I gave it a quick run on some flex-track with a 12v supply I had lying around. It was noisy, but for something of its age, moved quite well.

Both end cars pick up power through their front bogie and both have internal lighting. It seems to be a standard incandescent light bulb and it actually lights up the entire nose of the train... makes it look very toy-ish... I would actually stop this from happening if I was to run these full-time, but I have no HO layout.

Either way, this is a cool set... and I was very impressed to find out that some company (I believe they are French?) made this back in the 70s/80s. As written underneath, they were made in Hong Kong.

It turns out that the company also made a Series 485 EMU which reminds me of the Kita Kinki in Kansai.

There was also an Endou Vista 3-Car EMU in N Scale which I couldn't recognise (looked like something Kintetsu or Meitetsu...) which I'll try and pick up next time... information on it is here, here, here and here. And yes, it's Kintetsu.

I'd decided it was time to light the temple after building the Torii for the entrance. This temple was the Tomytec Japanese Temple A (Main Building) and is still available for purchase from most Japanese online hobby retailers.

I've slapped LEDs in buildings before, but this time I also wanted to add lanterns to the front of the shop. I'd made the lanterns before, as in my previous attempts of creating the Torii, but I was to make a few changes this time as I wasn't totally impressed with the previous outcome.

Creating the lanterns

There was a slight change this time to creating the lanterns... instead of cutting them and sliding them over the LEDs, I shaved them down to fit and inserted them into the center of the tubing. This all worked well, but you must be careful when shaving down the LEDs as you can destroy them quite easily. To shave the LEDs, I held them in pliers in one hand and filed away with my pocket knife. It was pretty obvious to feel when you were no longer filing away at plastic and, unfortunately, this was usually the demise of the LED.

Mounting the lanterns

I used the same copper winding wire that I always do and bent it into a rectangular shape to fit the roof of the temple. I then started soldering the lanterns in place.

I then pulled out the trusty Selleys Aquadere and, using random aligator clips found on the bench, glued the lanterns in place.

I also put two standard 3mm white LEDs in the center of the ceiling for building lights.

The finished product

After the glue had dried, I tested all the LEDs and found that I'd broken the front-left lantern. This was 24hours after starting the project and frustrating. I quickly removed it from the temple and filed another LED down. I left it dry again, overnight, after testing, gluing and testing again.

Finally, yesterday, I was able to hook it up to my Arduino LED Controller. It worked perfectly and I took the opportunity to test my night-time photography skills.

Now to settle the landscape around it.

As with any Shrine in Japan, the grounds are seen as sacred and insulated from the surrounding area; usually by either high walls or thick vegetation with a Torii gate for the entrance. I'll be adding the walls in soon enough, but prior to doing so I wanted to make sure I had all of the buildings and scenery effects in place.

The first thing to create was the Torii gate entrance. Tanaka_ace on his Tounosawa Blog had created a very nice gate with LED lanterns added. This is all based off a real-life location at the Tounosawa Station on the Hakone Tozan Railway. He had also created a blog post showing what he based the model off.

My version

I've used the same gauge winding wire I'd used for my level crossing lights, streetlights and building lighting. With this I've also used 1/16" brass pole for the main frame of the gate because I wanted to emulate wood rather than a cylindrical concrete post this time. This also provided a little more room to squeeze the wires through. Each length needed to be cut down to size and then filed back. I used standard snips to cut the brass, a smaller saw would've been a better idea.

I based the size on the path that I had already created on the layout. I didn't really have a real-life prototype to work off and made a lot of it up as I went. The final size was around 50mm wide and I could fit 5 lanterns in. Below you can see the framing taking place.

I then started cutting out the holes to feed the wire through. I used my trusty pocket-knife as the brass was quite soft. I also used a wire cut off a resistor to clean out the tubes of any metal shavings. The entrances created for the wires would have sharp edges and could scrape off the insulation on the wires, so I made the holes as big as possible.

