The was an

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

(EMU) train type operated by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) from 1961 until 1980. They were originally designed for and used on school excursion trains running between Tokyo and the Nagoya area via the Tokaido Main Line.

Exterior

Broadly based on the earlier 155 series trains, the 159 series trains were also initially painted in the JNR excursion train livery of "lemon yellow" and "light scarlet".

Formations

The fleet consisted of one 8-car and two 4-car sets, formed as shown below, and based at Ogaki Depot in

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

8-car set

* The MoHa 154 cars were each equipped with one lozenge-type

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

4-car sets

* The MoHa 158 cars were each equipped with one lozenge-type pantograph.

Key

* Tc: driving trailer * T: intermediate trailer * M: intermediate motor with control equipment * M': intermediate motor

History

The 159 series sets entered service from 2 April 1961 on school excursion services running on the Tokaido Main Line between

Shinagawa Station is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkan ...

in Tokyo and Ogaki Station in Aichi Prefecture. Trains carried headboards on the front with the name of the train. An additional four-car set was delivered in 1962 to allow 16-car formations to be run. The ''Komadori'' school excursion services were discontinued in 1973, and the 159 series were reassigned to use on "rapid" limited-stop services and charter train services, repainted into the ''Shonan'' livery of orange and green. The entire fleet was withdrawn from service by fiscal 1980. No 159 series vehicles have been preserved.

References

{{JNR EMU Electric multiple units of Japan Japanese National Railways Train-related introductions in 1961 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan :ja:国鉄155系・159系電車