Japanese Vacation No.9 (week 1)

[westfalen]

One thing I noticed last night about being in Japan is that I can only get onto HS's Japanese website, even if I manually type in the English page's address it reverts to the Japanese one.

West,

You probably need to use an anonymous proxy like KPROXY. 

I'm loving your posts, btw, especially shots of car interiors - something there is never enough of.

Good luck

Cheers

The_Ghan

Thanks. Kproxy works, I'm now ok if something I've ordered comes in while I'm in Japan. I don't know if they have a "pick up at store" option.

[westfalen]

I spent today at the three bridges across the Kisogawa. I started out as planned on the Meitetsu as Kasamatsu but while I was there the freight trains crossing the JR bridge about a kilometre upriver prompted me to hike along the levee bank to check it out. Because of that I decided to skip the Tarumi and Yoro Railways and leave them for another trip as it took longer than planned and I had to walk back to the Meitetsu station. I spent the rest of the day on the Meitetsu starting with the Shin Hashima line which seemingly winds it's single track way through alleys and back yards before the last section climbs onto a viaduct and ends at a platform tucked onto the side of a Shinkansen station. The next stop was Inuyamayuen to photograph the bridge, by the time I got to the Unuma end with the viewing area it had started raining so I caught the next train back to town and got off at Sakō beside the Tokaido line and Shinkansen and videoed passing trains there for a while. I eventually ended up at Yatomi just as darkness fell via a sucession of local all stops trains where I witnessed the Meitetsu's service of delivering the evening newspapers.

[westfalen]

Continued.

[westfalen]

Continued.

[westfalen]

Anyone know what the plaque with the seaplane (P.S. looking at it again maybe its not a seaplane) on it is about? There were several of them on the fence around the viewing platform at the north end of the Inuyama bridge.

[westfalen]

Last of today's.

The last one is a gadget I saw while browsing in Tokyu Hands the other night.

[Densha]

What are those newspapers doing in a commuter train?

Hand shredder...

[bikkuri bahn]

What are those newspapers doing in a commuter train?

It appears Meitetsu still has a business distributing newspapers along its lines.  JR East got out of this one or two years ago, on the Boso Peninsula (Uchibo Line) in Chiba Prefecture.  Nice to see some railways are still doing this.

[bikkuri bahn]

Anyone know what the plaque with the seaplane (P.S. looking at it again maybe its not a seaplane) on it is about?

It commemorates the city of Kakamigahara as "the city of aerospace culture"- Kawasaki Heavy has it's aerospace facilities here, as well as some Mitsubishi Heavy plants.  There is also an airbase- JASDF Gifu Airbase.  The aircraft pictured is the KHI "Asuka", an experimental STOL transport plane.
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/0c/d3/55d56626ad0a3071a1dcbc3fb2702a22.jpg

[westfalen]

Anyone know what the plaque with the seaplane (P.S. looking at it again maybe its not a seaplane) on it is about?

It commemorates the city of Kakamigahara as "the city of aerospace culture"- Kawasaki Heavy has it's aerospace facilities here, as well as some Mitsubishi Heavy plants.  There is also an airbase- JASDF Gifu Airbase.  The aircraft pictured is the KHI "Asuka", an experimental STOL transport plane.
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/0c/d3/55d56626ad0a3071a1dcbc3fb2702a22.jpg

That explains it, the high mounted engines had me thinking it was a seaplane.

[bikkuri bahn]

of the Inuyama bridge.

I like that bridge.  Liked it even better when the road also used it.  I see you made it all the way to Yatomi.  I was there this summer to capture the evening tanker train for Yokkaichi behind a DD51 on the Kansai Main Line.  I like this station, quiet, but with some action to pass the time before the target train appears.  Plus it's near the Kintetsu station, so you have a good choice of transport options.

[westfalen]

What are those newspapers doing in a commuter train?

