Shortest lines?

[Guest keio6000]

Was reading up on Tobu, a giant system that I know little about.   Read about the (Tobu, not Keikyu) Daishi line which at 1.0km (shortened from 1.1) must be one of the shorter lines in Japan.   It has one-man (wanman) operation and I guess what is (a single?) two-car trainset.   From google earth, it looks like Daishimae station has been built to potentially have two tracks, though that is i guess unlikely to be necessary.

 

Was wondering if others know of shorter lines in japan using conventional rolling stock.  other short lines that i know of including the long defunct mukugaoka-yuen odakyu monorail line (1.1km), keio keibajo line (0.9km - double track!), seibu toshima line (1.0 km),

 

anybody know of shorter?

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick_Burman]

What about the Kishu Tetsudo, at 1400m 2700m Japan's shortest independent railway?

 

Cheers NB

Edited December 12, 2014 by Nick_Burman

[Densha]

Wow, I didn't know that line was still running! The Kishu Tetsudo Line even ran with these ancient trains until 2009: http://webnet.exblog.jp/tags/%E7%B4%80%E5%B7%9E%E9%89%84%E9%81%93/

[Kitayama]

I can't find any shorter railway lines in this list.

http://bae.se/kitayama/lineindex.htm

[kvp]

The daishi line is perfect for a small layout. One end is single track while the other is a 3 track terminus. The tomix automation unit even has a program for this layout.

[Kitayama]

My favourite short line in Japan is Hanshin Mukogawa line. 1.7 km long. Four stops. The Mukogawa line station is at 90 degrees angle to the Main line. The Main line station is on a bridge. The only connection between the Main line and Mukogawa line is a "switch-back" track. 

 

Map source: Wikimedia, Matsukaze, public domain:

 

Mukogawa station, 2014:

[Mudkip Orange]

My favourite short line in Japan is Hanshin Mukogawa line. 1.7 km long. Four stops. The Mukogawa line station is at 90 degrees angle to the Main line. The Main line station is on a bridge. The only connection between the Main line and Mukogawa line is a "switch-back" track. 

 

Map source: Wikimedia, Matsukaze, public domain:

 

Mukogawa station, 2014:

This is basically screaming out for a module. Especially since the *actual prototype radius* is about equal to Kato's R216...

[Densha]

Doing a quick google image search I could find these pics of the narrow curve at Mukogawa station: http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~series9300/mukogawa.html

The fact that the other half of the station is on top of a river makes it even more interesting.

 

I actually even found a model of it: https://twitter.com/7339Sashiko/status/478549048220069888 (the photo on the right)

The third photo here is also of the same Mukogawa station model: http://jyuntetsuline.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-62.html

And another photo: http://photozou.jp/photo/show/1934188/185543992

[katoftw]

The gradient on the access curve is pretty step also.

[miyakoji]

This is basically screaming out for a module. Especially since the *actual prototype radius* is about equal to Kato's R216...

 

Do the (prototype) wheels need to be different to negotiate those turns, or do they just get more maintenance?

[kvp]

For small radiuses, two axle bogies are usually not a problem. It's the maximal turn range of their suspension and the couplers that could cause problems. For the rails, they usually have a slightly widened gauge. For small curves used in normal service a wheel greaser can be added to make them quieter and nicer on the wheels. For some trams in Hungary they went so far to use 180 degrees rotatable bogies, bogie mounted drawbars between cars and self steering axles on the bogies, but usually this isn't requied.

[Sacto1985]

Here's the zenmen tenbou video of the trip on the Hanshin Mukogawa Line heading south from Mukogawa Staiton for those who are interested, especially for modelling purposes: