Wakamatsu: the doodling goes on

[Nick_Burman]

Hi all,

 

Still doodling on Anyrail. This time I decided to tackle reproducing the Wakamatsu Municipal Tramway's shop area in downtown Wakamatsu, Kitakyushu. Track is Tomix Wide Tram rail with some flex (Atlas) in off-street areas.

 

The plan is "steeplecab heaven"...now, if only someone would help me by identifying the railroad's customers...

 

Cheers NB

[Guest Closed Account 1]

....and the doodling goes on

 

Looking good.

[bikkuri bahn]

now, if only someone would help me by identifying the railroad's customers...

 

It's difficult to find the names of the customers, but it seems warehouses (makes sense given the port location) made up the majority of the on-line customers.  Looking at the website below, a couple of shots of the freight car destination/load bills show a box car with a 15t load of clay (for papermaking) originating in Niigata, and another with a 15t load of castor meal bound for Naruto in Shikoku.

 

http://tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp/wakamatsu/wakamatsu1.html

*click on the bottom right to see the next two pages

[rpierce000]

When you say customers are you asking what stores are along the route? This is a tramway so I assume the trains are all passenger units.

 

A typical Japanese neighborhood street will have a vegetable store, convenience store (7-11 type), Rice vendor, candy and fireworks shop (kids stuff), an alcohol store and a bakery. There may also be a tatami repairman, a shogi repairshop, pet store, drug store, soba shop, "Chinese" restaurant, coffee shop (coffee and cakes), and, if you are very lucky, a hobby shop.

 

If you are running trams there may be a competing bus line, subway interlink stop or commuter rail stop. Commuter rail stations are often a hub of shopping with at least one multi story department store, multiples of all of the above mentioned stores, a set of bus stops, a taxi line or two, but NO PARKING for cars. Bicycle parking will be plentiful.

 

Whoops, forgot one thing. Every neighborhood has a koban. This is a local police station. It is home to 2-6 officers on bicycles who know the area intimately. They can tell you who belongs there and does not, where your kids are and what they have been doing(trust me, they know!), who needs help and who has what issues. They are kind of a cross between gossip grannies, your best friend and a cop. I know that I could always find one when I was a kid and needed anything from a bandaid to a ride home with a flat tire (yep, they called a patrol car).

 

Let me know if you need more help.

[Nick_Burman]

When you say customers are you asking what stores are along the route? This is a tramway so I assume the trains are all passenger units.

 

A typical Japanese neighborhood street will have a vegetable store, convenience store (7-11 type), Rice vendor, candy and fireworks shop (kids stuff), an alcohol store and a bakery. There may also be a tatami repairman, a shogi repairshop, pet store, drug store, soba shop, "Chinese" restaurant, coffee shop (coffee and cakes), and, if you are very lucky, a hobby shop.

 

If you are running trams there may be a competing bus line, subway interlink stop or commuter rail stop. Commuter rail stations are often a hub of shopping with at least one multi story department store, multiples of all of the above mentioned stores, a set of bus stops, a taxi line or two, but NO PARKING for cars. Bicycle parking will be plentiful.

 

Whoops, forgot one thing. Every neighborhood has a koban. This is a local police station. It is home to 2-6 officers on bicycles who know the area intimately. They can tell you who belongs there and does not, where your kids are and what they have been doing(trust me, they know!), who needs help and who has what issues. They are kind of a cross between gossip grannies, your best friend and a cop. I know that I could always find one when I was a kid and needed anything from a bandaid to a ride home with a flat tire (yep, they called a patrol car).

 

Let me know if you need more help.

 

 

Bob, the Wakamatsu Municipal Tramway never carried passengers, it was a freight-only operation (AFAIK) carrying freight between the port and a JNR connection - sort of like a US "terminal railroad". And by customers I mean freight customers. BB says that it was mostly warehouses connected to the port but Google Earth indicates at least one (small) shipyard on the north side of the port basin.

 

 

Cheers NB

[Nick_Burman]

now, if only someone would help me by identifying the railroad's customers...

