Class kiha52-0
Background and overview
2-engined DMU train developed by Japanese National Railways (JNR) are class kiha50 prototype vehicles, shorter bogie centre distanced class kiha51, and class kiha55 built for semi-express service use were all single-ended vehicles. In the contrary, double-ended DMU vehicles which can run on steep gradients were desired. Thus, JNR developed 2-engined and 2-ended DMU, class kiha52-0, in 1958.
Car body
For the installation of 2 prime movers, they have 21300mm long and 2803mm wide bodies, 1300mm longer than the other kiha20 series vehicles. In addition, the distance of the bogies centre is 14400mm, 600mm longer than the other kiha20 series vehicles. They incorporate 1.6mm thick plate for the body skin and the roof and pressed forming beam to realize a lightweight body. The cab end is gangwayed, having a gangway door and flat windscreens on each side of the gangway door. A headlight is fitted above the gangway door and two taillights are fitted below the windscreens. They are equipped with the cabs at the ends of the body, two 850mm wide single leaf stepped doors, door case windows and 930mm wide double-hung windows, both the upper and the lower sashes of which move up, between the doors, and a 930mm wide and a 625mm wide double-hung windows at the end of the body. They are equipped with two exhaust pipes of the prime mover at the centre of the passenger room. They are also equipped with a water tank located across the aisle from the toilet on the floor because the underfloor having two prime movers is too congested. Door operating equipments, TK5, allowing hand operation to open and automatic operation to close are fitted on the door header of the sliding doors. They feature tight lock automatic couplers. Their livery is blue with a beige wide band around the side windows.
Bogies
The bogies are DT22A employing swing hanger construction, coil springs as bolster spring, and pedestal type journal supporting system. The gear ratio of powered bogies is 2.976. The bogie employs single-tread brake rigging.
Traction unit and ancillary equipments
They are powered by two four-cycle straight-eight diesel prime movers, DMH17B, with a power output of 180PS, mounted beneath the floor. They are equipped with two hydraulic transmissions of Lysholm-Smith torque converter transmission, TC2, of Shinko Engineering employing six-member three-stage torque converter and single-plate dry clutch, or DF115 of Niigata Converter employing six-member three-stage torque converter and multi-plate wet clutch beneath the floor. They are also equipped with two air compressors, C400, powered by a prime mover. The brake system is the automatic air brake (DA).
Accommodation
They have a mixture of longitudinal bench seating located immediately inside doors and transverse seating bays with 1470mm seating pitch. The seating is covered with pile covering. The passenger saloons feature incandescent lighting arranged in 2 rows. Class kihayuni25 features combustion heater located on the floor and water heating located beneath the floor. On the contrary, the other vehicles feature combustion heaters. Their cab is a compartment type located at the left side of the train. They are also equipped with a Japanese style toilet located the rear of the body.
Additional delivery
Vehicles built in December 1960 onward feature improved prime movers, DMH17C, with a power output of 180PS and new two-tone vermilion and beige livery. In addition, the shape of the tight lock automatic coupler was changed, and the spring draft gear was changed into rubber draft gear.
Modifications
Class kiha52-600
Kiha52 4, 7, 29, and 31 received the modifications with the conversion of the transverse seating bays located front half to longitudinal bench seating and the addition of folding doors located at the centre of the passenger room and immediately front the front door to divide the passenger room into post office area, baggage area, and the passenger room temporarily in 1967 and 1980 and were classified into -600 subclass.
Additional installation of electric fans and replacement of lighting
Some vehicles commenced to receive modifications with the additional installation of electric fans and the replacement of incandescent lighting with fluorescent lighting in 1966.
Replacement of headlight
Some vehicles commenced to receive the modification of the replacement of the headlight from an incandescent light bulb for sealed beam lights in 1973.
Reinforcement of the cab end
Some vehicles commenced to receive the modification of the cab end reinforcement with fitting the cab end with additional 4.5mm or 6mm thick plates by welding to minimize the damage from against level crossing collision accident in 1975.
Class kiha52-100
Background and overview
Kiha80 series DMU developed in 1960, kiha58 series DMU, and kiha35 series DMU developed in 1961 employed the horizontally mounted prime mover, DMH17H, which the maintenance door on the floor was not needed and this prime mover was standardized for JNR's DMU trains. On the contrary, while kiha20 series had still employed the vertically mounted engine, when class kiha52 vehicles received the changes with the installation of fluorescent lighting and the water heating, they adopted horizontally mounted engine in 1962 and were classified into -100 subclass.
Car body
They have 21300mm long and 2803mm wide bodies with 14400mm distance of the bogie centres. They incorporate 1.6mm thick plate for the body skin and the roof and pressed forming beam to realize a lightweight body. The cab end is gangwayed, having a gangway door and flat windscreens on each side of the gangway door. A headlight is fitted above the gangway door and two taillights are fitted below the windscreens. They are equipped with the cabs at the ends of the body, two 850mm wide single leaf stepped doors, door case windows and 930mm wide double-hung windows, both the upper and the lower sashes of which move up, between the doors, and a 930mm wide and a 625mm wide double-hung windows at the end of the body. They are equipped with two exhaust pipes of the prime mover inside the cabs. They are also equipped with a water tank located across the aisle from the toilet on the floor because the underfloor having two prime movers is too congested. Door operating equipments, TK5, allowing hand operation to open and automatic operation to close are fitted on the door header of the sliding doors. They feature tight lock automatic couplers. Their livery is vermilion with a beige wide band around the side windows.
Bogies
The bogies are DT22C employing swing hanger construction, coil springs as bolster spring, and pedestal type journal supporting system. The gear ratio of powered bogies is 2.976. The bogie employs single-tread brake rigging.
