Saturday 11 June 2022

The Advent of Spring on the Hachimantai Plateau: Part 2

Steam locomotive number 11 is exhibited in the Kosaka Rail-Park

Sorry for jumping from one topic to another. After observing a green-colored snowplow, Ki 115 of the Ki 110 series, I moved to a locomotive storage in the Kosaka Rail Park. I found a small steam locomotive, number 11 (hereinafter referred to as SL No.11) in the storage.

SL No. 11 was completed in 1926 at Amemiya Seisakujo in Tokyo. It's a 0-6-0 type (Whyte notation) tank locomotive for the 762 millimeter gauge track on the Kosaka Railway. It has 7.534 meter-long and 2.127 meter-wide body. It's 3.098 meters high. Its empty vehicle weight is 16,660 kilograms. After operating for 36 years as both passenger and freight trains, SL No.11 was retired from the track in 1962, when the track gauge size was changed from 762 to 1,067 millimeters. It has been exhibited in the Kosaka Rail-Park since June, 2014 in good condition under a special roof. This precious locomotive was designated as tangible cultural property by Akita Prefecture on March, 1999.

After leaving the Kosaka Rail Park, I headed to a secluded mountain inn named Goshokake Hot Spring on the foot of the Hachimantai Plateau with my family. As its name suggests, Goshokake Hot Spring is an inn located in a geothermal area. I saw that steam was rising from the ground, and felt the energy of the earth. It was a beautiful place surrounded by the green forest and remaining snow.

I enjoyed both the steam locomotive and geothermal steam on the same day. Is it a bit of a stretch?

Goshokake Hot Spring