The 285 series, branded the Sunrise Express, is a Japanese limited express electric multiple unit operated jointly by the Central and West Japan Railway Companies since July 1998.
History[]
Branded the Sunrise Express, the 285 series has been used as a dedicated train on Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto services on various lines starting from 10 July 1998. Five seven-car sets were built for a total of thirty-five cars. Each of the five sets is used on a specific Sunrise Izumo or Sunrise Seto service; set I1 is used in either service, set I2 forms the up Sunrise Seto, set I3 forms the up Sunrise Izumo, set I4 forms the down Sunrise Izumo and set I5 forms the down Sunrise Seto.
The Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto services operate in a unique fashion. Two seven-car sets will be coupled together to form a fourteen-car set at Tokyo which leaves the station at 10pm JST; from there, the combined fourteen-car train will reach Okayama Station at approximately 6:27am JST and will split off into their respective directions (the Sunrise Izumo goes to Izumoshi Station in Shimane Prefecture and the Sunrise Seto goes to Takamatsu Station in Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku Island).
Similarly, on the return trip, the two 285 series sets on the Sunrise Izumo and Sunrise Seto services leave their respective stations at 6:55pm and 9:26pm JST respectively, meeting and coupling back together at Okayama Station and departing at 10:33pm JST; the combined fourteen-car set will arrive back in Tokyo at approximately 7:08am JST.
All 35 cars are in service, all of which ply the Sunrise Izumo or Sunrise Seto service and are based at either Ōgaki or Gotō Depot.
As the 285 series sets were voted as the most outstanding design of that year, it is the recipient of the 1999 Blue Ribbon Award.
Design[]
Color | Color name | Supposed to evoke: |
---|---|---|
Morning Glow Red | Color of the sun as it rises | |
Morning Mist Beige | Interpretation of the morning mist | |
Sun Rise Gold | Color of the horizon as the sun rises |
The 285 series uses a somewhat streamlined design with a "morning mist beige" body to emulate the color of the morning mist of sorts, with a "morning glow red" part of the body to emulate the glow of the sun as it rises, in addition to "sun rise gold" accents to emulate the horizon.
Specifications[]
Construction is of steel. Cars are 21.67 meters long and include gangways on both ends. Traction motors are three-level insulated gate bipolar transistor variable frequency drives manufactured by either Mitsubishi or Toshiba; the Mitsubishi variable frequency drives making a a wooshing sound that steps up in pitch when accelerating from idle while the Toshiba variable frequency drives make a more shrill sound.
The 285 series is equipped with a musical horn that plays a simple do-mi-so-do tune. This musical horn is standard on most of JR West's limited express fleet.
References[]
JR West rolling stock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Active | AC EMUs | Shinkansen: 500 • 700 • N700 • N700S • W7 Non-revenue Shinkansen: 923 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DC EMUs | Commuter: 103 • 105 • 113 • 115 • 117 • 123 • 125 • 201 • 205 • 207 • 213 • 221 • 223 • 225 • 227 • 321 • 323 Limited Express: 271 • 273 • 281 • 283 • 285 • 287 • 289 • 381 Non-revenue: 145 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dual-current EMUs | Commuter: 521 Limited Express: 681 • 683 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DMUs | Commuter: KiHa 40 • KiHa 120 • KiHa 121/126 • KiHa 122/127 Limited Express: KiHa 187 • KiHa 189 Non-revenue: KiYa 141 • KiYa 143 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Hybrid DEMUs | Charter: 87 Non-revenue: DEC700 • DEC741 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawn | AC EMUs | Shinkansen: 0 • 100 • 300 Non-revenue Shinkansen: 922 • 500-900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DC EMUs | Commuter: 42 • 83 • 84 • 101 • 211 Limited Express: 165 • 167 • 183 Non-revenue: 90 • 91 • 213/223-9000 • 441 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dual-current EMUs | Commuter: 413 • 415 • 419 • 455 • 457 • 471 • 475 Limited Express: 485 • 489 • 583 Non-revenue: 443 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DMUs | Commuter: KiHa 33 • KiHa 35 • KiHa 37 • KiHa 45 • KiHa 52 Express: KiHa 58 • KiHa 65 Limited Express: KiHa 181 Non-revenue: KiYa 191 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Hybrid BEMUs | Commuter: DGBC2 |
JR Central rolling stock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Active | AC EMUs | Shinkansen: N700 • N700S | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DC EMUs | Commuter: 211 • 213 • 311 • 313 • 315 Limited Express: 285 • 373 • 383 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DMUs | Commuter: KiHa 11 • KiHa 25 • KiHa 75 Limited Express: HC85 Non-revenue: KiYa 95 • KiYa 97 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawn | AC EMUs | Shinkansen: 0 • 100 • 300 • 700 Non-revenue Shinkansen: 922 • 923 • 955 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DC EMUs | Commuter: 12 • 103 • 105 • 113 • 115 • 117 • 119 • 123 Limited Express: 165 • 371 • 381 Non-revenue: 90 • 145 • 193 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
DMUs | Commuter: KiHa 30 • KiHa 40 Express: KiHa 58 • KiHa 65 Limited Express: KiHa 80 • KiHa 85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Future | DC EMUs | Limited Express: 385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Maglevs | Maglev: L0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Proposed | AC EMUs | Shinkansen: Super Hikari Model |
JR rolling stock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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