[continues from preceeding post]
Depsite the large number of cars produced, the 211 Series never managed to completely replace the 113 Series on the Tokaido Line and the 115 Series on the Takasaki and Utsunomiya lines, wich remained a consistent part of the lines' fleet well into the early 2000s.
It was only in 2000 that a definitive replacement was introduced: the E231-1000 Series, a suburban service derivative of JR East's successful E231 family. The E231-1000 Series finally replaced all 113 Series sets operating Tokaido Line services by 2006. The SaRo 124 and 125 double-decker green cars of the 113 Series' formations were salvaged and re-inserted into the 211 Series formations still in service, replacing the single-deck SaRo 211 green cars, wich were all withdrawn and scrapped by 2007.
Due to the introduction of E231-1000 Series, in the mid-2000s several Takasaki and Utsunomiya Line 211-3000 Series sets became surplus. Of these, fourteen 5-car sets (a total of 70 cars) were transferred to the Makuhari Veichle Center to replace the ageing 113 Series sets still running local services on several "Boso area" (the Boso penisnula of Chiba prefecture) lines. These had suffered for a long time from saltwater corrosion damage, as they ran close to the sea. The introduction of stainless steel rolling stock was seen as a possible solution to this problem.
Repainted in a yellow and blue livery, the fourteen 211-3000 Series sets began services on the 21st of October 2006 on five lines: the Narita, Uchibo, Togane, Kashima and Sotobo Lines. These 211-3000 Series sets were always formed as 5-car sets, with sometimes two sets being coupled togheter to form a 10-car set during rush hour services.
However, these sets were always intended as a stop-gap mesaure until a more "permanent" solution could be found. Said permanent replacement came to be in 2009 in the form of former Keihin-Tohoku Line 209-0 Series sets, refurbished and converted to 209-2000 and 209-2100 Series sets for regional services. The first 209-2000/2100 Series set entered service on the 1st of October 2009, first replacing the last surviving 113 Series set by 2011, and then later outright replacing the 211-3000 Series sets as well, wich were completely withdrawn from Boso area services with the timetable change of March 2013, their career having been relatively short and uneventful yet interesting.
Back in the Tokyo area, 211 Series sets of both the -0 and -2000 subserieses operating on the Tokaido Line were finally replaced by the E233-3000 Series in March 2012 and were subsequently scrapped, while the -1000 and -3000 subserieses were withdrawn from Ustunomiya Line services in March 2013 and from Takasaki Line services in March 2014. Surviving 211-3000 Series sets still assigned to the Takasaki vehicle center were diverted to Ryomo Line services, replacing some of the very last 115 Series sets operating in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
Many other 211-3000 Series sets were also transferred to Nagano prefecture to replace the last remaining 115 Series sets there as well. Re-formed in 3-car sets, lightly refurbished (their pantographs having been changed to a more modern single-arm type) and repainted in the pleasant "Nagano Area" light blue livery, the Nagano area 211-3000 Series sets began services on the 15th of March 2013, initially on the Oito Line, but later on the Chuo Line eastern section, the Shin'etsu Main Line and the Shinonoi Line as well.
As of today, JR East still owns 326 211 Series cars, subdivided between Nagano depot (192 cars) and Takasaki depot (134 cars).
Besides JR East, JR Central was also a crucial user of 211 Series cars. Following the success of the two 211-0 Series sets introduced by JNR in 1986, JR Central decided to order new 211 Series sets as well, however, unlike JR East, JR Central decided to do a little "reworking" of the design to better suit it's needs. Designated as the -5000 subseries, to cope with rush hour overcrowding JR Central's new 211 Series sets were built without toilets and with all-longitudinal seating. Front visibility was also improved as well, with the front window on the assistant driver's side being slightly widened. Finally, a more powerful air conditioning system was installed, with two units instead of one. The -5000 Subseries was also designed for an higher M/T ratio, 2M2T or 2M1T instead of JR East's 2M3T.
Manufactured by Nippon Sharyo (a company owned by JR Central itself), the new 211-5000 Series sets were introduced in 1988, formed as 4 and 3-car sets, for both the Nagoya and Shizuoka metropolitan areas. These new sets were painted in the same Shonan livery as JR East's Tokaido Line 211-0s. JR Central's two 211-0 Series sets were also repainted in the Shonan livery shortly afterwards. A few years after the -5000 subseries, JR Central introduced yet another 211 Series derivative: the -6000 Series. These were a handful of 2-car sets that were intended to work as "attached formations" for the -5000 Series or to run by themselves on low-ridership lines.
By 1991, JR Central had a total of 242 cars of the -5000 and -6000 subserieses, dwarfing the eight cars introduced by JNR just a few years earlier. All three subserieses were used interchangeably thruought JR Central's network, mainly on the Tokaido Line between Hamamatsu and Shizuoka and on the very busy Nagoya area section of the Chuo Main Line.
