merpmonde

Latest Posts by merpmonde

"Those red cars were the bane of my existence" - 2000-2004 Ferraris

When Aidan Millward said something along those lines in a recent video, I felt it, because as a Häkkinen fan in the late 90s and early 2000s, Ferrari and Schumacher were the adversary. And like Aidan does in his videos, I have to admit that, looking back, they were only that insufferable because they were that good. The ultimate adversary of sorts, with generational talents in driving, managing and engineering under one roof: Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, Nigel Stepney...

It took a few years and a few attempts, but in 1999, Ferrari won their first Constructors' championship since the early 80s, with Schumacher's first Drivers' title in red, and the first for Ferrari in 21 years, came a year later, with the F1-2000 pictured on the left. The momentum had built up, and for the next four years, the well-oiled machine that was the Scuderia with the aforementioned people in charge, were consistent contenders, always in the conversation to win races and championships... though more often that not, they were the only ones in the conversation. 2001, 2002 and 2004 were write-offs if you weren't Michael Schumacher. 2003 (F2003-GA on the right) was a closer affair, as a tyre war allowed McLaren and Williams to get close to breaking the streak.

But it didn't happen, and Ferrari won Drivers' and Constructors' doubles for five straight years, something no-one had done before, and only an equally dominant Mercedes has done since. All five cars were on display together at the Museo Ferrari in Maranello - the set-up may have changed, but I expect all five to still be shown in some capacity. After all, 2000 to 2004 were Ferrari's best years, even though, as someone who wasn't a Ferrari fan, they didn't feel like F1's best years.

The first race car I supported: the McLaren MP4/13-Mercedes

Aidan Millward, a YouTuber who talks a lot about racing history and current affairs, recently went to an exhibit at Silverstone and came face to face with the first Formula 1 car he supported, Damon Hill's 1996 championship-winning Williams FW18-Renault. Which reminded me: I've met my first F1 hero too.

The Formula 1 season I remember paying attention to more or less in full was 1998, and the driver I supported - as you usually start in sport by supporting someone before growing more neutral when they leave - was Mika Häkkinen. Like Hill two years earlier, Häkkinen was in a car designed by Adrian Newey, who had changed teams in 1997, and he won the championship with it. The McLaren MP4/13 has a wonderful shape, and the black, silver and white with red accents is an unmistakable turn-of-the-millennium livery.

This car can be found at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, courtesy of McLaren's engine partner of the time. On the racing floor of this very complete museum, well worth the visit, the MP4/13 is in fine company: Mercedes's other F1 champions from the 1950s with Fangio and since 2008 with Hamilton, Sauber Group C sportscars, the CLK-GTR, DTM touring cars, race trucks (yes that's a thing), and many more...

The Osaka Monorail

The final post in this mini-series on the Osaka Expo 70 Commemoration Park is the obvious: how does one get there? Considering the Expo was all about bringing together the world's shared (or non-shared) visions of the future, the Monorail seems perfect! Except this line wasn't launched in time for the Expo - it was a later project, opened in 1990.

The straddle-beam monorail links Osaka Airport to Kadoma, and is due to be extended by the end of the decade. A short branch line pops out just to the East of the Expo 70 Park station, so a visit to the park is also a chance to see some mighty impressive sets of monorail points either side of the station, as the West side (above) also connects to the depot.

Expo 70 Japanese Garden

While most of the pavilions of the 1970 World Expo at Osaka were demolished, a very large exhibit was preserved: the Japanese garden. Located in the North of the enormous Commemoration Park, it's designed as a stroll through the ages, with four sections inspired by different periods, Ancient, Medieval, Modern (Edo period) and Contemporary - kind of like the zones from The Crystal Maze, just without the puzzles and Richard O'Brien.

From rock gardens to ponds and rolling hills, from a bamboo grove to wisteria and maple trees, it hits the notes you'd expect from a summary of Japanese landscape styling, but allows one plenty of room to contemplate each tableau - I'm emphasised how big the overall park is, but the Japanese garden alone covers 26 hectares.

One of the few gripes I have with Koishikawa Kôrakuen, my favourite garden in Tokyo, is that some buildings are close and large enough to appear in the background. With the Expo pavilions gone however, most views in this park don't have that problem. Only the Tower of the Sun and the Osaka Wheel are able to rise above the park in this view towards the South.

