Visit to Kumamoto: Tram and Unkai

Unit 1097 of the electric car Kumamoto City Tram 1090 series

Kumamoto is the main city of Kumamoto Prefecture, about 900 kilometers west of Tokyo. It has been developed as the capital of Higo Province since the 8th century. The population now stands at 740,000, the third largest on Kyushu Island.

It's true that Kumamoto is a big city, but there’s more. For example, Mt. Kinbo is a beautiful spot in the western part of the city. We can see Mt. Unzen and Shimabara Peninsula from the summit. What was even more special was a large unkai (a sea of clouds), which covered Kumamoto City and Shimabara Bay (see the photo below). I was very lucky.

I can't afford to stop writing yet, as this is a rail-fan's blog. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Kumamoto City Tram. The tramline in the city was opened in 1924, and has been operated by the Transportation Bureau of Kumamoto City. The current total operating length is 12.1 kilometers. The electrical system is 600V DC. The gauge size is 1,435 millimeters. The electric car 1090 series (see photo above) is the main fleet on the line. It was commissioned in 1955, and a total of 7 units were built by Toyo Koki. The technical specifications are rather old, but all units are still in active service. One of the design features of this electric car is its tail lamps. It’s so-called “Basu-kyo tails (standard tail lamps for busses)”. Parts commonality between trams and busses led to a cost reduction.

Unkai (a sea of clouds) view from Mt. Kinbo in Kumamoto City

Kumamoto City Tram boarding guide:

https://www.kotsu-kumamoto.jp/common/UploadFileDsp.aspx?c_id=9&id=2&set_doc=1

Official information about Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau (in Japanese):

https://www.kotsu-kumamoto.jp/

The 55th Anniversary of Tora-san, Part 2

"The 55th anniversary of Tora-san" train, Keisei 3030, travels on the Keikyu line

You may remember when I introduced you to the 55th anniversary train of Tora-san before. It was trainset 3668 of the EMU Keisei 3600 series displaying the celebratory plate. Today, I’m going to show you two more anniversary trains.

Please look at the top photo. You can see a round-shaped plate on the front of trainset 3030 of the EMU Keisei 3000 series. This train also celebrates "the 55th anniversary of Tora-san". The 3000 series was commissioned in 2003 to replace the old trains on the Keisei line. It's a standard commuter train with stainless-steel bodies. A total of 48 sets, 326 cars, were built by Nippon Sharyo, etc. The maximum operating speed is 120 kilometers per hour, because it’s directly operated onto the Hokuso line, which is a part of fast access route to New Tokyo International Airport (Narita).

On the other hand, Hokuso Railway also operates the 55th anniversary train of Tora-san (see the photo below). It’s trainset 7502 of the EMU 7500 series. Hokuso trains are directly operated onto the Keisei, Toei-Asakusa and Keikyu lines. The EMU 7500 series is a main force of the Hokuso Railway. It was commissioned in 2006 to replace the old model, the 7000 series. A total of 3 sets, 24 cars, were built by Nippon Sharyo and Tokyu Sharyo. It's a sister train of the Keisei 3000 series. The major difference between the 7500 and the 3000 series is the color of the stripes.

"The 55th anniversary of Tora-san" train, Hokuso 7502, travels on the Keikyu line

Sayonara, "Hyotan View" Gondolas

Bizan Ropeway in Tokushima City

Tokushima is the main city of Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku Island. The population now stands at 0.26 million. This city is famous for Awa-odori, the traditional dancing festival held every summer, but that’s not all. There is a popular sightseeing spot, Mt. Bizan, close to downtown. Visitors can enjoy superb view of the urban area and Kii Channel from the summit.