It appears Meitetsu still has a business distributing newspapers along its lines.  JR East got out of this one or two years ago, on the Boso Peninsula (Uchibo Line) in Chiba Prefecture.  Nice to see some railways are still doing this.

They carry the newspapers on at least two trains on that particular line. I took the photo of the papers inside the train and got off at Futatsuiri where there are side platforms with the mainlines running straight through the middle so I could video some expresses. While I was there the local newsagent and his assistant arrived and unloaded their papers from the next stopping train. I can't imagine bundles of newspapers being loaded on commuter trains in Australia and being still there to be picked up after an unattended journey into the suburbs. Come to think of it we don't even have an evening newspaper in Brisbane, let alone a Saturday evening one.

[westfalen]

of the Inuyama bridge.

I like that bridge.  Liked it even better when the road also used it.  I see you made it all the way to Yatomi.  I was there this summer to capture the evening tanker train for Yokkaichi behind a DD51 on the Kansai Main Line.  I like this station, quiet, but with some action to pass the time before the target train appears.  Plus it's near the Kintetsu station, so you have a good choice of transport options.

The tanker train was rolling through as my Meitetsu train was pulling into the platform, by the time we stopped it was gone. I'll chalk it up as one that got away.

When I got to Saya (I think that was the name) I saw that trains only ran half hourly to Yatomi but I thought as long as I'm here I might as well go all the way.

Just before Yatomi you pass through what looks like an abandoned station on a viaduct, it was dark so I didn't get a good look. Do you know the story behind it, is it a station built but never brought into use?

[scott]

The whole car is either reserved or non reserved. Cars are designated by signs near the doors if they are reserved or not and the JR timetable has pages with diagrams of the trains showing which car is which. [snip]

Oh, OK. Boy, you gotta like a real timetable.* Thanks!

Looking forward to more pictures...

[*Unlike Amtrak where you're micro-managed onto the train from one long line, told which car to go to, and then abandoned to fight it out for unmarked seats. :-P]

[Nick_Burman]

I spent today at the three bridges across the Kisogawa. I started out as planned on the Meitetsu as Kasamatsu but while I was there the freight trains crossing the JR bridge about a kilometre upriver prompted me to hike along the levee bank to check it out. Because of that I decided to skip the Tarumi and Yoro Railways and leave them for another trip as it took longer than planned and I had to walk back to the Meitetsu station. I spent the rest of the day on the Meitetsu starting with the Shin Hashima line which seemingly winds it's single track way through alleys and back yards before the last section climbs onto a viaduct and ends at a platform tucked onto the side of a Shinkansen station. The next stop was Inuyamayuen to photograph the bridge, by the time I got to the Unuma end with the viewing area it had started raining so I caught the next train back to town and got off at Sakō beside the Tokaido line and Shinkansen and videoed passing trains there for a while. I eventually ended up at Yatomi just as darkness fell via a sucession of local all stops trains where I witnessed the Meitetsu's service of delivering the evening newspapers.

What is the horse on the side of the platform about?


Cheers NB

[scott]

Thanks for the interior pictures. And there are lots of interesting details scattered through the photos--I may have to try to build one of those Yamato delivery bikes.

[cteno4]

Westfalen,

great picts, thanks! love the delivery bike and want to model that too scott!

also love the rail truck, another easy one to model

whats up with the million dollar store? do you have any more pictures of that? would be a fun one to model as well!

even the graffiti in japan is has some design sense!

jeff

[westfalen]

I spent today at the three bridges across the Kisogawa. I started out as planned on the Meitetsu as Kasamatsu but while I was there the freight trains crossing the JR bridge about a kilometre upriver prompted me to hike along the levee bank to check it out. Because of that I decided to skip the Tarumi and Yoro Railways and leave them for another trip as it took longer than planned and I had to walk back to the Meitetsu station. I spent the rest of the day on the Meitetsu starting with the Shin Hashima line which seemingly winds it's single track way through alleys and back yards before the last section climbs onto a viaduct and ends at a platform tucked onto the side of a Shinkansen station. The next stop was Inuyamayuen to photograph the bridge, by the time I got to the Unuma end with the viewing area it had started raining so I caught the next train back to town and got off at Sakō beside the Tokaido line and Shinkansen and videoed passing trains there for a while. I eventually ended up at Yatomi just as darkness fell via a sucession of local all stops trains where I witnessed the Meitetsu's service of delivering the evening newspapers.