Been a busy bee today, so here are some animals from the Expo 70 Commemoration Park.

The Tower of the Sun

With another World Expo underway at Osaka this year, a massive park to the North of the city (actually in the neighbouring city of Suita) sits on the site of the first Japanese World Expo in 1970. There's usually some form of centrepiece: in 1889 it was the Eiffel Tower, and at Osaka Expo '70, it was the Tower of the Sun.

It is a massive sculpture by Taro Okamoto, which it was possible to climb into to view another work called the Tree of Life. As it was going to have people inside, it needed a lightning rod - that's what the top face (officially a mask, but I tend to call it the "bird face" - whose eyes light up at night apparently) is sporting. The three faces on the back, front and top represent humanity's past, present and future respectively, though some art critics and historians have a more bleak interpretation due to Okamoto's larger body of work and stance against technological progress, something the Expo would put emphasis on.

Similarly to the Eiffel Tower, the Tower of the Sun was supposed to be a relatively ephemeral structure, and nearly all the Expo pavilions around it have been demolished. Like the Eiffel Tower, it was avant-garde and no doubt not everyone liked it. But this building is one of the few to be preserved, and requires regular attention - again, like the Eiffel Tower which needs periodic repainting. In any case, the Tower of the Sun is one of Osaka's most iconic landmarks.

Feeling rather non-committal today, so here are some flowers from the Expo '70 Commemoration Park near Osaka. This is probably going to start a mini-series because the place is huge, so more information will come later.

Sarreguemines station

One more border station between France and Germany, with a bit of a twist. Sarreguemines in Lorraine is, as its name suggests, on one side of the river Sarre or Saar, with Saarbrücken some 17 km downstream in Germany. Between the two runs a cross-border tram-train, which serves as urban transit within Saarbrücken, and as a small regional train beyond.

The vehicles used by the Saarbahn are dual-voltage (750 V DC for city tram lines, 15 kV AC for DB train lines) Flexity Link units, made by Bombardier. It's the third type of tram-train we've come across, having seen the Siemens Avanto in Mulhouse and the Alstom Citadis Dualis in Châteaubriant. Most trams in Saarbrücken are wrapped in some kind of advertisement, this one for a former exhibit at the former Völklingen Ironworks (something I definitely should talk about someday) - not only did the exhibit end in 2024, but the wrapping is dark, making the atmosphere onboard very dull indeed, especially on a grey day! They didn't think this one though!

Only the one track for the Saarbahn is electrified, so the French trains are all Diesel units. On the day I was there, three generations of DMU were present: the most recent bi-mode Regiolis, a Diesel-only AGC set from the early 2000s (top picture), and a pair of A TER railcars which are equipped for German signalling. A few direct Strasbourg-Saarbrücken services run each day with these "saucisses" as they are nicknamed. We've seen these trains before too - the design is identical to the BR 641s DB Regio have near Basel, and these are nicknamed "Walfisch" in German.

To keep or not to keep? The case of the Kyoto Imperial Palace

Completing the set of former Imperial palaces that I've visited, the question regarding Kyoto was a different one, when, after the Meiji Revolution, the throne of Japan was moved to Tokyo, ending Kyoto's 1000-year tenure as Imperial capital. The answer came swiftly: keep it. After all, it had only been rebuilt in 1855, fires having destroyed the palace multiple times in the Edo period alone.

The Shishinden throne hall, with its courtyard and traditional tachibana orange and sakura cherry trees either side of its grand staircase, was used for the coronations of Emperors Taishô and Shôwa (Hirohito) in 1915 and 1928, but since the accession of Emperor Akihito in 1989, coronations have been held at the active Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Today, the palace is preserved and can be visited for free, albeit on a fixed tour route. Only the exterior of the buildings can be accessed, still allowing good views of the Shishinden and the gardens to the East of the palace.

To build or not to rebuild? The case of Heijô-kyô

In 710, the Imperial court moved from Kashihara to Nara. Just over 80 years later, the capital once again changed location, settling in Kyôto where it would stay for a millennium. The palace in Nara was abandoned, and in the 1000 years that followed, the grounds were used for menial things. However, a few structures have been rebuilt in recent years, such as the main audience hall in the background, which was completed in time for Heijô-kyô's 1300th anniversary.

