Tuesday 20 December 2016

Preserved Subway Train in Nippa Rail Yard

Set number 1 (1011F) of the EMU 1000 series is preserved in Nippa Rail Yard

When I went to the 2016 Hamarin Festival held by Yokohama Municipal Subway in October, I reunited with an old train exhibited in Nippa Rail Yard. What was that?

It was a preserved train, set number 1 (1011F) of the EMU 1000 series. This train set was launched as a 3-car train in 1972, when the Blue Line of Yokohama Municipal Subway was partially opened between Isesaki-Choujamachi and Kamioooka (5.2 km). Three more cars were added after the extension of the Blue Line, since the number of passengers had drastically increased. 1011F was retired from the track in 2006 after 34 years of operation. It is currently preserved in Nippa Rail Yard as it originally was.

The greatest feature of 1011F is its odd-shaped front mask. It was a typical design in the early 1970's. The Tokyu 7200 series (later the 7600 series) and the Shizutetsu 1000 series are of the same generation, and also have similar designs. The stainless-steel bodies with corrugated structures also showed the vestiges of the early 1970's. They are nostalgic and definitely my favorite.

The technical specification of 1011F is rather old. The electric control system was just a simple rheostat. Four-120 kW DC motors were equipped on the train. I still remember that a warm breeze came up from the resistors when it arrived at the station platform. For your information, we can't see pantographs on the roofs, as the Blue Line is electrified with a 750 V DC third-rail system

Side view of 1011F, Yokohama Municipal Subway