September 2017

[westfalen]

About time I posted some photos from my recent trip to Japan last month.

 

Day one 06/09/17, part 1.

 

I had a bit of an idea what I wanted to do but was mostly making it up as I went along as I spent longer in each place than I expected.

 

As I was staying at the Toyoko Inn at Shinagawa my first port of call was the Keikyu bridge and level crossing just south of the station.

 

 

Then it was off to Ochanomizu to get the classic shot of the Chuo Line passing over the Marunouchi subway line that I had been meaning to do since 1990. The bridge were most photos were taken is under repairs so I had to settle for a lower angle.

 

 

After walking from there to Akihabara to check out the Shosen Book Tower and pick up the latest JR and freight timetables I decided it would be a good opportunity to ride the Tskuba Express Line which I and never done before either.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by westfalen

[westfalen]

Day one, part 2.

 

Another line I had never ridden was the Kanto Railway, so on the way back from Tskuba I got off at Moriya and rode it to Toride.

 

 

As long as I was colouring in new lines in my railway atlas I stopped on the way back to Tokyo to ride the Ryutetsu Nagareyama Line. I had seen photos of it but until I came across it on Google Maps as I was looking for places to go I didn't realise is was in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the whole line has a country branch line feel about it.

 

[westfalen]

The Ryutetsu Nagareyama terminus at Nagareyama would make a great model with the depot/car barn located at the end of the compact station yard.

 

[katoftw]

I didn't realize you were in Japan in September.  I just back on Monday.

[westfalen]

2 minutes ago, katoftw said:

I didn't realize you were in Japan in September.  I just back on Monday.

I was there from the 6th - 13th.

[katoftw]

14th Sept - 1st Oct

[JR 500系]

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

That Ryutetsu Nagareyama Nanohaha sort of reminded me of the Yellow Kiha-200 series Nanahano in Kyushu...

 

Interesting trip that included many private railways rarely seen and rode on! Nice pictures to admire at!

 

 

29 minutes ago, westfalen said:

 

Wow, what really interest me in this picture is that blue truck at the left waiting at the crossing... I have the Tomytec model and didn't know it also existed in real life!

 

http://www.suruga-ya.jp/product/detail/600006471001

 

Missing the siren though...  

[westfalen]

24 minutes ago, JR 500系 said:

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

 

That Ryutetsu Nagareyama Nanohaha sort of reminded me of the Yellow Kiha-200 series Nanahano in Kyushu...

 

Interesting trip that included many private railways rarely seen and rode on! Nice pictures to admire at!

 

 

 

Wow, what really interest me in this picture is that blue truck at the left waiting at the crossing... I have the Tomytec model and didn't know it also existed in real life!

 

http://www.suruga-ya.jp/product/detail/600006471001

 

Missing the siren though...  

Curiously enough the truck was the only vehicle waiting even though the gates were down for just over 8 minutes. I did notice the driver reading a newspaper so maybe he uses it as a way to have a break while other motorists avoid it.

[Kiha66]

Great photos, thanks for sharing!  Looks like a fun trip.  How did you manage to get so many photos in one post?  I especially like the shot of Ochanomizu.

[westfalen]

19 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

Great photos, thanks for sharing!  Looks like a fun trip.  How did you manage to get so many photos in one post?  I especially like the shot of Ochanomizu.

I reduced the photos in size to 900x600 to fit more in the download limit.

 

I'd been meaning to get the Ochanomizu shot for years but never made it until now even though it's only a few minutes walk from the middle of Akihabara. It still surprises me how many things are right under your nose in Tokyo if you look around.

 

More tomorrow, that was just the first day of the 7 in Japan.

Edited October 5, 2017 by westfalen

[serotta1972]

Beautiful shot as are the others.  Did you wait long to have a train on each level?

Edited October 5, 2017 by serotta1972

[serotta1972]

I stumbled upon this scene on my walk to Tamtam from Ochanomizu Station.  I really had no idea of where I was at, I was just following my google directions.  Here are my shots but it looks like I had higher vantage point than yours.  Where were you standing?

 

[velotrain]

22 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

 

Wow, what really interest me in this picture is that blue truck at the left waiting at the crossing... I have the Tomytec model and didn't know it also existed in real life!

 

http://www.suruga-ya.jp/product/detail/600006471001

 

 

I'm not sure it's the same - at least the paint isn't.  It's hard to tell for sure about anything else, as the angle of the photo on the Suruga site is so different from the proto shot.

[JR 500系]

2 hours ago, velotrain said:

 

I'm not sure it's the same - at least the paint isn't.  It's hard to tell for sure about anything else, as the angle of the photo on the Suruga site is so different from the proto shot.

 

Here's a better picture:

 

http://airforceone.yoka-yoka.jp/

 

But yeah I think it might be a different vehicle after all... there's too much white painting on the model as compared to the one in the photo... and of course the siren is missing...

[velotrain]

I think it could be the same base vehicle - the one in the proto photo just isn't an emergency vehicle  ;-)

[westfalen]

Here is a still shot of the truck from my video.

 

[westfalen]

Day 2 took me first to Izukyu-Shimoda, I had been to Ito a few times but never all the way to the end of the line.

 

I travelled down on the Black Ship Train and returned on the Super View Odiriko.

 

 

The Royal Express was getting a wash at Izukogen.

 

[westfalen]

On the way back from Izukyu-Shimoda I got off at Odawara and caught a bus a few kilometres back down the coast to the village of Ishibashi to another famous photo location I've always wanted to get to.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2017 by westfalen

[westfalen]

On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 1:01 PM, serotta1972 said:

 

Beautiful shot as are the others.  Did you wait long to have a train on each level?

You get a shot like that every three or four minutes.

[westfalen]

Close ups of the bridge for those interested.

 

 

 

[westfalen]

A walk around the village of Ishibashi while I was waiting for the bus back to Odawara.

 

[westfalen]

The variety of plastic food and vending machines never ceases to amaze me.

 

 

Keikyu 'Blue Sky Train' at Shinagawa.

 

[JR 500系]

WOW!

 

Thanks for sharing all these pictures! Look like you had a really good time! Nice spot there off Odawara for those really famous photo shots indeed!

 

1 hour ago, westfalen said:

Here is a still shot of the truck from my video.

 

 

Dang... it was just a normal delivery truck that had a very similar color...

[westfalen]

Day 3 saw me on the Tobu Tojo Line, after 13 trips to Japan the only time have been on the Tobu railway was from Nikko to Shin-Fujiwara enroute to Aizu-Wakamatsu in 1997 so I thought it was about time I set that right.

 

I got off at a station where I thought I might get some video of express trains passing through and discovered I was at Nerima, my home town of Ipswich's sister city. They look nothing like one another.

 

 

At the next station, Shimoakatsuka there was a shelter at the end of the platform to protect the guard from the weather while giving rightaway. I saw these on several Tobu stations.

 

 

I decided to head for Yorii and leave the rest of the Tobu Tojo system until a later date after a perusal of the freight timetable showed I could get some shots of limestone trains on the Chichibu Railway.

 

[westfalen]

Hagure on the Chichibu Railway is a fine example of a somewhat rundown Japanese country branch line station.