the railways in Taiwan and Korea were operated by the local Governor-General Offices and were not part of JGR. While the JGR was the major operator of intercity railways after the railway nationalization in 1906-07. The gauge of the railway was 1,067 mm with minor exceptions of 762 mm gauge lines, the first railway in Japan was operated by the imperial government in 1872. Early shareholders of the railway were members of the nobility, holding the major portion of capital, the governmental system was largely expanded by the promulgation of the Railway Nationalization Act in 1906. In 1920, the Ministry of Railways was established, in 1949, JGR was reorganized to become a state-owned public corporation named the Japanese National Railways. e. The table below shows the operators of the JGR. Translated names of ministries may not be official, names of the operating department generally mean department of railways or like. Since opening in 1872, the railway set fares for passengers in three classes, the transportation of freight was charged based on weight and class of goods. In 1872, passengers could choose from Upper, Middle and Lower classes, freight was shipped using one of five rates based on 100 kin of product. A1923 review of the shipping tariffs further explained that goods are divided into three shipping classes, koguchi atsukai, kashikini atsukai and tokushu atsukai and it was also possible to ship them via futsubin and kyukobin. It may, therefore, be said that the freight rates of the State-owned railways in Japan are of absolute uniformity. As Japan is a nation, it was noted that ocean-going vessels are a major source of competition for the freight business of the railway. The government mandated the use of automatic couplers on all cars on the system in July 1925, the system was transitioning from vacuum brakes to air brakes at this time, with most freight cars equipped with air brakes by April 1927. One of the roles of the Japanese Government Railways was to foreign tourists to Japan. In 1930, the government created the Board of Tourist Industry as a section of the Japanese Government Railways, the Board printed and distributed picture posters and English guidebooks overseas and encouraged development of resort hotels at home
11.
Yokohama, Aomori
–
Yokohama is a town located in Kamikita District of northeastern Aomori Prefecture in Tōhoku region of northern Japan. As of 1 February 2017, the town had an population of 4,711. The total area of the town was 126.38 square kilometres, Yokohama occupies the northeastern coastline of Mutsu Bay, at the entrance to Shimokita Peninsula. The town has a maritime climate characterized by cool short summers. The average annual temperature in Yokohama is 9.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1262 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 21.9 °C, and lowest in January, at around -2.6 °C. Aomori Prefecture Mutsu Higashidori Noheiji Rokkasho Per Japanese census data, the population of Yokohama has declined over the past 40 years, the area around Yokohama was controlled by the Nambu clan of Morioka Domain during the Edo period. During the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reform of April 1,1889, Yokohama was elevated to town status on April 1,1958. The economy of Yokohama was traditionally heavily dependent on fishing in Mutsu Bay, primarily for sea cucumber. With regards to agriculture, rapeseed and potato farming predominates, electrical power production via wind farms also contributes to the local economy. Yokohama has four elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school, east Japan Railway Company - Ōminato Line Fukkoshi, Mutsu-Yokohama, Arihata Japan National Route 279 Media related to Yokohama, Aomori at Wikimedia Commons Official website
.svg){kind=logo}