ED75's Random Japanese Trip Photos

[ED75-775]

For our final stop on our tour of Yokohama, we head back to Yokohama Station. Plenty of JR action, and if you prefer something a bit different, some Keikyu stuff as well. Since my 2024 shots are the nicest of the bunch, here's some representative shots taken on the way home to Shinjuku.

 

 

And if you time it right, it's not at all impossible to get a shot of both JR and Keikyu together. Just don't lean on the barriers as I did, or you'll be politely asked not to by railway staff.

 

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Before we depart, another quick detour in the Yokohama Station area: just to the north of the station, the railway jumps over a canal. From the east side, there's some good opportunities to snap Keikyu trains coming in and out of the station, though you have to be quick if you want a decent photo. Again from 2024:

 

 

Unfortunately no JR action but I imagine it'd be possible to snag a shot of both JR and Keikyu together at certain times of day.

Alright, back to the station - we have a train to catch. Next stop, Omiyaaaaaaa...

 

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

We now arrive in Ōmiya, home to the Ōmiya General Rolling Stock Center and the Railway Museum. As I think the Railway Museum is now well known by Forum members I won't spend much time except to highlight some favourite pieces from the collection there.

 

 

Back in 2019 I arrived into Ōmiya the first time on Hayabusa 13, having specifically wanted to ride one of the Hayabusa services (and not knowing until later that the Saikyō Line could have taken me directly from Shinjuku to my destination). This shot was taken shortly after exiting the station en route to the Railway Museum.

 

 

Leaping forward now to 2023, and one of my favourite shops at Ōmiya - General Store Railyard. Their selection of railway goods is impeccable as far as I'm concerned, and in the past they have even had occasional sales of old rolling stock parts from the General Vehicle Center. On my 2023 trip they had some door release handles removed from E231 sets at ¥8,000 apiece. Pricey, perhaps? Tempted as I was, I didn't buy one.

 

 

And speaking of the General Vehicle Center, it's right next door to the station sandwiched between the conventional lines and under the Shinkansen tracks. Switching work appears to be handled by rail tractor OM-1, which is seen here hustling some E231 cars around what I think might be a maintenance and inspection bay. Handily, there's a road bridge over the north end of the station which gives some view of this part of the workshops complex.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

While you can take the New Shuttle from Ōmiya Station to Tetsudō-Hakubutsukan Station to access the Railway Museum (2mins), the other option is to walk. While it takes longer - 23 minutes - there are some interesting little displays along the way to make this worthwhile. I've only done this in 2019, and did so in sandals I'd not yet broken in with the result I gave myself some marvelous blisters! I'd say it was worth the effort though.

 

 

Having not yet figured out the lay of the land, I initially went south first. Oops! But that provided an opportunity to photograph a railway memorial, featuring the main driving wheelset from D51 90. Built at Hamamatsu Works in 1938, this locomotive both started its working career at Ōmiya, and spent its last nearly two months in service before being written off for scrap on 15 March 1969.

 

 

 

Now heading in the right direction and passing Ōmiya General Vehicle Center, the first piece of historic rolling stock we encounter is D51 187. Built over a five-month period in 1938, this locomotive was the first to be built at Ōmiya Workshops, but spent most of its working life at Himeji and Hamada depots. Written off in August 1971, it was returned to Ōmiya for preservation as a 'quasi-railway monument', whatever that means, in October of that year. The tunnel-like shelter was provided in 2007 when the Railway Museum was being built. While it's made photography a little harder, the shelter has protected D51 187 well and supposedly it's kept well-maintained by the workshop staff.

 

 

Slightly further down, we have two locomotive cabs on display from EF58 154 and EF15 168. At that point in time the EF58 cab was in a rather dilapidated version of the green and yellow express livery which, if I've read Japanese Wikipedia right, it never carried in service; since my visit both were repainted in April 2024 and the EF58 cab switched back to the more accurate 'Blue Train' colour scheme.

 

Right, we've got to keep moving. On to the Railway Museum!

