Additional Trains For Japanese Routes

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by dcr raptor, Mar 3, 2021.

  1. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    In TS2021, we currently have 3 non-fictional Japanese routes.
    These are the Wakayama & Sakurai Lines, the Hidaka Main Line, and the Tadami Line.
    Each route only comes with 1-2 trains, however each route had a much larger variety of rolling stock than is currently available to use. Adding these extra trains will increase the replayability of the current Japanese route, and also lay the groundwork for future routes featuring these trains.

    Wakayama & Sakurai Lines
    201 Series
    Still used on the Wakayama & Sakurai lines, although planned to be taken out of service in 2023, the 201 Series was a staple of the JR East and JR West networks alongside the 103 Series. Originally starting it's service on the Wakayama & Sakurai lines in 2006, the 103 and 201 Series trains were both operated as 6 car sets, although both were shortened to 4 car sets. They are currently only used on special services, pending their withdrawal and replacement.
    [​IMG]
    221 Series
    The train that is mainly used on the portions of the Wakayama & Sakurai route as depicted in TS2021, it operated alongside the 103 and 105 Series trains included with the route since the mid to late 1990s.
    Primarily used during the morning rush hour, these trains are mainly operated as 4 car sets.
    [​IMG]
    227-1000 Series
    A recent addition the the Wakayama & Sakurai Lines, the 227-1000 Series is the replacement for the old 103, 105, 117, and 201 Series trains that were a common sight on the Wakayama & Sakurai Lines up until 2019.
    This train is noteworthy as being JR West's first suburban train to be entirely fitted with bench seats instead of convertable seats.
    These are operated as 2 car sets that are sometimes coupled together to run as 4 car sets.
    [​IMG]
    105 Series (Alternative)
    A variant of the 105 Series included with the Wakayama & Sakurai Lines route, these trains had their headlights below the cab windows rather than above, and had a destination board in the place of the headlights of the other version. Likely to be down to differences in manufacturing company. There might be some other less visible difference, but finding the information regarding the differences in design has proven challenging.
    [​IMG]
    117-300 Series
    Another of the Wakayama Line's older trains. This train operated a through service to the Kisei Line, running between Oji, Wakayama and Kii-Tanabe. A total of 5 of these trains were in operation on this route between 2002 and 2019. There was also a varient of this livery which didn't have stripes.
    [​IMG]
    Additional liveries for the 105 Series.
    Blue
    [​IMG]
    Travel Manyo
    [​IMG]
    Manyo no Shiki (W2)
    [​IMG]
    Manyo no Shiki (W7)
    [​IMG]
    Manyo no Shikisai
    [​IMG]

    Hidaka Main Line
    KiHa 40-350
    A variant of the KiHa 40 designed for operating in colder regions, it features smaller windows than those on the KiHa 40s included with the Tadami Line. 10 of these were converted from former KiHa 40-700 Series trains to replace the KiHa 130s that had deteriorated.
    [​IMG]
    KiHa 183-5000 "Niseko Express"
    This was a special sightseeing train that ran from Sapporo all the way through to Samani, stopping at every station on the Hidaka Main Line. From 2003, this carried a special "Nippon Ham Fighters" livery to commemorate the relocation of the team to Hokkaido, although it has since been reverted to its original livery.
    There was also an ANA livery.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Additional Livery for KiHa 130.
    Hidaka Pony (Special train operating between Mukawa and Shizunai)
    [​IMG]
    The railway line between Mukawa and Samani is due to be closed down and torn up due to sediment overflow causing the line to become impassable between Shizunai and Samani. As such, it was decided it was better to replace the rail service with a bus service east of Mukawa. As such, it would be a good idea to extend the line all the way to Samani while the track and infrastructure is still there to be seen.
    Trains will cease to operate past Mukawa on 1/4/2021.

