Sumidagawa Station container terminal

[bill937ca]

I thought I'd make this a separate thread so it will be more search able.  This is an example of a container terminal.  On another thread I will post a container siding.

 

Sumidagawa Station is a container terminal for traffic from Kanto district to Hokkaido, Tohoku and Hokuiku districts.  An expansion project is currently under way that will finish up in 2012,  This station is set up for consists of a maximum  of 18 to 20 cars.

 

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/iwase_akihiko/20090804/1249394988

 

Track plan:

 

http://img.f.hatena.ne.jp/images/fotolife/i/iwase_akihiko/20090729/20090729091324.jpg?1248826535

 

The red lines on the track plan are changes being made between 2009-2012.

 

 

Sumidagawa Station trains:

 

From Sumidagawa station to KIta-nagano station.

 

 

http://bierwagen.fan-site.net/mjft/3/index35.html#c

 

JR Freight train No.2079. Tokyo Freight Terminal Station → Sumidagawa Station Locomotive EF64-1010

 

 

JR Freight train No.2078. Sumidagawa Station → Tokyo Freight Terminal Station Locomotive EF65-10?? (Type EF65-1000[PF])

 

[CaptOblivious]

I've wondered whether EF65s service this terminal. I knew EF64-1000's did. What other locos can be seen here?

[bikkuri bahn]

I've wondered whether EF65s service this terminal. I knew EF64-1000's did. What other locos can be seen here?

 

Yes, you'll see EF65s- entering the terminal (high quality HD):

 

http://zoome.jp/sk_junk_box/diary/90

 

Low quality, but also in the terminal area (opposite side view?):

 

EH500s haul trains into this terminal.  Excellent video here, the second train in this sequence is EH500 hauled train #3054, a service from Sapporo bound for Sumidagawa:

*I also love that third train, the EF81 with the toki 25000 gons on the end, apparently this is called the "Annaka Freight" bound for the Toho Zinc Co. plant in Annaka City, Gunma Prefecture, and the gons are filled with zinc ore.

 

Of course, you'll see DE10s doing the shunting:

 

 

After an appearance by an EF65 running light, a few shunting moves accompanied by radio chatter:

 

[CaptOblivious]

Curious that one of the movies above, and other photos and movies that I've seen, features an EF81 in JRE Hokutosei livery. Who owns those, and how is it that they end up being used for both passenger and freight?

[bikkuri bahn]

Curious that one of the movies above, and other photos and movies that I've seen, features an EF81 in JRE Hokutosei livery. Who owns those, and how is it that they end up being used for both passenger and freight?

 

The EF81s are JR East locomotives based at the Tabata Depot, which is a JR East facility.  There are 22 of these units based here.  Though their primary assignment is passenger train haulage, in reality they see much more use as freight haulers, under contract from JR Freight, notably on the Joban Line, though they also see use on other routes, such as the Annaka Freight depicted above.

[KenS]

In the second video of the second set, both the EF65 at the beginning and the EF64 at the end are running "wrong rail" (on the right hand side, rather than the left) through the station. And that's obviously normal, as there's a "repeater" (position light) signal on the platform for that direction.  I'd never seen that before, and had assumed this was prohibited on double-track lines for safety reasons (since passenger traffic so outnumbers freight).

 

How common is this practice in Japan?

 

Incidentally, watching the repeater signal change from clear (vertical) to stop (horizontal) when the front of the train passes the actual signal, long after it's run through the station, is pretty neat.

[bikkuri bahn]

In the second video of the second set, both the EF65 at the beginning and the EF64 at the end are running "wrong rail" (on the right hand side, rather than the left) through the station. And that's obviously normal, as there's a "repeater" (position light) signal on the platform for that direction.  I'd never seen that before, and had assumed this was prohibited on double-track lines for safety reasons (since passenger traffic so outnumbers freight).

