Kanagawa Chūō Kōtsu videos

[ToniBabelony]

Hello all,

 

In this topic, I will post Kanachū Bus front view videos from time to time, as this is a very diverse company with a swath of routes through central Kanagawa prefecture. It's a relatively big company (in fact a part of the Odakyū Group) with city bus lines, long distance services and rural lines. Drivers are usually well mannered, friendly, drive very smoothly and accidents rarely happen. The general view of the public of this company is thus very positive.

 

The first video is a very impressive 'touge' (mountain pass) run between Yabitsu Tōge and Hadano sta. (Odakyū Odawara line) of busline Shin-21 (秦21). It's one of those routes where the bus is not always able to pass other cars (especially since it's ran with full-size buses), so a lot of honking and stopping with waiting is required to make it through. The driver in this video is very aware of his job, lets cyclists and motorbikes pass and even briefly makes the filmer aware of a few sights along the route.

 

 

The second is our local bus line (which we almost never take), Dai-13 (大13), also named the Nakawada Circle Line (中和田循環), as it passes through the informally named Nakawada neighbourhood (due to the Nakawada shrine). The line runs from Sagami-Ono sta. (Odakyū Odawara and Enoshima line). This service is run with medium sized buses due to the narrow streets it passes through and the relatively low amount of ridership. This is a very local bus service.

 

 

Lastly, one of the Twin Liner services, ran with harmonica buses (Mercedes Citaro), just officially announced by Tomytec as a model. This is line Machi-13 Express (町13急行) from Machida Bus Centre to Yamazaki Danchi Centre.

 

 

I hope you will enjoy this topic!

Edited June 8, 2016 by Kabutoni (a.k.a. Toni Babelony)

[katoftw]

The first video.  Is it a 2 way road or one way up and down like Irohazaka?  I'm expecting to see a 86 and a MRS come raging down any moment!

 

edit/  question answered with more than the first 3 minutes watched. haha

Edited June 8, 2016 by katoftw

[ToniBabelony]

The first video.  Is it a 2 way road or one way up and down like Irohazaka?  I'm expecting to see a 86 and a MRS come raging down any moment!

 

edit/  question answered with more than the first 3 minutes watched. haha

 

Somewhere in the 1st video around 07:00, a late model WRX GC8 (N-series) passes uphill, but that doesn't say much. However, I think there are more exciting and more popular mountain passes (and more quiet ones at that) than the Yabitsu Tōge.

[JR 500系]

Of course i'll love any topic relating to Japanese buses!  :)

 

I think I can fix this here? Is the Kanagawa-Chuo the same as Kanachu?

 

 

The twin liner is nice! And needless to say i'm getting the moving bus model ~  :P

[ToniBabelony]

I think I can fix this here? Is the Kanagawa-Chuo the same as Kanachu?

Kanagawa Chūō Kōtsu is the same as Kanachū. This is a contraction of Kanagawa Chūō Kōtsu into Kanachū (神奈川中央交通 -> 神奈中). I think the reason for not contracting it to Jinchū (神中) is that Jinchū used to be a railway company that ran on what is now the Sōtetsu Main line (Ebina - Yamato - Futamatagawa - Yokohama).

 

'Jin' (coming from 'shin') is another reading of 'ka', which is another reading of '神' (Kami). Hurray for complex kanji (chinese characters) rules!

Edited June 11, 2016 by Kabutoni (a.k.a. Toni Babelony)

[JR 500系]

Thanks for the clarification Toni san! It's amazing how quickly you picked up Japanese! Thumbs up! 

[Mudkip Orange]

So this settles it. Every Japanese layout I've seen, where they've had a little road that's like the equivalent of 3m wide, and it has a bus on it, and I'm like "this is lame, they don't run buses on roads like that."

 

Turns out I was wrong.

 

Incredible vid.

[ToniBabelony]

Today's video is a run from Hanbara (near the famous Miyagase Dam), over road 54 through Aikawa Town and over road 63 to Tana Bus Terminal. Narrow roads, some traditional housing and a few sweeping mountain roads. The bus crosses the Sagami river around 25:30 minutes on the Takada bridge, which is the yearly spot for the giant koinobori festival during the Golden Week.

 

 

[ToniBabelony]

Thanks for the clarification Toni san! It's amazing how quickly you picked up Japanese! Thumbs up! 

 

I've studied Japanese/Japanology a few years before I came to Japan, so it's not very hard for me xD Being here however has drastically improved my skills. In one year, I learned more than in five years or so at the universities I attended.

[kvp]

Amazing landscape! I think the video was made before the old single lane bridge at 8:50 was replaced:

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.531743,139.2852428,3a,75y,203.67h,75.53t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sPbiRy8BGqIJXZK3sLQnldg!2e0!5s20150601T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5322964,139.2850528,3a,75y,163h,69.23t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szB5iF2dArfQiVHUVCjDctw!2e0!5s20150601T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

 

[JR 500系]

I was about to complain that the only bad thing about these videos is the lack of taking a video of the bus itself, until at the end where the video recorder actually rushed to take a shot of the bus. Nice ~

 

 

 

So this settles it. Every Japanese layout I've seen, where they've had a little road that's like the equivalent of 3m wide, and it has a bus on it, and I'm like "this is lame, they don't run buses on roads like that."

 

Turns out I was wrong.

 

Incredible vid.

 

There are even mini-bus that transverse into narrower neighbourhood roads:

 

 

Cool driver!

 

 

I've studied Japanese/Japanology a few years before I came to Japan, so it's not very hard for me xD Being here however has drastically improved my skills. In one year, I learned more than in five years or so at the universities I attended.

 

Amazing... I finally took up the courage and went ahead to book myself an official JLPT test that is scheduled next week. Let's do hope I pass!

[katoftw]

guard rails and buses dont mix in Japan:-

 

 

haha

[JR 500系]

guard rails and buses dont mix in Japan:-

 

 

haha

 

Great video! Nice! The drivers of these tour buses are really admirable! These tour buses are a beast, being so long and tall!

 

The video seems pretty old, judging from the quality and the bus models...

[railsquid]

I've studied Japanese/Japanology a few years before I came to Japan, so it's not very hard for me xD Being here however has drastically improved my skills. In one year, I learned more than in five years or so at the universities I attended.

 

I spent three years studying Japanese at university, then the first time I came here I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying...

 

Amazing... I finally took up the courage and went ahead to book myself an official JLPT test that is scheduled next week. Let's do hope I pass!

 

頑張ってね! I don't think I would pass if I took it now...

 

So this settles it. Every Japanese layout I've seen, where they've had a little road that's like the equivalent of 3m wide, and it has a bus on it, and I'm like "this is lame, they don't run buses on roads like that."

 

That's the great thing about modelling Japan - the implausible is prototypical.

[cteno4]

That's the great thing about modelling Japan - the implausible is prototypical.

That is sooo true and I think the best selling point on modeling Japan as your imagination can really run wild and everything does not have fo follow really tight parameters, especially around trains!

 

Jeff

[ToniBabelony]

Line 'Ise 76' from Aikōishida to Isehara station, basically running parallel with the Odakyū Odawara line.

 

 

Line 'Ai 02' from Sagamihara station (JR Yokohama line) to Sagamiono station (Odakyū Odawara/Enoshima line). This line is also designated as the 'Kokudō 16 bus', since the majority of the route is on the National Road 16. This is a fairly recent video where the construction and finished sections of bicycle paths in the Chūō-ward of Sagamihara-shi along Road 16 can be seen. Around 27:08 the big TamTam hobby shop at Kobuchi can be seen, which is the most well sorted model train shop nearby where I live.