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Today was a day I'm so glad that I didn't sleep in during! 🛌 Saturdays are rarely entirely free for me now, and that's not a bad thing, but there was no way I would've missed out on November 18th - Because it was my first and last chance to witness the 101st Birthday Celebration of my favorite Japanese Steam Locomotive (do I have to say it?) 58654, which needs no introduction! 😄 I was joined by fellow members of 肥薩線again at Yatsushiro Station bright and early, and despite the cold, chilly weather, the crowds soon poured in and needed barriers from crossing the yellow line to get photos. My friend and fellow rail fan Minki Hatashima was there to greet and farewell the gallant SL and even landed an interview on the spot with NHK. I did as well. You can see his name mentioned in this article (in Japanese) about the party events. She's a beauty, isn't she? We know now for certain that the restoration of the Hisatsu Line to Hitoyoshi will be done. Next, we can only hope that this beloved steam locomotive will return there, too. But the day's adventures did not end there...

I was wondering if anyone has some good online references for train headmarks used on named expresses. I did find this earlier thread alongside the website and the book linked in it, but the website seems to mainly focus on contemporary trains and I wanted to see if I somebody knew a better online resource for earlier JNR-Era headmarks (). To be more specific, I am looking for reference photos/diagrams for the headmarks. While I don't have a specific reason/need right now, I thought it would be useful in the future for a couple of projects I have on my radar. I did contemplate buying a book, but me being broke kinda put that idea on hold for now, which is why I wanted to ask here

Hey guys, (Note: All the research outlined below is relatively crude, as i don´t know japanese and had to utilize google translate for most of this. It is likely that i just missed something because of that) I´ve recently been pondering on buying a Kato C57 1 to add to my fleet. This is why I´ve trying to figure out, if there are alternatives to couple 2 steam locomotives together, without using the kinda ugly and un-prototypical Kato tandem coupler, which attaches to the front bogie. And thus I´ve lost my mind and free-time to trying to figure this out... In a nutshell: I did find a way to couple 2 locomotives together in an elegant and prototypical looking fashion (link to this video by shigemon). And while I found, that using the Kato Z05-0746 coupler (originally Kato USA part 28-270) seems to be the most popular way of doing this mod, that exact part doesn´t seem to be available anywhere (quite a trend as we´ll see later). Admittedly, I couldn´t check Kato USA, as their parts-website is under maintenance and is thus not available. Doing more research, I found that this mod is possible with other couplers (yay!). As seen here (video by ゆかり) and here (video by でんきちくらぶ) the mod is possible with Greenmax, other Kato (Z01-0239) and even Micro-Train couplers (though MT couplers seem to require heavy modification to the body, which I don´t want to do). However, once again, both Kato and Greenmax couplers are once again seemingly sold out everywhere. This is where my questions come in: As an "alternative" I did manage to find Kato 28-235. While it does mostly contain stuff irrelevant to the topic at hand, it does seem to contain the Z01-0239 couplers I was looking for. Could anyone perhaps confirm this? I haven´t been able to find any information on the exact contents of this parts bag. I also noticed how similar the greenmax couplers and the Kato 28-187 / 28-188 couplers, so could you perhaps use these as replacements? Shigemon also mentioned, that you could modify z-scale couplers, does anyone know which one he meant? I personally couldn´t find any info on that front... I was also wondering, if there was a way to utilize any other type of coupler (preferably Kato), so any info on that would be appreciated Generally, any info on this topic would be appreciated. I haven´t been able to find a single piece information in english, which is why i am making this post Thanks in advance

Nice layout which is a very nice representation of Saga Station in 1967. The station model as per the prototype at the time is a ground level layout, arranged in the standard JNR style of three platform faces (1 ban sen to 3 ban sen) as well a bay platform (0 ban sen). Most excellently the platform length seems to be near scale prototype length, and there is a telfer gantry for parcels traffic modelled. Very much the atmosphere of a provincial city JNR station is conveyed. Also modelled are prototypical passenger train consists, most notably the numerous loco-hauled long distance expresses/sleeper expresses, which are some of the most interesting trains of the JNR era. Note the adjacent large yard is taken from a separate location and added to the model scene, the protoype was in a more restricted location.

From Rakuten Travel, a list of the top 10 steam powered trips in Japan topped by the Oigawa Railway. http://travel.rakuten.com.sg/campaign/ranking/steam-locomotive/

Some good color film of action on the Kansai Main Line between Kabuto and Tsuge, a Mecca of steam action in the twilight years. The 25 permil gradient in the Kabuto area (nicknamed "Kabuto goe", or "over the Kabuto summit"), attracted many rail fans. This particular series is good because you can see some of the consists of the freight trains, which now in 2016 are just as interesting, or perhaps more so, than the steam locomotives themselves. Valuable visual record for the prototype modeler.

Here are two good videos of an open day sort of event at Umekoji. Ayokoi's video features a still image of an informational panel with some English before showing the engine itself. Karibajct's video has some scenes inside the roundhouse, filmed from on top of something about as tall as a locomotive or tender, it's an interesting view of the interior. by ayokoi by karibajct

Related to the recent announcement by Tramway of an HO scale 8600, a bit of vintage prototype footage. Other than a few scenes in Wakamatsu in Kyushu in the beginning, the scenes are on the Gonou Line in Aomori, where these types were used on mixed trains.

JR Hokkaido announced this week that three steam locomotive excursion services will cease at the end of this fiscal year. The services are the "SL Hakodate-Onuma", the "SL Niseko", and the "SL Hakodate Christmas Fantasy". Reasons given for the cessation of these services are increased workloads for staff in improving systemwide safety, preparations for the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, and the expense of installing ATS with overspeed control on steam locomotives. Apparently the steam service running between Kushiro and Shibecha, the "SL Fuyushitsugen", will continue to run in season. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/hokkaido/news/20140710-OYTNT50006.html

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001256520