This site is a web media that delivers all kinds of trivia, from sightseeing and gourmet spots in the six Tohoku prefectures to local, customs, and history.
It can be said that the mainstay of railways in Japan today is the " electric train Furthermore, on routes where electricity for running electric trains cannot be supplied (non-electrified routes), " diesel railcars " that run on diesel fuel are used.
On the other hand, although this has completely disappeared in recent years, during the days of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) before the establishment of JR, trains in which a powered " locomotive " pulled non-powered " passenger cars " ran in various places.
Electric trains and diesel railcars are vehicles that can move on their own, so with very few exceptions, they are not pulled by locomotives for commercial operation. However, on the Tohoku Main Line during the days of the Japanese National Railways, a train formation was operated that was strange even for the time: a locomotive pulling passenger cars was connected to the back of the train, and they were pulled together. The name of this train was... as it was a local train, it did not have a specific nickname, but the train number was " 539. "
The introduction of coupled passenger and diesel trains
The "strangely-formed 539 train" was born on the Tohoku Main Line in October 1968, during the so-called "Yon San To" timetable revision (though "non-strange 539 trains" existed even before then, as 539 was merely the train's number). It departed Morioka Station in Iwate Prefecture at 7:10 AM, traveled north along the Tohoku Main Line (this section is now the Iwate Galaxy Railway Line), and arrived at its terminus, Numamiyauchi Station (now Iwate-Numamiyauchi Station), at 7:53 AM. The journey took 43 minutes from start to finish, covering a distance of 32 km, making it a short distance for a train operating on a major trunk line at the time. The train number, simply 539, indicates that this was a passenger train pulled by a locomotive.
On the way from Morioka Station, there was a train coupled to train 539 until it arrived at Koma Station at 7:36. This train, called train 927D, was detached from train 539 upon arriving at Koma Station, and after seeing off train 539 departing Koma Station at 7:40, it departed Koma Station at 7:44 and entered the Hanawa Line, arriving at Odate Station in Akita Prefecture at 10:33. Train numbers ending in D indicate that the train is a diesel railcar.
Judging from the train numbers, it seems that trains 539 and 927D are trains that run from Morioka Station to Komagasaki Station, consisting of a locomotive pulling passenger cars and a diesel railcar coupled together. And that is indeed the case.
Train 539 composition
The formation of trains 539 and 927D around 1978 was as follows:
At the front of the train is the ED75 electric locomotive, which was used mainly on the Joban Line and Tohoku Main Line to pull a wide range of trains, from local to express and freight trains, and could be said to be the main locomotive in the Tohoku region at the time.
Four passenger cars followed behind the locomotive. They were Suhafu 42, Oha 47, Suha 43, and Ohafu 61. All of them are known as old-style passenger cars.
This is the train that runs directly from Morioka Station to Numamiya Station
Three diesel railcars, which are self-propelled and do not need to be pulled by a locomotive, were attached to the back of the passenger cars and ran together to Komaga Station. The diesel railcars used were the Kiha 52, Kiha 55, and Kiha Uni 26.
The Kihauni 26 series is a railcar that carries mail and baggage in addition to passengers, and it seems that a Kihauni was usually attached to the rear of this train. Between Morioka Station and Komagatake Station, the diesel car's engine was running (probably to provide electricity for lighting, etc.), but it was idling, and the locomotive in front pulled both the car and the passenger cars. This was the first time the train had moved under its own power since being separated from Train 539 at Komagatake Station, and it was heading for Odate Station on the Hanawa Line as Train 927D.
■ A story about mixed trains Until 1982, mixed trains of passenger cars and diesel railcars pulled by ED75 cars were in operation on the Tohoku Main Line. The 539 train departing Morioka at 7:11 had the last three cars detached at Komaga Station along the way, with the passenger train continuing to Numamiyauchi and the three diesel railcars becoming Hanawa Line train 927D bound for Odate. Why not recreate this with TOMIX? https://t.co/bXVuunsRcwpic.twitter.com/kwRqXNbYP0
— TOMIX Official Public Relations: Tateishi Ayame (Railway Girl) (@tateishi_ayame) October 7, 2024
Why did this strange train formation come into being?
