Odate - Kosaka Railway

[Nick_Burman]

Hi all,

 

Does anyone know of any site which has some decent pictures of the Odate - Kosaka Railway before it was converted from 762mm to 1067mm? So far, the only (two!) pictures I've seen of this railway in that particular period were in Small's "Far Wheels".

 

 

Cheers NB

[marknewton]

Nick, I've never seen a web site featuring the Odate-Kosaka line in its 762mm days - and believe me I've looked. The only photos I've seen apart from 'Far Wheels' were a couple in Wally Higgins Showa 30s picture books.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[ToniBabelony]

http://tkohara.la.coocan.jp/kosaka1.htm (on a remaining steamer No.11 and coach)

http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~akitetu/lost/l_nagaki/index.html (on the old line)

http://syowavoxx.hp2.jp/2007/01/19/kihin-sl/ (again on the steamer and coach, with interior pics)

http://www.town.kosaka.akita.jp/kyoudokan/bunkazai/bunkazai_10.htm (small pic of pre-conversion age + text)

http://6.fan-site.net/~haasan55/Douwakosaka.htm (two pics of electrified mining train on 762mm gauge rail)

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/br1245er/folder/512577.html (blog with photographs of the signs at the displayed steamer and coach)

http://c5557.kiteki.jp/html/kosaka11.htm (a few more pics on the steamer)

http://satoyama.in/auto/sharyo/auto179.html (pics of old coaches)

http://satoyama.in/auto/sharyo/auto176.html (pics of No. 11, one still (half) in service)

http://homepage3.nifty.com/762mm/kousakusitsu4.html (on a brass coach kit)

http://yamatetsu.dee.cc/info/keibin_page.htm (a few more pics on the steamer, scoll down)

 

That is all that I've come up with. It's definately hard to find any information on this line before the 1067mm conversion. I guess you have to research specific Japanese literature for this.

[bikkuri bahn]

My cursory search pretty much turned up the same as what T.B. found.  I surmise one problem with scant early pix of this rlwy. was it converted to 1067mm way back in 1962, before many Japanese could afford to pursue a hobby of railfan photography (at least on a scale found in the later half of the 60's/early 70's, not to mention today), coupled with the relatively remote Tohoku location.  Back at the beginning of the 1960's, there was of course no shinkansen, and limited expresses were relatively new services in most regions, taken primarily by businessmen and the wealthy.  Regular folks traveled by local trains or expresses/semi-expresses.  Air travel was more a dream than anything else for most.

 

I have a couple of books covering narrow gauge (i.e. 762mm) lines at home.  I'll check to see if there is anything about the pre-1962 condition of this line.

[marknewton]

Tony, thanks for those links! Some I've seen, many I haven't, and all of them are interesting. I'd love to see some more photos of their little Mitsubishi steeplecab loco, I reckon it's a beauty.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

BB, I think you're spot-on about the reasons for the lack of coverage. If you do have any further information, I'd love to see it.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[Nick_Burman]

Tony, thanks for those links! Some I've seen, many I haven't, and all of them are interesting. I'd love to see some more photos of their little Mitsubishi steeplecab loco, I reckon it's a beauty.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

 

Thanks all folks for the info. Some great pictures there?

 

Arumodels makes a HOn30 steeplecab which vaguely resembles the O-K locos...

 

Cheers NB

[Nick_Burman]

Forgot to comment...http://homepage3.nifty.com/762mm/kousakusitsu4.html, this guy's modelling just rocks! On30 too!

 

Another detail which calls attention is the fact that the O-K equipment seemed to to be beefier that that of the usual keiben.

 

Cheers NB

[bikkuri bahn]

Just had a look through my book collection, as well as the selection at my local bookstore, and the best source I found was this book, Keiben Tsuisou, a Neko Publishing product:

 

http://shopping.hobidas.com/shop/hobidas-syoten/item/873660143.html

 

http://rail.hobidas.com/blog/natori/archives/2007/04/post_516.html

 

Contains a complete chapter of photographs of the Kosaka Railway in 762mm days, and a bunch of roster photos.

 

By the way, another good one is this volume, which doesn't contain photos of the Kosaka Rlwy, but I highly recommend it for photos of other narrow gauge lines, including numerous prototype track plans of station and terminal areas- Keibentanbou, published by Kigei Pub. (I have a copy of this, mainly for its excellent coverage of the dairy lines in eastern Hokkaido)

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/image/10032190a/20/1

 

some shots of the contents:

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/c_xantia_01/50203181.html

[ToniBabelony]

Hmmm... Interesting books you have there BB. I'll be on the lookout for them NG related stuff, whenever I'm back in Japan that is.

[bikkuri bahn]

Hmmm... Interesting books you have there BB. I'll be on the lookout for them NG related stuff, whenever I'm back in Japan that is.

 

Yes, the one put out by Neko Publishing seems to be wisely available both at bookstores and online, but the Kigei Publishing book is spotty- I see it sometimes at bookstores, but online it is oop.  This is pretty much the situation with these smaller, specialized publishers.  It pays to visit the bookstores in Tokyo, you may find some treasures, albeit some may have faded covers.

[marknewton]

Just had a look through my book collection, as well as the selection at my local bookstore, and the best source I found was this book, Keiben Tsuisou, a Neko Publishing product. Contains a complete chapter of photographs of the Kosaka Railway in 762mm days, and a bunch of roster photos.

 

Good on yer, BB! That's a book I'm ordering next payday for certain.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

It arrived yesterday - what a wonderful book! Apart from the roster shots, which are very useful, there are some lovely artistic views of trains in the landscape, which I like just as much as the others. And it features the Mie Kotsu/Kintetsu 762mm gauge lines as well - bloody beauty!

 

Thanks for putting me onto this book, BB!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.