House fire by tracks disrupts bullet train services

Glad the lady got out, but shame about the house.

I'm surprised to see the top of the train looks so dirty though - a case of out of sight (normally), out of mind?

Poor woman - a terrible loss of her home and all her possessions. Very upsetting for her.

@Zichi.....Nice to acknowledge the positive in this one. Whoever worked the fire obviously was dealing with a challenging situation. I also noticed the condition of the adjacent buildings, especially to the left and rear. They may have had prevailing winds helping but still....they must have done one heck of a job. Kudos to those fire fighters.

Like Wow. So tragic.

zichiToday  04:37 pm JST

Looks like the fire service did a great job to keep the fire to one building.

Agreed. I can hardly imagine what it must be like to live so close to a burning building and have your home come out unscathed.

JonathanJoToday  04:32 pm JST

I'm surprised to see the top of the train looks so dirty though - a case of out of sight (normally), out of mind?

I imagine it's a cost/benefit ratio. Shinkansen sides are mostly flat and can be cleaned with those rotary drive-through washers, and people see them all the time so keeping them clean makes a good impression. The top of a shink though is irregular with those pantographs that stick up, so you can't just run it under an automatic scrubber. You could pay a person to climb up and hand wash it, but that would cost a lot in labor and given that the public so rarely sees the top of a train, what would be the benefit?

The next monsoon should get it clean.

Regarding the dirty top of the train, they're all filthy up top. No judgement there, but go stand and look out the pedestrian overpass at Hamamatsucho and you'll see what I mean.

The photo would suggest that train service was disrupted so ol' Casey Jones could stop his iron horse next to the fire so his passengers could get a good view.

I get why the service would stop, but I'd think that perhaps not stopping the choo choo train RIGHT NEXT TO THE DARN FIRE might be a better idea.

I get why the service would stop, but I'd think that perhaps not stopping the choo choo train RIGHT NEXT TO THE DARN FIRE might be a better idea.

Are you not confusing "stopping" with photograph?

Im really impressed with Shinkansen safety. More than half century in service, not a single fatal crash even during Tohoku earthquake.

I too was surprised at the dirt on top of the train. having stayed in a number of hotels, on the higher floors, I could see the train tracks clearly so with many high rise building it would be viewed often by many people.

Cleaning them would reduce drag and provide employment and could be done driving through a special area with stairs up to a platform on both sides of the train allowing them to be cleaned as they move through slowly at the end of every month.

They seem to get everything else perfect why stop at the roof?

About the dirty roofs, the picture at the link below shows some trains with clean roofs and others with dirty roofs. Perhaps they are cleaned, but less frequently than the sides. (Or is a special coating applied to the roof?)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2574300808_1da414c4a5.jpg

Surprised Japan doesn't have a train wash

Always good to see no loss of life, not sure if hanging out by the fire is necessarily the best idea.

regarding the shinkansen dirty roofs, its not so much dirt as it is abrasion. All bullet trains suffer from it, as dirt picked up by wind and stuff will scratch it. The reason the sides are not noticable is that they frequently get painted. The top, outside of the passengers vision, doesnt get repainted as often. There just isnt a need too. All trains are like this, not just shinkansen.

@sf2k I am sure they do have washes, i bet that they get washed quite often,