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The ''Asia Express'' ( ja, アジア号, translit=Ajia-gō, ) was a super express passenger train operated by the South Manchuria Railway (''Mantetsu'') from 1934 until 1943. This
limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common ...
, which began operation in November 1934 and was Mantetsu's most iconic train, operated in
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
between
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...
and
Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...
, and was extended to
Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
in 1935.The Asia Express '' Locomotives International'' issue 125 June 2020 pages 60/61 The ''Asia Express'' featured several world firsts, such as fully enclosed, air-conditioned carriages, and was envisioned as being the first step in building a network of high-speed trains extending as far as Singapore. In addition to showcasing
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese technology, it served as a symbol of technology and modernism in
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
, and was used to demonstrate the success of Japan's imperial project. It was featured prominently on fliers, posters, and even postage stamps, and Manchukuo children's textbooks included passages about it. Reporters from the United States rode the inaugural train, complimenting it on its speed and luxurious comfort, and praised Mantetsu's efforts at developing Manchukuo.


History

When
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
was established in 1932, a railway line owned by the South Manchuria Railway (''Mantetsu''), the
Renkyō Line The Renkyō Line (連京線; in Chinese Lianjing Line, ''Liánjīng Xiàn'') was the primary trunk line of the South Manchuria Railway from 1907 to 1945. The line ran between Dalian (Dairen) and Changchun (Xinjing). The rights to manage this r ...
, connected the capital,
Xinjing Xinjing may refer to: *'' Heart Sutra'' or ''Xinjing'' (心經), a Chinese-language sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism Places in China * Changchun, the capital city of Jilin, known as Xinjing (新京) during the Manchukuo era (1932–1945) * Xinjing Tow ...
, to the major port city of
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...
, where ferries connected to Japan; to bring service on this line up to the world standard, the ''Asia Express'' service was devised. Planning and development was carried out in a relatively short period of time between 1933 and 1934. A contest was held to name the new train, and ''Asia Express'' was selected from amongst 30,066 submitted entries. An accident on 30 October 1938 at Taipingshan killed one crew member and seriously injured two, but there were only slight injuries amongst the passengers. In July 1941, the Kwantung Army ordered the temporary suspension of the ''Asia Express'' due to special exercises. Service was resumed in December of the same year, but on 28 February 1943, due to Japan's deteriorating situation in the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, the ''Asia Express'' was discontinued, and the equipment was reassigned to other duties; some of the passenger carriages were converted to hospital cars. After the war, some of the passenger carriages were taken to the Soviet Union, but the locomotives and remainder of the carriages were taken over by the
China Railway China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout Ch ...
. Some of the locomotives and carriages are still in existence today.


Service

The ''Asia Express'' was the fastest train in Asia, reaching maximum speeds of up to , with an average speed of - faster than the Japan National Railways' limited express trains in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. At the time the "Asia" entered service, the fastest train in Japan, the '' Tsubame'', had a maximum speed of and an average speed of , and even after the war, the fastest trains in Japan reached only until the introduction of the Shinkansen. Travel time between Dalian and Xinjing was 8 hours 30 minutes, the service was extended from Xinjing to Harbin in September 1935, and travel time over the was 13 hours, an average of 72.5 km/h (45.1 mph). The level of service on the ''Asia Express'' was high. The carriages were air conditioned and had on-board refrigerators. The dining car featured meals prepared aboard the train, and employed Russian waitresses, who, amongst their other duties, prepared the "Asia Cocktail" devised especially for the ''Asia Express''. There were two variants of the Asia Cocktail, the Green based on vodka with peppermint liqueur added, and the Scarlet, made with Cognac and grenadine syrup.


