Preserved Locomotive in Tokorozawa City

Locomotive unit B15 of the Seibu Class B11 is preserved in Tokorozawa City

You may remember when I introduced the Seibu Yamaguchi Line in 2014 and again in 2023. Today, I’d like to add a small supplement to that topic.

Let’s start with a brief review of the Seibu Yamaguchi Line. It is a rubber-tyred Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) system that runs along the border between Tokyo Metropolis and Tokorozawa City in Saitama Prefecture. The line is only 2.8 kilometers long, connecting Tamako (Lake Tama) and Seibu-Kyujo-mae (Seibu Baseball Stadium) stations. The Yamaguchi Line opened in 1985 as Japan’s fifth AGT route. The entire line is an electrified single track with one signal station for train passing. Its power supply is 750V DC, using a third rail.

Now, let’s look back on the history of the Seibu Yamaguchi Line before it became an AGT route. The original line opened in 1950 as an attraction railway called Otogi Densha (“Fairy Train”) inside an amusement park. It was later formalized as a regular railway, renamed the Yamaguchi Line, under the Railway Business Act in 1952.

At that time, the main locomotive type was the Class B11. A total of five units were built by the Seibu Tokorozawa Factory and Nakajima Electric Cars. These were accumulator (battery-powered) locomotives with a 0-4-0 wheel arrangement (Whyte notation), each equipped with two 11 kW DC motors. The batteries were manufactured by Yuasa.

Today, unit B15 of the Class B11 is preserved in front of the “Emi Terrace” shopping mall in Tokorozawa City. Emi Terrace was constructed on the site of the former Seibu Tokorozawa Factory — the very birthplace of unit B15. It’s truly a homecoming for this little locomotive, isn’t it?

Old photos of Seibu Class B11 locomotives are displayed in Emi Terrace

Plum Festival on the Keio Line

Set 8714 travels on the Keio Line, displaying the “Mogusaen Plum Festival” plate

We had a rather cold winter this year. Because of the low temperatures, plum trees started blooming one to three weeks later than usual. Mogusaen Garden in Hino City was no exception. Normally, the plums in this garden reach full bloom in mid-February, but they haven’t done so yet this year. Instead, I enjoyed the tsurushi-bina decorations displayed in a hermitage within the garden (see the photo below). For your information, tsurushi-bina is a Japanese tradition in which ornamental dolls are hung on strings for Girls' Day, also known as the Doll's Festival.

To visit this plum garden, the nearest railway station is Mogusaen on the Keio Line. During the plum-blossom season, Keio Electric Railway operates a train with a special head plate on the line to promote tourism to Mogusaen. It is trainset 8714 of the EMU 8000 series. The large plum-blossom-shaped plate on the front of the train makes me feel the arrival of spring.

The 8000 series was introduced in 1992 as Keio’s first train to adopt a variable frequency drive (VFD) control system. As you may know, the rotational speed and torque of induction motors are adjusted through frequency and voltage in this system. Together with a regenerative braking system and reduced vehicle weight, the electricity consumption of the 8000 series was cut by about 45 percent compared with its predecessors.

Finally, please take a look at my previous posts as well about other famous plum gardens and groves in the metropolitan area, such as Taura Ume-no-sato, Haruna Plum Grove, and Ikegami Plum Garden, if you have time.

Tsurushi-bina decorations displayed in a hermitage of Mogusaen Garden

Serving a Double Purpose on the Chuo Line

EMU JR East E353 series crossing the Tamagawa Bridge 

There is a Japanese proverb that says isseki nicho — “killing two birds with one stone.” As a non-native English speaker, I didn’t know until recently that this proverb actually originated in England. Today, I’d like to post a story related to this saying… but I’ll choose the softer expression “serving a double purpose,” because I don’t want to kill any birds.

Enough with the preface — let’s move on to the main topic. I recently visited the Tamagawa Bridge on the JR East Chuo Line for the first time in three years. What was the purpose of my visit? First, I wanted to photograph trains crossing the bridge. Please look at the top photo. That’s the EMU JR East E353 series, the limited express Azusa. It features a special air-suspension tilting system that allows it to maintain high speed through tight curves in the mountainous areas. Its maximum operating speed is 130 kilometers per hour — cool, isn’t it?

