First Generation Bullet Train finds new home

[Sir Pompously]

First generation bullet train finds new home


The front carriage of the 0 Series Shinkansen train is seen in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on Wednesday.

SUITA, Osaka -- One of the first-generation Shinkansen bullet trains built in the early 1960s will find a new home -- a museum.

The head carriage of a "0" Series Shinkansen train will be displayed at the Railway Museum in Saitama after years of storage at a facility belonging to West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) in Suita.

The symbolic blue and white carriage, which was built before the Tokaido Shinkansen Line opened in 1964, was lifted out of the JR facility on early Thursday morning and was transported toward Kobe Port on a trailer.

The car is the second carriage in the 0 Series Shinkansen train ever built and was used until around 1977.

Three trains in the 0 Series still run on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line today, but they are slated to be retired at the end of November.


(Mainichi Japan) August 28, 2008

0 Series Shinkansen heads to museum

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN


2008/8/29
     
SUITA, Osaka Prefecture--A round-nosed lead car of the first-generation Shinkansen embarked on its final journey early Thursday, headed for Saitama's Railway Museum.

Hauled via ship and trailer, the car will arrive in Saitama early Sunday.

The 0 series Shinkansen, affectionately remembered for its round-nosed design, debuted in 1964 with the launch of bullet train services between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations. It was the same year that Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games. The Shinkansen became a symbol of the country's economic growth.

The last 0 series trains will go out of service at the end of November.

The 59-ton lead car was retired in 1978. (IHT/Asahi: August 29,2008)

[Irisbus Rider]

There's a mob that take their rail seriously.