Motegi in Autumn: Black and Red

SL Express (C12 66 + OHa 50 series) runs on the up-hill grade track of the Mooka Railway

 

The season of the red carpet has come back. They extend a red carpet welcome to me here and there in the fields. Who are they?

They are Spider lily flowers. Spider lily is an autumn plant with red colored blossoms. I like this flower very much as it is a signal of the coming of autumn after a severely hot summer. Following my visit to Koma in 2011 and Satte in 2012, I visited Motegi Town in Tochigi Prefecture this year with my family to be welcomed by the seasonal red carpet.

Motegi is located some 100km north of Tokyo. To visit this quiet town, Mooka Railway is convenient. Connecting Shimodate and Motegi stations, the total operating length is 41.9 kilometers. This local railway has two units of steam locomotives (SLs), namely C11 325 and C12 66. Pulling classic passenger coaches (OHa 50 series), SL Express "Mooka" is operated every weekend (see the top photo). The SL's body is a beautiful shiny black, and the piercing whistle doesn't seem old at all.

After getting off at Motegi Terminal, we visited Shiroyama Park near the station. Shiroyama is a small mountain in the town. There was a castle from medieval times, which was abandoned in 1557. Currently it is open to the public as a scenic park. We enjoyed the gorgeous red carpets of Spider Lily blossoms on the slopes of the mountain (see the following photo).

Early autumn's Motegi is the season of the black-colored SL and the red-colored Spider Lily.
 

Spider lily field in Shiroyama Park near Motegi Station on the Mooka Railway

Manseibashi, Revival of Abandoned Station

Ex-Manseibashi Station and the Chuo Line track

 

Manseibashi is an unforgettable place for me in Tokyo. When I was a kid, I often came to this place with my uncle to walk through the Transportation Museum. My favorite exhibition was an automatic door on the mock train. I pretended to be a train conductor and got absorbed in pressing the door switch all day long. The Transportation Museum has already been closed, but the same kind of attraction is still in use in the present Railway Museum in Saitama City.

There was another famous site among rail fans in the Manseibashi area. It was an old railway station that opened in 1912. This station had been functioning as a terminal of the Chuo Line, but was abandoned in 1943 due to a decrease in incoming and outgoing passengers. Since it's closure, it was forgotten about by Tokyoites except only a few rail fans. The old brick-built station has been falling into decay under the elevated railway tracks.

On September 14th, 2013, JR East opened a new commercial complex in the ex-Manseibashi station yard. The space under the elevated track is being reutilized. The old brick-covered pillars were renovated beautifully, and shops, cafes and restaurants have moved into the under-track space (see the top photo). Visitors can also climb up the old stairs and see the abandoned platform where a scenic restaurant has been opened. I could see the EMU 233 series passing through the ex-platform on the Chuo Line track (see the following photo).

Manseibashi Station reappeared in different forms in the twenty-first century.
 

EMU JR East 233 series passes through ex-Manseibashi Station on the Chuo Line

 

More information aboout the Manseibashi redevelopment project (in Japanese):

http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2012/20120701.pdf

EMU 955 Series, "300X": Domestic Speed Record Holder

955-6 of the EMU JR Central 955 series, "300X" is preserved in SCMAGLEV and Railway Park

 

EMU JR Central 955 series, also known as the 300X, was a high speed test vehicle on the Tokaido Shinkansen. It was manufactured in 1995 by Mitsubishi Heavy industries, Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hitachi to develop new generation Shinkansen trains. The name "300X" meant that it would be a successor of the existing EMU 300 series.

In accordance with the aim of the development concept, many kinds of new technologies were adopted on the 300X train, such as bolster-less bogies with active suspensions and a body inclining device to maintain high speed on tight curves. The 300X was a six-car train composed of all motor cars. Each induction motor had 405kW power output to generate high speed. On July 26th in 1996, the 300X broke a domestic speed record on the test run. It was 443km/hour (275miles/hour).

