is the nickname for the high-speed test trains that are used on the Japanese

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

("Bullet Train") dedicated express passenger train routes. The trains have special equipment on board to monitor the condition of the track and

overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...

, including special instrumented

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

s and observation blisters. The "Doctor" part of the name is from their test and diagnostic function, and the "Yellow" part comes from the bright yellow color they are all painted. Some have a blue waistline stripe, some a green one. The original color scheme of yellow with a blue stripe (applied to the Class 921 track-recording cars) was created by reversing the colors (blue with yellow stripe) used on

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

track-recording cars. In build and appearance, they are very similar to production, passenger carrying Shinkansen trains, and line inspection is carried out at full line speed (i.e. up to on the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 19 ...

List of Doctor Yellow trains past and present

For Tōkaidō and
Sanyō Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...

* Non-powered track recording cars (Yellow with blue stripe): ** 921-1: Built in 1962 (initially numbered 4001), and withdrawn in 1980. ** 921-2: Converted in 1964 from former MaRoNeFu 29-11 sleeping car, and withdrawn in 1976. *

0 series 0 series or 0-series may refer to: * 0 Series Shinkansen, a Japanese train series * Zero batch, pre-production run in product manufacturing * Zero (Italian TV series), an Italian drama * ''Zero'' (Singaporean TV series), a 2004 drama See also ...

type (Yellow with blue stripe): ** 922-0 (Set T1): 4-car set converted in 1964 from the prototype set ( class 1000 Set B) built in 1961, and withdrawn in 1976. ** 922-10 (Set T2): 7-car set owned by

JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical r ...

. Built in 1974 and withdrawn in 2001. ** 922-20 (Set T3): 7-car set owned by

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...

. Built in 1979 and withdrawn in 2005. * 700 series type (Yellow with blue stripe): ** 923 (Set T4): 7-car set owned by JR Central. Delivered in 2000. ** 923-3000 (Set T5): 7-car set owned by JR West. Delivered in 2005. File:922 T2 Gifu-Hashima 19981011.jpg, JR Central Class 922 set T2, October 1998 File:Doctor-yellow.jpg, JR West Class 922 set T3, October 2004 File:923-0 T4 20130428.jpg, JR Central Class 923 set T4, April 2013 File:923 shinkansen T5 20080728.jpg, JR West Class 923 set T5, July 2008

For Tōhoku, Jōetsu, Hokuriku, Yamagata, and Akita Shinkansen

* 200 series type (Yellow with green stripe): ** 925/0 (Set S1): 7-car set owned by

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

. Delivered in 1979 and withdrawn in 2001. ** 925/10 (Set S2): 7-car set owned by JR East. Converted from former Class 962 test train in 1982 and withdrawn in 2002. * E3 series type (White with red stripe) ** E926 (Set S51): "East i" 6-car set owned by JR East. Delivered in August 2001. File:925 sendai untensyo.jpg, Class 925 set S1, 1987 File:925-10 S2 Takasaki 20020925.jpg, Class 925-10 set S2, September 2002 File:TypeE926.jpg, E926 East i train, August 2020

Interior (Class 923)

File:Dr.yellow1号車.JPG, Interior of car number 1 used to inspect signalling, communications and power File:Dr.yellow2号車.JPG, Interior of car number 2 used to measure electricity File:Dr.yellow3号車.jpg, Observation window in car number 3 File:Dr.yellow5号車.JPG, Seats in car number 5 File:Dr.yellow6号車.JPG, A meeting table in car number 6

Preserved examples

Doctor Yellow 922-26 T3 SCMaglev and Railway Park

* 922-26 (ex-set T3, built 1979 by Hitachi) at

SCMaglev and Railway Park The is a railway museum owned by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Nagoya, Japan. The museum opened on 14 March 2011. The museum features 39 full-size railway vehicles and one bus exhibit, train cab simulators, and railway model ...

, Nagoya, since March 2011

In popular culture

Seeing as the schedule for this train is not made public, sighting is based purely on luck. It is therefore considered to bring good luck to anyone fortunate enough see it in operation.

References

External links

{{Shinkansen Shinkansen train series Non-passenger multiple units Track recording trains