In 2005, several 211 Series sets were used to run temporary special "Expo Shuttle" services between Nagoya and Yakusa Station on the Aichi Loop Railway Line, the nearest station to the grounds of the 2005 world expo. These services ran between the 1st of March and the 30th of September.
As of today, altough having been replaced on most important services by the 313 Series, JR Central's new standard commuter train, the 211 Series still plays an important role in the Tokai area, with all cars still in service. However, replacement plans, in the form of the to-be introduced 315 Series, are already being made.
The 211 Series has also been particularily influential on several other serieses' design both pre- and post-privatization, starting from the 213 Series for western Japan rapid services, the 415-1500 AC/DC multivoltage EMU for Joban Line and Kyushu area services, the AC-only 719 Series and the JR Shikoku 6000 Series. However, there are even more subtle and widespread design influences, primarily with the bodyshell design and dimensions, wich have remained a standard for many companies for a lot of time (and for JR Kyushu and JR Central still is to this day), and, the FRP-front mask, an elegant solution pioneered by the 211 Series that has become the standard of the vast majority of stainless steel electric multiple units in Japan, starting from JR East's famous Shin-Keiretsu Densha family, beginning with the 209 Series of 1993 annd continuing to this day with the E231, E233 and E235 Serieses.
Trivia #1
Thanks to the lightweight stainless steel bodyshells, JNR's designers calculated that a five-car 211 Series in a 2M3T formation (two motor cars and three trailer cars) had the same overall performance as a four-car 113 Series in a 2M2T formation. In other words, it was possible to have an additional trailer car without hindering the train's performance, and thus without affecting the timetables, wich had been designed with the 113 Series in mind.
Trivia#2
In the early 2000s it was possible to go from Tokyo to Nagoya using only 211 Series trains: JR East's Tokaido Line trains from Tokyo to Atami and then JR Central's trains, changing at Hamamatsu or Shizuoka.
Model Trivia#1
As you might already know, this 211 Series pack is my first with fully animated doors
Model Trivia#2
With all due probability, the most "thorough" pack i've ever made - evry possible variant in evry possible livery.
Model Trivia#3
This is the first 3D model where i used model trains from my fleet as a reference - not one but two: an older Tomix 211-0 Series from the 1990s on the left and a slightly newer Kato 211-0 Series on the right.
(apologies for the humongous text - i've never done so much research on a single train as in this case!)
Depsite the large number of cars produced, the 211 Series never managed to completely replace the 113 Series on the Tokaido Line and the 115 Series on the Takasaki and Utsunomiya lines, wich remained a consistent part of the lines' fleet well into the early 2000s.
It was only in 2000 that a definitive replacement was introduced: the E231-1000 Series, a suburban service derivative of JR East's successful E231 family. The E231-1000 Series finally replaced all 113 Series sets operating Tokaido Line services by 2006. The SaRo 124 and 125 double-decker green cars of the 113 Series' formations were salvaged and re-inserted into the 211 Series formations still in service, replacing the single-deck SaRo 211 green cars, wich were all withdrawn and scrapped by 2007.
Due to the introduction of E231-1000 Series, in the mid-2000s several Takasaki and Utsunomiya Line 211-3000 Series sets became surplus. Of these, fourteen 5-car sets (a total of 70 cars) were transferred to the Makuhari Veichle Center to replace the ageing 113 Series sets still running local services on several "Boso area" (the Boso penisnula of Chiba prefecture) lines. These had suffered for a long time from saltwater corrosion damage, as they ran close to the sea. The introduction of stainless steel rolling stock was seen as a possible solution to this problem.
Repainted in a yellow and blue livery, the fourteen 211-3000 Series sets began services on the 21st of October 2006 on five lines: the Narita, Uchibo, Togane, Kashima and Sotobo Lines. These 211-3000 Series sets were always formed as 5-car sets, with sometimes two sets being coupled togheter to form a 10-car set during rush hour services.
However, these sets were always intended as a stop-gap mesaure until a more "permanent" solution could be found. Said permanent replacement came to be in 2009 in the form of former Keihin-Tohoku Line 209-0 Series sets, refurbished and converted to 209-2000 and 209-2100 Series sets for regional services. The first 209-2000/2100 Series set entered service on the 1st of October 2009, first replacing the last surviving 113 Series set by 2011, and then later outright replacing the 211-3000 Series sets as well, wich were completely withdrawn from Boso area services with the timetable change of March 2013, their career having been relatively short and uneventful yet interesting.
