Photos from December 2022 Japan trip

[mojo]

Those liveries really bring a little bit of joy to the cold winter months.

[maihama eki]

Beautiful photography!

[Aleks]

Back after a while... which were actually filled with a lot of model railroading activities but in a virtual (game) format... Thanks all in the meanwhile for kind words!

 

Just arranged for what will be two short (5 days each) trips to Japan in mid-March, centered around Fukuoka, and early April, centered around Tokyo (will be staying in Omiya this time). Right now figuring out what I want to see in those days.

 

Speaking of games, JR East has a driving game on Steam with multiple (around 13 right now, and adding more) routes available. Inside each route there are 2-3 specific trains you can drive. Their game is video-based, so the downside is you don't have views inside the passenger compartment or outside the train. The upside is you get to see the real place as would be seen by the driver. They are not cheap as games ($30-40 per route) but cheap as an alternative to actually going there and scouting out the route. Naturally, all are JR East routes, and include both urban (Tokyo) and rural.

 

[mojo]

This one?

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111630/JR_EAST_Train_Simulator/

 

It looks pretty good, and it has English text.

[Aleks]

3 hours ago, mojo said:

This one?

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111630/JR_EAST_Train_Simulator/

 

It looks pretty good, and it has English text.

 

Yes that's the one. The base version includes Keihin Tohoku line (two trains) and short demos from three other routes. All other routes are sold add-on. All texts and the manuals are available in English. Driving the train is fairly basic and simple compared to some other games, and there are some options for simplicity/complexity.