Once the holes were cut, I fed the wires through as a test. I then constructed the frame with solder. At this point I accidently overheated the wires on the left side. This caused one to ground and I then couldn't successfully light 1 of the 5 LEDs. I took more care the second time around when soldering the frame back together.

I added a quick roof to the frame as tanaka_ace had done with his second version.

Now that the frame and LEDs were in place, I could go about turning them into lanterns. This would be done by putting plastic piping around them. I had already done this with a fixed lantern on a TomyTec Japanese Shop, but this time I had no existing lanterns to work with. I therefore used the same concept as tanaka_ace.

Thanks to globalisation, I was able to acquire the exact same "Evergreen Scale Models" poly-piping that he used. I happened to purchase 3.2mm pipe instead of the 2.4mm; but this worked out well as the LEDs that I was using were a little bigger. The pipe was cut into appropriate lengths and then the edges rounded down to create the lantern shape. The individual lanterns were then sliced at the back so that I could slide them over the LEDs. I then used stock-standard Shelleys Aquadhere to fill in the ends.

Once these were holding in place, I painted the frame a nice wood-brown. Torii gates can be made of wood or stone and painted a multitude of colours. You more often than not will see them in brown wood, but bright red, and even out in the ocean, is not uncommon.

And that was it... I still think I need to place some characters on the lanterns, but I need to work out what to write on them. I also should've taken more care to get the lanterns even, but I was happy enough with the outcome and, once in place on the layout, knew it would be good enough.

Now that the entrance is in place, it's time to get the fences and shrine in. As you can see, the foundations are there already and I'm currently working on adding lanterns and lights to the shrine.

An apology: I'd traveled here last year whilst in Japan and had completely forgotten to write up the experience. Hopefully I haven't mis-recollected too much of the following information

I'd seen the freight operations in Chichibu online in multiple places, but wanted to go and check out the 'rolling museum' for myself; as it was one of the many private railways that I had intended to visit and one that I had the freight timetables for.

The Chichibu Railway

The Chichibu Railway (Official site, Japanese only) is a private railway in Japan which runs west from Hanyu Station to Mitsumineguchi Station via Kumagaya. The railway operates both passenger and freight (limestone) services. It's rolling stock consists of many handed-down locomotives and multiple units.

Getting to Chichibu from Osaka

Since I'd been visiting friends in Osaka, I wasn't in the best location to be getting to Chichibu early enough for some of the freight operations. Fortunately, Japan still has quite a few overnight services and one of these, the Kitaguni, would get me to Nagaoka in time to transfer to the Shinkansen to Kumagaya.

The Kitaguni departs Osaka Station just before 11:30pm each day and arrives at Niigata just before 7:00am the next morning. The service is operated by dedicated 583 Series EMUs and has multiple types of sleeping accommodation. I chose the cheapest bed, but I don't recommend this. See the photo below; I was in the top bunk and you get only a single peep-hole for a view.

Nagaoka to Chichibu

We stopped at Naoetsu Station briefly on the way through to Niigata. I grabbed a few photos before we continued on to Nagaoka.

At Nagaoka Station I transferred to the next southbound service to Kumagaya. I had breakfast at the station and then found the Chichibu platforms downstairs. Tickets were purchased from a vending machine and I chose to travel to Takekawa. This station is west of the branch that runs to the Taiheiyo Cement Factory and is the first place to see traffic heading east-bound.

Upon arriving at Takekawa I found several of the electric freight locos stored in the yard. This was to be an ominous sign, as it seemed most of the services I wanted to see that morning weren't running.

I walked a lap around the yard and the station and checked out the surroundings. Takekawa is a very quiet little suburb, but the locals seem to be used to railfans hanging around. I greeted one or two people who didn't seem too upset with me loitering around and taking photos of the infrastructure. I was also greeted by around 30-odd small children on a school excursion crossing the pedestrian bridge.

After walking about 3/4 of my lap the 'express' EMU passed and I got a shot of it from the level crossing east of the station.

I looked again at my timetable and realised that there was to be another freight coming in and so positioned myself on the station island platform. I watched as one of the staff inspected (and tightened) the handbrakes on a rake of limestone hoppers (WAKIs).