    Tadami Line
    KiHa 48
    Also listed as having operated on the Tadami Line, these were single ended versions of the KiHa 40.
    While not nearly as prevalent on the route as the KiHa 40, these are still worthy of attention, and could probably be made through a modification of the KiHa 40 model included with the route.
    The pictures below show the KiHa 48s of the Tadami Line, the Cream and Green car being a KiHa 48-500, and the White and Red car being a KiHa 48-1500. The main difference between them is that the KiHa 48-500 features a toilet, while the KiHa 48-1500 does not.
    upload_2021-3-3_19-34-51.jpeg
    upload_2021-3-3_19-36-0.jpeg
    JNR C11 325
    Up until 2020, when it was tranferred to the Tobu Railway, JNR C11 325 was used on the SL Aizu-Tadami services between Aizu-Wakamatsu and Koide. The design of the headboard has changed throughout the years, so I'll include pictures of the train without a headboard, and with headboards from various years.
    2000s headboard (Known to be used between 2004 and 2007)
    [​IMG]
    2011 headboard
    [​IMG]
    2015 headboard
    [​IMG]

    That pretty much sums up every train missing from the currently playable Japanese routes.
    I'm hoping that eventually DTG will be able to get a proper licencing agreement with the JR companies, and/or 3rd sector companies like Seibu, Keio, Keisei, Tobu, Tokyu, Hankyu, Meitetsu, e.t.c.
    Considering the huge number of railways there, each with a huge variety of interesting rolling stock, it seems a pity that Japan remains mostly untapped. Also, as many rural railway lines are struggling right now, some of these great routes are disappearing. Perhaps some of the 3rd sector companies, or even some of the JR companies would be willing to grant licences if it could help to save an otherwise doomed route.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2021
  2. Blacknred81

    Blacknred81 Well-Known Member

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    Ask Union Workshop, they are the only ones to touch the Japanese content for TS2021.
     
  3. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    I would, but pretty much no one knows how to contact them now that their website's down. I'm kind of hoping that someone from Union Workshop will stumble across this post.
    Other than that, I'm hoping that other groups will start working on Japanese content rather than leaving it all down to a single group, and that DTG can sort out licencing with any Japanese railway company. This can be any JR Group company, JR Group as a whole, or a 3rd sector company. Then again, JGR and JNR era routes didn't feature branding, and since the railways were nationalised pre-1987, the licencing situation shouldn't be much different to British Railways.
     
  4. fabdiva

    fabdiva Well-Known Member

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  5. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    How about tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen combined route via Seikan Tunnel. Train Types used are E5 H5 & E6 Shinkansen. Only the E5 & H5 bullet trains go all the way to Hakodate from Tokyo.
     
  6. fabdiva

    fabdiva Well-Known Member

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    Union workshop are doing an E5 - I assume they are doing the Tohoku route for it - but they are not letting on any more at this point!
     
  7. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for telling so they only did Tokyo Aomari Leg of the Combined Tohoku Hokkaido Shinkansen routes. There's also Mini Shinkansen Branch services that require E6 Shinkansen to be used.
     
  8. fabdiva

    fabdiva Well-Known Member

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    Tokyo to Aomori is probably too far for a TS route it's over 400mi (674km) - Was wondering it it would be something like Sendai to Morioka or Morioka to Aomori - Sendai to Omiya might work too but would be pushing it for distance. AIUI the E5 and H5s are used in a common pool and the H5 just differs in internal décor and a purple stripe, so the Hokkaido route could still be possible.

    Will be interested with what Union Workshop come out with.
     
  9. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    Either the Yamagata Shinkansen (Fukushima - Yamagata) or Akita Shinkansen (Morioka - Akita) would be pretty interesting.

    The Yamagata has both regular trains and Shinkansen running on the same tracks, along with some stations that are apparently quite interesting (like Toge). The Akita Shinkansen only shares its tracks with regular trains between Morioka and Omagari. The line between Omagari and Akita has cape gauge and standard gauge tracks running together.

    The Yamagata would use the E2 Series Shinkansen Variants and 400 Series Shinkansen for Shinkansen services, while local trains are operated by standard gauge 701 Series and 719 Series trains. This could be fleshed out by including AI only KiHa 100 variants that run on connecting routes.

    The Akita would use the E6 Shinkansen, and both standard and cape gauge versions of the 701 series. Cape gauge 719 Series trains also operate between Akita and Omagari. A side note is that the IGR 7000-0 seen at Morioka is another variant of the cape gauge 701 series.
     
  10. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    IIRC, I think they said that Sendai would be one of the terminuses. That would mean that it's either Koriyama - Sendai, or Sendai - Morioka.
    IMHO, Koriyama to Sendai would make sense if they wanted to do the Ban'etsu West Line, as they would have both terminuses already modelled when they make it.

