ToniBabelony Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 The last few days I was forcefully kicked out to leave my wife and son to have some private time, so I thought I'd live it up and spent the time riding and snapping some wicked trains in the neighbourhood. Sotetsu and Tokyu rides were the order of the day! Unexpectedly, I also landed up in Choshi by car (ignoring all the speed limits) as well with a friend. Being kicked out is awesome... For train spotting that is. General morale, not so good. Things are good again now, so without further ado, here is the dump of my shitty pictures. All I have is an old iPhone G3, so quality is highly mèh. Complaints? Buy me a decent camera and I'll see what I can do ;) Happy photo flipping! 5 Link to comment
Densha Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Sotetsu trains have such typical fronts... That green Choshi Dentetsu train has typical fronts as well: two different fronts to be exact. Also great inspirational scenery along the Choshi line. I'm wondering if Togawa station is the prototype of the famous Tomytec station. Link to comment
bill937ca Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) Did you ride the Choshi before or after the derailment? http://mainichi.jp/shimen/news/m20140111dde041040036000c.html Edited February 5, 2014 by bill937ca Link to comment
ToniBabelony Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Sotetsu trains have such typical fronts... That green Choshi Dentetsu train has typical fronts as well: two different fronts to be exact. Also great inspirational scenery along the Choshi line. I'm wondering if Togawa station is the prototype of the famous Tomytec station. Yes, Sōtetsu has typical features (all gone with the 10000 and 11000 type trains), like radical front designs and outside of the bogie mounted disk brakes. The Chōshi 2000 type is a 3rd hand from Iyotetsu (ex-800 type), who got it 2nd hand from Keio (ex-2000 series). The flat front with door is made by Nippon Sharyō, whereas the one with the JNR 80 series type front (no door) was made by Hitachi. Did you ride the Choshi before or after the derailment? Just after the derailment. They had safety measures installed at Kasagamikurohae station where the train was stopped before the points with simple wooden hand made signals. Some places there had brand new sleepers as well. Also, the 800 type from Chōshi looks like it's going to fall apart soon... Rusty body, bordered off with yellow tape, ready for the scrapper. Such a sad sight. I was hoping to see it in action, but no chance. It's already there for almost a year, so probably left there to die slowly. Link to comment
kvp Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I think the old chosi unit should be saved, because if they park it there, that means they will wait until it falls apart like the DeHa 101 before and they already cut up everything that was older (except the deki). Imho they would sell it for a symbolic sum, like the cost of moving it. (from the looks of it the company is in or going into bankrupcy) The 2000 type is what happens when you disassemble a train into smaller units that only had 2 full width driving cabs and you end up with half of that. Some newer odakyu romancecars and the wide view hida sets seem to do this intentionally which is imho really pointless. (for commuter trains i really like the classical flat or slightly rounded gangwayed end both for cabs and for normal car ends) Link to comment
bikkuri bahn Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) Good to see the 7000 series still running on Sotetsu. I'm not a fan of the recent acquisitions, especially the JR-E/Tokyu/J-TREC designs. Give me a Hitachi-built direct cardan-shaft drive unit w/outside disc brakes anytime. OT, but Toni, you may like this book Lots of pictures of Keisei stations, present day and in the past. Edited February 5, 2014 by bikkuri bahn 1 Link to comment
ToniBabelony Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Not sure if Choshi is going down soon, since they have been on the brink of bankruptcy for decades already. However, according to this report: http://www.ikkyo-tekken.org/studies/2013/2013_12.pdf Choshi Railway is in need of some serious management change if it wants to survive. There is no room for the extension of the line to the port and attractions are too far away from the stations. With declining ridership rates, the future is looking grim indeed, but I'm sure this little company finds a way to survive. Either on its own, or under the flag of a mother company. It would be a shame to lose one the last of the tiny companies, especially so near to Tokyo. Good to see the 7000 series still running on Sotetsu. I'm not a fan of the recent acquisitions, especially the JR-E/Tokyu/J-TREC designs. Give me a Hitachi-built direct cardan-shaft drive unit w/outside disc brakes anytime. Yep, there are only one or two still running. Actually very pretty trains with their simple designs. And thanks for the heads-up on the book! I'll check it out next time I'm at TamTam! Link to comment
Mudkip Orange Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) Nice pics. Edited November 29, 2014 by Mudkip Orange Link to comment
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