The level crossing west of the station then sounded. The previous passenger train east-bound had already passed and so I realised I was finally going to see a freight movement.

In came locomotive 504 with a small rake of limestone hoppers. It stopped on road closest to the platform and another engineer jumped on the front. They then left the hoppers and trundled down the rails towards the factory.

That then ended my brief tour of the Chichibu. I returned to Kumagaya on the next passenger service and took the Shinkansen into Tokyo. The rest of the afternoon was then spent with friends in Akihabara.

As per usual, with any freight railway in any country, any timetables available must be taken with a level of doubt. The paths set for trains are only really useful when there is a train to be moved. I had a feeling that there were too many stored locos in the yard and this turned out to be true; as out of the 5 movements to be seen in time timeframe I was there, only one ran.

Either way, I was more than content with seeing preserved locomotives still operating and was also impressed with the other hand-me-down rolling stock on the Chichibu.

Oh! That's right, I was also there to see the Paleo Express, which was meant to run on that day.
...It didn't...

Location

The Eizan Electric Railway originally only had one main line from Demachiyanagi Station in the north east to Yase-Heizan-guchi, further north-east. This line was opened in 1925 and provided a gateway to Mount Hiei, a popular tourist destination in Kyoto. The branch to Kurama was opened in 1929 and has proved popular ever since. Both lines terminate at transfer stations where passengers continue travel on cable cars.

From 1978, Demachiyanagi Station was cut off from other forms of connecting transport when the Kyoto City Streetcars stopped running. Fortunately, in 1989 the opening of the Keihan Oto Line re-connected Demachiyanagi with a large transport network and made it easily accessible once more. The Eiden network had seen lower ridership in between 1978 and 1989, but it soon became popular once more.

Rolling Stock

The Eiden's rolling stock inventory consists entirely of EMUs running at 600VDC. The Deo 700 Series is a single-car EMU which usually runs along the Main Line.

The Deo 800 series is a 2-car EMU which usually runs up to Kurama.

And then my favourite, the Deo 'Kirara' 900 Series. This model was released by Kato and I have it in both the Maple Orange and Maple Red. It also received a prize (can't remember the exact name, 'Lauriel?') for it's design. It's internal seating allows the passengers to sit sideways and view the scenery along the route. It also has high observation windows.

Stations and Facilities

Ichiooji Station

Shugakuin Depot

Iwakura Station

Kurama

After getting off at the final stop, passengers transfer onto the Cable car and end up at Kurama. Here you'll find a temple and an onsen. Be careful though, I visited here in Winter of 2005 and it was very slippery and dangerous! (Then again, I'm probably just from Australia and don't understand snow )

Sightings

I'd seen the train in Japan when I was there in 2008 but hadn't even thought of travelling on it.

A ticket in hand

My next trip to Japan was to be in 2009 and I was determined to get on the train. I hadn't had many spare nights in Japan and the train had been booked out between Osaka and Sapporo on the nights I did have spare. This didn't deter me though, as the reverse trip wasn't booked out. Of course, I then had to get to Hokkaido first and I therefore took the Nihonkai (another sleeper train) to Higashi-Muroran (Hokkaido) and intercepted the Twilight Express as it returned to Osaka. I wasn't able to get all the way to Sapporo in time to meet the Twilight Express there. Higashi-Muroran was pretty cold; although it was the start of the Japanese summer, Hokkaido was still in the low teens (degrees) and I wasn't prepared.

The Nihonkai had arrived on time, giving me a 2 hour stop-over in Higashi-Muroran. There wasn't much rail traffic and so I ran to the nearest katsu curry restaurant to have my favourite dish. On returning to the station I didn't have to wait long to see those familiar blue DD51 diesels arrive. Of course, the lighting was dismal and my digital camera had no chance of catching them moving... I also had no time of getting to the front of the train to take a still shot.

