Your favorite bullet train?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Joy and I have been blessed the past few years with enough resources to travel the world extensively. Since we always plan our own trips, we have become quite familiar with public transportation in much of Europe and Japan. Lots of trains...

We took the Eurostar from London to Paris.
The ETR 500 in and around Italy. Got to look inside the ETR 600 and ETR 1000 too.
ICE along the northern route in Switzerland.
Nex in Tokyo, also got to hang around several E series Shinkansens.

First off, I think the sweet spot for hi-speed trains was the 1990's. Newer trains have snouts:

(ETR 600)

My god the noses:




But the older trains just gad great proportions. The Acela. Eurostar.

And then there is the Shinkansen 500:






Every angle is art. Every curve tells a story. I really think it is one of the most elegant vehicles every produced, right up there with the Bugatti Atlantic, the Chrysler Airflow or the PRR T1.

[sirenwerks]

Not sure if they qualify as "bullet trains" but I have two...


One old school, the classic TEE of Kraftwerk fame..





And one modern, the superhero-like Osaka Rapi:t:

[John]

the last one reminds me of this

[peteski]

Yeah, the blue Osaka thingie looks like a Buck Rogers prop or something from 1930s SciFi movie.  Just paint it silver! 

I also agree that the TEE diesel set pictured above is one cool looking train (bullet or not bullet).  I have N scale model of it and I think it looks great.

In the same flavor I also like the German VT18 set. I also own an N scale version.


And the SVT 137 Kruckenberg.


As for Shinkansen, I like the classic airplane-nose design of the original series 0.  It is IMO a timeless design.


The series 100 is also very elegant and modern looking.  Sometimes I have hard time deciding if I like this one better than Series 0. 


Most of the Shinkansen up to series 300 (which is also pretty) are pleasant to look at.


But then they started to make the noses look like platypus heads or duck-bills.  That is just too much for me. They jumped the shark. 

[central.vermont]

Not sure if they qualify as "bullet trains" but I have two...

And one modern, the superhero-like Osaka Rapi:t:

Reminds me of the Rocketeer!!

Jon 

[sirenwerks]

The designer admitted to a steam punk bent in several interviews.  The funny thing is, the train itself spawned a new Japanese action hero: http://www.tofugu.com/2015/09/22/japanese-superhero-rapitldier/

[John]

only in japan

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Haha that YouTube video had better production values than Power Rangers. Also, I really like how they BSODed the cyborg hero.

[nscaler711]

Ooh.... Bullet trains... 

I definitely like the 500 series that has been posted already it's one of my favorites.

Then id have to say the JR W7... It's so Purdy...


I also love the old orange TGVs same for the silver and blue variant.

Also does the Acela count? Cause that's in my list too... 

[keeper]

...
One old school, the classic TEE of Kraftwerk fame..



...

This is one of the best looking trains, EVER.

  

Thomas

[delamaize]

ICE3 for me


A close 2nd is the TGV POS ( Train à Grande Vitesse Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland)

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'd love a train full of Bulleit! Does that count?



But aside from that, I know it's a piece of junk, and I actually prefer the seating in Amfleets, but the Acela.

[CNR5529]

Based on the ICE 3, the new Eurostar Class 374 look pretty sharp.

[davefoxx]

I've never been a fan of bullet trains, as evidenced by the fact that I prefer the looks of F40PHs and AEM7s, which are about as far from the streamlining of a bullet train as you can get.   

DFF

[sirenwerks]

Italy's Pendolino were nice too...





And I really like the muscular look of Norway's Oslo airport trains...





Overall, I'm an aesthetic sucker for all things Cold War.