The Tomamu & Sahoro Express was a charter-only higher-speed service run by a converted KiHa 80 series diesel multiple unit operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company from December 1987 to October 2002. The set was one of six purpose-built diesel railcars for JR Hokkaido at Naebo Works.
History[]
The Tomamu & Sahoro Express (or Tomasaho for short) was conceived in 1987 after the success of the Alpha Continental Express and complement it as the sets were intended to be used in between Sapporo and Tomamu. To do this, three cars, KiHa 80 160, KiHa 82 80, KiHa 82 86 and KiHa 80 166, were converted at JNR Naebo's Works and renumbered KiHa 84 101, KiHa 83 102, KiHa 83 101 and KiHa 84 102 respectively. The set entered service on 19 December 1987, plying the Sapporo-Tomamu routes. A fourth car, KiShi 80 29, was then converted into KiShi 80 501 and added to the set in April 1988 to make a full 5-car set. Notably, the set was operated in Shikoku for a special limited time event in 1989. This marked the only time a KiHa 80 series car could be seen in Shikoku.
The set continued service until winter 1998 due to a decrease in skiers and two of the cars removed to form a three-car set and scrapped, and it remained so until the end of its service life. In 1999, the set was repainted into a forest green livery and renamed Mount Lake, and was used on various services such as the Mount Lake Onuma and Mount Lake Mashū until August 2002 when it was repainted back into the Tomasaho colors. From 14 September that year, special runs celebrating the set's retirement were conducted in various parts of Hokkaido. The set conducted one final run on 14 October 2002 before going into permanent retirement; with the retirement of the Tomasaho, all KiHa 80 series cars had retired from service.
The set was subsequently towed to Naebo Works, where one car was scrapped. The remaining two cars, KiHa 84 101 and KiShi 80 501, were stored at Naebo Works for many years after their retirement until 2013, when they were scrapped.
Design[]
The Tomasaho featured a unique streamlined design with a smooth curvy front end. The cars featured a "high decker" design with a lowered driver's cab so passengers can see the tracks ahead. The train was painted with an white base coat with orange and dark brown accents.
Construction is of steel. Performance statistics are largely identical to that of the KiHa 80 series cars these were converted from; this article will still detail some additional statistics about the cars.
The cars feature dynamic braking. While the front features a similar design to the Alpha Continental Express and Furano Express sets which preceded it, the front of the Tomasaho set is much more curved as opposed to have a steep rake. To reproduce the look of aerodynamic body parts on a car's body kit, the set features a protruding block from the underframe where a front coupler would be as well as a front pilot. Passenger doors were only present on one side of the car.
The general design of the interior of the cars was done up in largely gray, similar to that of the previous Furano Express set. The reclining seats featured folding tray tables. Each of the seats featured an AV device, a 3-inch LCD television behind each of the seats and multi-channel stereo on the armrest. The television screens were able to display the scenery in front of the train through a video camera located in the driver's cab. While the Furano Express employed a color film on the windows to prevent excessive sunlight, roll-up curtains were used on the Tomasaho. Due to the way the windows were constructed, baggage racks were not present; instead, baggage storage and ski storage were located at the ends of each car.
