Winter Fuji from the Odakyu Line

EMU Odakyu 60000 series (cab with a gangway in the front) crosses the Sagami River

It is mid-summer in the Tokyo metropolitan area. On July 23rd, the highest temperature in Kumagaya City was 41.1 degrees Celsius, which is an all-time record high in Japan. The only thing I can do is escape the city and go to the highlands, but the trains to resort areas are crowded with passengers because it is the summer holiday season. People also get stuck in traffic on the express roads. What can I do instead?

Let's start by looking at photos of the cold scenes from last winter to cool off, specifically the snow-capped Mt. Fuji. One of the best points to see winter Fuji is near Kaisei station on the Odakyu-Odawara line. We can see winter Mt. Fuji (3,776 meters above sea level) peeking over the Ashigara Mountains, which is as much as 1,000 meters high. The contrast between the blue sky, the white-colored Mt. Fuji, and the green-colored Ashigara Mountains is vivid.

The railway bridge spanning the Sagami River is also a good place to see a partial view of the snow-capped Mt. Fuji through a small opening in the Tanzawa Mountains. I was able to shoot the blue colored EMU, Odakyu Romance Car 60000 series, backed by downtown Atsugi City, the Tanzawa Mountains, and the white colored Mt. Fuji. The first carriage of the 60000 series had a cab with a gangway in the front. That was my favorite subject.

I am not getting cooler at all, even though I looked back on the cold winter scenes. Well really!

Winter Fuji from the Odakyu train

Ex-Keio Trains in Choshi City

EMU Choden 3000 series (ex-Keio 5000 series) stands at Nakanocho rail yard

I recently visited Choshi Electric Railway (hereafter Choden) for the first time in five years. What was new with this local private railway?

I firstly stopped by Nakanocho rail yard. I was fortunate enough to see the EMU 3000 series (DeHa3001 + KuHa3501) on the storage track. The 3000 series was originally operated on the Keio line under the name of the EMU 5000 series (DeHa5103 + KuHa5854). They were built by Nippon Sharyo in 1963. After retirement from the Keio line, they moved to Iyo Railway in 1988, and were renamed the EMU 700 series (MoHa713 + KuHa763). These cars then moved to Choden in 2016. The car numbers were changed again as above. It was repainted to light and blue colors with a white stripe in the past five years - very beautiful and my cup of tea.

Secondly, I got off at Inubo station by another train. It was the EMU 2000 series (KuHa2501 + DeHa2001). The 2000 series was also originally operated on the Keio line under the name of 2010 series. After retirement from the Keio line, they moved to Iyo Railway in 1984. These cars then moved to Choden in 2009. The "face" of the KuHa2501 was remodeled from a middle car in the days of Iyo Railway. KuHa2501 was repainted from green color to two tones of light and dark blues in the past five years. The new color is definitely my favorite.

I fully enjoyed the ex-Keio trains in Choshi City.

EMU Choden 2000 series (ex-Keio 2010 series) leaves Inubo station

Official information about the trains of Choshi Electric Railway (in Japanese):

http://www.choshi-dentetsu.jp/detail/railway/2

EMU 320 series: New Model for the Nippori-Toneri Liner

EMU Toei 320 series arrives at Adachi-dai station

The Nippori-Toneri Liner is a rubber-tired automated guideway transit (AGT) in the northern part of the metropolis of Tokyo. Connecting Nippori in the downtown area and Minumadai-shinsuikouen, its operating length is 9.7 km. The number of passengers has been rapidly increasing on the route. It was 49,000 passengers per day when the route was opened in 2008; however, it reached 80,000 passengers per day in 2017. Because of this unexpected growth, the trains are heavily congested during the rush hours. 

The train operator, namely the Transportation Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (hereafter Toei), can't sit on their hands. Toei has been launching new rolling stock one after another to enhance the transportation capacity. For instance, a large capacity model, EMU 330 series, was introduced on the route in 2015. Toei then launched the latest model, namely EMU 320 series, in 2017.

