Coal trains to go

[Nick_Burman]

https://www.kanaloco.jp/article/entry-239039.html

 

Another one down. The Hamakawasaki - Kumagaya coal trains will cease running with the March timetable revision. Taiheiyo will continue to receive coal but it will be trucked - nothing like going against the trend.

 

Cheers NB

Edited January 12, 2020 by railsquid
remove FB tracking ID

[gmat]

Does anyone know the schedule of this train?

 

Thank you.

 

Grant

[railsquid]

I think this is the train which passes through Nishi-Kokubunji station heading north at around 16:03 most days. (Sometimes I sit and work in the Wendy's on the platform there which has a reasonable view of passing trains).

[gmat]

Thank you. Might try to take pics tomorrow but closer to Kawasaki. 

 

Grant

[railsquid]

Digging about a bit I'm pretty sure the train number is 5783, timetable here: http://tnk-ko.a.la9.jp/data/time_Sinturumi20180317k.html

Arrives at Omiya at 16:35, which would fit it passing Nishi-Kokubunji at ca. 16:00.

 

Doesn't run on Sundays, and I'm fairly sure it wasn't running on some weekdays over the New Year period; I wouldn't absolutely bet on it running tomorrow as that's a public holiday.

[Hakubi Line]

So is the last coal train in Japan, or are there a few others that remain?

[Nick_Burman]

On 1/24/2020 at 10:48 PM, Hakubi Line said:

So is the last coal train in Japan, or are there a few others that remain?

 

The absolute last one. The end of a 130-year story.

 

Cheers NB

[nah00]

On 1/10/2020 at 4:33 AM, Nick_Burman said:

Taiheiyo will continue to receive coal but it will be trucked - nothing like going against the trend.

 

My brain is trying to figure out how this is more efficient and has less environmental impact.

[Welshbloke]

Wonder if any model manufacturers will offer a "last run" train pack?

 

Are there still mines in Japan or is all coal imported now? I read a fair bit about Hashima a few years ago but that shut down in 1974.

[Kiha66]

The last mine unfortunately closed down last summer.  Their network wasn't connected to the national rail system anymore, but they still ran an internal train transporting the remainder of the coal to the local port until last June.  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiheiyō_Coal_Services_and_Transportation_Rinkō_Line

 

Edited January 30, 2020 by Kiha66

[Hakubi Line]

So sad. Perhaps depending on contracts and business decisions trains will return. Does anyone make a model of the Hoki 10000? They’re some of the best looking Japanese trains I’ve seen! I live across from a coal branch here in Kentucky, so I’m used to to seeing black coal trains. I’d love to run a train of Hoki’s behind a EF510. It may not be to realistic, but it’d be cool!

[Nick_Burman]

22 hours ago, Hakubi Line said:

So sad. Perhaps depending on contracts and business decisions trains will return. Does anyone make a model of the Hoki 10000? They’re some of the best looking Japanese trains I’ve seen! I live across from a coal branch here in Kentucky, so I’m used to to seeing black coal trains. I’d love to run a train of Hoki’s behind a EF510. It may not be to realistic, but it’d be cool!

 

AFAIK Poppondetta makes the HoKi10000 cars. They took over the tooling from Kawai when that company went belly-up.

 

Cheers Nicholas

[Tony Galiani]

Article in the New York Times today indicates that Japan is building 22 new coal power stations at 17 locations around the country.  The one pictured in the article is on Tokyo Bay so I suppose coal will arrive by ship.  Wonder if that is the case for the other stations to be built.  Or if coal trains will return to supply some of these sites. 

 

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

[Hakubi Line]

8 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

Article in the New York Times today indicates that Japan is building 22 new coal power stations at 17 locations around the country.  The one pictured in the article is on Tokyo Bay so I suppose coal will arrive by ship.  Wonder if that is the case for the other stations to be built.  Or if coal trains will return to supply some of these sites. 

 

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

Any mention of where all they will be located? It’d be great if some of the local mines could get some nice export contracts!

[Tony Galiani]

Just double checked the article.  It only mentions one in Yokosuka (not Tokyo as I mistakenly wrote above).  However, some other web articles I looked at indicated locations near Akita, Kobe, Saijo and Ube as well as others.  There is a lot of opposition so not sure if they will all be built or how the coal will be delivered.

 

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

[chadbag]

Japan pledged to ditch nuclear eventually, IIRC, so the new coal plants must be to replace them while they figure something else out.

[gmat]

I was at Hatchonawate Station yesterday afternoon and believe that I shot the coal train. There were a small crowd of photographers there to shoot it so I guess that it was the coal train. What had thrown me off was that the black hoppers said 'cement' on the sides. I believe that I had shot the train a few times before without knowing its identity. Will post pics later.

 

Grant

[Nick_Burman]

On 2/4/2020 at 3:20 PM, Tony Galiani said:

Or if coal trains will return to supply some of these sites. 

 

I doubt it. Modern Japanese industry has a tendency of being sited by the water to allow supply by ship, especially if they receive raw materials/supplies from abroad (case of power plants).

 

Cheers Nicholas

[gmat]

Here are some pics of the coal train passing Hatchonawate Station on the 6th of Feb. 2020.

A shot of the fans at the station. Hadn't realized why they were gathered here.

 

Grant

 

[nah00]

On 2/5/2020 at 12:03 AM, chadbag said:

Japan pledged to ditch nuclear eventually, IIRC, so the new coal plants must be to replace them while they figure something else out.

 

I've always been puzzled by this and I don't mean to at all minimize the disaster at Fukushima but over a 50 year period a coal power plant will kill/affect exponentially more people than a nuclear powered one. 

[chadbag]

4 minutes ago, nah00 said:

 

I've always been puzzled by this and I don't mean to at all minimize the disaster at Fukushima but over a 50 year period a coal power plant will kill/affect exponentially more people than a nuclear powered one. 

 

I agree 100%.  It is the fear factor in play.  People become afraid and make irrational decisions based on fear.

 

[Sheffie]

At the end of the day, the government either does or does not do what the public wants. Whether the public would benefit from being better educated is a different question.