 

Alastair

[RS18U]

On 2/26/2025 at 4:52 PM, ED75-775 said:

There's also a really nice Shinto shrine complex tucked into one corner of the layout, which is really nice. One for the modelling ideas file!

Those look like the Tomytec (Building 162) Shinto Shrine Accessory Set and Tomytec (Building 161) Shinto Shrine Set B.  I have them, but not on a layout yet.

 

https://www.plazajapan.com/4543736300830/

https://www.plazajapan.com/4543736300847/

 

[ED75-775]

We now arrive at our destination for the day: the Railway Museum. Opened in 2007 as a replacement for the Transportation Museum in Manseibashi, it's one of two museums run by the JR East Cultural Foundation (the other being Ōme Railway Park). This is the view on walking into the entryway from Tetsudō-Hakubutsukan Station in 2023:

 

 

There's a few details here you can't really see very well; firstly the skylight above the walkway has a sculptural motif resembling a train control graph, and secondly, just off to the left and barely in shot is a very large and very red set of driving wheels from a German 01 class 4-6-2. How'd they end up here? They were purchased by railway enthusiast Masaei Shinohara, and displayed at a coffee shop he owned in Takaramachi, Tokyo until his death in 2001. They were then donated to the Transportation Museum, but wouldn't go on display until 2009 when they were placed on display in the promenade at the Railway Museum.

 

 

Apart from the wheelsets, there are also a few sectioned vehicles from the Transportation Museum on display in the promenade - namely part of a replica KuHa 167 EMU driving car and the front end of steam locomotive D51 426. Built by Nippon Sharyo in 1940, it was withdrawn and scrapped in 1972 but the cab and front end were saved for the Transportation Museum. We'll see the cab in a bit.

 

 

Leaping back now to 2019, there are a few side windows along the promenade and one of them had a display on the Shinkalion anime series then airing at the time. For those not familiar with the franchise, the Railway Museum serves as the cover for the East Japan branch of the series' main organization (Shinkansen Ultra Evolution Institute or Evolution Railway Development Agency, depending on which season). This display both incorporated some of the toys from the franchise, and a selection of real-life photos of the trains that inspired some of the Shinkalion mech units in the anime. Funnily enough, I didn't really learn about it until later that year when I found a few episodes on line... and enjoyed it.

 

Alastair

Edited February 28 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

Remember I mentioned the cab from our old friend D51 426 is also at the Railway Museum? It's been set up inside the Museum's main building as a simulator.

 

 

This is the big-ticket item to do if you can get a slot. The draw here is that the cab has been set up as if it's part of a working locomotive: the cab moves around on a motion table, the controls all function - and yes, that does include the whistle! There are four driving experiences to choose from, all taking place on parts of the Kamaishi Line. If you're part of a group and are able to charter the simulator, there's a expert difficulty version featuring ATS operation and coal shovelling. According to the Museum's Japanese Wiki page, the 'train' you're pulling is made up of five SuHa 43 coaches (likely from the Takasaki-based heritage coach set).

 

 

Meanwhile on the second floor of the South Building, there's a few more simulators, including this E5 series Shinkansen simulator, replicating the operation of a Hayabusa service on the Tohoku Shinkansen. This one doesn't have movement like the D51 simulator, but if you're more interested in high-speed trains running at 320km/h than steam locomotives running significantly slower, this is the simulator for you. Side note: the E5 simulator replaced an older, Mitsubishi Precision-built 200 series simulator which had originally come from the Transportation Museum, and which until 2011 had been the only Shinkansen simulator in a railway museum.

 

 

Still in the South Building but on the first (ground) floor this time, is the 209 series simulator. Originally this was configured as a driving simulator, but in September 2017 it underwent a major reconfiguration and became a conductor simulator. As can be guessed from that blue stripe on the carbody, this replicates operation on the Keihin-Tohoku Line, specifically between Ueno and Tokyo.