What is the horse on the side of the platform about?


Cheers NB

The horses were all along the platform at Meitetsu's Kasamatsu station which is the getting off place for a large horse race track.

[westfalen]

Westfalen,

great picts, thanks! love the delivery bike and want to model that too scott!

also love the rail truck, another easy one to model

whats up with the million dollar store? do you have any more pictures of that? would be a fun one to model as well!

even the graffiti in japan is has some design sense!

jeff

I think the million dollar store was a coffee shop/restaurant but it appeared to be closed so I can't be sure. There were a row of touristy places along the street near Inuyamayuen station but none as wildly decorated.

[The_Ghan]

Keep those interior shots coming West.  Not only so that we can get accurate interior colour schemes, but we also get an idea of how populated certain services are, like that DMU you photographed yesterday.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[westfalen]

A bit late getting back tonight. I finished up the day riding through the mist shrouded mountains on the Akechi Railway and when I got back to the JR at Ena there was a double headed (EF64 1006/1024) container train sitting in the siding headed east, I believe a Nagoya-Nagano train. There was a teenage Japanese railfan with a bicycle at the level crossing with a tripod set up to photograph it so I thought I might as well hang around too. After a while of pacing back and forth and looking at his watch he got on his bike and, I assume, went home for dinner. About an hour later after the driver had a sandwich and a cup of tea he picked up the radio with a start and after a conversation with whoever was on the other end he got a green signal and headed out of town.

In the morning I got in the Meitetsu lines to Hekinan and Gamagori. The end of the Gamagori line from Kirayoshida is worked as a shuttle which departs from a platform on the stub of the line that once connected Hekinan with Kirayoshida.

Heading off to sunny Kyushu tomorrow.

[westfalen]

More Akechi Railway.

[westfalen]

Last of today's.

[bikkuri bahn]

The freight was likely train 2095, a Nagoya terminal to Kita Nagano (via Inazawa) service.  This is the train, being ferried from Nagoya freight terminal to Inazawa, where the EF64s are perhaps attached:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/8WLDZZzQA0w" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/8WLDZZzQA0w</a>

[westfalen]

The freight was likely train 2095, a Nagoya terminal to Kita Nagano (via Inazawa) service.  This is the train, being ferried from Nagoya freight terminal to Inazawa, where the EF64s are perhaps attached:

'Kita', that's the character in the freight timetable that my mind went blank on, I always forget the easiest ones. It passed Nagoya station while I was waiting for the 1332 Chuo Line train and we overtook it two or three stations out. It didn't leave Ena until after 1800, by my reading of the timetable it should have been a bit further along by then and I was suprised to see it still there when I got back from Akechi. The Japanese railfan getting frustrated by the time and the driver seemingly putting his feet up and taking a break for a while made me think it was delayed there out of the ordinary for some reason.

[bikkuri bahn]

Yes, it probably was late/delayed, not an unusual occurrence for freight- after all, sacks of flour or microwave ovens don't complain when stuck for an hour at a station.  There is a place on the JR freight website where you can check any delays:
http://www.jrfreight.co.jp/i_daiya/index.html

[KenS]

These are great photos, and I'm enjoying following your vacation virtually.

Any idea what the structure on the right in this photo is?  It looks like a platform for crew to get out of a train, but others I've seen just had a short platform on one side, so perhaps this is some kind of maintenance/cleaning area.  And what's that thing that looks like a slot in the ground between the rails for?

[westfalen]

These are great photos, and I'm enjoying following your vacation virtually.