Besides a museum housing artefacts from its 8th-century heyday, the palace is seen here hosting some art exhibits, and a play is underway, just visible in the above photo. Of course, I didn't understand a word of it...

This view of the Suzaku South gate shows how recently interest was given to the site: by the time excavations had begun, a railway was already running through it! This is the Kintetsu line, opened in 1914. As such, trains between Ôsaka and Nara pass directly through this historic site.

To rebuild or not to rebuild? The case of Fujiwara-kyô

While travelling along the Rhine, we've covered a few castles which have been rebuilt and repurposed, unlike many forts in Alsace (links to some of those in that post). In Japan, the rebuilding of castle keeps to house museums was common after the Second World War, though some have remained ruin sites (further links in there). But what about a whole Imperial palace - scratch that, an entire capital?

Well, let's not get too excited: Kashihara, which was the Imperial capital for just 16 years between 694 and 710, has not rebuilt the old palace. By the time excavations began in the early 20th century, this area to the East of the town was farmland, and actually locating the lost palace and city was part of the problem.

It turns out Kashihara was the first city to be planned in the Chinese style: a grand palace at its heart, and a grid of parallel and perpendicular streets around it. In 710, the capital was dismantled and moved to Nara, before moving again to Kyôto in the late 8th century - and the grid street pattern can be found there, with numbered parallels going North to South (Nijô, Sanjô, Shijô...).

Today, the site of palace buildings are marked with these arrays of pillars (photo above with Miminashi-yama in the background), and a small museum sits on the side. There don't appear to be any plans to develop further, unlike what has been done at the palace site in Nara, which we can talk about next time.

Towers and trains at Oberwesel

Downstream from Bacharach and Kaub seen in the most recent posts, Oberwesel is a gorgeous town on the left-hand side of the Rhine, with many of its medieval walls and towers still standing. The railway was built alongside these walls near the river, and even goes between two towers, the Katzenturm (left) and Ochsenturm (right). Add the hills in the background, and it is certainly a spectacular train spot.

Here is another tower, the Haagsturm, in a view from the station platforms. (I just got off that train and failed to position myself in time to get the sign out of the way bottom left.) The two trains shown were the only types visible that day, as the intercity traffic was diverted to the other side of the river via Wiesbaden.

Further from the river, another section of town walls and towers runs through the hills. In the centre of the picture above, taken from the short but steep Elfenlay trail, is the Kuhhirtenturm (with raised drawbridge), with St Martin's Church rising behind it.

Oh alright, have a wider view from the Elfenlay.

Kaub

A few kilometres down the Rhine from Bacharach and on the other side, is the small town of Kaub. Its main attraction is the Pfalzgrafenstein, a remarkable, vaguely boat-shaped "castle" in the middle of the river. I use the term "castle" a bit loosely, as it wasn't a feudal lord's residence, rather a customs office on the river, with Gutenfels in the background providing a wider watch. A tollgate, basically. Sidenote, if you find other photos of this place, you'll notice how low the Rhine is right now...

While Burg Gutenfels in the hills has been converted into a hotel, not unlike Burg Stahleck discussed last time, the Pfalzgrafenstein has been preserved, and is open as a museum on some days of the week, with a small ferry allowing visitors to get there. Beside that, a car ferry runs all day between the two banks of the Rhine, so I could easily cross to quickly walk around Kaub.

Like a lot of riverside towns and villages in the area, Kaub is a charming place with many old buildings. It provides a picturesque backdrop to all the traffic going by, boats and trains, and the Rechte Rheinstrecke, the railway line between Wiesbaden and Koblenz on the right-hand side of the Rhine, was seeing more trains than usual, as the section between Mainz and Bingen on the Linke Rheinstrecke was closed. Long-distance trains, like this international EuroCity service bound for Zürich, were (and at time of writing probably still are) diverted via Kaub.

Burg Stahleck, Bacharach

The Mittelrhein, valley of the Rhine between Mainz and Köln, is one of the most spectacular geographic and historic locations in Germany. It is lined by medieval forts like we've seen closer to where I live (exhibits A, B, C...), castles usually destroyed or ruined during or following the Thirty-Years War. Except that in this part of Germany, many of these castles were restored or rebuilt in the 19th to 20th centuries for new purposes. As such, Burg Stahleck, the castle above the town of Bacharach, was redeveloped into a youth hostel!

