User:MiasmaEternal/KiHa 54 series

The KiHa 54 is a single-car diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type that has been operated by JNR (and later by JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku) since 1986. A variant was developed for each of the two regions it operated in.

History
In 1986, just prior to the privatization of Japan National Railways (JNR) in 1987, a group of rolling stock was built to improve the management infrastructure of the Mishima companies in Hokkaido, Shikoku and Kyushu, which were expected to face financial difficulties.

The Mishima Company had a high percentage of non-electrified lines with few passengers, and many of the cars used on these lines were old and outdated. In the post-privatization rolling stock plan, in consideration of the weak management base of the Mishima Company, mainly due to its geographic and economic conditions, a new type of rolling stock was built for the area in the last fiscal year of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) budget to reduce the burden of future rolling stock replacement.

Based on this plan, the Kiha 54 was built as a 21-meter class general-purpose diesel locomotive with a double cab. In 1986, the last year of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) program, a total of 41 cars were produced by Niigata Steel Works and Fuji Heavy Industries (both companies at the time).

It is equipped with features that meet the needs of the region, such as a lightweight stainless steel body for superior weather resistance[1] and two engines to withstand gradients and snow accumulation. On the other hand, bogies, transmissions, cabs, and other equipment were reused from scrapped conventional vehicles, and general-purpose parts for buses were used for some of the equipment in an effort to optimize production costs. These designs were also adopted in the Kiha 32 and Kiha 31, which were introduced at the same time, and there are many similarities between the two models.

Shikoku cars (KiHa 54-0)
12 cars (1 - 12) were built in 1987. No toilets were installed, and there are no interior deck partitions.

The exterior paint scheme was initially a diagonal orange stripe on each side, but after JR Shikoku took over operations, the paint scheme was changed to light blue, the corporate color.

The cabin windows are large double-tiered unit windows. The passenger door is a 900mm wide folding door, and the door bag is omitted. In addition to using the door engine for buses, the doors are equipped with a speed-sensing door lock mechanism that automatically locks and unlocks upon departure and arrival. The skirt at the bottom of the front was omitted.

In addition to the same bucket seats as on the Kiha 38, a divider, which also serves as an armrest, is placed every three to five passengers between the seats to clarify the seating arrangement. No toilets are installed, and there are no interior deck partitions. The air-conditioning system is a direct-connected engine system that uses the spare output of the running engine to drive the compressor.

Hokkaido cars (KiHa 54-500)
These cars were built for use in Hokkaido, and 29 cars (501 - 529) were built in 1986. They are also capable of operating with only one of the two engines, but usually operated with both due to track conditions.

Toilets were installed for long distance journeys - these were initially Japanese-style toilets, but were eventually converted to Western-style toilets. These use gravity to feed water from tanks installed on the roof, whilst waste was stored in a floor-mounted tank (there was no space for it below the floor).

The initial seating arrangement of the general specification cars (501 - 526) was a semi-cross seat with bucket type long seats near the entry and exit platforms, the same as the Shikoku specification cars, to accommodate long distance travel. The cross-seat section was a lightweight design with independent headrests, similar to bus seats. The basic color of the moquette was orange, but yellow was used as an accent in some places.

No cooling system is provided, only fans are installed in the interior, and a push-in ventilator is placed on the roof. The heating system is a powerful system that uses the engine cooling water.

The drive system was designed to be able to stop one engine and run with one engine. However, in actual operation, two engines are used all year round, considering the track conditions in the service area. The bogie is a DT22F type with rubber-coated axle springs to prevent loss of spring function (line to line adhesion) due to snow bite on the coil springs.