October - Intercity Railway Society

Railway Globetrotters
by Ray Smith
JAPAN, 12 th – 27 th May 2011 – Part 2:
Monday 16 th May 2011:
This morning’s coach trip was to the Chubu Sangaku National Park at Kamikochi for tree spotting. It
actually turned out good as the area is home to many wild monkeys that played within yards of us. We
were supposed to take the coach back to Matsumoto. However, there is a private railway halfway
back. A company called the Matsuden so we all got off the coach at the far terminal, Shinshimashima,
then took the train back. Another pleasant 2 hours on the platform sitting in the sun. Of note, the train
announcer almost sings the name Matsumoto over the station announcement system when the trains
arrive, quite fun to hear.
The Kamikochi Line links Matsumoto with
Shinshimashima where unit 3008/7 waits to
depart for Matsumoto, 16 May 2011
a Cl.115/114 unit with 115 1077 leading
leaves the stabling point
Matsumoto, 16 May 2011
Cl.383 units are 6 cars. If 2 sets run together they can be corridor joined when placed
back to back. The 2 photos above show the front non corridor driving end (left) and the
corridor driving end (right), Matsumoto, 16 May 2011
Tuesday 17 th May 2011:
Now onto Okayama via Nagoya again, but via a different route. Our hotel was above the station and
outside was Japans shortest tram system only 4.7km in length. We rode it to the far end where the
depot was. No problem having a look round. At first I kept thinking how strange seeing all the doyen
trams, 7001, 7101, 7201, 7401, 7701 then along came 7102. All became clear. The first 2 numbers
were the year it entered service and the second 2 was the number!
Now to the station. Like many Japanese stations there are 2 levels. The lower for all main line and
local and the higher for the Shinkansens. I chose the lower with more choice and a freight came
through. There are just under 600 electric and 400 diesel locomotives in Japan, nearly all used on
freight which is basically container and fuel trains.