 

During my first trip in 2019 it was possible to buy tickets for slots on these if they hadn't already sold out. Since my 2023 visit however, intending participants need to download the Railway Museum Raffle App and be on Museum grounds to apply for a slot. If you do manage to get one, then you'll need to pay an additional ¥600 when you front up for your slot. While I've never experienced the E5 or conductor simulators and thus can't say whether they would be worthwhile (in all likelihood, probably), I can absolutely say the D51 simulator is well worth it. I've had a go on in in 2019 and 2023, but lucked out in 2024. I'll have to see whether I can land it again in 2025!

 

Link to the Railway Museum's official experiences page, including operating times: https://www.railway-museum.jp/e/event/experience.html

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Switching now to a few full-size pieces from the Ōmiya collection, here's one that has special meaning to me. Meet ED17 1, seen here during one of my visits in 2023:

 

 

Originally built in 1923 by English Electric Limited at their Dick Kerr Works in Preston, this locomotive began its life as the class leader of the 1040 class, later being reclassified ED50 1 during fleet standardization in 1928 and final receiving its current number in the early 1930s. After spending its working life on the eastern portion of the Chuo Line, it was retired in November 1970 and preserved in Maizuru Castle Park until 1997 when it was relocated to Ōmiya General Vehicle Center. It would then move again to the Railway Museum in 2007 as one of the original exhibits.

 

Now, why single this locomotive out? That's because it bears similarity to an old friend from much closer to home. And as a diversion, here it is: New Zealand Railways electric locomotive EO 3.

 

 

This locomotive was one of five ordered in 1920 for the Arthur's Pass to Otira section of the Midland Line, which featured an 8.5km-long tunnel on a ruling gradient of 1 in 33, thus ruling out the use of steam locomotives. As with the 1040/ED50/ED17 class locomotives, they too were built at the Dick Kerr Works in Preston, but a year earlier in 1922. Entering service in 1923 with the formal opening of the Otira Tunnel, the EO's would give sterling service up until April 1968 when they were replaced by the more powerful Toshiba-built EA class electrics. While the other four were scrapped following writing-off five months later, class leader EO 3 was earmarked for preservation at Ferrymead Heritage Park in Christchurch, arriving there in February 1972. It's now part of the Canterbury Railway Society's collection, and has been superbly restored to running order.

 

This brick-on-wheels of a locomotive happens to have a special place in my heart, as almost two years after my first trip to the Railway Museum in June 2019, I was given the opportunity to run EO 3 light engine during a testing run in June 2021 after wrapping up tram-driving duties for the day. This was only possible because the driver - a longtime CRS member - was also a similarly longtime member of the Tramway Historical Society. The above photo was taken that day after disembarking from the return trip. And yes, it may have also played a part in my buying a MicroAce ED17 last year too.

 

Thanks for bearing with me here folks - back to the Railway Museum we go!

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Heading across the museum, we now encounter another old friend, and my profile namesake: ED75 775.

 

 

 

Thanks to its red colour scheme, Red No. 2 to be precise, the ED75 stands out considerably among the other electric locomotives. For those wanting a more comprehensive history of this type, I recommend both Masashi Takahashi's excellent book on the ED75 class or the Japanese Wikipedia page for the class which provides considerably more detail than the English-language version. Unfortunately I've not seen much on the history of ED75 775 in service, but after a little applied Wikipedia-fu, I know that it was last allocated to Minami-Akita depot, the same depot currently home to sister ED75 767, the last unit in regular use.*

 

Given my love of ED75's, and in this respect I wasn't helped by the ability to buy two 'junk' examples from Popondetta Kyoto Æon Mall in 2019 which started my N-scale addiction, it may come as a surprise that I don't have a Tomix 7192 in my collection...yet. I plan to rectify that this June, most likely in Tokyo. And maybe, just maybe, if I do that I'll take it with me to the Railway Museum and snap a photo of it with the real ED75 775.

 

Alastair

 

* Pointless digression incoming: while ED75 767 is the last ED75 in (irregular) service, according to Tomix anyway, JR East has a further two on their books at Sendai: ED75 758 and ED75 759. If I've understood the Japanese Wikipedia article correctly, both of the Sendai-based units are in storage.

