Trip in April

[MikePerth]

I'm heading back for my first trip to Japan in a while this April to May. (New user to this forum.)

 

Apart from my first visit to the Kyoto Rail Museum, I will be using a couple of Rail Passes to travel down to Kyushu and up the east coast.

 

Are there any depot open days or other events happening anywhere around that time? (I plan on riding D51 up to Yokokawa on one of the weekends.)

 

[EH500 (12)]

I would be interested in the same information for May.

[cteno4]

Welcome to the forum Mike!

 

jeff

[MikePerth]

15 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Welcome to the forum Mike!

 

jeff

 

Thanks, Jeff.

Lifelong train fanatic, but I've sort of lost touch with what's been happening in Japan in the last decade, other than Youtube videos.

[ben_issacs]

MikePerth,

How long will you be in Japan, and what are your main interests there?

Steam ops.? Chasing trains? Photography? Running up the kilometres? Little local lines?

What ever, you can find them in Japan.

Most of my trips there, over many years, have involved travelling over many lines,but also chasing steam and unusual lines seen from a train.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[MikePerth]

On 2/28/2019 at 5:39 AM, ben_issacs said:

How long will you be in Japan, and what are your main interests there?

Steam ops.? Chasing trains? Photography? Running up the kilometres? Little local lines?

What ever, you can find them in Japan.

Most of my trips there, over many years, have involved travelling over many lines,but also chasing steam and unusual lines seen from a train.

 

Three week trip, first week will be spent travelling to Kyushu, and then working my way back to Tokyo (via Kyoto railway museum). I just enjoy riding the rails, soaking up the feels and watching the scenery and stations along the way. The rest of the trip will be based out of Tokyo, with little day trips here and there, using the Tohoku Rail Pass.

Hoping to ride one of the 500 series shinkansen sets (still is my shinkansen love), probably see if I can catch one when I travel from Hiroshima to Osaka.

Planning on catching D51 again, looks like they switched her onto the Yokokawa trip, shame, I would have loved another trip to Minakami. The Takasaki-Yokokawa trip sounds a lot shorter. D51 is my must-ride every trip to Japan.

One thing I would love is to see some of the closed/abandoned stations, like the open days they had last year for the Keisei Hakubutsukan-Doubutsuen Station.

The thing I'm mainly looking for is whether there are any depot open days and the like, I always like rummaging through the stalls at them and coming away with little train goodies.

Also, are there any stores that sell train-related goods (JR East used to have a store on the east side of Tokyo Station many years ago where you could buy things like the Chuo, Keihin-Tohoku and Yamanote Line alarm clocks, but the store seems to have disappeared last time I checked)?

[katoftw]

Though about riding the SL Yamaguchi?  Since you are going past it.  And adds the D51 option.  Normally the return trip from Tsuwano to Shin-Yamaguchi is never full.

[ben_issacs]

Mikeperth.

Yes, SL Yamaguchi is worthwhile, as suggested go out to Tsuwano by normal service and catch the SL back.

See if the Paleo Express on the Chichibu Rly. , out from Tokyo, is still running, this has a C58 2-6-2 as power.

Also further out from Tokyo, north-eastwards is the Mooka Rly, C 12 tank loco. At Mooka, the station is in the form of a giant steam loco!

The main trouble about the Mooka  set up is that when you get to the end of the run, which is through pleasant  countryside, there is nothing to do there, the only food we could get was icecream from a vending m/c.

But that's a long while ago, it might be better , there might be two vending machines there now!.

Again, go out by steam, catch a motor back to Mooka for shots of the steam loco alongside the station, then another motor back to the junction.

The Oikawa Rly, out from near Shizuoka on the Tokkaido Line is worth a visit, good scenery , another C 12 line, but sometimes a C 56 2-6-0 runs the service, this line is probably the best of the steam operated lines for variety of traffic on it.

Can't help on depot visits, that's not my interest. 

Train-related goods shops. 

From my memory. again a long while ago, there was one on the Shinkansen concourse at Hiroshima.