 

Nothing unusual- Akabane Station has four island platforms serving eight through tracks, so you will have lines arranged in this manner- the adjacent track is a different line (Saikyo Line). For the EF65, it's on the down Shonan Shinjuku Line (track 6).

 

*yes, I always enjoy seeing the repeater signals change as a train passes.  Its especially fun when you have a following straight section of track where you can see the signals down the line change in concert (in my neck of the woods, Kami-nopporo Station).

[stevenh]

Just for a little more searchable info: this depot is located in Minamisenju, Tokyo. There's quite a lot of backpacker accommodation down there and you get to cross paths with this yard a lot. There is always action going on as well... You can find a lot of photos of this area in my Minamisenju photo album here.

 

I also have a blog post of my experience around the area here.

[defor]

Some updates for this thread as I've been using Sumidagawa as a prototype:

 

• A readable copy of the track plans shown above (taken from: http://www.jrfreight.co.jp/common/pdf/news/200907-03.pdf)
  PDF: 200907-03.pdf

 

• A composite Google Earth satellite image, made using imagery from 2016. (I've had to reduce the quality a bit to fit the 4MB limit here, but let me know if you need a higher quality version)
  Note: I've rotated it from true north (Key is in bottom right of image)

Edited March 26, 2018 by defor

[cteno4]

Very nice! Great resource! Thanks

 

jeff

[EH500 (12)]

1 hour ago, defor said:

Some updates for this thread as I've been using Sumidagawa as a prototype:

 

• A readable copy of the track plans shown above (taken from: http://www.jrfreight.co.jp/common/pdf/news/200907-03.pdf)
  PDF: 200907-03.pdf

 

• A composite Google Earth satellite image, made using imagery from 2016. (I've had to reduce the quality a bit to fit the 4MB limit here, but let me know if you need a higher quality version)
  Note: I've rotated it from true north (Key is in bottom right of image)

 

 

I too have posted pictures from that freight yard: 

 

Perhaps that helps you. 
You did not by chance find such nice track plans for Goryokaku or Higashi-Aomori?

 

Last time I was there I discovered a nice spot to take pictures of the locomotives. Someone had already prepared some blocks to stand on and took care of the barb wire.

I have marked the spots I found best suited to take pictures on your map.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2018 by EH500 (8)

[defor]

 
You did not by chance find such nice track plans for Goryokaku or Higashi-Aomori?
 
Last time I was there I discovered a nice spot to take pictures of the locomotives. Someone had already prepared some blocks to stand on and took care of the barb wire.
I have marked the spots I found best suited to take pictures on your map.
 

I’ll see if I can poke around- clearly this is on a yard refurbishment and improvement plan from a few years back, but it’s good to see a plan from an official source.

How exactly do you get to that spot on the north side of the yard? Is it accessible if you go under the metro/jr station?





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EH500 (12)]

44 minutes ago, defor said:

I’ll see if I can poke around- clearly this is on a yard refurbishment and improvement plan from a few years back, but it’s good to see a plan from an official source.

How exactly do you get to that spot on the north side of the yard? Is it accessible if you go under the metro/jr station?
 

No need to look for it, I was just curious if there were more of these planes where you found yours.

 

 

Here is how you get to that spot:

1.) You can go there from the JR and Tsukuba station

 

2.) Pass the McDonalds and go down the stairs on the other side of the road

 

3.) When you go up on the other side there is a taxi stand to your left and a police box in front of you, go right. There is a small alley between the yard and a building, go in there until you can see the trains.

Depending on the season and the vegetation you might get a few pics right in front of the police box.

 

Edited March 27, 2018 by EH500 (8)

[defor]

AHA! gotcha- yeah that was what I was thinking- I didn't bother to explore over that way last time I was in town, but had a feeling that was the general direction at least!

TBH, I'm realllllllly bad about not taking photos when I'm out somewhere (It just doesn't cross my mind), and only took a small number of photos, mostly from the fence by the pedestrian bridge, and on top.