[ED75-775]

While electric traction is predominant at the Railway Museum, there's six steam locomotives on the property. Let's start with the two newest ones, starting with the most historically important: C57 135.

 

 

Built in 1940 and originally allocated to Takasaki depot, C57 135 would move to Hokkaido in 1952 where it would be allocated first to Otaru Tsukiminato depot, and later Muroran and Iwamizawa depots. Although it and four classmates were taken out of service on 14 November 1975, it would be specially brought back into service to pull train 225, a special 'Farewell to Steam' trip from Muroran to Iwamizawa, on 14 December 1975. Immediately after finishing its special duty, the locomotive was transferred south to Tokyo for preservation in the Transportation Museum, where it remained until relocated to the Railway Museum in 2007.

 

During one of my 2023 trips, I spent a little time get as close and personal with this locomotive to check out the identity stamps on the locomotive's wheelsets and running gear; while most of it is original to 135, her trailing driving wheels aren't, having come from sister locomotive C57 141 which had been withdrawn in 1969 from Muroran depot.

 

 

Hiding on the other side of the museum, and tucked away at the head of the Imperial Train display, is C51 5. Built in 1920 at Hamamatsu Works and originally carrying the road number 18904, it spent its entire working life as far as I can tell in West Japan. Retired in February 1962, it was quickly transferred to the Ōme Railway Park for preservation. In the process it would become the only C51 to be preserved as a complete locomotive: all four of the other present-day survivors, including Kyoto Railway Museum's C51 239, were sectioned for apprentice train duties.

 

While C51 5 looks to be in good condition, in reality it probably isn't as good as it looks. As originally displayed at Ōme, it was placed alongside ED16 1, sitting along the top of a hillside. This would ordinarily have been fine, but on 12 September 1982 Typhoon Judy undermined the hillside beneath the C51, causing it to roll over and slide down the bank on its side causing some degree of damage. The locomotive was eventually recovered and repaired, and shifted to another site within the museum where it remained on display until 2007 when it was moved to the Railway Museum.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

And to conclude our Rolling Stock Highlights for now at least, two of the earliest locomotives at the Museum. This first one needs no introduction: it's locomotive number 1.

 

 

Built by Vulcan Foundry as their Works No. 614 in 1871, this locomotive is hailed as Japan's first steam locomotive though whether it truly was the first into service is well open to interpretation. After a thirty-nine-year service life, locomotive No. 1, by now Japanese Government Railways 150, was retired in 1911 and onsold to the Shimabara Railway who used it until 1930; JGR then swapped a 600-class tank locomotive to Shimatetsu and received old no. 1 back for preservation. Because the locomotive had changed over its working life, most notably taking its current form in 1884 after a rebuild at Kobe, restoration back to original condition was never a realistic option and No. 1 as exhibited today looks as it did in 1897.

 

 

Over the other side of the display 'platform', is Benkei, a Porter 2-6-0 originally built in 1880 for the Horonai Railway in Hokkaido and which wouldn't have looked out of place on any contemporary American narrow-gauge railroad. Its path to preservation was actually built on a mistake: when the JGR were looking in 1922 to preserve one of what had become the JGR 7100 class, their first pick was the former No. 1, Yoshitsune, which they believed had become locomotive 7101. Accordingly, 7101 was moved south in August 1923 only to end up being dumped at Kuroiso depot following the Great Kanto Earthquake.

 

Locomotive 7101 got picked up again in 1936 and was examined at Ōmiya Works by enthusiasts Eiichi Shimazaki and Yukiyoshi Kawakami who revealed its true identity as Benkei, the former Horonai No. 2. The actual restoration work didn't commence until 1939, and would be finished in 1940 at which point Benkei was placed on display at the Transportation Museum. As we'll see later, the real Yoshitsune did survive, and would later be restored in its own right.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Stepping away from the full size trains for a while, let's head back upstairs. One of the big attractions up here is, of course, the Museum's own model railway layout.

