Japanese Excursion Lines

[Guest ___]

In the states a lot of old unused railroad lines are often adopted by volunteers as non-profits tourist railroads. Are there many such excursion railroads in Japan? I have yet to run across any on my trips aside from the railway museums in Omiya and Kyoto.

 

Note, I'm just referring to lines built and run for tourism only and that the destination is the point of departure. (ie, excluding Enoden and the such)

[stevenh]

Shashinka, You've slightly confused me... first you by ask about old, unused railway lines that are now operated by tourist companies and then you ask about lines that have been created for tourist purposes only?

 

Either way... The Oigawa Railway is now a tourist railway. I'm quite uncertain to whether it used to be a real line (operated by JR or some such) but now it's primary function is to ferry tourists around (of which it has done for me a few times)

 

The last time I was there I was told there were to be no steam engines that day, but on my return trip (on my favourite Nankai 21000 series) we passed a C11/C12 (didn't get to see the plates) doing one of the scheduled paths.

 

Was the best ;)

 

Then you've got the Kyoto sightseeing train (Sagano Scenic Railway) from Arashiyama to somewhere towards Fukuchiyama. This is on an old JR line (before they dug tunnels) and it was also shut whilst I was there last. The loco and cars are stored in Umekoji, Yes, but it is a private railway operation (not JR), or so I am to believe.

[bill937ca]

In the states a lot of old unused railroad lines are often adopted by volunteers as non-profits tourist railroads. Are there many such excursion railroads in Japan? I have yet to run across any on my trips aside from the railway museums in Omiya and Kyoto.

 

Note, I'm just referring to lines built and run for tourism only and that the destination is the point of departure. (ie, excluding Enoden and the such)

 

I've heard from a good source that old unused railway lines are virtually unheard of in Japan. Land is so valuable that If a rail line is unused, it will probably be redeveloped.  There may have been exceptions since the 1990s due to economic conditions like small parcels of the Nankai Tennioji branch in the heart of Osaka.

 

Some JR lines exist mainly on traffic to resorts.  I think Kyushu is a prime example of this, so may qualify as excursion railways but perhaps not entirely the way you were thinking.

 

Those railway museums you mention are really foundations linked to JR.

 

Not too long ago many of the minor private railways were operating museums with examples being  the 1920s vintage cars retired in 2007 on the Kotoden (which still occasionally runs retro trains), the Fukui Railway and the now abandoned 600V lines at Gifu. Botht the Kotoden and Fukui have updated there equipment so this is no longer true.

 

If you are referring to steam operations there are several operations but in Japan they are as part of either JR or a private railway. A prime example is the Oigawa Railway. operated by Meitetsu.  The Chichibu Railway also operates steam as do some JR branch lines.

 

Here's a couple of web sources, the first a little dated (most of the links give error 404s) but you see the scope of steam operations.

 

http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Oliver.L.Mayer/japan/verkehr/steam.htm

 

http://www.japaneserailwaysociety.com/jrs/steam/steam.htm

 

http://www.japaneserailwaysociety.com/jrs/musm.htm

[Guest ___]

Shashinka, You've slightly confused me... first you by ask about old, unused railway lines that are now operated by tourist companies and then you ask about lines that have been created for tourist purposes only[/quote

 

We refer to the lines being created for tourism from existing lines here in the states. No one (except for a museum or amusement park) would build an entire line from scratch solely for that purpose.