EMU/DMU Bogies
A “truck”, or in British terminology a “bogie”, is the wheel assembly on a train car, consisting of the wheels, axles, bolsters and associated hardware. JR East uses a number of standard types of trucks. This page provides a partial list of those used on Japanese trains. Because of the sparsity of information, and the wide use of the same designs under JNR, I have not limited this page to those found in the Tōkyō region.
Information on this page largely comes from the wikipedia pages cited at the bottom of the page, machine-translated. As such it is doubly-suspicious and errors of detail are probable. The general picture it provides is likely correct.
Specialized Terminology
There are several Japanese terms that can be useful when searching for relevant pages (or which are just of general interest).
The Japanese term (“形台車” or “Katachi daisha”) is translated (by Google anyway) as “Dolly Form” and is the term used for a “truck” or “bogie”.
Translated as “cow catcher”, the Japanese phrase “排障器” (read as “Haishōki”) literally means something like “exclusion barrier device”, and is applied to any barrier or deflector in front of the lead truck, which may be pointed or flat (the “skirt” under the front of an E231 is sometimes referenced by this name, as is the “cowcatcher” shown in the TR246M photo below).
The phonetic phrase “ヨーダンパ” (pronounced “Yōdanpa”) is short for “yaw damper”, a shock absorber used to stabilize trucks against horizontal vibration (“yaw”) at high speed. The double-decker E231 cars require these on their trucks, and a note on the E233 page says that they’re omitted from cars with top speeds below 120 kph because another element of the truck provides sufficient damping, but the E233-3000 has them on all cars. After initial trials on the E217 120-kph cars these were removed as unnecessary.
EMU/DMU Trucks
The following models are used on self-propelled passenger cars, both Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) and Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU). Note: online information on these is somewhat sparse and many of the translations more cryptic than usual. Errors are likely.
DT46B
The DT46B was the final form of the motorized truck used on the 201-Series cars (the DT46X was used on the prototype). There are some similarities to the TR66 series of passenger-car trucks (the dual springs on each axle).
DT46B on a JR West 201-Series
Photographer: Tennen-Gas (2009)
DT61, DT61G
The DT61 is a motorized truck, used on the 209-series, and it appears to have been developed for that purpose. A version of this model is also used on the E217. The DT61G is the motorized truck used on the E231. This design was simplified from the earlier design(s) used, to reduce cost and weight, and to improve performance.
L: DT61 on 209-Series; R: DT61G on E231 (MOHA E230-3583)
Photographers: The RW Place (2011), Tennen-Gas (2011)
DT71
The DT71 is the motorized truck used on the E233 and E531 (built 2005+).
DT71 on E233 (L) and E531 (R)
Photographers: The RW Place (2009), Tennen-Gas (2009)
TR231A
The TR231A is the non-motorized truck used on the 201-Series cars.
TR231A on a JR West 201-Series
Photographer: Tennen-Gas (2009)
TR246
The TR246 is a non-motorized truck used on the 209-series, E217, and on the E231 in a variety of specialized sub-classes. It is very similar in outward appearance to the motorized DT61 used on the same trains.
TR246M: used on the cab cars of the E231-1000 (lead truck); with a “cowcatcher” to deflect obstacles.
TR246N: standard E231 truck
TR246P: used on the 6-door cars
TR246Q: used on the E231-800 cab car (lead truck); with cowcatcher and parking brake
TR246R: used on the E231-800 trailer cars
TR246S: used on the E231-800 cab car (trailing truck)
TR246T: used on double-decker E231 cars; with a yaw damper for stability
TR246 on 209-Series
Photographer: The RW Place (2011)
L: TR246T on a “green” car E231, showing yaw damper, R: TR246M on a cab car, showing “cowcatcher”
Photographers: The RW Place (2011), Tennen-Gas (2011)
TR255, TR255A
The TR255A is a non-motorized truck used on the SAHA E231 cars (series 4600) as well as on some E233 cars and the E531 (built 2005+).
TR255A on SAHA E231 Series 4600 (L) and TR255 on E531 (R)
Photographer: The RW Place (2011), Tennen-Gas (2009)
N-DT283, N-DT283HX
This is a truck used by JR Hokkaido. The only documentation is a blog entry (Japanese), and the text is unclear, but it appears to be a tilting truck (or perhaps the N-DT283HX is a tilting variant of a more normal truck). The base N-DT283 is used on the KIHA 281 and 283 and has 810mm (32”) wheels, whereas the new (as of 2006) one has 760mm (30”) wheels, it appears this is for use on the 381 (KIHA 381?) and has been tested on a KIHA 282 (or maybe it’s for a 282 and the 381 reference means something else).
E331 Articulated Truck
If this has a formal model number, I haven’t been able to turn it up. This truck is used exclusively on the E331, which is an experimental prototype of the next-generation commuter design, which has run on the Keiyo line for a number of years as a test-bed.
E331 articulated “Jacobs” bogie
Photographer: Rsa (2010)
References
E231 Parts (Japanese) - A page listing information about trucks and other subassemblies
201 Series Page (Japanese Wikipedia)
209 Series Page (Japanese Wikipedia)
E231 Page (Japanese Wikipedia)
E233 Page (Japanese Wikipedia)
E331 Page (Japanese Wikipedia)
E531 Page (Japanese Wikipedia)