 

 

 

This 23-foot long by 10-foot wide H0 scale layout features almost 1.2km of track, and features nearly 1,400 pieces of rolling stock. Talk about a massive collection! It also hosts a ten-minute 'day in the life of the railway' show throughout the day. Having watched the show in 2019, it's not bad, but personally I don't think it's something I would do on a regular basis. Viewing the layout, however, is a different story.

 

Alastair

[Phantom]

1 hour ago, ED75-775 said:

Stepping away from the full size trains for a while, let's head back upstairs. One of the big attractions up here is, of course, the Museum's own model railway layout.

 

That is impressive, I'm curious how the shinkansen viaducts were made. They don't look ultra detailed, but do look fairly sturdy especially considering their height.

[ED75-775]

Also on the second floor of the main building, there's a display of larger scale models, some of them likely concepts, plus a short timeline display about the history of railways in Japan. Being all in Japanese the timeline's of little use to foreign tourists, but the models themselves are set out in chronological order from the dawn of steam through to some of the most recent Shinkansen types.

 

 

The cases stretch nearly the full length from the model railway to the end of the second-floor walkway, but the model display only fills about two-thirds of this if my memory's correct. The rest showcases other artefacts, including on my 2023 trip a Galaxy Express 999 headboard from a commemorative trip.

 

 

 

Here's two samples of what to expect in the cases. The two Shinkansen models at the back of the second photo are both special: they're models of the end cars from the E954 series Fastech 360S experimental trainset. While I have to admit I'm more partial to the E955 series 'mini-Shinkansen' Fastech 360Z, these models of the Fastech 360S are pretty neat in their own way. I doubt we will get models of them though; much as we all know MicroAce has a reputation for niche models and one-offs, I can't see a couple of laboratory trains like the Fastech units being worthwhile for them. Pity really, they're actually quite distinctive!

 

4 hours ago, Phantom said:

That is impressive, I'm curious how the shinkansen viaducts were made.

The viaducts were probably specially made for the museum. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

One of the great problems of railway museums - even any museum - internationally is that you'll often end up with a larger amount of artefacts than you have dedicated display space for. What do you do with them? In the Railway Museum's case, it's display them in an 'anything room'. There's little to no signage in here, but plenty of unique bits and pieces.

 

 

As evinced by the 'anything room' name, there's a bit of everything in here. Locomotive parts? Yep. Rails and track fittings? Yep again. Railway crockery? Concept models? Pieces from foreign locomotives? They're all here too.

 

 

This display of rails caught my eye in 2019, but I wouldn't get a decent photo of it until 2023 as my camera in 2019 was by that time in terminal decline and started playing up from this point onwards. The reason it caught my eye was that bridge rail in the middle; we in New Zealand experimented with bridge rail in the 1860s, but tried using it like conventional rails with the result they didn't last. Ooh er! Note the shape of the rail next to it - while clearly a lighter weight rail, it's (almost) the same profile as the rails on Kato's Unitrack. Prototype for everything, I guess!

 

To date I've only ever seen two 'anything rooms' incorporated into museums, the other being the Warehouse at the National Railway Museum in York. Though in that case it's apples and oranges; the Warehouse was part rolling stock display space, part 'anything room' while the 'anything room' at Ōmiya is solely that.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Another great spot to stop is the rooftop terrace at the northern end of the main building. It's a great spot for train watching, both on the conventional lines and on the Shinkansen lines too.

 

 

I got lucky in 2023 and managed to get an empty terrace space. Notice that board over to the left by the bench? It's a Shinkansen timetable, showing the times of all services passing the museum.

 

 

 

As can be seen, there's a high railing and glass windows most of the way around, so certain positions may produce certain reflections for your camera to pick up as in this photo of an E7/W7 unit. Otherwise it's not a bad space to stop and snap. There is a slightly raised platform off to one side though (and if memory serves, a slightly lower railing) which you can use to get some better, side-on photos.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Oh, and did I mention that the museum has a self-drive miniature railway downstairs just below?