The architect in charge was told to use the existing walls as much as possible, and, I'd argue rather tastefully, added storeys for the hostel. I had considered staying here, but by the time I had made my decision, it was full. That said, in a case of sour grapes perhaps, I reasoned that I wouldn't have enjoyed climbing up to the castle from the station with luggage, however light. Nonetheless, noting that the hostel has drinks for sale, I decided to enjoy a lemonade with this view of the river!

Running around Koblenz station the other evening, I couldn't resist the cute message on this local train. Instead of a deadpan "depot" or "not taking passengers", this train is "going to bed"!

Local Ampelmännchen!

While the East Berlin Ampelmännchen has become a cultural icon, other cities in Germany have been getting their own personalised red and green men for pedestrian traffic lights, from historical figures like Karl Marx in Trier, to mascots.

So on the left, we have Brezelbu, a mascot for Speyer's annual pretzel festival. These lights were implemented in time for the 2023 edition.

On the right, we have Det, one of six little characters introduced in the 1960s on TV channel ZDF to transition in and out of ad breaks. The characters were called the Mainzelmännchen, or the little men from Mainz, so the city has adopted them as mascots of sorts.

We've seen these trains before, quite recently in fact, but they're back, on a much brighter day to really make their colours pop, and in a different border station between France and Germany.

This is Lauterbourg, the easternmost town in France, in the North-East corner of Alsace, and it shows the contrast between the line on the left-hand side of the Rhine, and the one on the right-hand side. The line from Strasbourg to Wörth am Rhein is not electrified to this day, and only sees local regional traffic. Nonetheless, Lauterbourg appeared to have a massive yard back in the day, now just a flat expanse of disused rails.

At the North end of Lauterbourg station, we find some old German mechanical signals, still in use!

Finally, like in the previous post on these trains, I have an amusing place name to share. It's more funny to pronounce with an English accent than anything else, but it also looks like a game of Countdown gone horribly wrong!

World's Loudest Prius

In 2012, apr, one of the big teams on the Japanese GT scene, decided to do... Well, I'll just tell you what they did, you can make your own opinion: they took a Toyota V8 originally designed for American open-wheel racing, which was due to be used for Toyota's return to the Le Mans 24 Hours, plopped it in a mid-rear position on a race chassis, cobbled together a hybrid system with various parts from production cars in the Toyota range, and covered all this with a Prius-shaped bodyshell with an ultra-aggressive aerokit.

To me, the result is both brilliant and ridiculous in equal measure. Brilliant because it worked: as the first full-time hybrid competitor in the Japanese Super GT Series, the mid-engined Toyota Prius apr won 4 races, scoring 16 podiums, and finishing as high as second in the GT300 championship twice in a 7-year career.

Ridiculous because it's the complete antithesis of a road-going Prius, to the point of being the loudest car in the field! When I first witnessed the Prius apr at Motegi in 2016, I could only gasp and laugh; there's no way a Prius should be this loud! And it was a joy to see it again testing at Suzuka in 2018, in what would be this version's final season.

In 2019, the next-generation Prius apr would not be mid-engined, as per the rules that forced manufacturers to put the engine where it is in the road car, and the screamer was replaced by a growler - still ludicrously loud, and I wouldn't want my Prius race car any other way! By the time I visited Super GT a third time at Fuji Speedway in 2023, the Prius was no more, but I jumped on the chance to get a miniature of this remarkable car.

For more on its history, development and results, Roflwaffle has a 35+ minute video on it.

Suzuka Circuit

April became Formula 1 month for Suzuka last year, but back in 2018, it was the venue for a Super GT test weekend. I took the opportunity to enjoy the circuit in a much calmer atmosphere, though the weather was very changeable on the day (I got drenched walking down to Inô station afterwards!).

Opened in 1962, the track is very much enjoyed by drivers for its large variety of corners (the Esses, hairpin, chicane, the double-apex sweeper at Spoon, the dauntingly fast 130R...), and has an unusual figure-of-8 shape, crossing over itself - the bridge is before this hairpin, just out of shot on the left. On a test day like this, most grandstands are open to all, offering the viewer a similar variety of angles and vantage points.

