Tram lines in industrial districts?

[velotrain]

I've always been interested by industrial environments, whether in reality or for modeling.  I'm wondering if any Japanese tram lines do / did run through industrial / dock areas?  These would have brought workers to their jobs, and I'm guessing that if anything like this existed, it would be long gone by now.  Ideally, the line might also have limited freight traffic, such as Tobu Nikko.

 

Charles

[Kitayama]

Tsurumi line is the type of line you are looking for. However, it's a railway, not a tram.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurumi_Line

 

In Hakodate, the tram ends at Hakodate Dock. However, I haven't checked how much industry/ docks it's around the terminal.

[kvp]

There was a tram line going under the railway viaduct at Shinbashi and going out to the docks. However most systems in japan separated the freight traffic from the street running tram network, because for some reason they used different gauges. So the combined freight and passenger traffic was something you could only see on heavy rail lines. The Tsurumi line was using ancient passenger equipment right to the end of the JNR era and always received the discarded trains from other lines, so it's a very good prototype to model if you want industies and docks with passenger and freight trains.

[Jcarlton]

Even now the Tsurumi Line is a great place to visit.  Most of the freight industrial service is gone though.

[Nick_Burman]

Hello velotrain,
 
Wakamatsu Municipal Tramway - Wakamatsu Municipal Tramway, freight-only. In the same general region, Nishitetsu had a freight op in the streets at Fukuoka, mixed gauge with Fukuoka tramways (sorry no pictures).
 
Another op was Asahikawa, the Asahikawa Denki Kido interurban ran several blocks along Shijo Dori. Freight trains were pulled by the electric cars.

 

Kumamoto - before the Kita-Kumamoto - Kami Kumamoto line was finally finished in the late 1950's, Kumaden ran down the middle of city streets on track shared with standard gauge trolleys. Freight followed the same way. Even after the new connection was built and Kumaden trains quit running through town, Kumaden retained a few hundred meters of mixed gauge track to permit drilling cars into a factory. (see attached map)

 

Okazaki - during WWII Meitetsu's Okazaki town tramway hauled JNR cars through the city streets to a textile mill. This service lasted several years after the end of the war.

 

Finally - Kawasaki - JNR ran freights down a section of Kawasaki Municipal Tramway and Keikyu tracks to an Ajinomoto plant on Keikyu's Daishi Line.

 

 

Cheers NB

[velotrain]

Many thanks Kitayama.  The Tsurumi line is fascinating to follow in satellite mode, and I found a number of videos.  However, you can see where much of the previous structure has been abandoned.

 

Hakodate is rather bland in comparison.

[velotrain]

_{Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.  I had just finished a look at the lines Kitayama mentioned, when I discovered that I had another half-dozen to research  ;-)}

 

_{I'll report back when I've done that.}

[marknewton]

...I'm guessing that if anything like this existed, it would be long gone by now.

 

The Manyosen in Takaoka still runs through industrial areas at it's outer end beyond Yonejimaguchi, and terminates at a ferry dock at Koshinokata.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoy-xmdBgWQ

 

The now-closed Fukushima tramway also hauled freight cars through the streets.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited July 22, 2014 by marknewton

[marknewton]

Thinking about it a bit more, the narrow gauge (762mm) Hanamaki tramway also hauled freight cars through the streets.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.