JR Hokkaido C11 207 to be loaned to Tobu Rlwy

[bikkuri bahn]

JR Hokkaido will be loaning their C11 207 steam locomotive to Tobu Railway, which intends to run a tourist-oriented train on the Kinugawa Line.  The service is planned to start in the FY 2017 season, running between Shimo Imaichi and Kinugawa Onsen Stations, a distance of 12.4km.  This will be the first time in around 50 years that Tobu will run steam services.

 

http://www.travelvision.jp/news-jpn/detail.php?id=68640

[ToniBabelony]

This word has been out and about for a little while already and I've heard people getting pretty hyped up about it. I know I'm hype for it :3

[railsquid]

I don't suppose there's any chance of through-running onto the Hanzomon line? ;)

[ToniBabelony]

I don't suppose there's any chance of through-running onto the Hanzomon line? ;)

 

All the way to Chūō-Rinkan on the Den'entoshi as well please!

[SuRoNeFu 25-501]

All the way to Chūō-Rinkan on the Den'entoshi as well please!

Well, you need to pay million yens to clean the station, the tunnel, and all of EMUs that become dirty due to the smoke! :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6:

[westfalen]

I'm wondering how they will get her there.  Tow her through the Seikan Tunnel or load her on a ship?

[railsquid]

My money's on a ship/road combination.

[SuRoNeFu 25-501]

I'm wondering how they will get her there.  Tow her through the Seikan Tunnel or load her on a ship?

It seems that the most viable option would be loaded on a ship, since towing the train through Seikan Tunnel would probably disrupting construction works on Hokkaido Shinkansen (yeah, Hokkaido Shinkansen will open on March 26th next year, so all of construction works that related to the preparation of this new Shinkansen are highly prioritized)...

[Sacto1985]

It's been a LONG time since anyone posted here, but here are a few videos provided YouTube member azumatakeshi of JNR Class C11 207 running on the Tobu Kinugawa Line:

 

Test run arriving at Kinugawa Onsen Station with three passenger cars and a JNR Class DE10 1099 locomotive in the back of the consist:

 

 

Turning around C11 207 at the new turntable at Kinugawa Onsen Station:

 

 

Another video of a test run with trainset crossing the railroad bridge across the Kinu River:

 

 

More test run videos, including turning around C11 207 at the turntable at Shimo-Imaichi Station:

 

 

 

[Sacto1985]

Courtesy of YouTube member azumatakeshi, a ride on this train, called SL Taiju by Tobu Railways:

 

 

Note the loud-sounding air conditioning unit once inside the car. Also, note the Western-style toilet, too--I'm sure when it was originally built, it had a squat-style toilet.

[Faiyez]

So I will be visiting Nikko come September and REALLY want to ride on it, but when it comes to joyful trains I have no idea where to start. How do I go about making a reservation? If anyone could direct me to their website and the timetables, that would be awesome.

[Yavianice]

You can only make reservations of Joyful Train (or any JR train) in country. You can let a Japanese friend do it for you, I think, not sure.

 

The best is to do it as soon as you arrive in Japan/Pick up your JR pass. I have been on -many- Joyful trains so far and never had a problem getting on them because they were fully booked. 

[Densha]

This train is not a JR train. It's run by Tobu Railway, where JR passes should not be valid. A quick look at the website shows that you can reserve tickets for Tobu trains using this form, although it seems to require a Japanese telephone number. If you can work that out however, it looks like you will receive a coupon in your email inbox that you will have to exchange for the reservation ticket at a Tobu station within 7 days.

[ToniBabelony]

Actually, the JR East passes are valid on that line, exactly where the SL Taiju runs: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_t/index.html, http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_n/index.html, http://www.jreasthokkaido.com/e/ and http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/tokyowidepass/index.html (the latter seems like a really nice idea for myself personally when I have/can take three days off).

 

Unfortunately because the weather is not that pleasant, I've refrained this time to visit the Tochigi/Imaichi area... It's not really fun to hang around stations when it's raining the whole time.