 

 

 

I'm not sure how long the track is, or what gauge, but it's a fun little kiddie-ride experience that teaches you how signal blocks work. Like the simulator rides, you have to apply to do this through the Railway Museum Raffle App, and pay ¥600. Is it worthwhile? If you have kids who are mad on trains, definitely. As adults, possibly not unless you're like me and must given almost anything a go.

 

 

I can't remember if I took this photo before or after my driving experience, but this was my train when I gave it a go in 2023. I suspect, but am not sure, that they're all battery-powered, and that there's some sort of signal control through the tracks (just like the real thing then!) interlocked with both the station and the multitude of signals dotted along the line. I also joked in the 'Prototype for everything' thread at the time about how the track gets cleaned in order to ensure that signal contact, using a rag on a stick and a bottle of oil - sound familiar? Just like a model railway!

 

Alastair

 

[ED75-775]

Time to start moving on to our next destination. Let's stop briefly in the atrium of the museum. From left we have the Museum Shop, the manned information kiosk, and the museum's most recent arrival (2022), former Imperial locomotive EF58 61. The barriers in the foreground are for the escalator up to level 2, while off to the left out of shot is the Museum entrance.

 

 

As we head out, it's hard to miss the display of locomotive number plates set into an illuminated case in the walkway. These ones are of particular interest:

 

 

All four of these locomotive plates came from Oiwake depot in Hokkaido - with 39679 and 79602 both having been in service on the final day of JNR steam, 2 March 1976. While 39679 itself was later cut up, the other three had a more tragic fate, having been stored in the Oiwake roundhouse when it burned down on 13 April 1976 taking thirteen locomotives (five steam locomotives and eight diesels) with it.

The depot fire caused a major rethink about the preservation of two D51s; as originally planned D51 603 was to be preserved at the Science Museum in Ueno while D51 241, the locomotive that pulled the last steam-hauled freight service on the JNR network, was to have been preserved in Oiwake Town Memorial Museum. Substitutions were made, Ueno got D51 231 while Oiwake got D51 320.

 

For those wanting to visit the museum, I recommend a quick visit to their English language website for access information, costs, and a link to purchase advance tickets if that's your thing. It's well worth a visit in my opinion, but then having been there five times across three trips, I would say that, wouldn't I?

 

Alastair

[RS18U]

3 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

display them in an 'anything room'

I loved that room, so glad you included it as it seems to get little love from others.

[RS18U]

1 hour ago, ED75-775 said:

It's well worth a visit in my opinion

Agreed, although I found it very busy and somewhat overwhelming not being used to crowds like that.  Of course I was there on a Saturday and may have still been a bit jet lagged too.

[ED75-775]

Time to head back to Ōmiya Station, from where we'll head to our next destination. Let's catch the New Shuttle this time!

 

 

The New Shuttle's route does give a slightly panoramic view over the Ōmiya General Vehicle Center, but don't expect to see too much as you pass by. We're soon enough back at the station; as we prepare to dive under the Shinkansen tracks to our platform, there's a chance to snap the overbridge crossing the northern end of the station (and south end of the works - it's the same one I snapped the workshops shunting tractor from). Looks like a good spot to watch trains from!

 

 

There's enough time for another look at General Store Railyard, and what do we have here but the E231 door handles I mentioned earlier! If memory serves these were emergency release handles. Tempting as they were, the ¥8,000 price tag was a bit rich for me - and what do you then do with it? It seems a bit pointless just to have one for the sake of it. Though the 2024 offering might have been more practical - offcut rolls of seat fabric, which I think were cheaper than these.

 

 

Alright, we've got another train to catch. Next stop, Kumagaya!

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

We now arrive in Kumagaya, the self-proclaimed 'rugby city' of Japan. While this city offers a lot for tourists wanting to dive a little deeper, my journeys here have never taken me into Kumagaya city proper, only the station and its environs. For that you can thank my one-track mind: Kumagaya is the starting point for the Chichibu Railway's SL Paleo Express, a seasonal steam train running on selected weekends between March and November each year. It's well worth doing in my opinion!

