Saturday 27 April 2013

Checkered Railcar on the Mooka Line


Diesel railcar, Mooka Type 14 stands at Nishidai Station on the Mooka Line

As I mentioned in my blog on February 17th, 2013, Mooka Railway is famous for its steam locomotive (SL) train operation. Many families and rail fans flock to this local line to enjoy the nostalgic SL train on weekends. Connecting Shimodate and Motegi stations, the total operating length is 41.9 kilometers. The whole route is an un-electrified single track.

What other rolling stocks does the Mooka Railway have? The diesel rail car, Type Mooka 14 is the main fleet for ordinary transportation on the track. The Type 14 railcar was launched in 2002 to replace old cars of Type 63. A total of nine units have been manufactured by Fuji Heavy Industries and Nippon Sharyo. It is the so-called "LE-DC", which was designed by Fuji Heavy Industries as a standard diesel railcar for local lines. Many local railway companies have introduced this car as their main fleet. For your information, "LE" stands for light and economical, meanwhile "DC" stands for diesel car.

One of the features of the Type 14 is its body. It is checkered with green color. A red colored stripe with a white dashed line is added in the lower half of the body. It is quite unique. It seems to be clearly divided between the yea-sayers and the nay-sayers among rail fans.

I personally like this coloring as a rail fan. I think Japanese people are usually quiet. So at least the coloring of the train should be flashier.

Diesel railcar, Mooka Type 14 and SL train stand at Nishidai Station on the Mooka Line