Any idea what the structure on the right in this photo is?  It looks like a platform for crew to get out of a train, but others I've seen just had a short platform on one side, so perhaps this is some kind of maintenance/cleaning area.  And what's that thing that looks like a slot in the ground between the rails for?

My thought was that it could be an area for washing the railcars and the slot between the rails is a drain for the water.

[The_Ghan]

Are these white things on the track all sensors?  Why are there so many, so close together?

Cheers

The_Ghan

[bikkuri bahn]

Are these white things on the track all sensors?  Why are there so many, so close together?

Cheers

The_Ghan

Yes, they are ATS sensors.  They are grouped like that at terminal stations, to prevent overrruns- a single sensor is not enough as the time delay to automatic braking would permit the train to still crash the buffers due to the short distances.

[quinntopia]

Great photos...and love the little stories as well.  The idea of a teenage railfan on a bike at the station is really cool.  Thanks for sharing these!

[The_Ghan]

Great photos...and love the little stories as well.  The idea of a teenage railfan on a bike at the station is really cool.  Thanks for sharing these!

quinntopia: Agreed ... pity the kid couldn't hang around long enough to watch the train leave.

west: glad the proxy is working for you.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[westfalen]

Well, I made it to Miyazaki without reserved seats and it worked out better than I planned. I got down to Nagoya station early and was able to catch an earlier train to Shin Osaka, Hikari #493, which just happened to be an N700. That got me to Shin Osaka in plenty of time to get the Sakura service before the planned one which in turn got me to Kagoshima Chuo an hour earlier giving me enough time there to have lunch at a resturaunt at the station and grab a few shots of trams with enough time to still be third in line when the 4 car series 787 rolled in to form Kirishima #12 for Miyazaki. The 787 seemed to give a rough ride, not sure whether it was the track or the train starting to show it's age but every rail joint shook the whole car. I kind of wish the solid, comfortable old 485's waiting for their fate in the yard at Kagoshima were still running.

Had more than the usual choices for dinner tonight. When I wandered downtown there was some sort of international food festival in progress with stalls lining one of the main streets selling everything from Korean noodles to German bratwurst and a lot of stuff in between that I had no idea of what it was. You paid Y1000 and got a sheet of 12 Y100 value coupons that you exchanged at the stalls for food and beverages. There was an all you can eat resturaunt in a department store with an 'Australian cuisine festival' but I didn't recognise any of the dishes on display.

The Toyoko Inn here is right at the southern end of the platforms and the trains go right past my window.

The first photo is car 1 of a standard N700, the next interior shot is an N700-8000. You could eat your lunch out of the rubbish bins at Hakata station after those ladies finished scrubbing them.

[westfalen]

Some shots from Kagoshima.

[westfalen]

More Kagoshima.

[westfalen]

With JR Kyushu's no smoking policy the only place smokers can go on the 787 is the smokers room.

And last but not least, I don't know what country they are from, but anyone for fried potato slices on a stick smothered in butter?

[scott]

I kind of wish the solid, comfortable old 485's waiting for their fate in the yard at Kagoshima were still running.

I hope there are a few of them left if I ever get there...

There was an all you can eat resturaunt in a department store with an 'Australian cuisine festival' but I didn't recognise any of the dishes on display.

  It's funny how things fail to translate from one place to another.

And last but not least, I don't know what country they are from, but anyone for fried potato slices on a stick smothered in butter?

Sounds good, but I'll wait to see if you survive first. ;-)

[The_Ghan]

West,

Looking good mate.  You're right where Mrs_Ghan and I plan to start our trip next year.  Thanks for keeping up with those interior shots.  You know, I bought 10 sets of Kato interior lights and I plan to detail the interiors as I add the lights, since I'll have the cars apart at the time. 

The Ibutama black and white train looks interesting.  Is it a KiHa 47 DMU?  Did you take a ride?  I've heard they have great interior detailing.