First impressions

Upon entering the car (I was in a B Class Sleeper) I was presented with beautiful wooden walls and very well kept rooms. As you can tell, I settled in pretty quickly... I'd also brought a few goodies on board. The conductor came in quite soon after to say hello and to apologise for not being able to speak English. Fortunately, my limited Japanese meant we could work out all the formalities: the coin-operated shower was in the Salon Du Nord car, dinner was in allocated time slots: 7pm,8pm,9pm (if I remember correctly) and finally I had to choose what 'type' of meal I wanted for dinner and breakfast? Japanese or Western... I wasn't on the train for Western food!
I then realised I wasn't alone in my cabin and started making new friends. Soon enough another conductor came and found me and offered to change me into another room (still a B Class 4-person) but with me being the only occupant. I couldn't turn down their hospitality and so obliged.

Salon Du Nord

Once settled in I decided to wander around to see what the train had to offer; The first target was the famed "Salon Du Nord". What I found was an amazing observation car beautifully fitted out with very large windows and two TVs. The channels were selectable, but of course, everyone had to agree to you changing the channel ... I do believe I watched the same movie 3 times whilst on my trip... but I didn't mind as I was mainly staring out the window.
The car also included the coin-shower and a vending machine. You could also go to the dining car next door and order 'from the bar'. I happened to have a very lovely couple of obaachans talk to me and ask me about my travels... it was quite difficult trying to converse in my broken Japanese and recall all the polite grammar forms; but it made the trip even more enjoyable. It made me laugh when they didn't believe that there were people from other countries taking the relaxed approach on a sleeper train because they liked trains... I was glad to change their perceptions.

Dining

I, unfortunately, did not take a full shot of the dining car, but I can assure you it is as tastefully fitted out as the rest of the train. The staff are fantastic and I even had my waiter ask where I was from and what I was up to. Then then offered drinks and the menu which had quite a lot of options. I, if I recall correctly, had a very lovely dish of Japanese Karaage (fried chicken.)
For breakfast I was greeted by the same staff and selected the Japanese breakfast option. There was no menu to choose from, as it was a set breakfast and I was asked to take a seat, admire the great view and await the meal. All of a sudden I had 5 dishes on my table and all I can say is yum!

I then bought my souvenirs; available from the dining car menu and returned to my room.

Other classes

I had chosen the 'shared' cheaper B Class sleeper rooms, but you could also have a completely private A Class sleeper room. This included a 1-seater sofa/couch which folded out into a bed. The A Class carriage also included a small communal room at one end.

Twilight Express operations

Now comes the fun part of the trip. Both trains, regardless of direction, have an engine swap half way on their journeys. Actually... I lie... over the trip the train encounters a total of 4 engine swaps, but you can't get out and watch the other 3 of them.
The engine swaps are:

• Twilight Express EF81 from Osaka to Tsuruga
• Twilight Express EF81 from Tsuruga to Aomori Depot
• Unknown (I didn't get to see it) EF from Aomori Depot to Hakodate Depot
• Double Blue DD51 from Hakodate Depot to Sapporo

The reason for the swaps are very simple. Hokkaido isn't 100% electrified, so the diesels are required. They use two for on-time running more than gradient climbing. The diesels can't enter the Seikan Tunnel (Honshu to Hokkaido) and so the unknown EF (a stainless steel version) is for that section. The EF81s are then used for the rest of the trip, mainly for brand-recognition

Southbound engine swap: Tsuruga

So, after a sound nights sleep, we arrived in Tsuruga with a warning that we'd have to stop over for 10minutes whilst they swapped the engines. We (as they pretty much expected we were all train fanatics) were allowed out to take photos but were to return to the train as soon as the buzzer was heard.
Who could resist? I got out of the train and got to the front to see our first engine (EF81 113) already detached and heading south to the depot. I then walked further down the platform to take a shot of our train next to the Thunderbird that had just arrived. I could not believe the dirtiness of our consist; I hadn't expected an EF81 to cause that much build-up on the passenger car, but it could have been caused from the entire trip.
EF81 104 then started approaching to couple up to the train. It had been sitting in the yard ready to come up as soon as 113 had cleared the points. As soon as it 'clunked' onto the train and the air flowed the buzzer on the platform went off and everyone cleared back on to the train.

