ED75's Random Japanese Trip Photos

[ED75-775]

Another neat little spot, and which needs its own post because file sizes aren't great, is this little complex of buildings. I have no idea what they're for, or where in the journey they are (other than between Kagemori and Mitsumineguchi). Google Maps drew a blank too. But they look cool and I like them, so here they are.

 

 

Update: thanks to @RS18U's detective work, it's the Arakawa Hino Asama Shrine near Bushū-Hino Station.

 

Alastair

Edited March 19 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

Apparently the upper reaches of the Chichibu Main Line are a great spot for railfan photography, so to prove that point here's a photo line somewhere nearing Mitsumineguchi.

 

 

Notice how very orderly and well-behaved these individuals are - which we all know isn't always the case in Japan, but these guys were pretty good.

 

Alastair

Edited March 19 by ED75-775

[RS18U]

1 hour ago, ED75-775 said:

And on the theme of inspirational ideas, have some townscape scenes for the interested.

Those look just like models, so yes more inspiration!

[RS18U]

1 hour ago, ED75-775 said:

I have no idea what they're for, or where in the journey they are

They appear to be part of the Asama Shrine (Arakawa Hino Asama Shrine).  There are photos on Google Maps that show the red building to the right, and in Google Earth you can see the green roof building.  Also in Street View you can just make out enough to compare to your photo. https://maps.app.goo.gl/AqvWe9W36Grn4axRA
Your photo also shows the trail up into the woods in the background.

 

 

Street view showing the green roof building and its window arrangement:

 

 

Google Maps has the area in shadow:

 

 

But Google Earth from 3/23/2021 is much more clear:

 

Unfortunately the road between the buildings and the track is not on Street View which would confirm it.  Anyway my best guess.

[ED75-775]

After 160 minutes and 56.8 kilometres, we now arrive at Mitsumineguchi Station, the end of the Chichibu Main Line. The station here opened in March 1930; plans called for the railway to extend to the former Ōtaki village (now part of Chichibu City) but that never happened, and thus Mitsumineguchi has remained very much the end of the line.

 

 

Like Nagatoro earlier in the trip, this was also selected as one of Kanto's '100 Best Stations' in 1999. Also like Nagatoro, it doesn't look like it's massively changed over the course of its working career either. And if that's got you feeling like you're in a time warp, when the time came for me to purchase my return ticket I was given a old-fashioned card-style ticket rather than the magnetic paper-based version I got at Kumagaya. Should you get one of these classic tickets as I did, don't be afraid to ask the staff at the ticket gate in Kumagaya whether you can keep it when leaving - I did with mine!

 

 

Quite apart from passenger travel, Mitsumineguchi also used to handle a significant amount of outgoing freight traffic with 296,993 tons being consigned at the station's peak in 1966. Most of this tonnage would have been iron and sulfide ores mined at the Chichibu Mine, sixteen kilometres away, and transported to a transloading facility southwest of Mitsumineguchi Station by ropeway. By the mid-1980s however freight traffic had massively tailed off, and although Japanese Wikipedia doesn't provide an exact date, it's likely that the mine stopped consigning ore by rail as early as 1984. Part of the line to the transload facility still remains, being used as a headshunt for the yard.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Unfortunately there's not much to do in Mitsumineguchi while the train lays over. About the only things you could do are hit up one of the two soba shops near the station (most likely Japanese language only), watch the few trains go by - or watch the C58 being turned on the turntable at the SL Turntable Park.

 

 

Chitetsu seems to understand the fact that steam locomotives are magnetic in and of themselves, and so they constructed the Turntable Park viewing area next to the Mitsumineguchi turntable. The turntable itself is apparently a later addition to the yard, but when exactly isn't stated on Japanese Wikipedia which has proved an excellent source thus far. Up until 2019, the area surrounding the turntable was also formerly home to the Chichibu Railway Car Park, an open-air museum featuring six pieces of freight rolling stock, two locomotives and two EMU cars, all of which were removed and scrapped due to deterioration in mid-2019.

