Japanese Vacation No.9 (week 3)

[westfalen]

A bit late getting home tonight, got sidetracked browsing in Tam Tam at Amagasaki.

 

Headed out to Amagasaki this morning on the Hanshin. At one station I saw the guys in blue loading bicycles into the back of a truck, if they get left there too long do they get taken away?

 

I walked from Hanshin's Amagasaki station to the Sumitomo Tube Mills only to find, in typical fashion, that there was a bus stop just down the street. For the benifit of those following in my footsteps the No.70 bus to Second Clean Center (whatever that is) runs irregularly but generally twice an hour from the station. Sumitomo's narrow gauge plant railway seems to make regular crossings of the main road dividing the two sections of the plant and I got a few telephoto shots of shunting going on inside the plant.

[westfalen]

I saw one reason for the long drawbars used as couplers, a loco pulled a wagon into an adjacent track using the long drawbar and took off back the way it came.

 

The Hanshin's Mukogawa Line starts off from a platform below and at right angles to the mainline, the connection is via a switch back with tight curves and grades to move equipment to and from the line. One two car set was in use and another was stored on the connecting track, maybe they use both in the peak hours.

[westfalen]

The end of the line at Mukogawadanchi-Mae has a second platform that looks like it rarely, if ever, gets used, the rails were well rusted and the track had no signals.

 

The mainline platforms at Mukogawa are built entirely on the bridge over the river of the same name.

 

I continued on to Kosoku-Kobe where I found the underground terminus of the Kobe Electric Railway, or Shintetsu.

[westfalen]

I rode the line, which climbs into the mountains behind Kobe on some of the steepest grades I've been on apart from rack railways, through to Sanda with detours on the branches to Arima Onsen and Woody Town Chuo.

[westfalen]

I got the JR back to Amagasaki and checked out the hobby centre where Tam Tam is located. There was a rental layout complete with trains you could rent and a smaller store specialising in small layouts and dioramas. Tam Tam has a good selection but not as much as their Akihabara store.

[westfalen]

At the diorama store I picked up this tram, it's unpowered but if I can find a suitable mechanism it will make a good heritage car for my tram layout when I get around to building it.

[bikkuri bahn]

The Hanshin's Mukogawa Line

 

You may have noticed, but the rolling stock (7801,7901 series) uses the van dorn couplers which were once common on Hanshin rolling stock.