That 500 series is I ride that I HAVE to take when I'm there.  It is my favourite shinkansen currently in service.

That 787 interior looks a little gloomy and I look forward to recreating that atmosphere when the time comes.  I hope you don't mind if I save all your interiors for future reference.  Was the ride really that rough or was it the fact that you've just gotten of a silky smooth shinkansen? 

Love the smoking room ... but I don't think Kato has it on their model.

Glad you're having such a great time.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[scott]

That 787 interior looks a little gloomy

That's funny--I had exactly the same thought. But I might be biased--I've always thought the 787 was one of the ugliest Japanese trains anyway.

[bikkuri bahn]

That 787 interior looks a little gloomy

Some would call that "the executive look" with all the blacks and greys.  I certainly would be gloomy if I had to stick around an executive boardroom for long.

The 787 seemed to give a rough ride,

The 787 series is a contemporary of the JR East 253 series, both are carbon steel body designs mounted on relatively simple bolsterless bogies, perhaps(?) the bogies are not quite up to the task of carrying such a heavy body while providing suitable dampening of shocks.  It is curious that JR Kyushu fitted some 787 series intermediate cars with different bogies, the DT901K type, which is unusual as the JR group railways don't usually use SU Minden type designs on their rolling stock.  Minden type bogies are known for their stability, especially at high speeds (a variation of the minden design was used for the first shinkansen bogies)

[The_Ghan]

...  It is curious that JR Kyushu fitted some 787 series intermediate cars with different bogies, the DT901K type, which is unusual as the JR group railways don't usually use SU Minden type designs on their rolling stock ...

Ahhhhhhh, the good-ol' DT901K's .... yeahhhhhh ...... riiiiiiight ....

seriously bikkuri, is there anything you don't know about Japanese trains?

Thank God you're here .... we'd be lost without you!!!

Cheers

The_Ghan

[The_Ghan]

... I've always thought the 787 was one of the ugliest Japanese trains anyway.

Of course it is ..... that's because it's a Decepticon!  My nephew picked it straight away.  Apparently Decepticons can't fool kids, only adults, so it's not my fault that I didn't realise it sooner ... Not your fault either Scott.

West, ride it at your own peril mate!!

Cheers

The_Ghan

[keitaro]

... I've always thought the 787 was one of the ugliest Japanese trains anyway.

Of course it is ..... that's because it's a Decepticon!  My nephew picked it straight away.  Apparently Decepticons can't fool kids, only adults, so it's not my fault that I didn't realise it sooner ... Not your fault either Scott.

West, ride it at your own peril mate!!

Cheers

The_Ghan

that red is hoorible

[westfalen]

West,

Looking good mate.  You're right where Mrs_Ghan and I plan to start our trip next year.  Thanks for keeping up with those interior shots.  You know, I bought 10 sets of Kato interior lights and I plan to detail the interiors as I add the lights, since I'll have the cars apart at the time. 

The Ibutama black and white train looks interesting.  Is it a KiHa 47 DMU?  Did you take a ride?  I've heard they have great interior detailing.

That 500 series is I ride that I HAVE to take when I'm there.  It is my favourite shinkansen currently in service.

That 787 interior looks a little gloomy and I look forward to recreating that atmosphere when the time comes.  I hope you don't mind if I save all your interiors for future reference.  Was the ride really that rough or was it the fact that you've just gotten of a silky smooth shinkansen? 

Love the smoking room ... but I don't think Kato has it on their model.

Glad you're having such a great time.

Cheers

The_Ghan

I didn't have time to ride the black and white train but there was a recent article in Japan Railfan Magazine about it and they do have a nice interior.

The ride on the 787 was definately rough with a lot of banging and crashing from the bogie under the end of the car where I was sitting, maybe they were designed for the better maintained track they ran on when they were the pride of the fleet. I remember riding them from Hakata to Kumamoto and Nagasaki to Hakata when they were new in 1994 and they were smoother then.