The paddock was also open for the relatively few fans to walk around and have a chance to meet the drivers (James Rossiter pictured above). But even then, 2018 was the year Jenson Button was racing, and his garage got a lot of attention!

Despite the weather which turned miserable in the afternoon, the teams didn't shy away from running. There were even a couple of Safety Car training moments: rolling restart, and full SC procedure with class separation.

Japan Weekend coming up!

This weekend, in fact! Every April, Strasbourg hosts some ekiden running races, and a festival of Japanese culture on the side. Taiko drums, shamisen, martial art demos including kyûdô and aikidô, Japan-inspired artists, food... and games like shôgi and mah-jong, the latter of which I will be partaking in as a member of the Strasbourg club. So if perchance you are in Strasbourg this weekend, pop by!

Schirmeck castle

Overseeing the valley of Schirmeck, the castle, built for the Bishop of Strasbourg in the 13th century, is a short walk and climb from the town centre. As it was designed to protect a corner of the territory, that's apparently where we get the term: Schirm'eck. It was defeated by the Swedish during the Thirty-Years War, with some of the stone from the ruins being used to build other structures, such as the church.

Today, there's obviously not much of it left, though a square tower was restored and houses a small museum (closed when I visited). The Yoshi art was probably not part of the original episcopal aesthetic...

Cascade de la Serva

In the woods above Neuviller-la-Roche and Natzviller are the Serva Falls. While not the largest we've covered, they are still sizeable, with the river flowing over rocks a small distance either side of the main fall.

It's a good hiking destination from Rothau or even Schirmeck station, depending on how far you're prepared to walk. I started in Rothau, had lunch by the falls, down the river back to Rothau, and wound up adding a walk in the valley to Schirmeck while waiting for the next train...

A good hike I'd like to do is 2-day, 30-km walk from Rothau up past the falls to Champ du Feu, the highest point in Bas-Rhin, and on to the plains at Barr. But I wouldn't want to do it alone.

Neuviller-la-Roche

Quick post today - just a few views of climbing out of the village of Neuviller-la-Roche in late March 2022.

Remembering Eddie Jordan

I started watching Formula 1 properly around 1998, which meant that my introduction to the Jordan Grand Prix team, which made its top-class debut in 1991, was with the awesome yellow and black "hornet" liveries. The squad mounted an unlikely title challenge with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 1999, and, while I was more of a Häkkinen fan at the time, if Frentzen had done it, I'd've been chuffed too.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember seeing any of these "hornet" cars in person. But I have seen a couple of Jordan's cars up close: a Honda-powered EJ12 at the Honda Collection Hall at Motegi (1st picture), and the second, at the private collection of the Manoir de l'Automobile in Brittany. It is painted in the team's 1997 "snake" livery, but it's not a 1997 car (the airbox out of shot is wrong). It has a high nose, which Jordan started using in 1996, so it could be a repainted demo car recycling the 1996 type, but then the sidepods are wrong! I think it's a 1995 car, with a 1996 nose, in the 1997 colours. What a mess!

Ultimately, Jordan was a midfield team that allowed good drivers to beat the front runners from time to time, and that, for one year, looked like it could morph into a top squad itself. Alas, that didn't transpire, but I will remember the yellow cars very fondly.

Cheers, Eddie!

French and German cross-border railcars

Just on the French side of the border, Wissembourg station sees French TERs arriving from Haguenau and Strasbourg, meeting German Regionalbahn from Landau and Neustadt. When a French service doesn't cross the border itself, SNCF and DB services are often synced up, giving us the chance to see both companies' cross-border efforts side by side.

The B 85500 is a brand-new bi-mode (electric and Diesel) multiple unit from the Alstom Régiolis family. While not the first international Régiolis - a tri-voltage electric version runs between Évian and Geneva -, the B 85500 adds autonomous Diesel power. With 30 units on order, it aims to revive and/or intensify cross-border routes into Germany. I was under the impression there was a bit of a gathering at the front end of the train, maybe local politicians marking the type's first visit to Wissembourg?

On the German side meanwhile, we have a standard railcar for what DB regard as a relatively low-density non-electrified regional route, which was closed to passengers for over 20 years between 1975 and 1997. The BR 628/928 (628: power car, 928: trailer car) is a 1980s design. Besides the lack of low floor, there's not a lot wrong with them, and they have comfortable, current DB Regio interiors. More recent types have been used, and if a plan to electrify Landau and Winden stations to allow charging of battery-EMUs goes ahead, there could soon be the latest trains on the German side of Wissembourg station too.

