Japanese Freight

[Darklighter]

If you mean the Kosei Line, AFAIK it's only container trains:

 

I mean the Tokaido Main Line between Maibara and Kyoto ("Biwako Line"). I haven't found any videos of tank car trains there.

[bikkuri bahn]

I don't have my JR-F timetable now, but I don't recall any regularly scheduled tank trains on any JR lines in the Kansai region.  If you want to see any of them, you must go to the neighboring Tokai region, which has the big kombinat refinery/chemical business centered in Yokkaichi, and generates business for JR-F.  In general, tank trains are more common in eastern and northern Japan, likely due to geography (western Japan is much narrower and industrial regions and major population centers are close to the sea).

 

*as for tank trains running on the Tokaido Line between Otsu and Maibara, I wonder if they would be too slow to find a pathing during the daylight hours, given the fast shin-kaisoku services that tear through that portion of line.  At night perhaps.

Edited June 6, 2013 by bikkuri bahn

[Ken Ford]

Bringing this back from the dead...

 

Were the blue Wamu boxes ever used for other commodities, or were they for paper lading only?

 

Also, how late did the brown Wamu80000s last, and what were they used for?

[Nick_Burman]

Bringing this back from the dead...

 

Were the blue Wamu boxes ever used for other commodities, or were they for paper lading only?

 

Also, how late did the brown Wamu80000s last, and what were they used for?

 

The blue WaMu (WaMu 380000) were rebuilt specifically for paper traffic. I don't know when the last brown ones were scrapped/rebuilt, but as built the WaMu80000 were general service cars, used for any kind of load.

 

Cheers NB

[Ken Ford]

Thanks, Nick!