My Japanese Trip Aug/Sept 2010

[westfalen]

Small detail, the city of Kochi is located in Shikoku not Kyushu. :)

My mistake, don't know what I was thinking. :dontknow:

[westfalen]

Good news everyone, as of today, according Kyodo News, you can use Mastercard again at 7-11 for cash withdraws. (Sadly this was not the case when I was over there!)

Thanks. I have a visa card but I'll pass the news on to the others.

[westfalen]

We had a mainly off rail day today with a sightseeing tour on a 'bonnet bus' from Awa Ikeda. Included was a short boat trip on the Yoshino River that gave a different view of some of the rail and road bridges along the river. When we got back to Kochi three of us took a tram ride and had a snoop around the tram sheds.

[westfalen]

Bonnet bus tour part 2.

 

Anyone for fish on a stick?

[westfalen]

Some trains at Awa Ikeda.

[westfalen]

Kochi trams.

[Guest ___]

Good news everyone, as of today, according Kyodo News, you can use Mastercard again at 7-11 for cash withdraws. (Sadly this was not the case when I was over there!)

Thanks. I have a visa card but I'll pass the news on to the others.

 

When I was in Osaka this year,. couldn't get the machines to take Mastercard or Visa. 

[yakumo381]

Does anything remain of the old Kochi Station? I went down this line in April'07 and the old station was still extant then - see attached photos - it was like being in a JNR timewarp.

[westfalen]

Does anything remain of the old Kochi Station? I went down this line in April'07 and the old station was still extant then - see attached photos - it was like being in a JNR timewarp.

That's just as I remember it from 1990 but unfortunately it's been totally wiped off the map. If I think of it I'll take some more shots of the outside of the station on the way out this morning.

[westfalen]

A short day today from Kochi to Uwajima via the JR Dosan and Yodo lines.

 

As promised some shots of the new Kochi station. If my memory serves me correctly the old station may have been a bit closer to the street and the trams did a 90 degree turn with the terminus under the pedestrian overpass visible in one of the photos, when the new station was built the trams were run straight ahead to a new terminus outside the station.

 

The other photos are enroute at Kubokawa and Ekawasaki on the Yodo Line and some shots taken when I went for a walk around Uwajima in the afternoon.

 

P.S. The view from my room in the JR Hotel Clement isn't bad either.

[westfalen]

Part two.

[westfalen]

Part three.

[westfalen]

We spent the day in Matsuyama today, travelling up by the coastal route and Iyotetsu Gunchuko line. First a couple more shots out of the hotel window in Uwajima, the 'Shokoku Truck' sightseeing car attached to the rear of the 0617 all stops train to Matsuyama and the Eneos fuel truck making a delivery to the Railcar fueling facility.

[westfalen]

The Iyotetsu. While the group had lunch and went to Dogo Onsen on the Botchan train I went for a run out to Yokogawara to get in all three lines, we did the Takahama line after a visit to Matsuyama castle where I got a few telephoto shots of the trams in the streets below.

[westfalen]

Matsuyama part 2.

[westfalen]

Matsuyama part 3.

 

The single Iyotetsu car was parked at the end of the Takahama line, we're not sure why.

[westfalen]

Matsuyama Part 4. In one of the shots a tram is crossing the Iyotetsu Takahama Line.

[disturbman]

I really love Shikoku's train. They look incredible. I have suh a sweet spot for the Kiha 185, 2000 Series and 8000 Series design. :)

[westfalen]

We travelled from Uwajima to Hamamatsu today, so some shots at Uwajima and enroute.

[westfalen]

Fancy a ride along the Sanyo Shinkansen on this?

 

We did a bit of train watching at Hamamatsu station before dinner and just as we were about to call it a day and go to eat the catch of the day came along. :grin

[westfalen]

I went to check out the Seino Testsudo freight line this morning. On the way I passed a short DD51 hauled freight just south of Gifu and arrived at Ogaki in time to see EF66 27 come through with the morning loads from Mino Akasaka and watch a few trains before catching the infrequent branch service to Mino Akasaka myself. JR Freight arrived on time with the lunch time empties so I filmed the loco swap thinking I would have time to get to the crossing at the end of the yard to shoot the train leaving but the Seino crew took off as soon as they had coupled on leaving me with a going away video across a field and a two and a half hour wait for the next train if I waited to catch them coming back, which I didn't fancy. Behind the engine house was a sorry looking DE10 that looked as if it had been used as a source of parts and a second branch that looked as though it hadn't been used for a while either.

 

In the afternoon I made my way via the Tokaido Line to Araimachi and shot a few trains along the shore of Lake Hamanako.

[westfalen]

Mino Akasaka.

[westfalen]

Lake Hamanako.

[westfalen]

A couple more at Lake Hamanako and one that needs no explanation.

[westfalen]

We made our way from Hamamatsu to Niigata today and did a bit of train riding around Niigata this afternoon. There's the obligatory shinkansen shot at Tokyo station on the way through. The next shot is of the Niigata bus station outside the JR station. We caught Shin-Etsu Line Ltd Exp Kubikino #2 to Higashi Sanjo then the cross country Yahiko Line to Yoshida. From there we did a return trip down the short branch to Yahiko and back to Niigata via the Echigo Line.