As of 1968, local trains on the Tohoku Main Line running through Iwate Prefecture were mainly operated by passenger cars. On the other hand, most local trains on the Hanawa Line, except for morning and evening trains, were operated by diesel railcars. Therefore, it is not particularly strange that Train 539 is a passenger train and Train 927D is a diesel railcar.
However, even during the days of the Japanese National Railways, when many trains that would be unthinkable today were in operation, it is said that there was no other example of a train in which a passenger train and a diesel train were coupled together in commercial operation like this. Why were these two trains coupled together until part of the way?
When two trains with different destinations run coupled together, the time they occupy the tracks is shorter than when the two trains run separately, which has the advantage of making it easier to increase the number of trains. In fact, in the Tohoku region at the time, there were many trains, mainly express trains, that would split into two along the way or merge into one. Among these, there were even trains that are still talked about today, such as the express "Rikuchu" that connected Sendai Station in Miyagi Prefecture with Miyako Station in Iwate Prefecture (and even Akita Station in Akita Prefecture at times), due to the complexity of both the route and the splitting and merging that occurred along the way.
It is thought that coupled passenger and diesel trains were born in this way. Before the Tohoku Shinkansen opened, the Tohoku Main Line was a major artery with a wide variety of trains, from local to express and limited express trains, and even freight trains. During the morning rush hour, there was probably not enough capacity to run local trains on the Tohoku Main Line and local trains that run directly from Morioka Station to the Hanawa Line via the Tohoku Main Line separately, or it was deemed more efficient to run them coupled together, which is why the strange train formation that runs to Komagasaki Station, where the Hanawa Line branches off, was born.
The existence of a train combining passenger and diesel railcars was apparently well-known among railway enthusiasts; the late, renowned travel writer Shunzo Miyawaki wrote in his book "The Longest One-Way Ticket Journey" that he had planned to ride and photograph this train in 1978. However, the sleeper express "Yuzuru" he took for a night trip from Ueno Station in Tokyo to Morioka Station was delayed by nearly two hours, meaning he ended up completely missing the 7:11 AM departure of trains 539 and 927D from Morioka Station. As an aside, the delay of the "Yuzuru" was due to a freight train locomotive breaking down at Ayase Station on the Joban Line, specifically within Tokyo, blocking the tracks for an extended period of time, which was extremely unfortunate for Miyawaki.
A locomotive, passenger car, and diesel railcar train still in operation today
It can be seen that coupled passenger and diesel railcar trains have disappeared from the timetable for November 1982. The direct diesel railcar train on the Hanawa Line, train 1927D, departing Morioka at 7:10 and arriving Odate at 10:30, remains, and is almost the same as before the timetable revision. However, train 539 on the Tohoku Main Line has disappeared, and a new passenger train, train 529, has been introduced, departing Morioka at 7:14 and arriving Kita-Fukuoka (now Ninohe) at 8:33.
This timetable revision was implemented in conjunction with the full-scale opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen. With the opening of the Shinkansen, the parallel Tohoku Main Line train operations were reorganized, and it was decided that it was no longer necessary to operate coupled with the Hanawa Line direct diesel trains.
However, there is still a train in operation today that combines a locomotive, passenger cars, and diesel railcars for a completely different purpose.The "stove train" is operated in winter by Tsugaru Railway, a private railway company in Aomori Prefecture, and as the name suggests, potbelly stoves are lit inside the passenger cars.
A separate stove ticket is required to ride the stove train, so diesel railcars used on regular trains are coupled with passenger cars for passengers who do not need stoves. This is how the current strange train formation was born, with a diesel locomotive, passenger cars, and diesel railcars coupled together (the diesel railcars are not detached along the way, as was the case with the former Tohoku Main Line Train 539).
the Tsugaru Railway stove train is a diesel locomotive, the next two are passenger cars, and the last car is a diesel railcar.
In recent years, stove trains have been operated without the use of locomotives, with passenger cars being pulled by diesel railcars, but this is also a rare form of operation nationwide
A stove train pulled by a diesel railcar
For more information on the charms of the Tsugaru Railway, please see this article
![28017333_l](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/28017333_l-150x150.jpg.webp "The trajectory of the Joban Line express train "Hitachi", which has been at the mercy of the times but has played a role in connecting the Pacific coast of Tohoku [Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture]")
![04_MG_8461](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/04_MG_8461-150x150.jpg.webp "The disappearing super local line "Nicchu Line" [Fukushima Prefecture]")