Traction unit and ancillary equipments
They are powered by two four-cycle flat-eight diesel prime movers, DMH17H, with a power output of 180PS featuring one-piece crank case. These prime movers are mounted with the car body by means of the rubber mounts. They are equipped with hydraulic transmissions of Lysholm-Smith torque converter transmission, TC2A, of Shinko Engineering employing six-member three-stage torque converter and single-plate dry clutch, or DF115A of Niigata Converter employing six-member three-stage torque converter and multi-plate wet clutch beneath the floor. Fluid used on the torque converter is changed from lighter oil into torque converter oil. The connection position of the same solenoid box and the heat dissipation oil circuit to the car body are consolidated between TC2A and DF115A. They are also equipped with two air compressors, C400, powered by prime movers. The brake system is the automatic air brake (DA).
Accommodation
They have a mixture of longitudinal bench seating located immediately inside doors and transverse seating bays with 1470mm seating pitch. The seating is covered with pile covering. The passenger saloons feature fluorescent lighting arranged in 2 rows. They feature water heating. Their cab is a compartment type located at the left side of the train. They are also equipped with a Japanese style toilet located the rear of the body.
Additional delivery
Electric fans were introduced to vehicles built in October 1964 onward.
In addition, reinforcement of the corner posts and the gangway connection base columns were introduced to vehicles built in October 1965 onward for the counter measure of level crossing accident.
Furthermore, an oval shaped window for the toilet. was introduced to vehicles built in September 1966 onward.
Modifications
Class kiha52-650
Kiha52 138 received the modifications with the conversion of the transverse seating bays located front half to longitudinal bench seating and the addition of folding doors located at the centre of the passenger room and immediately front the front door to be able to divide the passenger room into post office area, baggage area, and the passenger room temporarily in 1967 and were classified into -650 subclass.
Additional installation of electric fans
Some vehicles commenced to receive modification with the additional installation of electric fans in 1966.
Replacement of headlight
Some vehicles commenced to receive the modification of the replacement of the headlight from an incandescent light bulb for sealed beam lights in 1973.
Reinforcement of the cab end
Some vehicles commenced receiving the modification of the cab end reinforcement with fitting the cab end with additional 4.5mm or 6mm thick plates by welding to minimize the damage from against level crossing collision accident in 1975.
JR East
Special maintenance work
Two class kiha52-100 vehicles received special maintenance work including refurbishment of wall panel, gutters, and piping in the cab, the replacement of the floor panel, and the repairment of the body skin over the period from February 1988 until March.
Prime mover replacement
JR East commenced to undergo evaluation testing of the next generation prime mover to replace superannuated DMH17 in January 1988. However, shortly thereafter, a train fire of kiha58 series occurred. For this reason, the prime mover replacement programme commenced in March 1990. DMF11HZ of Komatsu Ltd. with a power output of 300PS, DMF13HZ of NIIGATA ENGINEERING CO., LTD. with a power output of 300PS, and DMF14HZ of Cummins INC. were featured for the prime mover replacement and their power output was limited to 250PS because existing hydraulic transmission gear and propeller shaft were reused.
Refurbishment Programme
The refurbishment programme commenced for some vehicles received from JNR to extend their life and improve the accommodation in 1990. This programme includes refurbishment of the skin, the roof, and the gutters, replacement of the wall and ceiling panels of the passenger room, replacement of the side doors with new ones to name a few.
Installation of a chemical holding tank
Vehicles allocated Niitsu and Morioka depots received the installation of a chemical holding tank for a Japanese style toilet.
JR West
Modification for conductor less operation
Vehicles used on the Etsumi-North and Kisuki lines received the modifications with installation of the ticket machine located beside doorways, and the fare chart seven segment display and the fare box located behind the driver's cab, the conversion of the transverse seating bays to longitudinal bench seating frontward of the front side door and the removal of the transverse seating bays backward of the rear door over the period from January 1990 until May to introduce conductor less operations.
Air conditioning modification
Vehicles used on the rural services on the Etsumi-North line were modified to be additionally equipped with an air conditioner, WAU203, driven by their prime mover rated at 206,000kcal/h over the period from March 1990 until May.
Operations
Class kiha52 had been used on "Inawashiro" express services linking Sendai and Aizu-Kawaguchi/Aizu-Tajima and "Karakuni" semi-express services linking Izumi-Miyazaki besides rural services on unelectrified lines having steep grad routes excepting Hokkaido.
At the splitting of JNR into the privatized JR companies, JR East received 30 vehicles, JR West 12, JR Shikoku 3, and JR Kyushu 27 in 1987.
Vehicles received by JR East had been used on the rural services on the Tadami, Aizu, Iiyama, Yonesaka, and Banestu-West lines to name a few. However, they had been replaced with kiha58 series DMU or kiha110 series DMU. Eventually, vehicles used on the Yonesaka and Banetsu-West lines had been replaced with kiha110 series DMU in 2009 and completely scrapped in 2011.
Vehicles received by JR West had been used on the rural services on the Oito, Etsumi-North, and Kisuki lines. However, they were gradually replaced with class kiha120 and remaining vehicles used on the Oito line had been replaced with class kiha120 vehicles and completely scrapped in 2010.
Vehicles received by JR Shikoku had been used in Matsuyama area. However, they had been completely withdrawn in 1989.
Vehicles received by JR Kyushu had been used on the rural services on the Houhi, Hita-Hikosan, and Hisatsu lines. However, they had been replaced with kiha200 series and kiha47 series DMU and completely scrapped in 1999. |
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