Back in the Tokyo area, 211 Series sets of both the -0 and -2000 subserieses operating on the Tokaido Line were finally replaced by the E233-3000 Series in March 2012 and were subsequently scrapped, while the -1000 and -3000 subserieses were withdrawn from Ustunomiya Line services in March 2013 and from Takasaki Line services in March 2014. Surviving 211-3000 Series sets still assigned to the Takasaki vehicle center were diverted to Ryomo Line services, replacing some of the very last 115 Series sets operating in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
Many other 211-3000 Series sets were also transferred to Nagano prefecture to replace the last remaining 115 Series sets there as well. Re-formed in 3-car sets, lightly refurbished (their pantographs having been changed to a more modern single-arm type) and repainted in the pleasant "Nagano Area" light blue livery, the Nagano area 211-3000 Series sets began services on the 15th of March 2013, initially on the Oito Line, but later on the Chuo Line eastern section, the Shin'etsu Main Line and the Shinonoi Line as well.
As of today, JR East still owns 326 211 Series cars, subdivided between Nagano depot (192 cars) and Takasaki depot (134 cars).
Besides JR East, JR Central was also a crucial user of 211 Series cars. Following the success of the two 211-0 Series sets introduced by JNR in 1986, JR Central decided to order new 211 Series sets as well, however, unlike JR East, JR Central decided to do a little "reworking" of the design to better suit it's needs. Designated as the -5000 subseries, to cope with rush hour overcrowding JR Central's new 211 Series sets were built without toilets and with all-longitudinal seating. Front visibility was also improved as well, with the front window on the assistant driver's side being slightly widened. Finally, a more powerful air conditioning system was installed, with two units instead of one. The -5000 Subseries was also designed for an higher M/T ratio, 2M2T or 2M1T instead of JR East's 2M3T.
Manufactured by Nippon Sharyo (a company owned by JR Central itself), the new 211-5000 Series sets were introduced in 1988, formed as 4 and 3-car sets, for both the Nagoya and Shizuoka metropolitan areas. These new sets were painted in the same Shonan livery as JR East's Tokaido Line 211-0s. JR Central's two 211-0 Series sets were also repainted in the Shonan livery shortly afterwards. A few years after the -5000 subseries, JR Central introduced yet another 211 Series derivative: the -6000 Series. These were a handful of 2-car sets that were intended to work as "attached formations" for the -5000 Series or to run by themselves on low-ridership lines.
By 1991, JR Central had a total of 242 cars of the -5000 and -6000 subserieses, dwarfing the eight cars introduced by JNR just a few years earlier. All three subserieses were used interchangeably thruought JR Central's network, mainly on the Tokaido Line between Hamamatsu and Shizuoka and on the very busy Nagoya area section of the Chuo Main Line.
In 2005, several 211 Series sets were used to run temporary special "Expo Shuttle" services between Nagoya and Yakusa Station on the Aichi Loop Railway Line, the nearest station to the grounds of the 2005 world expo. These services ran between the 1st of March and the 30th of September.
As of today, altough having been replaced on most important services by the 313 Series, JR Central's new standard commuter train, the 211 Series still plays an important role in the Tokai area, with all cars still in service. However, replacement plans, in the form of the to-be introduced 315 Series, are already being made.
The 211 Series has also been particularily influential on several other serieses' design both pre- and post-privatization, starting from the 213 Series for western Japan rapid services, the 415-1500 AC/DC multivoltage EMU for Joban Line and Kyushu area services, the AC-only 719 Series and the JR Shikoku 6000 Series. However, there are even more subtle and widespread design influences, primarily with the bodyshell design and dimensions, wich have remained a standard for many companies for a lot of time (and for JR Kyushu and JR Central still is to this day), and, the FRP-front mask, an elegant solution pioneered by the 211 Series that has become the standard of the vast majority of stainless steel electric multiple units in Japan, starting from JR East's famous Shin-Keiretsu Densha family, beginning with the 209 Series of 1993 annd continuing to this day with the E231, E233 and E235 Serieses.
Trivia #1
Thanks to the lightweight stainless steel bodyshells, JNR's designers calculated that a five-car 211 Series in a 2M3T formation (two motor cars and three trailer cars) had the same overall performance as a four-car 113 Series in a 2M2T formation. In other words, it was possible to have an additional trailer car without hindering the train's performance, and thus without affecting the timetables, wich had been designed with the 113 Series in mind.
Trivia#2
In the early 2000s it was possible to go from Tokyo to Nagoya using only 211 Series trains: JR East's Tokaido Line trains from Tokyo to Atami and then JR Central's trains, changing at Hamamatsu or Shizuoka.
Model Trivia#1
As you might already know, this 211 Series pack is my first with fully animated doors
Model Trivia#2
With all due probability, the most "thorough" pack i've ever made - evry possible variant in evry possible livery.
Model Trivia#3
This is the first 3D model where i used model trains from my fleet as a reference - not one but two: an older Tomix 211-0 Series from the 1990s on the left and a slightly newer Kato 211-0 Series on the right.
(apologies for the humongous text - i've never done so much research on a single train as in this case!)
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