Showa Era Atmosphere

[bill937ca]

Oh, the atmosphere!  Kaminogami Electric Railway (Nogami Railway) Crew in white shirt, black tie and uniform hat. Aged wood structures, growling motors, ponds and cross -braced wooden line poles.

 

After almost twenty years of declining traffic, the line closed at the end of Heisei 5 (1993).

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/野上電気鉄道

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by bill937ca

[Aleks]

This is super, and sad that it has closed. I wonder if lines like this still exist. Love the view of a single or two cars going by water-filled rice fields or small canals, reflecting in the water, and passing of this huge ring with a mask in lieu of green signal permission to go into a one way. Interesting how they still operated with a crew of two in a one-car train (no ワンマン one-man yet). And a good reminder, as much as Japan can be said to be the top class on trains, they shut the lines pretty much ruthlessly if they don't perform... I guess it's amazing it was even electrified.

 

I wonder why they spent a dozen seconds on an internal wall with a sign "No smoking"? They were showing the station name Kiisakai for a while probably because this station used to be simply Sakai.

 

Looks like the line was a freight line initially when built. It was planned for closure in 1973 but saved by the oil crisis. Also looks like it was classified as light rail.

 

And there you go on one-man operation:

It has been pointed out that the Nogami Electric Railway in its final stages relied entirely on subsidies and neglected its self-help efforts, such as becoming a one-man company and accepting management guidance from major private railways.

 

Amazingly, several of the cars may have been preserved to date, two are claimed to be here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_Center_Pool-mae_Station

 

Under the overpass to the west of the station is the Hanshin Electric Railway's training center, the ``Urban Transportation Business Headquarters Transportation Department Driving School'', where you can find pre-war compact cars 601-604 and 1141 that were returned from Nogami Electric Railway . Car No. 1150 is preserved. Car No. 604 in particular is a valuable vehicle that conveys the body shape of a semi-circular front with five windows, which was often used in trains in the Taisho period. In addition, car No. 1150 is characterized by a light window on the curtain plate, which is often used in Hanshin's compact cars . [22]

 

Line's former terminal at Hikata with a full track map:

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/日方駅 - this was adjacent to the still existing Kainan Station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kainan_Station and also the now-defunct Wakayama Tram Line.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Aleks

[bill937ca]

 

In particular look here:

 

http://tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp/kisyuu/nokami1.html

 

Don't miss the photo of the yard on page 2

http://tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp/kisyuu/nokami2.html

 

More photos:

 

http://js3vxw.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/nokami/

 

https://kk-kiyo.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/01/01/183411

 

There is a previous thread here.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by bill937ca

[Aleks]

Thank you for sharing! The initial stretch of the former roadbed is still pretty easy to see on Google Maps, and with the map on the tsushima keibendo site it's also easy to follow how the rest of the route went. Probably no surprise the line did not survive to the modern days, but with the lack of maintenance, railroads and public transit in general too often are their own worst enemies, eventually leading to their downfall. But I guess this is true for any business that does not re-invest into itself...

[maihama eki]

I like the spoked wheels on those cars.

 

Any idea what year these were shot?

[bill937ca]

The video seems to be about 1989-1990 and the website I posted showed a 1993 date or about a year before the line closed.

 

In this video  from the same source there is a token coil exchange as this line did not have signals.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

This is a cab ride on the Nogami Electric Railway. There are no trackside signals, but there are obstruction warning indicators that are part of the grade crossing set up that indicate the crossing is closed and clear. There is a token coil exchange, but out of view.  There is no indication of the date, but I presume 1990 or later.

 

Its easy to see that these lines were the inspiration for the Tomytec Railway Collection and Building Collection.  There probably many people today in Japan who experienced a line like this in their lifetime. Ballast is minimal if it is there at all.  This was very typical of struggling minor private railways after the economic miracle.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

Another video before abolition in 1994.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by bill937ca

[Aleks]

42 minutes ago, bill937ca said:

The video seems to be about 1989-1990 and the website I posted showed a 1993 date or about a year before the line closed.

 

In this video  from the same source there is a token coil exchange as this line did not have signals.

 

 

Token coil exchange - that's what I meant by "huge ring with a mask" which was also in the first video in this trail.

[Aleks]

2 minutes ago, bill937ca said:

Another video before abolition in 1004.

 

 

 

Probably the whole reason these videos were shot... as people knew the lines are being closed.

 

[cteno4]

Lots of inspiration for a little layout, great ambiance.

 

jeff