(Text: Sayonara Keikyu Type 1000)
*images from Greenmax, MicroAce, Bandai poster pics and product images etc. used
The appearance of another great car will be lost.
The type 1000 of Keihin Electric Express Railway (refered to as Keikyu here after) had made its first appearance in the year 1959 in the same company. With a range of 2-car to 12-car formations, a convenient car that can freely form a
formation by the multiples of 2, up to 12 cars, and used on variety of lines of the Keikyu, from the main line to branch lines.
Also, it also ran on the Toei Asakusa Line and Keisei line etc. too!
The specialty of Keikyu, the [Rapid Express] boasts a
Top Speed of 120km/h, being able to overtake its rival, the JR Yokosuka Line!
Never losing sight of its prey, the red racer.
Having such speed, the JR Keihin Tohoku Line wont even be a match against it.
At its prime, there were 356 cars at one time, breaking the record of
greatest number of single type of train owned by a private railway.
(in the case of Keikyu type1000, it is all type1000 regardless of whether it may be the leader car, middle car, or if it has a pantograph or not etc.)
So you could say it is the
Face of Keikyu, that's what the type 1000 is.
However, the wave of the era gushes on.
With the new model successor trains being developed, the numbers of the type 1000 had slowly but surely been reduced.
The Toei Asakusa Line is right next to the Hobby Search office, but I think the last we saw of the type 1000 on the Asakusa line was in the winder of 2008.
And,
The type 1000 that had been running for over the period of roughly 50 years,
is scheduled for its end of operation on the 28th of June 2010.
At Keikyu, in honor of the work of type 1000 til now, they had
1) Sold a [Farewell Commemoration Ticket] on the 26th of June, and
2) Ran a [Thank You Train] on the 27th of June.
By the way, the photos at the beginning of this article were created from a mix of product images of items released in N-scale previously, as well as poster and packaging photos.
From Greenmax, they have brought to the world many items such as board kits, pre-colored board kits, and pre-constructed and colored kit (planned product) etc.
MicroAce has released the pre-completed products with different specification 4 times over the time.
And from Bandai, there was a B-Train Shorty released.
Greenmax (Reserve)
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Keihin Electric Express Railway (Keikyu) Type Old 1000 4-Car Formation Total Set (w/Motor) (4-Car Unassembled Kit)
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Keihin Electric Express Railway (Keikyu) Type Old 1000 Lead Car 2-Car Set for Add-on (w/o Motor) (2-Car Unassembled Kit)
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Keihin Electric Express Railway (Keikyu) Type Old 1000 Middle Car 2-Car Set for Add-on (w/o Motor) (2-Car Unassembled Kit)
MicroAce (Ready Released)
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Keikyu Type 1000 Air Conditioner Custom Car (2-Car Set)
Of course, there are other Keikyu type 1000 out there by companies we do not have here at Hobby Search, or in other scales, so I'm sure it is safe to say that this was a train loved by many people.
The actual train will be retiring,
But in the world of the railway models, you could recreate the 12-car formation rapid express, or the 4-car formation of the New Years Eve Midnight Run etc. (random selection...),
So let's keep a memory of the 50years of the type 1000!
By Kapinozuka, who prefers taking the Keikyu when travelling towards Yokohama.
p.s. For those of you who will be taking photos at the Thank You run and/or the final operation day, please keep try to have some decency and be considerate to others!