JR Shikoku 8000 series

The JR Shikoku 8000 series is a tilting Japanese limited express electric multiple unit operated by the Shikoku Railway Company since September 1992.
==History==
The 8000 series was the first limited express electric multiple unit designed for the then-newly formed JR Shikoku. The sets were built over six years from 1992 to 1998; the first set, S1, was delivered to JR Shikoku in March 1992 and entered service on 19 September that year on revenue earning services, with more sets entering service over the next few years. Set S1 achieved a speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) during a test run and received a commemorative graphic painted on its side; this graphic has since been removed.
A total of six three-car sets and six five-car sets were built, totaling twelve sets. All forty-eight cars are in service, all based at Matsuyama Depot. The sets are normally used in 5+3 car formations on Ishizuchi and Shiokaze services. Set S3 and S6 have been repainted from their normal liveries into special liveries; set S3 is painted into a special Anpanman Train livery, while S6 is painted in a livery resembling that of the TRA EMU800 as part of a friendship agreement signed on 25 February 2016 by JR Shikoku and the Taiwan Railways Administration.
==Design==
The 8000 series uses a slightly streamlined body style. The sets have unpainted bodies with orange, red or blue accents depending on the car. The sets have two ends; a streamlined end and a gangwayed end.
==Specifications==
Construction is of stainless steel. Each car is 22.6 meters long, 2.82 meters wide and 3.36 meters high. Traction motors are gate turn-off thyristor variable frequency drives; pre-production set S1 uses Tōyō Denki Seizō GTO drives which produce a raspy roar while the remaining sets use Toshiba two-level GTO drives which produce a melodic wail. Set S1 is one of only two train types in the whole of JR's fleet that use Tōyō Denki Seizō gate turn-off thyristor inverters; the other is the entire fleet of JR East's E127 series sets.
The sets use a tilting mechanism that is controlled by a computer, but of different specifications for pre-production sets and full-production sets; set S1, the pre-production set, uses a curved bearing-guide tilting mechanism, while the remaining sets use a roller guide tilting mechanism instead. The system allows them to tilt up to five degrees around curves.
==Gallery==
8000 S4 GW 2024.jpg|Gangwayed end
==References==
*Wikipedia.org
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Electric trainsets
Category:Hitachi locomotives
Category:Nippon Sharyo locomotives
Category:Tilting trainsets