KiHa 33 series

KiHa 33 series
KiHa 33 1001 preserved at the Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum in May 2021
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	JR West's Gotō Works
Type of locomotive	Diesel multiple unit
Constructed	1988
Number built	2 cars
Dimensions	20,000 mm × 2,930 mm × 4,028 mm
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Prime mover	DMF13HS prime mover
Service information
In service	25 July 1988 – 13 March 2010
Formation	Single car
Number in service	None
Fleet numbers	KiHa 31 1001 – KiHa 33 1002
Scrapped	2010
Preservation information
Preserved	1 car
Number scrapped	1 car

The KiHa 33 series is a low-capacity commuter diesel multiple unit used by the West Japan Railway Company from July 1988 to March 2010.

History

The KiHa 33 series was developed in an attempt to reuse the Oha 50 series locomotive-hauled passenger cars, which were becoming surplus due to the rapid development of electric and diesel trains. JR West thought that it could potentially produce more diesel cars at a lower price than contracting other manufacturers to produce cars for them, as well as effectively utilizing the surplus passenger cars.

JR West converted two cars, Oha 50 5 and Oha 50 6, into KiHa 33 1001 and KiHa 33 1002 respectively; no more were modified due to cost reasons and JR West feeling that cost reductions from converting passenger cars into these would be negligible. These entered service on 25 July 1988 and were assigned to Yoneko Depot (currently Gotō Depot); these were mainly used on the Sakai and Hakubi Lines, as well as some portions of the San'in Main Line. The cars were removed from regular service in 2003 and transferred to JR West's Tottori Branch in 2004, where they were used on some services but not independently due to their lack of toilets; these were often coupled to KiHa 47 series cars to make a 2-car formation.

The cars were repainted into Vermillion No. 5 in 2005. With the introduction of the revised timetable in March 2010, the KiHa 33 series cars were permanently retired.

Design

The KiHa 33 series use a squared-off design similar to many other railcars of the time, with dual top-mounted headlights. The cars are painted in Vermillion No. 5 "persimmon", although they were originally painted white with blue accents.

Specifications

Construction is of steel. The cars are very similar in concept to the later KiHa 141 series cars operated by JR Hokkaido, which were also made by converting surplus passenger cars. The driver's cab is reused from the conductor's room of the passenger cars they were converted from. The cabs of the cars take advantage of the connecting portions of their donor cars, and feature ample space to fit headlights, taillights, destination indicators, a horn and windows among others.

The KiHa 33 series cars are equipped with a single Niigata Tekkō DMF13HS prime mover producing 247 HP (250 PS); as the KiHa 33 series cars use bodies originally off a passenger car, they are slightly heavier than other railcars which use the same engine and as such offer inferior performance in terms of power to weight ratios. The cars's bodies are essentially nearly unmodified from their donor cars. Notably, both cars are not equipped with toilets, similar to their donor cars. Most underfloor equipment is very similar to that of other diesel railcars produced around that time period, particularly those produced before JNR's division and privatization. Both cars were initially not fitted with pilots; those were installed in December 2006.

Preservation

The following KiHa 33 series cars have been preserved:

Car number	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Date retired	Previous sets	Location	Notes
KiHa 33 1001	Niigata Tekkō	December 1977	March 2010	N/A	Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum, Okayama, Japan	Ex-OHa 50 5