 

 

The Paleo Express arrives in Mitsumineguchi at 12:54 and doesn't leave again until 2:05, giving passengers one hour and fifty-nine minutes in Mitsumineguchi. This may be too long for most, so if spending that amount of time up here doesn't appeal, I recommend taking the steam train one way and taking an ordinary train the other.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Once the locomotive gets moving again, it's time to start heading back to the station itself. There's a couple of good locations around the station area where you could get some photos of the C58 as it shuffles around; my pick for this was on the southern side of the station in what looks to be a bus parking area. I think this turned out quite well for a quick shot!

 

 

As can be seen here, and in the above photos, C58 363 was wearing a different set of smoke deflectors at the time of my 2024 trip, ostensibly as part of celebrations of its eightieth birthday. Chitetsu has or has had four sets of smoke deflectors for their C58: the standard set it normally wears; this Kyushu-style set based on those fitted to preserved sister C58 112 in Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture; a second Kyushu-style set based on a design not put into use during the steam era; and a Goto-style set based on those fitted to another preserved sister, C58 33, in Kiyosato town, Hokkaido.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

1001 Ways to Use Old Track (Part 2)

Way back at the start of this thread I mentioned how Odakyu loves to use old rail as fence posts protecting crossing motor boxes. While in Mitsumineguchi I found another good use for old track - inspection and maintenance stands!

 

 

Both the posts and edges of these maintenance stands are made from old rails. Not something that would be super common, but I wouldn't say it's super rare either. Maybe it's just a low-budget, low-cost private railway thing? I'll wait for someone to prove me wrong on that.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

It's time to leave - from here we'll head to our next destination. As we do, I'll post a few more favourite or interesting images just to wrap up this Chitetsu oddysey.

 

 

With fewer passengers going the full distance on my 2024 trip it wasn't so hard to get a decent photo of C58 363 at Mitsumineguchi. Please Tomix, make me a happy railfan and make a model of this train. Please?

 

 

The afternoon train as noted above leaves Mitsumineguchi at 2:05 for the run back to Kumagaya. On my 2024 trip I decided to retain the same seat I had on the way up, 16A in carriage 3, though in this shot as we coast down through Shiroku Station (1.3km from Mitsumineguchi) I was likely occupying the vacant seat 16C. Luckily for me, it stayed vacant throughout the trip, which gave me a few more good options for photos... until my camera battery ran flat. Whoops! I had to resort to my iPhone and iPod Touch for the remainder of the trip, but with the former low on battery and the latter having next to no battery life, I didn't take quite as many photos.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Time for another 'interesting station' photo, this time at Bushū-Nakagawa Station. I had to do some more Google-fu to figure out just where this was as initially I couldn't place it.

 

 

This station is another one of those quirky ones where the building and platform aren't connected, though unlike Ōasō earlier in the trip Bushū-Nakagawa doesn't have a direct access from the building to its island platform, but rather an indirect one. It also has two bidirectional freight loops, although neither looks to have been used in a long time - not surprising since passenger traffic can easily be catered to by the two platform tracks and freight traffic to this station ended in January 1984 when the last customer, a local limeworks, switched to road transport.

 

Alastair

 

Edited March 19 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

Time to pause at Nagatoro to allow a 'Chichibuji' express service to run round us. I believe this is the only time on the eastbound journey the SL Paleo Express has to pause to allow other services to pass.

 

 

 

As can be seen from the number of people lining the trackside here, the level crossing at the southwest end of Nagatoro Station is the place to watch the Paleo Express from. The station itself is pretty quiet for the moment as we pull in, but it won't stay that way for long!

 

 

 

Having picked up more passengers along the way, the end of the platform can be a bit of a scrum to get photos once again of C58 363. A little patience helps here, particularly as we have time to kill waiting for the 'Chichibuji' service to make its stop, move on, and clear a signal block or two before we start rolling again. You can just see it in the background of the left-hand photo; it's our old friend 6003 in its retro-brown livery from earlier in the journey.

