Pacific Rim – 09: Streamlined Design Movements among the Pacific

: Wake, Okayama, Japan. Mar 27, 1991

Streamlined design movement also rose here in Japan in the ’30s. Streamlined steam locomotives, electric locomotives, RDCs, and EMUs were introduced in the decade.

Here is one of the streamliners still surviving in Japan. This RDC is Kiha-702 of Katakami Railway. She was one of the former Japanese National Railways’ Kiha-07 series RDCs first produced in 1935. There seems no evidence that this streamliner was inspired by UP’s M-10000 (1934) or CBQ’s Zephyr (1934), but it resembles 20th Century Limited’s tapered end parlor car (1938).

Compared with 20th Century Limited’s five windows in a parabolic plan, she has six in a circular plan. Compared with Zephyr’s nose, her supposed slant nose might have given in to the passenger’s space. Still more, her sides have no idea of this trend. Accordingly, she may be called a poor man’s streamliner.

Katakami Railway was abandoned in 1991. Remnants including a depot and several types of equipment are now preserved at the former Kichigahara Station at Misaki, Okayama. Kiha-702 is included in the equipment and still active today.

Society preserving Katakami Railway equipment (Japanese only);



: Wake, Okayama, Japan. 1990


1930年代は、鉄道車両にとって「流線型」の時代であった。アメリカのみならず、世界中で流線型が流行った。日本においても様々な流線型車両が登場した。その生き残りのひとつがこの車両である。

これは国鉄キハ07型気動車・片上鉄道キハ702である。アメリカUPのM-10000やCBQのZephyrから遅れることわずか一年、1935年に製造が開始されている。

形状的には1938年に登場するNYCの20th Century Limitedの最後尾車両に似ている。しかし、20Th Century Limitedが放物線状のプランを用いて、平面ガラスをうまく曲面に馴染ませているのに対し、わがキハ07は半円型にとどまっている。定員確保のためだろうか前面も垂直で、よく言えば限りある中で精一杯やった、悪く言えば貧弱なデザインだと思う。