249. A cool platform edge signage showing you the train is about to arrive – and from which direction.pic.twitter.com/J6jm9jaoyr
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And for trains without reserved seats, there are still interesting systems. Here, each door position was labeled with a symbol, and my train was announced as “queue up anywhere you see a triangle.” So much better than an enigmatic “board center.” *cough*BART*cough*pic.twitter.com/aKuA4RBauN
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258. By the way, it was cool to queue up for a train called Thunderbird. (Other fav name: Eveningliner.)pic.twitter.com/jnmiOalZLF
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259. I liked this consistent visual language for priority seats on one of commuter lines.pic.twitter.com/nosrYBeGL0
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260. This cool little UI shows you how far your train is from the current station in a way that reminded me of old videogames.pic.twitter.com/AFNY82YL49
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261. This perplexed me. A map on a train with two sliding transparent sections. Do they serve a purpose? Do they prevent people from touching the map itself and damaging it?pic.twitter.com/7BhsYx148H
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262. The best/fastest trains are the famous Shinkansen, or bullet trains. I have to say, seeing giant Shinkansen signage leading to my first trip was THRILLING.pic.twitter.com/jrB3OeFF5O
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263. Here are a few that I went on. (The first photos have someone on the platform who takes care of controlling the train? They always had a red umbrella-like thing of undetermined purpose.)pic.twitter.com/B8F3vFqH9I
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264. Someone compared Shinkansen to “wingless airplanes,” but I swear the Shinkansen I rode on had wings.pic.twitter.com/u7HscoccZO
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265. The trains run so often, and so precisely, that I had an 8-minute layover on the same platform, and in that small period of time there was ANOTHER Shinkansen passing through. …which I learned about the hard way (by boarding the wrong train).
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I was also once on a Shinkansen crossing a river, seeing another Shinkansen crossing the same river on another bridge, and – in between the two of us – yet another bridge being ready for yet another train. That was incredible.
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266. Small surface details: A little arm rest tray by the window, plus the actual big tray has a raised edge so that things can’t escape easily.pic.twitter.com/R8ZeUsFU3Z
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267. This design for a cup holder was clever – it extended only when needed, and also it locked in place, so it was pretty stable.pic.twitter.com/hO1ulJHwQR
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268. I also saw this cute set of retractable hooks, for both the aisle seat and the window seat, I assume?pic.twitter.com/eF0TEXlioj
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269. All the seats always face the direction of travel, although you can rotate your pair to sit family-style. (I’ve been told that when the train reverses at the terminal, all the seats are rotated automagically from the control panel, which would’ve been AMAZING to witness.)pic.twitter.com/nvyqqOtnou
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270. Among my proudest achievements was, during one brief train stop, running out to the platform vending machine LIKE A PRO to grab something quickly…pic.twitter.com/BeUnfbSZKE
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271. …an achievement relatively quickly undermined by the realization that there are vending machines on the train too, OF COURSE.pic.twitter.com/nMj67ob73F
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272. In a weird reversal of pretty much all of my life, this train restroom was much better than most stationary ones. (Flushing without touching! And something I nicknamed “ButtOn.”)pic.twitter.com/s2FRxG10dh
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273. Some Shinkansen even accommodated two… flavours of doing… things.pic.twitter.com/too5CfaUeW
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274. I also went to see the Kyoto railway museum, which was really awesome. Some of its interior design (look above) even resembled a train.pic.twitter.com/Gv7h9WA0OU
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275. A few amazing moments in that museum. First: Sitting in the cabin of the original 1960s Shinkansen train.pic.twitter.com/s4sIJuX3lQ
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276. Second: They had a powered train where you could press the actual buttons to get the pantograph up and down!pic.twitter.com/KBbPl1XLrJ
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…which was sort of a dream of mine. (My grandpa worked at the railways.)pic.twitter.com/GOnFTpQolz
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277. Third: I also touched the very wire that pantographs grab to get electricity! (And survived to tell my story.)pic.twitter.com/907P9paQOa
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278. Fourth: This really cool, heavy, and loud button with massive springs inside went up and down and opened/closeed the train doors.pic.twitter.com/wfsBhfVxW0
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279. Fifth: You can ride on the rail bike! If you’re over 120cm tall. Which I am! BTW this is not a photo of me. :·)pic.twitter.com/LXz6MSOFjV
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280. Sixth: I ate some ice cream in this 1958 dining car, now moored and converted into a restaurant.pic.twitter.com/rsCByPRRk2
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281. Also! Also!!! They had an actual split-flap display with the original control panel. You have NO IDEA how excited this made me.pic.twitter.com/fqXWwHJ3U2
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I spent so much time with it and figured all of it out (incl. some of its bugs) – at the end I was giving the Japanese people tips. That was really awesome. I really want to have one now.pic.twitter.com/llD1uLPt33
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282. I saw these beautiful diagonal line train schedules at a museum (incl. a plotter that drew them!) and I assumed they were obsolete/vintage… but then I saw them in actual use on a commuter train!pic.twitter.com/4wcfW9maNP
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283. This was a cool idea: putting a little camera atop a model train, and allowing kids to ride them, the view making model trains feel more like real trains.pic.twitter.com/dAL6kZgFMM
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