Royal Box: High-Grade Car on the Izukyu Line

A star-studded sky on the ceiling of Royal Box car, EMU Izukyu 2100 series, Kurofune train

On January 25th, Izukyu issued a press statement announcing that Royal Box car of Izukyu Kurofune train will be operated from April 1st to June 30th in line with the Shizuoka Destination Campaign.

What is Kurofune train and Royal Box car? Kurofune train (set R-4 of the EMU Izukyu 2100 series) was created based on the image of Kurofune, which abruptly visited Japan led by US Commodore Perry in 1853 to demand the Tokugawa Shogunate to open the country to the world. Seeing that, the Japanese called them "Kurofune" (black ships). Accepting Perry's request, the Tokugawa Shogunate signed a treaty opening Shimoda Port to U.S. trade in 1854. As you noticed, Shimoda is the terminal of the Izukyu Line. Royal Box car is a special high-grade car (SaRo 2182) coupled to Kurofune train. It was once operated as a Green Car (the first-class car), but recently not coupled to Kurofune train due to its high maintenance cost.

During the period of the Shizuoka Destination Campaign, Royal Box car is specially coupled to Kurofune train. To my joy, Royal Box car requires no extra charge. It is good news for passengers. I recently enjoyed riding Royal Box car between JR East Atami and Izukyu-Shimoda stations. The unique service was its star-studded sky including meteoric showers on the ceiling. It was projected while the train passed through tunnels. It was very beautiful and wonderful memory for my travel.

Royal Box is the best entertainment car on the railways in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Set R-4 of the EMU Izukyu 2100 series, Kurofune train, stands at Izukyu-Shimoda terminal

Access to the Scenic Spot in Kyoto Prefecture: Part 2

Amanohashidate Monorail

I recently visited Amanohashidate (the heavenly bridge) in Kyoto Prefecture for the first time in a year with my family. Amanohashidate is a 3.6-kilometer-long sandbar stretching along Miyazu Bay. The sandbar is lined with numerous beautiful pine trees. To admire the view of Amanohashidate, climbing up the hills on the both sides of the bay is recommended. Last year, we climbed up the hill on the northern side, so that this year, we headed to the hill on the southern side.

To climb up the hill on the southern side, Amonohashidate Monorail is convenient. To be exact, it is not a monorail, but a slope car. It is classified as an elevator under the Building Standards Act, not a monorail under the Railway Business Act. You can see similar transportation systems in Asukayama Park, Mt. Sarakura, Manna Country Club, Hakone Mountain and Minami-Yatsugatake Hana-no-mori Park.

This unique system was built by Kaho Monorail Company in 1999. Connecting Amanohashidate and Amanohashidate View Land stations, its route length is 393 meters. The maximum inclination of the route is 25 degrees. One of the features of this transportation system is its vehicle. It is a double vehicle to secure transportation capacity. Passenger capacity per vehicle is 20; therefore, a total of 40 persons can ride on each trip. The operating interval is 20 minutes. The speed of the vehicle is 55 meters per minute. The operation is driver-less using an electric motor with a rack-and-pinion driving system.

Amanohashidate Monorail and the view from Amanohashidate View Land

EMU Hokuso 7800 Series: Rental Train from Keisei

7808F of the EMU Hokuso 7800 series

I completely thought that I had already introduced all of the trains in the Tokyo metropolitan area in this blog but there are still some left. Today, I am going to show you one of those models.

The EMU Hokuso 7800 series is one of the main fleet on Hokuso Railway. It was originally launched in 1991 as Keisei's commuter train named the 3700 series. A total of 132 units were built by Nippon Sharyo and Tokyu Sharyo. In 2003, 3 sets, 24 units, of the 3700 series were moved from Keisei Electric Railway to Hokuso Railway according to the leasing contract. It was, then, renamed as the Hokuso 7800 series. The body stripes were also changed from red and blue to dark blue and light blue. Hokuso also has the same type of trains named the 7300 series, but the 7300 series is Hokuso's own rolling stock. In other words, the Hokuso 7800, 7300 and Keisei 3700 series are sister trains, which have same technical specifications.

Incidentally, Hokuso is a local railway company in Chiba Prefecture. It was established in 1972 for the carriage of the Chiba Newtown residents. The route extends to the western part of Chiba Prefecture including Chiba Newtown. Connecting Keisei-Takasago and Imba-Nihonidai stations, its route length is 32.1 kilometers. The track is double and electrified. The gauge size is 1,435 millimeters. The electric system is 1,500 V overhead. Hokuso trains are directly operated onto the Keisei, Toei-Asakusa and Keikyu lines.

7818F of the EMU Hokuso 7800 series

Early Spring in Yokohama

Set Y502 poster train of the EMU Yokohama Minatomirai Railway 500 series

Just one week before the sakura (cherry blossoms) season, I visited Yokohama City to look for a herald of spring. My destination was Yamashita Park in the downtown area.

It was a sunny and warm weekend. I saw many families and couples in the park. They were chatting, napping, eating lunch and so on. The park offered them a refreshing place and a relaxing time. I also found a large vessel lying alongside the pier. It was Asuka II, Japan's largest cruise ship. Asuka II was built by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1990 under the name of Crystal Harmony. In 2006, it was transferred to Nippon Yusen Kaisha and her name was changed to Asuka II. Currently, her port of registry is Yokohama. She has a length of 241 meters, a breadth of 29.6 meters, and a maximum speed of 21 knots.

On the way back home, I came across a special poster train on the subway Minatomirai Line of Yokohama Minatomirai Railway. It was set Y502 of the EMU Y500 series celebrating the 15th anniversary of Yokohama Minatomirai Railway. Set Y502 was decorated with strawberry stickers and plates. Why Strawberry? It is just a Japanese pun. Strawberry is called ichi-go in Japanese. Ichi means one and go means five. One five is fifteen. That's it, no more. For your information, the Y500 series is a sister train of the EMU Tokyu 5000 series. A total of 6 sets, 48 units, were built by Tokyu Sharyo.

Japan's largest cruise ship, Asuka II, anchors in Yokohama port

Preserved Electric Car in Shimotsuke City

Electric car KuMoE 21001 is preserved at Nissan Park in Shimotsuke City

Shimotsuke is a small city located in the southern part of Tochigi Prefecture. It is a new city established in 2006 after merging three small towns. I recently visited Shimotsuke City for a stroll with my family.

The greatest discovery was an electric car exhibited in Nissan Park near Koganei station on the Tohoku main line. It was KuMoE 21001 of the Class KuMoE 21. KuMoE 21001 was built by Nippon Sharyo in 1927 as a commuter electric car named DeHa 73284. After being operated on the Senseki line in Miyagi Prefecture, it was modified to a relief car, and renamed as KuMoE 21001 in 1963 by Morioka Factory of Japanese National Railways. Eventually, it was retired from the track in 1986, and moved to Nissan Park for exhibition. KuMoE 21001 has a length of 17 meters, a breadth of 2.87 meters, a weight of 44.7 tons and a maximum speed of 95 kilometers per hour. It was dispatched for relief when the railway accidents happened. For that purpose, it had a jib crane to lift tools up and down.

I was attracted by this old electric car. The body was square and sturdy. The large rounded frontal light was my favorite. The wide central doors were classic and striking. Its boggies (type DT10) were nostalgic and the resister was large. That's certainly the electric car in the 1920s.

I hope that this precious electric car will be maintained in good condition.

Side view of KuMoE 21001 of the Class KuMoE 21