 

 

The Chichibu station is co-located in the same building as the JR Kumagaya station, being located partway along the walkway between the main concourse and the station's South Exit. If you need a bite there's plenty of eateries in and around the station, plus a New Days konbini on the concourse and a handy 7-Eleven right beside the South Exit, which is handy if you find yourself wanting some lunch along the way.

If you've got time, it's worth strolling past the Chichibu ticket gates and taking a look out the windows of the overpass over the tracks here. Every time I've visited Kumagaya, there's always been some trains laying over in the small yard here. Smaller private railways like Chichibu seem to live off second-hand rolling stock cast off by larger companies, and in this case the current fleet is a mixed bag of ex-Seibu, Toei and Tokyu EMU sets.

 

If, like me you're here to ride the Paleo Express you'll need to stop to see the SL reservations staff before you head down to the platform. The best way to do this is through Chitetsu's dedicated (Japanese language) SL reservation page which you can book through one month before your date of travel. If you'd prefer to turn up on the day and try to make a reservation, that's also possible but I don't recommend doing it that way. Quite apart from the fact that you can't guarantee seat availability, it's also more expensive - ¥1,100 on the day as opposed to ¥1,000 in advance.

 

 

Chichibu Railway's Kumagaya Station is a fairly small affair compared to the JR station next door, comprising an elevated main building and one island platform with a lovely, albeit aging, platform canopy. If the staff offices at the eastern end of the platform are open, take the time to peek inside (but don't go in) one of them to see the small signals panel providing access to the stabling tracks in the yard.

While the JR station in Kumagaya dates back to 1883, the Chichibu station is a relative newcomer, having been built by what was then the Jobu Railway in 1901 as the terminus of their line from Yorii. It wouldn't become a through station until August 1922 when the Hokobu Railway completed the Gyoda to Kumagaya portion of its line from Hanyu, which would then pass to the Chichibu Railway a month later thanks to a 'merger' of the two companies.

 

We've got a bit of time to kill before the train arrives. Why don't we take a quick look around while we have the chance?

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

As alluded to earlier, most of Chichibu Railway's EMU stock is second-hand castoffs from larger companies, so here's a few examples up close and personal.

 

 

The vast bulk of the Chichibu Railway's modern EMU stock hails from the Tokyu Corporation, and this set is one such example: three-car set 7502, a former Tokyu 8090 series EMU built in 1980 and transferred to Chitetsu in 2010 as a replacement for their aging 1000 series (ex-JNR 101 series) trainsets. In all, Chitetsu brought a grand total of twenty-nine former 8090 series vehicles, forming them as seven three-car 7500 series sets and four two-car 7800 series sets. The two types are easily distinguishable thanks to the different front-end treatment of the 7800 series - not to mention that the 7800s also have a handy '2 Car' sticker on their fronts.

 

One other quirk of the 7500 series is that five of the seven sets are wrapped in promotional liveries, being the only trains in the Chitetsu fleet currently to do so. In the case of set 7502, its promotional wrap advertises the Chichibu Geopark and was applied in September 2014. We'll see a few of the others later.

 

 

Slightly older and this time hailing from the Seibu Railway, are the 6000 series three-car express EMU sets. Originally built between 1979 and 1984 as members of the Seibu 'new' 101 class, nine vehicles were purchased in 2005 and formed into three trainsets for use on the 'Chichibuji' expresses, taking over from the 3000 series (ex-JNR 165 series) sets. Set 6003, seen here at Kumagaya, is the only one not to carry the Chitetsu blue and white livery, having received a retro-style two-tone brown livery in October 2014.

 

Pointless information incoming: if you want models of any of these trains, Greenmax offers four ready-to-run versions of the 7500 series including 7502 in its Geopark livery (item nr. 50697). The 6000 series hasn't been produced in RTR format yet, although Amagi Modeling Idea did produce a brass and white metal kit for this train type in November 2023.