What is the difference between the 330 series and the 320 series? The major difference between the two models is their bodies. The 330 series has white colored aluminum alloy bodies; while the 320 series has green colored bodies made of stainless steel. The 330 series was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; while the 320 series was assembled by Niigata Transys.

Toei recently made a press release announcing that the two more sets of new trains will be launched by March 2020 for further enhancement of transportation capacity, but there was no information about the detail so far. Let's wait until the next announcement.

EMU Toei 320 series leaves Nippori station

Official information about the Nippori-Toneri Liner:

https://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/eng/services/liner.html

Official information about the EMU Toei 320 series (in Japanese):

https://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/pickup_information/news/nippori_toneri/2017/ntl_p_201704197382_h.html

Android Lady on the Yurikamome Line

EMU Yurikamome 7300 series arrives at Telecom Center station

She works for the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (hereafter Miraikan). When I visited Miraikan last weekend, she was chatting with a male curator sitting on a sofa. Who is she? 

She is an android lady for research purposes. It was created by a Japanese researcher, Dr. Ishiguro. His research is to know what human beings are. For instance, the android lady behaves like a human; however, there might be something different. According to Dr. Ishiguro, that "something" is probably the essence of human beings. In fact, the android lady is slightly awkward in her movements. That is a hint to know what human beings are.

Incidentally, to get to Miraikan, the nearest station is Telecom Center on the Yurikamome line. Yurikamome is an automated guideway transit (AGT) system in the Tokyo Bay area. It was partially opened in 1995. The current total operating length is 14.7km. 

The recent topic of the Yurikamome line is the enhanced deployment of the EMU 7300 series. The EMU 7300 series is a driverless train with rubber tires instead of steel bogies, which is the same as the existing 7000 and 7200 series. All trains are operated automatically without drivers so that the passengers can enjoy the view ahead sitting on the "rail fan's seat" at the end of the train. Currently, a total of 18 sets, 108 units are commissioned on the line.

The android lady and the latest AGT train - I glanced at the future world on the Yurikamome line.

An android lady works for "Miraikan" near Telecom Center station on the Yurikamome line

Official information about the EMU Yurikamome 7200 series:

http://www.yurikamome.tokyo/mechanism/vehicle/

Official information about the EMU Yurikamome 7300 series (in Japanese):

http://www.yurikamome.co.jp/mechanism/vehicle/

Slope Car on the Yatsugatake Highland

Slope car "Koi-nobori (carp streamer)" arrives at Michi-no-eki Minami-Kiyosato station

It is mid-summer in Tokyo. The maximum daytime temperature is often over 30 degrees Celsius. Yesterday's high was 34.5 degrees Celsius in the downtown area. The only thing I could do was escape to a cool highland with my family. Our destination was Minami-Yatsugatake Hana-no-mori Park (Southern Yatsugatake Flower and Forest Park) in Yamanashi Prefecture.

To enter the park, we used a slope car, because the park was situated on a hill. What is a slope car? It looks like a monorail or a funicular, but it is different from both of them. A slope car is a climbing vehicle that uses an electric motor with a rack-and-pinion driving system.

This unique system was built by Kaho Monorail Company in 2000. Connecting Magoi (Michi-no-eki Minami-Kioyosato) and Higoi (Minami-Yatsugatake Hana-no-mori Park) stations, its route length is 180 meters. The height difference between the two stations is 100 meters. The maximum inclination of the route is 40 degrees. It takes about 3.5 minutes one way. The operation is driver-less. To be exact, this transportation system is classified as an elevator under the Building Standards Act, not a monorail under the Railway Business Act. You can see a similar transportation system in Asukayama Park, Mt. Sarakura, Manna Country Club and at a resort hotel on Hakone Mountain.

A blue-colored vehicle, which can accommodate 20 passengers, is named Koi-nobori (carp streamer). It has a barrier-free structure so that the passengers on wheelchairs can easily get in and out of the vehicle while seated.

The slope car and the track