Rokuhan: the forefather of high-speed rail transport

Two end carriages and ten middle carriages: A multiple unit train can only be placed on the track and admired in its entirety on a scale of 1:220. Rokuhan has now achieved this and completely recreated the inaugural train for the Shinkansen system on 1 October 1964. The twelve-piece set of the Shinkansen Series 0 (Item No. T020-1 / Noch 7297942), which ran on that day from Tokyo as "Hikari" to Shin Osaka, is now before us as a model. It makes an extremely successful impression and shows the typical features of the first trains of this series, which was built until 1986. Characteristic are the large side windows, the original paint scheme with the blue window stripe and the slightly translucent ball of the first "bullet trains".

But that's not all, because Rokuhan has also largely reproduced the interior fittings and driver's cabs of the coaches. There is no room for figures' legs inside, but a torso behind the windows should be quite visible when mounting the factory's own interior lights. The current for this is taken from all axles via the tip bearings and once again shows an unmeasurable frictional resistance! Good driving characteristics are just as typical for this manufacturer thanks to flat-mounted bell-shaped anchor motors. This time, in view of the great length of the train, he has integrated two motor carriages into the formation.

As these trains started the high-speed rail era worldwide and the Japanese Shinkansen influenced the development also in Europe, we expect an interest in the models also in Europe and the United States. For Japan, the trains and system became a symbol of the resurgence of the economy after the Second World War as well as a flagship for high technology. In Z gauge, we will now also remember this for a long time.

A detailed test and information on the prototype will follow in Trainini 11/2023.