To visit Mt. Bizan, “Bizan Ropeway” is convenient. It’s owned by Tokushima City Office. Connecting Awa-odori-kaikan and Sancho stations, the route length is 787 meters. It's a single-cable cross type aerial tramway. The height difference of the two stations is 242 meters. The maximum inclination on the route is 30.23 degrees. Bizan Ropeway was originally opened in 1957. The third-generation double gondolas were built by Osaka Sharyo in 1997. Passenger capacity per gondola is 15; therefore, a total of 30 persons can ride on each trip. They look like Haruna-san Ropeway in Gumma Prefecture. The gondola is operated every 15 minutes with a maximum speed of 4.1 meters per second. It takes about 6 minutes to go one way. The nickname of these gondolas is “Hyotan (Gourd) View”.

On February 17th, Tokushima City Office announced that new gondolas of Bizan Ropeway will be commissioned on March 30th. This is the first introduction of new gondolas in 25 years. According to the city office, the new gondolas will be angular-shaped, and have large windows. That sounds exciting. Sayonara (Good-bye) and arigatou (thank you) Hyotan View gondolas.

Superb view from Mt. Bizan

Official annoucement about new gondolas of Bizan Ropeway by Tokushima City Office (in Japanese): https://www.city.tokushima.tokushima.jp/shisei/mayor/mayor_press/press_2024/kaiken20250217.files/kaiken2025021701.pdf

The 140th Anniversary of Shinjuku Station

JR East E231-500 series displays the 140th anniversary plate of Shinjuku station

On March 1st, JR East celebrated the 140th anniversary of Shinjuku station. In commemoration, several events are held by the company.

Let me quickly review Shinjuku station to start. It’s a giant terminal located in the subcenter of Tokyo Metropolis. Trains of five companies and one public corporation arrive at and leave this giant terminal. Shinjuku station was opened by Nippon Railway Company (present JR East) in 1885. It was located on the outskirts of the city at that time, but has become a giant terminal since the 1920s. The ridership is currently 3 million passengers per day.

Let's get down to the main topic. One of the events for the 140th anniversary is two kinds of memorial plates on the trainset A522 of the EMU E231-500 series. You can see the illustration of the old yellow-colored train, probably the EMU ex-JNR 101 series, on the plates. I remember when the yellow-colored 101 series often stopped at Shinjuku station until the 1980s. After retirement from the JR East lines, some of the 101 series trains were transferred to Chichibu Railway.

What will happen in the future of Shinjuku station? "Shinjuku Grand Terminal" project is going on. It’s a joint public and private sector redevelopment project, which will continue in the western side of the station until the 2040s. For example, the Odakyu Department Store building was demolished last year in order to build a skyscraper. It’s a good start, but still quite a long way to go. Congratulations on the 140th anniversary of Shinjuku station!

Enlargement of the 140th anniversary plate

Petrol Transportation Trains in the Metropolitan Area

JR Freight's petrol transportation train travels on the JR East-Musashino line 

I sometimes come across petrol transportation trains in the metropolitan area. Being pulled by electric locomotives, they pass by me in the blink of an eye, and disappear into a group of urban buildings. Today, I am going to post about these petrol transportation trains.

There are several oil refineries in and around the metropolitan area. They are for example in Kawasaki, Yokohama and Chiba cities. Do you know how to carry the refined petrol to consumption regions? Coastal tankers, tank trucks and petrol transportation trains are the main transporters.

Petrol transportation trains are operated mainly toward the inland areas such as Gunma, Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures. Type TaKi1000 is known as the petrol transportation freight car. It was commissioned in 1993 to replace the old freight car, Type TaKi43000. A total of 1,008 cars were built by Nippon Sharyo and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. They all belong to JR Freight’s railyards. The green-colored cars are owned by Japan Oil Transportation Company (see the top photo). On the other hand, the owner of the dark blue ones is Japan Oil Terminal & Logistics Company (see the photo below). The most notable point of TaKi1000 is its high speed… 95 kilometers per hour. It may look not so fast, but please remember that inland railways in Japan are located in mountainous areas. Furthermore, the track gauge is 1,067 millimeters… a narrow gauge.

You may want to know the towing locomotives as well, so, please review my previous posts, which I explained the Class EH200, EF210 and EF210-300.

JR Freight's petrol transportation train passes through HIgashi-Matsudo station