As a rail fan, I like the body design of the 300X, which has two faces. The 955-6 on the Tokyo side has a round-wedge shaped; meanwhile the 955-1 on the Osaka side has cusp shaped mask, which is similar to a duckbill in Australia. Specifically, the round-wedge shaped car, unit number 955-6 is my favorite. Unfortunately, the round wedge-shaped mask was not adopted on the front of new generation train, the EMU 700 series.

In 2001, the 300X was retired from the track after taking precious data for developing new generation Shinkansen trains. Currently, unit number 955-6 of the 300X is preserved in SCMAGLEV and Railway Park in Nagoya City.
 

Memorial plate on the 955-6 of the EMU 955 series, "300X"

 

More information about rolling stock in SCMAGLEV and Railway Park:

http://museum.jr-central.co.jp/en/rolling-stock/

Old Ceramic Factory on the Higashiyama Line

EMU Nagoya Municipal Subway 5050 series stands at Nagoya Station on the Higashiyama Line

 

Noritake is Japan's representative ceramic tableware brand. It was established in 1904 in Noritake Village of Nagoya City. In commemorating the 100th anniversary of Noritake brand, a memorial garden was opened in 2001 on the premises of their headquarters, the very birthplace of modern pottery in Japan.

This area has already been completed as a role of their production base. The site of the main factory was changed to a forest and a garden, which are open to the public. Although most of the old buildings were demolished, some brick-built ones are still preserved. For instance, the following photograph shows old storage buildings, which were built in 1904 as some of the first buildings on this site. They were designated as the Nagoya City's historical construction property in 2012.

To get to this ex-factory garden, take the Nagoya Municipal Subway-Higashiyama Line and get off at Kamejima Station. The Higashiyama Line is the first subway line in the city. It was opened in 1957 between Nagoya and Sakae-cho stations (2.4km). The whole route was completed in 1982 between Takabata and Fujigaoka stations (20.6km). The track gauge is 1,435mm and the electric system is 600V DC with a third rail.

The EMU 5050 series is one of the major fleets on the line. It was launched in 1992 to replace old models. A total of 27 sets, 162 units, have been manufactured so far by Nippon Sharyo. The stainless steel body with yellow and white stripes is vivid for passengers.
 

Old strorages are preserved in ex-Noritake Factory near Kamejima Station on the Higashiyama Line

 

More information about the EMU Nagoya Municipal Subway 5050 series (in Japanese):

http://www.kotsu.city.nagoya.jp/fun/vehicle_guide/higashiyama_vg/h5050_guide.html

Tokyo Night Walk: Yaesu Entrance of Tokyo Station

EMU JR East 231-500 series stands at Tokyo Station on the Yamanote Line

 

Tokyo station is the largest railway terminal in Japan. It was opened in 1914 as a central station of the capital city of Japan. The surface and the 20 elevated tracks are used by the JR lines. Meanwhile, 10 underground tracks are allocated for the JR conventional and the Tokyo Metro subway lines.

Tokyo station has two faces. One of them is a historical aspect, which is represented by the Marunouchi (western) side. Last year, the Marunouchi entrance building was restored to be the same as it was when it opened. This building was severely destroyed by an air strike in 1945. It was repaired after WWII, but the design of the roofs was changed, because it was a stop-gap measure.

The other is a contemporary aspect, which is represented by the Yaesu (eastern) side. Recently, "Gran Roof" was opened as a new landmark of the Yaesu entrance. Gran Roof is a mock of a sail. Restaurants, cafes and kiosks were also opened in front of Gran Roof. In the evening, Gran Roof is beautifully lit up (see the following photo). It is like a sail of light.

In the meantime, we can see many trains in Tokyo Station even in the evening. The Yamanote Line train is well known as Japan's most crowded railway (see the top photo). The EMU JR East 231-500 series, an eleven-car train, runs every 3 minutes in the evening.

Tokyo Station doesn't sleep... a night-less station.
 

Night view of the Yaesu entrance