Edited August 16, 2017 by Kabutoni

[miyakoji]

If the station and platforms have roofs, and they're big enough to keep me dry, during rain is a favorite time to go railfanning/riding. Dat atmosphere. Also favorable are food shops and book stores :)

[Densha]

That really depends on whether you get off the train at a large urban station with all facilities you can imagine or get off at a small rural station existing of only a platform and a timetable. Not sure which of the two Toni wanted to do railfanning at... ;)

[ToniBabelony]

Toni likes those stations that have as little roof as possible: https://twitter.com/Kabuto_Models/status/897957918959517696?s=09

Edited August 16, 2017 by Kabutoni

[westfalen]

Actually, the JR East passes are valid on that line, exactly where the SL Taiju runs: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_t/index.html, http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_n/index.html, http://www.jreasthokkaido.com/e/ and http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/tokyowidepass/index.html (the latter seems like a really nice idea for myself personally when I have/can take three days off).

 

Unfortunately because the weather is not that pleasant, I've refrained this time to visit the Tochigi/Imaichi area... It's not really fun to hang around stations when it's raining the whole time.

The JR East passes would be valid but I'm pretty sure the full JR pass would not be.

 

If I translate this page correctly, or rather google does, tickets can be bought at all Tobu stations except on the line from Ikebukero.

http://www.tobu.co.jp/sl/information/ticket/

 

I'm thinking of a trip up there to get some video along the line rather than to ride. I've been over the line before and ridden behind the loco when it was in Hokkaido, besides with the air conditioned coaches with sealed windows you might as well have the DE10 up front.

[Sacto1985]

YouTube member azumatakeshi just posted a video of how the SL Taiju is "turned around" at Shimo-Imaichi Station using the newly-installed turntable there:

 

[ToniBabelony]

I'm already on my way home and ironically, just an advertisement showed up on the TV for the Taiju in the Odakyū train I'm now on...

[Faiyez]

Thanks guys, I have it near figured out now. I'll be using the "book online and pick up tickets at Tobu Tours" method.

 

Though for now I'll have to hold off booking the Taiju for a couple weeks, since on the website it says that you'll have to collect tickets within 7 days of reserving them.

 

We plan to visit Nikko mid-September. Oh btw, I will be using Nagano Niigata Area Pass this time around.

 

The really neat thing is that besides being covered for the Tobu Kinugawa Line, I could get to Nikko via Utsunomiya using the Shinkansen AND make a different return trip on the JR/Tobu Limited Express. Of course we're always going to try each different option that we can.

 

In fact I think we'll have to get to Nikko early via Utsunomiya if we're taking the morning downhill Taiju. There are only 3 Taiju round trips per day, and by looking at the availability you can easily tell the 1pm downhill service is the crazy popular one that fills up a month prior. The others aren't like that, thankfully.

 

Now the only question is if the base fare is covered by my pass, even using the Taiju, Probably a dumb question and I should just flash the pass at the station without a care. I already know that I'll need to pay the express fee, though.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Faiyez

[Faiyez]

It was a blast! If only a bit short and reeally slow paced due to the short length of the route.

 

Had a bit of difficulty exchanging the ticket at Tobu Tours, since they didn't speak English. It took me a while to figure out all they needed was for me to confirm every detail from the booking.

 

When I went to Shimo Imaichi the first time, the guy flinched a bit when he saw my JR Area Pass, but let me through regardless.

 

I was dissapointed not to find any merch store at the station! All there was in the museum room was a vending machine tucked away in the corner, I nearly missed it but there wasn't much to get, anyway.

[westfalen]

I went out there on the 9th Sept and as planned I passed up riding the train to get some lineside video. These are some still shots taken with my video camera.

 

The steam loco seemed to be doing all the work with the DE10 along just in case it was needed.

 

 

Edited October 3, 2017 by westfalen

[westfalen]

On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 5:09 PM, Faiyez said:

I was dissapointed not to find any merch store at the station! All there was in the museum room was a vending machine tucked away in the corner, I nearly missed it but there wasn't much to get, anyway.

I thought the best part of the 'museum' was the small but well done N scale layout.

 

 

[jasona2z]

Hi All,

 

Where would I find a timetable for this train? 

 

Thanks,