Meitetsu 3400 series

The Meitetsu 3400 series is a Japanese streamlined express electric multiple unit operated by the Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) from March 1937 to August 2002.
==History==
The 3400 series sets were some the first trains produced for the Nagoya Railroad after the Aichi Electric Railway was merged with the Nagoya Electric Railway. Designed as a new train intended to attract passengers with its streamlined appearance, an initial design was penned by Nippon Sharyo's design bureau in 1936 with help from the design team from the Aichi Electric Railway. Three two-car sets were produced in March 1937, with test runs occurring in mid-March and the sets entering service between late March and April 1937. These were introduced alongside the 850 series sets, also featuring similar streamlining.
The sets were mainly used for express services and were highly regarded for their time, with features such as high-performance traction motors, constant speed control, regenerative braking, flippable bench seating along with other new innovations. Due to changes in express service formations, additional cars were manufactured in 1950 and 1953, allowing the sets to operate in four-car formations; by 1953 all three sets were four cars long. Refurbishment began in the 1950s, with the sets having specialized equipment removed so their performance was more in line with other AL Cars. From 1967 to 1968 the sets underwent heavy refurbishment, altering the appearance of the car bodies significantly; the front streamlining however was left untouched. Further refurbishment was conducted in 1984 to allow the sets to connect to other AL Cars and operate in tandem, mainly through the addition of jumper plugs and the changing of underfloor equipment.
Due to aging and replacement of old railcars with newer railcars in an attempt to keep up with JR Central, 3401 and 3402 were retired in 1988 and scrapped. However, as the 3400 series sets were symbolic of Meitetsu evolving as a company, it was decided to preserve 3403 in operational condition, which was also in the best condition of the three. The two intermediate cars of 3403 were removed from the set and scrapped, while 3403 was renumbered to 3401; this was done by reusing some of the number plaques from 850 series set 851, which was being scrapped around that time. 3401 would operate initially in tandem with most of the other AL Cars initially but would later receive its own timetable.
3401 was not intended to serve for a long time on the Meitetsu in its new guise, with the initial plan being to retire the set once all other AL Cars were retired. However, when the set received the Evergreen Award (given to trains that had operated for a long time) from the Japan Railfan Club in 1992, Meitetsu management made the decision to maintain and operate the train as a heritage train. The set was then repainted into a two-tone green livery, with equipment restored to its original condition during time of manufacture. The set began operation as a heritage train in June 1993. Air conditioning units were fitted to the set in 1994, but careful consideration had to be made regarding the type of air conditioning unit to be used as to not ruin the train's appearance. Bogies were changed in 1997.
Due to aging, a lack of spare parts and an economic downturn, 3401 was withdrawn from regular operation on 1 October 2001. The set would operate only occasionally in charter service until it was retired on 31 August 2002, with a special headboard affixed to the set to commemorate its retirement and thus ending a storied 65-year service life. After retirement 3401 was transported to the Maigi Inspection Yard, with the bogies going to the Echizen Railway. Car Ku 2401 of the set was removed in 2006 and taken to Meiden-Chikkō Station for scrapping, leaving only Mo 3401. Mo 3401 remains preserved to this day at the Maigi Inspection Yard.
==Design==
The 3400 series sets featured a streamlined design with a single top-mounted headlight; the sets were streamlined due to the popularity of streamlined trains in general in the 1930s. Due to its appearance the sets were nicknamed Caterpillar by railfans.
The sets were initially painted in seafoam green with forest green accents and a brown undercarriage; this was later changed to tan with maroon accents when the sets were lengthened to four cars. After their major refurbishment works the sets gained Meitetsu's corporate livery of an all-over red body; 3401 would then be returned to an interpretation of its original livery in 1993, and operated in that livery until its retirement.
While 3401 was being restored to its original appearance, there were no color photographs available of the original livery; due to time constraints as the train was to be awarded the Evergreen Award for paint restoration, a number of different paint palettes were created using reference to a "color book" and interviews given by those who were alive during the time of the 3400 series's introduction in 1937. After deliberation Meitetsu concluded that the palette based on descriptions given by the "color book" was most accurate and was used as the livery.
This livery however, as mentioned, is not 100% faithful to the original livery; the original sets featured brown undercarriages while the repainted 3401 uses a medium gray undercarriage. This was done as apparently according to Meitetsu, "something didn't feel right".
==Specifications==
Construction of the cars is of steel. The sets used resistor-controlled traction systems.
Category:Electric trainsets
Category:Meitetsu trains
Category:Nippon Sharyo locomotives