 

It's difficult to find the names of the customers, but it seems warehouses (makes sense given the port location) made up the majority of the on-line customers.  Looking at the website below, a couple of shots of the freight car destination/load bills show a box car with a 15t load of clay (for papermaking) originating in Niigata, and another with a 15t load of castor meal bound for Naruto in Shikoku.

 

http://tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp/wakamatsu/wakamatsu1.html

*click on the bottom right to see the next two pages

 

Thanks BB. That page was exactly where I took the data for the track plan. Would have drawn the whole railroad if it weren't for the fact that I'm running an unlicensed version of Anyrail (max. 50 pieces). Looking at a present-day satellite picture there seems to be a small shipyard on the north side of the port basin, just about where the mainline terminated. A one-time customer, by any chance?

 

As far as modelling street-running, my choices are either Wakamatsu or the Asahikawa Tramway. The second is more interesting (passenger motors dragging freight cars down the town's main thoroughfare and a Dutch-style junction station) but the first is easier to research.

 

Cheers NB

[rpierce000]

I feel like an idiot.

 

A freight tramway.... I have never heard of one.

 

The site is amazing and it would be a really cool model. I look forward to the pics!

 

I am also using AnyRail and love it. I wonder if we could get a JNS group license?

[bikkuri bahn]

I think the shipyard may have been a one-time customer, but by the time most pics were taken (early 70's), I think the remaining traffic was boxcar type serving warehouses.  One thing to keep in mind is the location- on the waterfront.  Most heavy haulage would come by ship.  This would leave carload or perhaps less than carload shipments of bulk items that wouldn't warrant the services of a coastal freighter. Of course, even the small shipments were in the end taken over by trucks.

 

Yes, the Asahikawa Tramway is an interesting operation- I've seen a pic of a passenger motor hauling a tank car(!).  I missed a tour of the remaining motor car last year conducted by JR Hokkaido(along with a JRF facility).  Hopefully they will have another one this year.

[westfalen]

I feel like an idiot.

 

A freight tramway.... I have never heard of one.

 

The site is amazing and it would be a really cool model. I look forward to the pics!

 

I am also using AnyRail and love it. I wonder if we could get a JNS group license?

I think it's a tramway more in the sense of the way we used the term in Australia in years past, that is to describe what would be a 'shortline' in the U.S. or a 'light railway' in Britain.

[Nick_Burman]

I feel like an idiot.

 

A freight tramway.... I have never heard of one.

 

The site is amazing and it would be a really cool model. I look forward to the pics!

 

I am also using AnyRail and love it. I wonder if we could get a JNS group license?

 

Bob, think "trolley freight". I gather you live in the West Coast...think Yakima Valley, Walla Walla Valley Transportation, Central California Traction, Etc... then you'll get the idea.

 

Cheers NB

[Samurai_Chris]

Nick, how is the weather.. We have been back in Australia (Ipswich) for 2 weeks and it has been all blue skies, and 22 degree C winter days.. Just beautiful..

 

I heard you guys have gotten a good rainy season thus far? We just missed it..

 

We are still missing Japan, but after 10 years, we needed a change... My wife's family will want us back at some stage. But for now, we need time here..

 

Chris

[Nick_Burman]

Nick, how is the weather.. We have been back in Australia (Ipswich) for 2 weeks and it has been all blue skies, and 22 degree C winter days.. Just beautiful..

 

I heard you guys have gotten a good rainy season thus far? We just missed it..

 

We are still missing Japan, but after 10 years, we needed a change... My wife's family will want us back at some stage. But for now, we need time here..

 

Chris

 

I don't know what does the weather here in Brazil have to do with a model of Wakamatsu, however if you want to know it, let it be...we are having the chilliest winter in Southern and Southeastern Brazil in over a decade. Some towns along the Coastal Escarpment region of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states have registered temperatures down to -6°C and in some cases it has snowed - not enough to cover the ground and very unusual. In one small town the schools had to be closed because of the cold, the classrooms have no heating systems.

 

Cheers NB

[Samurai_Chris]

Sorry. I thought you were in Kitakyushu..

[Nick_Burman]

Sorry. I thought you were in Kitakyushu..

 

Alas, no. I took the real trackplan off a web page that BB pointed out for me.

 

Cheers NB