Rolling stock

The locomotives used to haul the trains were known as the ''Pashina'' (パシナ) class. They were designed by 37-year old engineer Nobutaro Yoshino, who had also designed the ''Pashiko'' class locomotive and constructed by Kawasaki and Mantetsu's Shahekou Works in 1934 and 1936. The
Kawanishi Aircraft Company was a Japanese aircraft manufacturer during World War II. History The company was founded as Kawanishi Engineering Works in 1920 in Hyōgo Prefecture as an outgrowth of the Kawanishi conglomerate, which had been funding the Nakajima Aircraft Co ...
provided assistance in the design of the streamlining. As the ''Pashina'' class was too heavy for use on the line north of Xinjing, the ''Asia Express'' was hauled by China Railways SL6, ''Pashiro'' class locomotives between Xinjing and Harbin. The consist was made up of lightweight, streamlined passenger carriages designed expressly for use with this train and built at the Shahekou Works. Trains were generally made up of six carriages - following the locomotive, one Teyu8 (テユ8) type baggage/mail car, two Ha8 (ハ8) type third-class coaches, one Shi8 (シ8) type dining car, one Ro8 (ロ8) type second-class coach, and one Ten'i8 (テンイ8) type first class observation carriage. Occasionally, longer trains were run, adding equipment such as an I8 (イ8) type first-class coaches or an additional Ha8 coach as required. In order to minimise weight, these carriages made extensive use of aluminium and magnesium fittings, and the semi-monocoque bodies were made using sheet steel of high tensile strength imported from Germany. These carriages featured sealed windows and were fitted with skirts to reduce wind resistance, and they were welded instead of riveted, further reducing their weight, and they rode on 3-axle roller bearing bogies. All the carriages, with the exception of the baggage/postal car, were also equipped with air-conditioners copied from one unit imported from Carrier Global, Carrier in the United States. Although the issues were eventually solved, the air conditioners were initially problematic, with one newspaper commenting that the heat in the train in the summer was "more like Africa than Asia". Mantetsu achieved a world first through the use of lightweight, streamlined, air-conditioned carriages with sealed windows on the ''Asia Express'' - it wasn't until 1938 that such cars entered service in the United States, on the New York Central's ''20th Century Limited'' and the Pennsylvania Railroad's ''Broadway Limited'' express trains; although the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Columbian (B&O train), Columbian'' was the first in the world to use air conditioned stock from 24 May 1931, followed by the B&O's ''Capitol Limited (B&O), Capitol Limited'' and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's ''George Washington (train), George Washington'' in 1932, these earlier trains used refurbished, heavyweight cars. In addition to the air-conditioning, the luxurious carriages featured on-board refrigerators, and the observation carriage contained a salon complete with leather chairs and bookshelves.


Recognition and legacy

The popularity and name-recognition of the ''Asia Express'' was very high in Manchukuo and Japan, being one of the most recognisable symbols of Manchukuo and Mantetsu in the 1930s and early 1940s, and remains symbolic of the region and the time period to this day. In addition to a wide array of books and magazine articles written about Mantetsu in general and the ''Asia Express'' in particular, it is frequently mentioned in books about Manchukuo, and is often referenced in fiction, in both prose and manga; there are entire novels set aboard the train. The ''Asia Express'' remains in Japanese consciousness even now, with items as diverse as USB memory sticks and Zippo lighters bearing its image being marketed. It has also been featured in video and DVDs, both those specifically about the railway and the train itself, and those more generally about the area or history, as well as in movies and anime. Models of the train have also been sold in both HO scale, HO (by Katsumi) and N scales (by MicroAce).


Gallery

File:Super Express Asia.jpg, ''Asia Express'' engine File:Asia Express.jpg, ''Asia Express'' File:Couches in China Railway Museum.jpg, A Ten'ine2 type observation carriage on display in the China Railway Museum. This design was used on the ''Tairiku'' express train (Busan–Beijing), but is similar to the Ten'i8 type observation carriage used on the ''Asia Express''. The primary difference is the shape of the observation window. File:Locomotive for Asia Express South Manchuria Railway.jpg, Manchukuo postage stamp featuring the locomotive パシナ981 File:South Manchuria Pashina 973.jpg, Mantetsu ''Pashina'' class locomotive パシナ973 at its trial run File:Mantetsu-pashina981_(pashina12).png, Mantetsu ''Pashina'' class locomotive パシナ981


See also

*Harbin-Dalian high-speed railway


References


External links

* {{in lang, ja}
大陸支配の尖兵「満鉄」と「あじあ」号
Named passenger trains of China Railway services introduced in 1934 Railway services discontinued in 1943 Rail transport in Manchukuo 1934 establishments in China 1943 disestablishments in China