About

"Shin-Nippon Rolling Stock Modification Factory" — The Showa Era Vehicle Revitalization Project — Newly established, the "Shin-Nippon Rolling Stock Modification Factory" is a facility specializing in large-scale modifications of electric trains, diesel cars, passenger coaches, and locomotives manufactured during the Showa era. The factory's philosophy is "to breathe new life into old vehicles rather than discarding them." Retired vehicles from railway companies across the country, broken-down cars, and units sidelined due to parts shortages are brought here one after another to undergo unprecedented "extreme modifications." As it has just opened, the factory's facilities are still being expanded, but state-of-the-art machine tools, welding equipment, bogie maintenance bays, and control equipment testing rooms are coming online one by one. Veteran engineers and young designers and mechanics have gathered here, continuing their challenge under the motto: "We will make any vehicle run, no matter how old." The modifications are incredibly bold. It is not uncommon to swap out internals for the latest VVVF control systems while keeping the Showa-era body intact, or to add air conditioning and barrier-free facilities, or even combine components from entirely different models. In some cases, plans are underway to change the very purpose of the vehicle, such as converting a commuter train into a sightseeing train or a maintenance vehicle. Since it is newly opened, its track record is still small, but rumors are starting to spread among railfans and railway companies that "vehicles judged as scrap by other companies have returned to commercial service." On the factory grounds, Showa-born vehicles wait quietly for their turn, blueprints are redrawn daily, and new modification plans are born. This place is set to make a name for itself as a "specialized extreme modification factory," rare even in Japan, giving the famous cars of the Showa era a stage to perform once again.