DOWNLOAD

This is a reskin of Keinchiro’s 113 Series upgraded by Hirochi. All the necessary dependencies are included in this package or are avaible on the DLS.

By the early 1980s, the steeply graded and very difficult Minobu Line was still operated by a mix of pre-war, wartime and post-war stock of various different serieses (30, 31, 32, 40, 42, 50 etc…), along with a minority of KuHa 66 and MoHa 62 Series trains, wich were 113 Series bodyshells with bogeys, motors and traction equipment salvaged from scrapped post-war 62 and 72 Series EMUs.

At the time JNR could no longer delay the introduction of new stock on the line, and so, in 1981, the first new trains in almost 40 years were introduced: 115-2000 Series trains (the -2000 Subseries dentoted trains fitted with special brakes for steeply graded lines such as the Minobu Line itself and better snow protection mesaures).
Entering service in the same year, formed in -4 and -3 car sets and fitted in an unique wine red livery with a cream band, the 115-2000s replaced the pre-war to post-war stock by the end of 1981, and in 1984 they also replaced the KuHa 66 and MoHa 62 Serieses.

With the privatisation of JNR in 1987, the Minobu Line was handed over to JR Central, with it’s now-uniform fleet of 115 Series trains being expanded by the arrival of repainted (not without a few mishaps) and modified ex-Nagoya Area 115s, wich had been replaced by the 311 Series, JR Central’s first suburban EMU design.

Also after the privatization, the wine red Minobu Line livery started being replaced with the “standard” Shonan one.

The 115 Series served for a long time on the Minobu Line without particular troubles, but by the mid-2000s, JR Central was replacing most of it’s JNR-designed trains with it’s own 313 Series, wich can be considered as the 113/115 Serieses’ spiritual successor, due to it’s similar rounded appearance and it’s versatility.

313 Series trains were introduced to the Minobu Line on the 7th of August 2006, formed in 2-car sets for one-man operation or in -3 and -4 car sets for rush hour services, they completely replaced the 115 Series by early 2007, with the last set running for the final time on the 17th of March.