londontransit
Member
I've been publishing a series of comprehensive historical stuff on the New Tokaido Line (or as some will know it, the original 1964 Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka) over these past two years. The whole work constitutes what must practically be a book! The next instalment is out soon and covers the line in the months before its official opening in October 1964, as well as the ensuing months after. There's another post after that covering other aspects such as technical aspects including tunnels, signalling, earthquake detection equipment, and the abortive Shinkansen freight project etc. I thought I'd give a list of the posts I've done so far - these cover the story of extremely fast trains from the 1920s through to 1938 when the first plans were laid for a high speed railway between Tokyo and Shimonoseki and through to the 1960s when construction began - and the first trains which were evaluated on the Kamomiya test track which eventually became part of the New Tokaido Line.
There's also a look also at the attempts to create the fastest possible narrow gauge steam expresses (which were capable of up to 80mph) then of course the fastest possible narrow electric multiple units which achieved speeds of 101 mph, the development of special bogies for high speed work, eg the fact trains hunted their tracks and the attempts to mitigate this, and trains based on airplane designs - all which of course al contributed to the final designs. The building of the new railway including stations at their various stages of construction from surveying the route through to initial excavations and finally the stations themselves - including the difficult elevated section through Tokyo.
In fact the construction of the original Shinkansen began in 1941. By the time the project got abandoned one complete tunnel had been fully built and another half built, with sections of trackbed left uncompleted. The resurrection of the project in 1959 meant the half completed 7km long New Tanna tunnel could be finished and the rest of the line built as far as Osaka.
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #1
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #2
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #3
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #4
There's also a look also at the attempts to create the fastest possible narrow gauge steam expresses (which were capable of up to 80mph) then of course the fastest possible narrow electric multiple units which achieved speeds of 101 mph, the development of special bogies for high speed work, eg the fact trains hunted their tracks and the attempts to mitigate this, and trains based on airplane designs - all which of course al contributed to the final designs. The building of the new railway including stations at their various stages of construction from surveying the route through to initial excavations and finally the stations themselves - including the difficult elevated section through Tokyo.
In fact the construction of the original Shinkansen began in 1941. By the time the project got abandoned one complete tunnel had been fully built and another half built, with sections of trackbed left uncompleted. The resurrection of the project in 1959 meant the half completed 7km long New Tanna tunnel could be finished and the rest of the line built as far as Osaka.
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #1
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #2
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #3
The Tokyo to Osaka Line: A history #4
