100 Series Shinkansen

The 100 Series Shinkansen is a Japanese high-speed electric multiple unit operated by the Japanese National Railways and its successor companies the Central Japan Railway Company and the West Japan Railway Company from October 1985 to March 2012. These were the second generation of Shinkansen sets to operate in the western regions of Japan.
==Design==
A major difference is the pointed nose that this series has over earlier models. Though the most important change was that not all the units (or cars) were powered on the 16-car sets. The head and tail cars aren't powered, nor are the two bi-level cars in the center. Later sets had powered head and tail cars, while four unpowered bi-level cars in the center.
The 100 Series sets can be recognized by their more pointed bullet nose, though not to be confused with the 200 Series' H sets; the "bullet-nosed" 200 Series Shinkansen sets were built much later.
==Variants==
There is one pre-production set numbered X1 (originally X0). It entered evaluation trials in 1985 and was withdrawn from service in March 2000. It differs from production sets by having smaller windows and very slightly slanted headlights.
===X sets (1986-2000)===
These are 16-car sets that entered service in June 1986 as four 12-car sets. They were converted into 16-car sets that October. The bi-level cars were; a restaurant on the upper deck and small buffet on the lower deck, for the first of the two; and Green class passengers in private compartments on the lower deck and open-plan Green class passenger accommodation on the upper deck. The restaurant cars were no longer used after 1998 and the fittings were removed later, and after October 1999, those sets that hadn't been retired were put on holiday period (summer) services. The last X sets were withdrawn in October 2000.
===G sets (1988-2003)===
Fifty of these 16-car sets were built from 1988. They were used for the Hikari service only, but later they were commonly seen running the Kodama service on the Tokaido line. They were withdrawn in September 2003.
===V sets (1988-2002)===
These 16-car sets originally ran the Grand Hikari, but by May 2002 they were running Hikari services only. In 2000 two V sets, V1 and V6, where redesigned into 4-car P sets to replace two 0 Series R sets as Kodama services on the Sanyo line. The last service run by the V sets was a special "Sayonara Grand Hikari" service in November 2002.
===P sets (2000-2011)===
These 4-car sets were introduced in October 2000. As written above in the V sets section P1 was created from V1, as with P2 and V6. P3 and P4 were created by utilizing unused surplus G set cars. P1 was the first to get a new coat of paint in August 2002. This is the "fresh green" Kodama livery, and by March 2005 the entire fleet of P sets (P1-12) were painted in this new livery. The last P sets were withdrawn on March 11, 2011.
===K sets (2002-2012)===
These 6-car sets were formed in January 2002 when the first (K51) was built. These sets originally had the "fresh green" Kodama livery, similar to the P sets and the old Kodama 0 Series sets, although by June 2011, they were repainted back into their original ivory livery with blue accents. Set K55 operated the last service hauled by a 100 Series Shinkansen, Hikari 445, on 16 March 2012.
==Specifications==
Construction is of steel, with the end cars being 26 meters long and the intermediate cars being 25 meters long. Top speed was 230 km/h (140 mph). It used the 25 kV AC, 60 Hz power grid.
==Preservation==
The following 100 Series Shinkansen cars have been preserved:
Car number	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Date retired	Previous sets	Location 	Notes
123-1 	Hitachi 	July 1986 	June 2000 	G1, X2 	SCMaglev and Railway Park, Nagoya, Japan	Ex-first production set X2, originally stored at Hamamatsu Works
168-9001 	Kinki Sharyo	March 1985 	March 2000 	X0, X1 	SCMaglev and Railway Park, Nagoya, Japan	Ex-pre-production set X1, bilevel dining car coupled to 123-1; originally stored at Hamamatsu Works
122-5003 	Hitachi 	June 1989 	March 2012 	V3, K54 	Kyoto Railway Museum, Kyoto, Japan 	Ex-122-3003, ex-K54, one of the last two operational sets; originally stored at Hakata Shinkansen Depot
122-5009 	Kinki Sharyo	December 1991 	October 2011	V9, K58 	Kinki Sharyo, Osaka, Japan 	Ex-122-3009, stored within Kinki Sharyo's premises; not usually open for public viewing
The following 100 Series Shinkansen cars were preserved in the past but have since been scrapped:
Car number	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Date retired 	Previous sets	Location 	Notes
121-5006 	Kinki Sharyo	December 1990 	November 2009	V6, P2 	Hakata Shinkansen Depot, Hakata, Japan	Complete 4-car set, used for training purposes at Shin-Shimonoseki Practical Training Center from February 2009 to April 2013; scrapped late 2013
126-3030 	Kinki Sharyo	December 1990 	November 2009	V6, P2 	Hakata Shinkansen Depot, Hakata, Japan	Complete 4-car set, used for training purposes at Shin-Shimonoseki Practical Training Center from February 2009 to April 2013; scrapped late 2013
125-3706 	Kinki Sharyo	December 1990 	November 2009	V6, P2 	Hakata Shinkansen Depot, Hakata, Japan	Complete 4-car set, used for training purposes at Shin-Shimonoseki Practical Training Center from February 2009 to April 2013; scrapped late 2013
122-5006 	Kinki Sharyo	December 1990 	November 2009	V6, P2 	Hakata Shinkansen Depot, Hakata, Japan	Complete 4-car set, used for training purposes at Shin-Shimonoseki Practical Training Center from February 2009 to April 2013; scrapped late 2013
168-3009 	Hitachi 	December 1991 	November 2002	V9, V2 	Hakata Shinkansen Depot, Hakata, Japan	Bilevel dining car, struck from register in July 2010; scrapped July 2024
179-3009 	Hitachi 	December 1991 	November 2002	V9, V2 	Hakata Shinkansen Depot, Hakata, Japan	Bilevel dining car, struck from register in July 2010; scrapped April 2024
==Gallery==
100 X1 2000.jpg|Pre-production set X1 in March 2000
File:100 K59 Sanyō 2010.jpg|Set K59 in February 2010
File:100 122-5003 2023.jpg
File:100 123-1 2023.jpg
File:100 168-9001 2022.jpg
==References==
*Wikipedia.org
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