 

 

And to wrap up, a quick view from the train of some of the houses lining the trackside as we depart. For detail geeks and buffs, the fencing is the same concrete railway-type fence as produced by Greenmax in various formats. I think I have a pack of the unpainted version (item nr. 2109) hiding somewhere in my hobby bits that I picked up the day before at Greenmax Cross Point in Akihabara. Maybe I'll have to grab some more this trip...?

 

Alastair

Edited March 28 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

All too soon, we're back at Kumagaya Station and it's time to bid farewell to the Paleo Express. Surprisingly fewer people headed down to the platform end in 2024 so this is another great opportunity to get some last-minute photos of C58 363 at the end of its run.

 

 

 

If you don't have a connection to make or places to be in a hurry, don't rush off - rather, hang around and you'll get to see DeKi 201 come in and couple up to the train in preparation to haul it back to Hirosegawara Depot. This can be a little bit crowded once again as people vie for prime photo spots, but never as bad as when people are trying for the steam locomotive.

 

 

 

And with that as the Paleo Express and C58 363 depart and head for home, we conclude our Chichibu Railway excursion. Next time sees us heading a little further north in search of more steam. Stay tuned!

 

Alastair

[RS18U]

On 3/18/2025 at 5:31 AM, ED75-775 said:

Also noted in this part of rural Saitama, or maybe in other places where I haven't been paying attention, are these interesting blue roof tiles.

Forgot I had this little shop with a blue roof.  Very distinctive.

 

[ED75-775]

The next station is: Oyama. The doors on the left side will open. Please change here for the Shinkansen, the Ryōmō Line and the Mitō Line. After Oyama, we'll be stopping at all stations beyond.

 

Time to grab our bags and prepare to change trains: we're stopping at Oyama Station on the Utsunomiya Line. There'll be a little time to kill before our connection departs - not that we'll be seeing much here, other than regular passenger services.

 

 

 

On my first trip to Oyama in 2023, I was using a JR Tokyo Wide Pass which was fine as it covers up to Utsunomiya - but potentially not our destination. In 2024 I decided instead to use my new Suica card which seems to be the way to go if you haven't got a flexible Rail Pass option. Typically services to Oyama are handled by E231-1000 and E233-3000 series EMU sets, so we won't get too carried away on those.

 

 

As mentioned in the arrival announcement, Oyama is also the western terminus of the Mitō Line, operated by five-car E531 EMU sets. Since 2018 they've been the only type in service on this line, following the transfer of the five-car E501 sets to Jōban Line services. This particular E531 set, formation K459, also happens to be the basis for the Kato 10-1293 model, a fact I didn't pick up on until quite a bit later that year. I finally brought one for a reasonable price via Zenmarket in 2024.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

The next station is: Shimodate. The doors on the left side will open. Please change here for the Mōka Tetsudō Line and the Kantō Tetsudō Jōsō Line.

 

Our destination for the day is Shimodate Station in Chikusei, Ibaraki Prefecture. The original station was opened here by the private Mito Railway in January 1889; today's station building is quite a bit newer than that though, having opened in April 1937. It's also one of the few places to bear the name 'Shimodate' since Shimodate city was absorbed into Chikusei city during a merger in 2005.

 

 

 

Mito Line services take twenty-two minutes to cover the 16.2 kilometres between Oyama and Shimodate, including stops at five other stations along the line. For those using Suica or Pasmo cards, they're accepted here on all lines. If you have an IC card from another region, they'll be accepted by JR East but not by any other operators. Just in case anyone was wondering!

 

Alastair

Edited March 27 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

Being a junction with two other rail lines, Shimodate does see other trains than just the regular Mitō Line services. Let's take a quick look at some of them.

 

 

On the south side of the station is the northern terminus of the Kantō Railway Jōsō Line, a 51.1 kilometre-long and mostly single-track railway running from Toride on the Jōban Line. It's exclusively diesel railcar territory, though this is due to science rather than anything else; the Japan Meteorological Agency's Kakioka Magnetic Observatory is located some thirty kilometres from parts of the railway, and under law any railway electrification in that thirty-kilometre radius has to be configured in such a way that it doesn't interfere with the observatory's function. Rather than spend all that money to comply, the Kantō Railway instead decided it was cheaper to run diesel railcars instead. This particular example, KiHa 2402, dates back to 2004.