After enjoying train photography, I turned to another of my hobbies: fossil collecting. As I have written before, it’s been my lifelong passion. I’ve been visiting fossil localities in the metropolitan area since I was a boy. The riverbed near Tamagawa Bridge is one of my favorites. There, you can observe fossiliferous layers of the Renkoji Formation — young shallow-marine sediments deposited about 1.3 million years ago. Please take a look at the photo below. That was my find of the day: Akanishi (Rapana venosa). The spines on its shell are really striking!

So, I served a double purpose on the Chuo Line.

Fossil “Akanishi” (Rapana venosa) found near the bridge

Official information on the EMU E353 series by JR East:

https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/traininformation/azusa_kaiji/index.html

Official information on the EMU E353 series by J-TREC (in Japanese):

https://www.j-trec.co.jp/company/070/04/jtr04_100-105.pdf

Classic Diesel Railcar on the Ryugasaki Line

Unit KiHa 532 of the Kantetsu KiHa 532 series diesel railcar

I thought I had already introduced all of the trains in the metropolitan area on this blog, but it seems there are still some left. Describing trains in this region is truly endless. Today, I’d like to show you one of such rolling stock — the KiHa 532 series diesel railcar on the Ryugasaki Line in Ryugasaki City.

To start, let me briefly review Ryugasaki City and the Ryugasaki Line.

Ryugasaki City, located about 50 kilometers northeast of Tokyo in Ibaraki Prefecture, has been developed as a commuter city since the 1970s. The Ryugasaki Line of the Kanto Railway Company (Kantetsu) is a 4.5-kilometer-long route connecting Sanuki and Ryugasaki stations within the city. The track is single and non-electrified, with diesel railcars operating every 30 minutes.

Now, let’s move on to the main topic. I found a classic vehicle running on this line — unit KiHa 532 of the Kantetsu KiHa 532 series (see the top photo). This model was introduced to the Ryugasaki Line in 1981. Its body was newly built by Niigata Engineering, while the mechanical equipment was reused from the former JNR’s KiHa 20 series. Only one unit is in operation on the line.

To my delight, Kantetsu even publishes the operating schedule of the KiHa 532 series on its website. It often runs on Saturdays, which is very helpful for train spotters like me — no more regrets such as, “I went all the way to the Ryugasaki Line, but the KiHa 532 wasn’t running today!” I could fully enjoy the nostalgic ride, including its retro-style interior (see the photo below).

Interior of the KiHa 532 series

Offcial information about the rollingstock of Kanto Railway (in Japanese):

https://www.kantetsu.co.jp/train/traincar

Keisei Skyliner AE Series: Over 50 Million Passengers

EMU Keisei AE series Skyliner displaying a gold-colored commemorative sticker

It’s a bit of old news, but the passengers of the third-generation Keisei Skyliner exceeded 50 million on June 9th last year. I’d like to bring up this topic today.

Let’s start with a quick look at the Skyliner. It’s an airport access train that connects central Tokyo with New Tokyo International (Narita) Airport. The current Skyliner, officially known as the EMU AE series, was introduced in 2010 to replace the previous model, the AE100 series.

The AE series is an electric multiple unit designed for 1,435-millimeter gauge and 1,500 V DC track. A total of eight trainsets, consisting of 64 cars, were built by Nippon Sharyo and Tokyu Sharyo. Each trainset is composed of six motorcars and two trailers (6M2T). The traction system uses an IGBT–VVVF (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor – variable frequency drive) inverter controlling 175 kW induction motors. The AE series can reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h, making it the fastest train in Japan apart from the Shinkansen.

The AE series reached 20 million passengers in September 2016, 25 million in November 2017, and 45 million in October 2023. The period between the 45 millionth and the 50 millionth passenger milestones (June 2024) was only eight months. To celebrate the achievement, Keisei Electric Railway held a commemorative ceremony at Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station. The 50 millionth passenger was a Japanese mother accompanied by her two little daughters.

At present, one of the AE series trainsets, namely AE2, bears a gold-colored commemorative sticker on its front. Congratulations to the Keisei Skyliner for reaching the 50 million-passenger mark!

Side view of the “50 Million Passengers” commemorative Skyliner

Official information about Keisei Skyliner:

https://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetudou/skyliner/us/skyliner/index.php

Official announcement about the 50 million passengers of the EMU Keisei AE series (in Japanese):

https://www.keisei.co.jp/cms/files/keisei/MASTER/0110/JhGckcB5.pdf