Can you guess where and when the top photo was taken?
If you’re familiar with Japanese railways, you might think, “This must be a countryside railyard from many years ago, because the diesel railcars in the photo were mainly introduced in the 1960s and 1970s for local services.”
Or maybe you’d guess, “It was taken recently, but it looks like a diorama, since rolling stock from different companies are parked together in one place.”
Thank you for joining my small quiz and giving those reasonable guesses.
The answer is: the photo was recently taken at Kominato Railway’s Goi Railyard.
Before sharing the full story, let me briefly introduce Kominato Railway and the Goi Railyard.
Kominato Railway is a local private railway company based in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, about 50 km east of Tokyo. The company operates the Kominato Line, which runs between Goi and Kazusa-Nakano over a total distance of 39.1 km. The track is single and not electrified. Goi Railyard is the only railyard on the Kominato Line.
Now, thank you for waiting. Here is the story.
I visited the Kominato Line recently for the first time in four years, and I found two diesel railcars that I had not seen during my previous visits in 2018, 2021, and 2022.
First, you can see a maroon-colored diesel railcar in the center of the top photo. This is Unit KiHa 212 of the KiHa 200 series. It entered service in 1975 with the two-tone “fire orange” and “morn ivory” body, just like the other railcars of the same series. However, in April this year, its body color was changed to maroon to celebrate the 101st anniversary of the Kominato Line. Congratulations, KiHa 212! You were specially chosen.
Second, another unfamiliar diesel railcar appears to the left of Unit KiHa 212. If you have been visiting this blog for a long time, you may recognize its coloring — it’s the “Oga Line color” used by JR East in Akita Prefecture. This car, Unit KiHa 40-4 of the KiHa 40 series, was transferred from JR East’s Oga Line in 2022. It still keeps its original Oga Line colors: dark green and ivory. It looks beautiful.
Finally, I would like to introduce my favorite spot along the line: the Kominato Waiting Room and Café (please see the related link below). As its name suggests, it is both a train waiting room and a café next to Goi Station, directly operated by Kominato Railway. Visitors can enjoy food and drinks indoors or outdoors while watching trains come and go (see the photo below).
I enjoyed a delicious curry and iced coffee there. I couldn’t have been happier.