 

 

Over on the northern side of the station is the Mōka Railway's Mōka Line, a forty-two kilometre-long former JNR branch line linking Shimodate and Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture. This is again diesel railcar territory, with the dominant (and only) type on this railway being the nine Mooka 14-series diesel railcars built in 2002. These took over from the original Mooka 63 railcars which had been built for the opening of the Mōka Railway in 1988.

 

The Mōka Line itself has its origins as far back as 1911 when construction began on a 16.5 kilometre-long light railway between Shimodate and Mōka. The line would be extended twice after that, first to Nanai (twelve kilometres) in 1913, and later to Motegi (13.5 kilometres) in December 1920. It wouldn't formally become the Mōka Line until 1922. Plans called for another line, the Nagakura Line, to be built from Motegi to present-day Hitachiōmiya on the Suigun Line, but although construction began in 1937 and tracklaying in 1940, the line was never completed thanks to the Second World War which resulted in all track beyond Motegi being removed in 1941.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

For the railway enthusiast, the Mōka Railway has its own attraction: the SL Mōka steam train. Unlike the Chichibu Railway's Paleo Express, the SL Mōka runs year-round on weekends and special holidays. Like the Paleo Express too, the Mōka is well worth doing in my opinion.

 

 

While the star of the show may be the steam locomotive, it's well worth taking the time to get some photos of the railway's other working locomotive, DE10 1535, as it brings the SL Mōka into Shimodate Station just before ten o'clock. As we'll see shortly, it then moves the train into a siding to clear for another local train service to come in and go out again before the steam train departs. Having done that, it shuts down for the day and remains at Shimodate until the steam train returns.

 

 

This DE10 is one of three owned by the Mōka Railway, with a further two displayed at Mōka Station. We'll get to see those in a bit.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

While the DE10 may be interesting in and of itself, the true star of the SL Mōka is its steam locomotive, ex-JNR tank locomotive C12 66. Built at Hitachi's Kasado factory in 1933, it spent its working life initially in Kyushu and later in eastern Japan. Retired in 1972, it was preserved in Iino town in Fukushima on the route of the former Kawamata Line, but would be purchased by the 'Haga District Wide-area Administrative Affairs Association' and leased to the Mōka Railway in 1991. Restoration was completed in late 1993, with the locomotive going into regular use on the SL Mōka in 1994.

 

 

While C12 66 may call the Mōka Railway home, it isn't solely restricted to its home railway. Being fitted with a compatible type of ATS equipment, it's very capable of running on JR lines if and when it needs to. Most notably it did so in 1998 on the Rumoi Main Line in Hokkaido when it was loaned to JR Hokkaido during the filming of the NHK drama 'Suzuran'. In more recent times, it's enabled the locomotive to be transferred to and from Ōmiya General Vehicle Centre either to appear at the Railway Fureai Fair, or for maintenance work to be carried out.

 

 

Other than C12 66, there are a further thirty C12s preserved across Japan, though none are currently operational. That's set to change though; Wakasa Railway has indicated interest in returning C12 167 to working order for tourist train operation, while Akechi Railway was looking in 2015 to do the same with sister C12 244 and has since expanded its plans to include sister C12 74 as of November 2023. Meanwhile, formerly operational C12 164 is due to be overhauled at some point in the future by Ōigawa Railway and returned to working order on behalf of its owner, the Japan National Trust.

 

While on the subject of steam locomotives, it's worth noting that Mōka Railway once had a second steam locomotive, C11 325. Built in 1946 and returned to working order in 1998, it was owned by Mōka Council and used as a secondary locomotive until 2019 when increasing maintenance costs and decreasing ridership made it financially unviable to keep it going. The locomotive was sold to the Tobū Railway in March of that year, and is now regularly used on that railway's SL Taijū tourist train.

 

Alastair

Edited March 28 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

Deserving of a post in its own right (and it needs to, the photo file is so large!), this gradient marker is located on the platform at Shimodate.

 

 

Gradient markers are a very English feature, although the English ones I've seen and am familiar with have the indication boards in line with the track and not at right angles. Just a quirky detail for the modelling ideas file!