    Aside from that, it would be pretty neat if they decided to release extentions of the Hidaka and Tadami Lines that allow players to drive to the actual terminuses, rather than just the station that the railway was named after.
    These routes would be Hidaka-mombetsu - Samani, and Tadami - Koide.
    This would allow for more scenarios for the existing rolling stock, and for full scenarios involving the KiHa 183-5000 and the JNR C11 that I mentioned in my original post.
     
  11. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    There is another way they can do that much shorter while still involving a bullet train that is the Hokkaido Shinkansen Aomari Hakodate via Seikan Tunnel 148.9 km 90-95 miles https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaido_Shinkansen
     
  12. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    Freight scenarios could also be done for a Seikan Tunnel Route, although that would require making the route feature 2-3 complete railway lines.

    Also, if a Seikan Tunnel route did get made, I'd also like to see a backdated pre-Shinkansen version of the Tsugaru-Kaikyo line between Aomori and Hakodate.
     
  13. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    You mean 20kv 50 hz wires pre 2016 Hokkaido Shinkansen when they made it 25kv 50 hz. Note Western Japan uses 60hz which is directly influenced by the United States General Electric Generators. One of those routes can be Sanyo Shinkansen Osaka Fukuoka.
     
  14. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    Yes, a pre-2016 version with freight scenarios using the DD51, ED79, and EH500 locomotives, and passenger scenarios using 485 Series, 785 Series, 789 Series, and E751 Series trains. Possibly also some KiHa 40 scenarios.
     
  15. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Regarding ED79 they can also do passenger duties this being the Osaka-Aomari-Hakodate-Sapporo Twilight Express sleeper train.
    [​IMG]
    In Timetable mode provided you chose ED79 you must also do cross Seikan Tunnel passenger trains like the Twilight Express and Cassopeia Tokyo Aomari Hakodate-Sapporo via Seikan Tunnel. In addition to freight duties.
     
  16. fabdiva

    fabdiva Well-Known Member

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    Problem with those is they both had dedicated and unique stock that was only used on those services. The 16 car Cassiopeia would be a lot of modelling work (Exteriors and Interiors) for 2 services in the daily timetable.
     
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  17. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for telling me about the ED79 cross Seikan Tunnel Passenger operations problem In game. so it means ED79 freight only routes if Union Workshop does the Aomari-Hakodate Seikan Tunnel Route for Train Sim 21. will the Sanyo Shinkansen 553 Kms 345 miles Osaka to Fukoka work since it will be the same length as Train Sim 21 Just Trains western Main Lines including the Bicester to Oxford Extension.
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2021
  18. dcr raptor

    dcr raptor Member

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    Theoretically, a route that long could work, although I don't see a route of that size being released as a single piece.
    It would probably be split into 3 routes, which could then be combined into a single route. Much like the Western Main Lines.
    It would probably be something like:
    Sanyo Shinkansen: Shin-Osaka - Okayama
    Sanyo Shinkansen: Okayama - Hiroshima
    Sanyo Shinkansen: Hiroshima - Fukuoka
     
  19. fabdiva

    fabdiva Well-Known Member

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    It would be best broken up - Western Mainlines was very unstable on release and while the track miles were high the scenery was pretty low quality because it was a compromise between length and detail. JT now tend to do shorter but more detailed routes.
     
  20. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for telling me that route uses N700 16 car trains to Tokyo since they have the tilting Mechanism for Toikaido Shinkansen Osaka to Tokyo. On the other hand N700-7000 & N700-8000 are the Kagoshima-Kyoto Trains. Those lack N700 16 car trains tliting function
     
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  21. Cyclone

    Cyclone Well-Known Member

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    My understanding is that Chiltern still requires an SSD to run somewhat better.
     
  22. 1253507921

    1253507921 New Member

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    Actually someone has done JNR 201 Series but the model is from TPF2.Also the train is painted to blue,7 cars set.Means it run on the Tokaido Line.(Kyoto~Nishi-Akashi).Sadly you cannot use rollsign,the driver cab only have a simple dashboard two handles.What's more you can't set the number of the carriges.The light control only have bright and red two levels.If someone can help the author maybe it'll work.The author is named MAYA08s.You can find him on twitter.
     

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