The various museums would probably sell these items, but maybe at a higher cost than the ordinary shop.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[MikePerth]

17 hours ago, katoftw said:

Though about riding the SL Yamaguchi?  Since you are going past it.  And adds the D51 option.  Normally the return trip from Tsuwano to Shin-Yamaguchi is never full.

 

I'll try, but as I'll only be in the west during the week (late Sunday to Friday), that might be difficult. Sounds like it usually runs on the weekends only. 😞

[MikePerth]

5 hours ago, ben_issacs said:

Mikeperth.

Yes, SL Yamaguchi is worthwhile, as suggested go out to Tsuwano by normal service and catch the SL back.

...

Can't help on depot visits, that's not my interest. 

Train-related goods shops. 

From my memory. again a long while ago, there was one on the Shinkansen concourse at Hiroshima.

The various museums would probably sell these items, but maybe at a higher cost than the ordinary shop.

 

 

Thanks Bill,

Lots of useful info to research and to see if I can incorporate a few of these into my day trips.

[ben_issacs]

Mikeperth, 

In re Yamaguchi Sl, another possibility is when travelling out on the local DMU before the Sl, keep an eye out for a possible lineside photo location as you approach an intermediate station,, get out there, then get a run past of the steamer, and follow it into Tsuwano by the next DMU.

A bit dicey, but may be worth a try.

        On Tsuwano itself, there is plenty to do there, watching the loco being turned and serviced, but Tsuwano is famous for something other than the Yamaguchi SL.

This is the 'Tsuwano Dolls'

These are not three dimensional dolls in the Western style, but two dimensional  cut-out card full face dolls of Japanese ladies in beautiful kimono

Very attractive..

They seem to be available in sizes from about 12 inches high to three feet or more.

Every second shop in Tsuwano seems to sell them, and they make nice souvenirs of your visit there.

As they are of cardboard, or maybe plastic, there is no weight involved, and they, in the smaller sizes, pack flat.

They are intended as hanging decoration, not really as  a child's doll.

Half-a-dozen or so of the smaller ones could make nice gifts to your friends after you return from Japan.

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

 

 

[Kamome]

If you get a train to Chomonkyo station before the SL, it’s a short walk (approx 10 mins to the bridge to get the iconic shot.

[ben_issacs]

Kamome, 

A beaut shot, and an easy location to get to.

You were lucky to get a double-header, or did you know that that was on that day?

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

[Kamome]

Yes, it was last run of the C56 which is somewhat hidden by smoke. We missed out on tickets due to high demand and there was a sea of photographers around me. We were planning on going and it just happened to be the last run weekend. Still a fun journey. Yamaguchi is very picturesque, lots of rural mountain and coastal scenes.

[ben_issacs]

Kamome,

I've seen quite a few good SL Yamaguchi lineside shots, one that sticks in my mind is with the photographer a distance away from the track and up at a higher level, so getting a nice long view approach shot.

I'll bet that all the Japanese rail fans have their special spots, we just have to find them by experience.

Even just a departure shot from Tsuwano, a little down the line, can make a nice photo.

Was your shot in the morning or the afternoon, I'm assuming from the map that it was on the eastern side of the bridge, with morning sun?

Regards, 

Bill,

Melbourne.

 

 

[katoftw]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/長門峡鉄橋/@34.3061737,131.5806847,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNrtbHD0FF7TGPk0nNz4lEbbaUEWIWyoJaqqUyr!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNrtbHD0FF7TGPk0nNz4lEbbaUEWIWyoJaqqUyr%3Dw114-h86-k-no!7i2048!8i1536!4m5!3m4!1s0x3544b841fa439453:0x9e84817a85e63777!8m2!3d34.3061734!4d131.5806851

 

You can hit it from just about any angle...

[ben_issacs]

katoftw,

Thanks for that  tie-in, obviously a magnificent photo location!

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.

 

[Kamome]

On 3/5/2019 at 6:09 PM, ben_issacs said:

Was your shot in the morning or the afternoon, I'm assuming from the map that it was on the eastern side of the bridge, with morning sun?

Yes indeed. Your deductions are correct. Certainly a nice location and inspiration for modeling a rural layout.