More information about this car: https://www.tatemonoen.jp/english/restore/intro/outdoor.php#o08
Made in 1962
Depots: Aoyama, Yanagishima, and then Arakawa, in Tokyo
Explain: This used to serve the route from Shibuya Station to Shinbashi, Hamacho-nakanohashi, Suda-cho (Kanda), and back again. Streetcars began to disappear from the streets of Tokyo from 1963, but still run on the Arakawa line.
I’ve seen a lot of trams with a front that extends all the way down to the rails, but this “fence” kind of thing looks interesting. I wonder why they chose to build it like that. Maybe the connector thingy to attach it to another tram is behind the fence and it’s supposed to protect the connector when not in use?
Apparently the Toden Arakawa Line is a hybrid tram and light rail line, so the boarding platforms are high above the ground.
All of the older tram models have that prominent fence.
Lots of cool tram photos in the Wikipedia article, and linked articles from there, so check it out!
Thank you! Yes, it looks like a lot of them have that face. It’s always cool to see the regional differences in tram design. The basic shape is always the same, of course, but some are more blocky, others have to fit different boarding platforms, and so on.