Which brings us to our "I beg your pardon" of the week:

The fortifications of Wissembourg

From one fortified town to another, just South of the current French-German border: Wissembourg. In a region rife with conflict, between cities and lords, sometimes between a city and their own lord, protective walls, moats and towers around the town were a must.

This tower, called the Poudrière, was built in the 13th century, and served as gunpowder storage at some point, hence the name. The walls in front of it are more recent, dating back to the 16th century, featuring a dam system which would flood the moat if needed. This complex can be seen in the North-East corner of the town on this 1750 map.

Despite these protections, Wissembourg suffered massively between the 15th and 17th centuries. And in spite of all that, the town centre retains much of its original plan and many traditional buildings. I should go back on a nicer day to get better pictures...

The fortifications of Landau (Pfalz)

Like other towns on the edge of Louis XIV's Kingdom of France at its peak in the late 17th century, Landau, now in Germany, received the Vauban treatment, transforming the town into an up-to-date garrison and fortress: both the town's ramparts and fort, situated in the North-West corner, were built with in characteristic geometric star shape of the time.

Control of Landau alternated between France and the local lords affiliated with the Holy Roman Empire as battles and sieges between 1702 and 1713 went in favour of one then the other, and remained part of France for another century, as an enclave, until Napoleon's defeat of 1815, when it was handed to the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Today, there is little remaining of the town's ramparts, while some ruins of the fort still stand. Similarly to the Citadelle in Strasbourg, around the walls is a park, while inside is the university and a zoo. Visible in the above shot is a tower built much later than the walls, in 1910, to celebrate Otto von Bismarck - no defensive function whatsoever.

Retired: the E4 and 700 Shinkansen

While we were on the topic of trains which will soon be retired, here are two that are out of service today, that I got to see in 2016. These are the 700 Series and the E4 Max Series.

The E4 Max, which stands for "Multi Amenity eXpress", was the second and so far last double-decker high-speed type operated by JR East, and was withdrawn in 2021. With a top operating speed of 240 km/h, they were mainly used on the Jôetsu line between Tôkyô and Niigata. They featured some "commuter" class rooms with 3+3 seating, and two E4 Maxes coupled together could carry a total of over 1600 passengers, the highest capacity for a high-speed service.

But of course, all people will talk about is the very distinctive conk. I didn't take as many pictures of trains at the time, so I didn't walk around to get a better view of this unique vehicle.

The original 700 Series was the first Shinkansen model that JR Tôkai and JR West cooperated on, for joint service on the Tôkaidô and San'yô lines between Tôkyô, Ôsaka and Hakata. Combining knowledge acquired by each company with the 300 and 500 Series, it has formed the basis of new models since then.

To be precise, the 700s which are now retired are the white and blue, 16-car sets, withdrawn in March 2020. Covid caused the cancellation of the type's celebratory final run on the Tôkaidô line. Eight-car trains painted in grey and branded "Hikari Rail Star" can still be found on the San'yô Shinkansen, as well as JR West's Doctor Yellow inspection train (JR Tôkai's set was recently retired).

Busy week done! Lots of work especially on Wednesday, and helping Vent d'Est organise their mah-jong tournament on Sunday to cap it off. We were on the boat in the foreground of this photo taken a few years ago - yep, still there today. A more flattering angle for the river, at a greener time of year, below.

The trains the E10 will replace

Following the announcement of a new Shinkansen type due to enter service on the Tôhoku Shinkansen in 2030, let's have a quick look at the oldest trains on the line, that will be replaced.

The E2 is the oldest high-speed train type that JR East owns, and many examples have already been retired. Built for the slower Jôetsu route to Niigata, they operate the Yamabiko and all-stop Nasuno services.

The E10s will also replace E5 sets. This sounds unreal to me, the E5 is the pinnacle of Shinkansen, still the only train running at 320 km/h in Japan (coupled with the E6, when the couplings work), and still young, having been introduced in 2011! Granted, by 2030, the first E5s will be nearly 20 years old, but they're probably not going to disappear completely in one go.

Photos taken at Utsunomiya station (as far North as I've ever been in Japan).