 

Alastair

 

 

[ED75-775]

As time comes for the SL Paleo Express to arrive, the platform starts getting a bit congested. Don't follow the crowd and attempt to get a photo of the steam locomotive as it comes in; rather, head for the end of the platform and you can get some decent shots of the train's other star, electric locomotive DeKi 201.

 

 

Built by Hitachi in 1963, DeKi 201 is the last survivor of the three-strong DeKi 200 class electric locomotives built for freight service on the Chichibu Main Line. Designed as an improvement on the earlier DeKi 100 series, these locomotives were unfortunately not entirely successful due to bogie maintenance and track interaction issues, leading to the class being earmarked for retirement in the late 1990s as Chitetsu's freight business decreased leading to an surplus of locomotives.

DeKi 201 was the first to be taken out of regular use in 1996 but was retained for Paleo Express duties, mostly to transfer the train to and from Hirosegawara Depot near Kumagaya, but occasionally as the train locomotive when the steam locomotive wasn't available, or on charters. Sister locomotives DeKi 202 and 203 were on-sold to the Sangi Railway, and utilized mainly as shunters at Taiheyo Cement's Higashi-Fujiwara factory during construction of Chubu Centrair Airport. Never modified for mainline service, they were withdrawn and scrapped in 2011.

 

 

Jumping from 2023 to a much sunnier day in 2024, and a closer view of DeKi 201 just after it had cut off from the train. This is the best time to get photographs of this locomotive, and probably the only time you'll get up close and personal with any of Chitetsu's EL fleet unless you're planning on disembarking somewhere between Kagemori and Takekawa Stations. While you can get photographs of this locomotive leading the afternoon empty stock working back to Hirosegawara, it's a little more annoying to do so since people will be hanging about waiting to watch the train leave.

 

Alright, much as I love a good electric or diesel locomotive, we're here for the steam locomotive. Stay tuned!

 

Alastair

Edited Tuesday at 01:36 PM by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

The arrival of SL Paleo Express at Kumagaya can be a bit of a scrum if you're trying to get up close with the train's locomotive. But it is possible to do, and if you prefer a little less crowd-fighting to get your steam locomotive fix, I recommend trying again at Yorii or Mitsumineguchi Stations.

 

 

The star of the SL Paleo Express is undoubtedly its steam locomotive, ex-Japanese National Railways C58 363. Built in 1944 and retired in 1973, it was placed on display at Fukiage Elementary School until 1987 when it was recalled and returned to working order for the '88 Saitama Expo. It would be based out of Takasaki depot for a year before being transferred to the Chichibu Railway in December 1988. As you can see here, the locomotive provides a great photo opportunity and Chitetsu has a little photo-op spot with some of their mascot characters next to the locomotive while it waits to head out. They've got four such characters - two based on passenger trains, one on the DeKi freight locomotives and one on the WoKiFu hopper with brakeman's cabin.

 

During my 2023 trip, the train was running as part of a tie-in event with the then-newly released Hoyoverse mobile game Honkai: Star Rail; the locomotive was wearing a headboard for the game's Earth Tour while the carriages were decked out internally with advertising panels showing some of the game's characters. There were also free giveaways on board of merchandise from the game - I got a can badge depicting one of the characters! That then got me into the game which is pretty good, although the loss of some English character voices due to the ongoing video game voice actor strike in the US has somewhat dampened the experience.

 

 

It's pretty busy down this end of the platform with both the photo spot and the crowd wanting to get closer to the C58. Part of this is because it's the closest working steam locomotive to Tokyo itself, and also because working steam locomotives aren't exactly common - Japan Railway Journal said there were fifteen in 2023 when they did a show on I think the Oigawa Railway, and someone will correct me on that if I'm wrong, although that total's now more likely to be thirteen with the withdrawal of JR Kyushu's 58654 (2024) and JR East's C58 239 (2023) which remained registered as an operational vehicle up until last month.

 

It's getting close to departure time. Let's get on board and find our seats!

 

Alastair