 

Alastair

[RS18U]

6 minutes ago, ED75-775 said:

Gradient markers

For those uninitiated among us, what is a gradient marker?

[ED75-775]

As noted earlier, the SL Mōka has to pull into a siding to clear a local train service before it can collect its passengers. Starting with an arrival shot in 2023...

 

 

... followed by a departure shot in 2024.

 

 

The local train is timetabled to arrive at Shimodate at 10:09 and departs at 10:17, after which the SL Mōka returns to the platform and loads ready for its departure at 10:35. I don't however appear to have any photos of the shunting maneuver, mostly because on both trips to date I've filmed it.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

With the SL Mōka back at the platform, it's time to board. The train is made up of three 50-series coaches, purchased from JR East in 1993 in preparation for the train to begin operation. They're also the most original coaches of this type still in service; while the SL Hitoyoshi and SL Ginga both used 50-series coaches, all had been extensively modified either for tourist train service (SL Hitoyoshi) or rebuilt as KiHa 141 diesel railcars for use in Hokkaido (SL Ginga).

 

 

The experience of riding in these carriages isn't all that dissimilar to that on the Paleo Express, as they've largely been conserved in their final operating condition with the only changes being to the external livery. Unlike the Chichibu Railway, however, the Mōka Railway is somewhat short of money, so the carriages can and do show their age sometimes. They're still comfortable enough to travel in though, and I think the aging does add a little to the experience.

 

 

Oh? The whistle is blowing... it must be time to go!

 

52 minutes ago, RS18U said:

For those uninitiated among us, what is a gradient marker?

 

Gradient markers are special signs that tell the train crews about approaching gradients, and in particular their direction and inclination. According to a British website I quickly found, the concept originated from the North Midland Railway, but would become a feature of other British railways following the Chesterford derailment in 1845. Given the British influence in Japan's earliest railways, I can't say I'm surprised that gradient markers were a thing in Japan too.

 

Alastair

Edited March 29 by ED75-775

[RS18U]

1 hour ago, ED75-775 said:

Gradient markers are special signs that tell the train crews about approaching gradients

Thanks Alastair!  I figured as much from the name but its something we don't seem to have here despite some pretty significant grades.

[ED75-775]

For whatever reason, I haven't taken many photos of the line between Shimodate and Mōka. The majority of land in this area is flat and open, either home to small farms or similarly small communities. What I did photograph, however, are some of the stations along this stretch of the line.

 

 

This interesting-looking example (pardon the pole, they like to jump in for fun) is the station building at Kugeta Station, 8.5 kilometres from Shimodate. Opened in 1912, it was renovated into its current form in 1996. I can't place the architectural style of the station building, it's a bit too mishmash for both that or my tastes. Fun fact: this station was used for some time as a multipurpose hall by Ninomiya town, the former municipality the station served until it was merged into Mōka city in 2009.

 

 

Jumping from 2023 to 2024 and a little over four kilometres, we find ourselves at Terauchi Station, the last station before Mōka. Unlike Kugeta, the SL Mōka doesn't stop here so it's a matter of timing your shot if you want to photograph this building. Japanese Wikipedia doesn't have much to say about the age of the station building, but I wouldn't bet against it hailing back to 1912.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

We now pull into Mōka Station, the headquarters of the Mōka Railway and 14.6 kilometres from our starting point at Shimodate. This station needs very little introduction due to the shape of its main building: it's built to resemble a steam locomotive! Opened in March 1997, the building was selected as another of the '100 best stations in Kanto' due to its unique appearance.

 

 

Getting the whole building into the shot isn't really possible when there are trains around, but it's not hard to get a view of the 'smokebox' of the station building from the end of the platform. The train stops here for about fifteen to twenty minutes, so there's a chance to look around by try not to get too distracted! We might do so though as there's quite a bit to see here...

 

 

As always, the steam locomotive manages to draw a crowd, although here on the Mōka Railway, the crowds tend to be a bit smaller. Perhaps it helps that this railway is a little bit out of the way for some!

 

Alastair