Promotional(?) Film - 1968(?)

[Szdfan]

This morning, I came across what I think is a promotional film from 1968(?)
 

 

I don’t speak Japanese, so the narration isn’t any help to me, but the film shows a broad range of operations from passenger, to commuter, to rural branch lines. There are numerous shots of trains rushing by crowded highways and maps suggesting plans to build new lines and operations.

 

Of particular interest to me were the shots of KiHa 10 and KiHa 20 DMUs pulling freight cars. I assume these cars were being used as parcel and postal vans? Can anyone identify them? Are they WARA or something similar?

[Yavaris Forge]

That's a nice film, I think I watched it two times already. I like the mixed freight of that era.

The freight cars behind the Kihas are one Wamu90000 and one Wara1, some of the most common of that time.

Another very interesting thing is that Toki15000 loaded with a container at 04:06. This video is the only time I ever saw that being a thing.

[Socimi]

22 hours ago, Szdfan said:

I don’t speak Japanese, so the narration isn’t any help to me, but the film shows a broad range of operations from passenger, to commuter, to rural branch lines. There are numerous shots of trains rushing by crowded highways and maps suggesting plans to build new lines and operations.

 

Actually, the film is all about the "local lines".

 

Basically, what the film tells is that while the main lines of the JNR network were being upgraded and modernized (the first part is all about that, showning the Shinkansen, new express trains, new electric locomotives, upgraded signalling and trackage, intermodal freight and a new fleet of commuter trains to support the rapid urbanization), most local lines were left basically untouched, with some still relying on steam locomotives, altough the majority was by then using relatively modern diesel railcars.

 

The film higlights how these local lines are suffering from infrastructural obsolescence and primarily a lack of ridership (at 16:46 the graphs shows the fare revenue, wich only covers roughly 1/10th of the total operating costs), a situation further excarberated by the competition of busses (19:25-19:50) and private cars, prospecting a gloomy future for these lines.

 

Later in the film, JNR's plans for these lines are shown: building new local lines to connect the existing ones, in order to form a coherent network (most of the existing local lines branched off from a mainline and terminated in the middle of nowhere), a plan that was supposed to bring these lines, if not to profitability, atleast to a somehow better financial situation.

 

This plan ultimately turned fatal for JNR, wich spent huge sums of money on relatively low priortiy new lines, wich in turn worsened the company's already serious debt problem (the Japanese government actually had to pass a law in 1980 that specifically forbade JNR from building new local lines).

Most of these new lines were never even completed (some were left abandoned, other were left uncompleted and only part of them entered service) and since the 1980s most have been tunred over to regional third-sector railways.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Socimi

[Szdfan]

1 hour ago, Socimi said:

 

Actually, the film is all about the "local lines".

 

Basically, what the film tells is that while the main lines of the JNR network were being upgraded and modernized (the first part is all about that, showning the Shinkansen, new express trains, new electric locomotives, upgraded signalling and trackage, intermodal freight and a new fleet of commuter trains to support the rapid urbanization), most local lines were left basically untouched, with some still relying on steam locomotives, altough the majority was by then using relatively modern diesel railcars.

 

The film higlights how these local lines are suffering from infrastructural obsolescence and primarily a lack of ridership (at 16:46 the graphs shows the fare revenue, wich only covers roughly 1/10th of the total operating costs), a situation further excarberated by the competition of busses (19:25-19:50) and private cars, prospecting a gloomy future for these lines.

 

Later in the film, JNR's plans for these lines are shown: building new local lines to connect the existing ones, in order to form a coherent network (most of the existing local lines branched off from a mainline and terminated in the middle of nowhere), a plan that was supposed to bring these lines, if not to profitability, atleast to a somehow better financial situation.

 

This plan ultimately turned fatal for JNR, wich spent huge sums of money on relatively low priortiy new lines, wich in turn worsened the company's already serious debt problem (the Japanese government actually passed a law in 1980 that specifically forbade JNR from building new local lines).

Most of these new lines were never even completed (some were left abandoned, other were left uncompleted and only part of them entered service) and since the 1980s most have been tunred over to regional third-sector railways.

Thank you so much for adding context! I noticed in the film that the local lines looked like they were not in great shape — i.e. overgrown vegetation on tracks.

 

It’s unfortunate that the project to upgrade and expand local service ended up being a fatal mistake up JNR.