Final stations to Osaka

As we got closer and closer, more and more passengers departed at certain platforms. The train was actually scheduled to only stop at stations that passengers had designated to get off at; which is now quite obvious, as it was never going to pick any up. I had booked all the way through to Osaka, but was considering getting off at Kyoto... Unfortunately we were held up due to 'unfortuante circumstances' and I ended up just relaxing in the Salon Du Nord and getting back to Osaka an hour late.

Since this trip I've now also travelled on the Hokutosei and the Kitaguni. I still recall the Twilight Express as being the most memorable and stylish... but will endeavour next to get onto the Cassiopeia.

Noda, Osaka

Full gallery here.
As I was staying near Noda(JR) Station on the Osaka Loop Line, I was able get an elevated view of it from the building stairwell. Fortunately, this station is located between the Ajikawaguchi branch and Umeda, so I got to see the freight pass through, as well as the express services to Kansai Airport and Wakayama.

Southern end of the Umeda Freight Terminal

The west-most track of the Umeda Freight Terminal is used as a single-track bypass of Osaka station between Nishikujo and Shinosaka. Freight trains to Ajikawaguchi and all expresses to Kansai Airport and Wakayama (and further) use this track. Note the second last photo which shows the speed limits for a variety of express trains which travel this section of track:

Noda Hanshin Station

The Hanshin Railway runs from Umeda to Kobe. It is underground from Umeda Station before climbing above ground before Noda Hanshin Station. It does this just before the Osaka Loop Line, which travels over the top.

Noda JR Station

A favourite, Noda JR Station allows you to see for quite a while towards Nishikujo along some very straight track. This provides some great shots at full zoom of the loop line trains and other expresses heading south.

Yodogawa Bridge

This bridge provides a connection east of Osaka City for freight trains from Suita to Kudara in South Osaka. There have been rumours that it will also soon get it's own passenger service. The line is currently being upgraded.

Suita Station, Osaka

I walked back to Suita Station from Yodogawa Bridge hoping to see another service pass along the line; unfortunately the scheduled trains never arrived. Either way, once at Suita there was action in every direction.

Koyasan

Full gallery here.
I travelled with a friend on the back of his motorbike up to a temple in Koyasan, but on the way we stopped at a Gusto Restaurant near Nankai Mikkaichicho Station.

Nishi-Akashi Station

After spending a night in Ako City, I took my time returning back to Osaka and stopped by Nishi-Akashi Station. This is on the main line between Kobe and Himeji and sees a lot of freight passing through. Since it is a larger station, all passenger expresses stop, but the freight trains pass... so you knew when and where to look for them. Note that the first shot is from Ako station of the local to Himeji and the second and third are from Himeji Station.

After a quick trip on the Tokaido Line, I arrived at Yoshiwara to find a DE10 in the yard. I later realised that this was the marshalling area for the freight that then gets taken by the Gakunan railway.

I caught the next service through to Hina, as this was the best location at the time to see the most freight movements. I'd gathered this via the 2010 Japan Freight Timetable (but you can also get the timetable here.)

I was greeted at Hina by some archaic looking machines. After around 15minutes of checking out the area, the boom gates came down and then I saw 5 WAMU wagons coupled together and rolling towards me. One of the shunters was hanging on the back and one was in the middle. The guy in the middle all-of-a-sudden jumped off the consist and then jumped back on as the cars kept rolling. I then realised there was no engine attached as the shunters grabbed the handbrake on the wagons.

Before they'd dragged that rake to a hault, the engine (which may have given them a push... it was out of sight) then came through the crossing and coupled up to another rake of WAMUs.

Unfortunately, this was then the total of the freight action seen on the Gakunan Railway itself. But before I returned to Yoshiwara, I checked out the area. There's a few abandoned carriages around the station.

I then waited for the next service back to Yoshiwara. I must note that the passenger services are spaced half-hourly and they give you a good deal of time to check the area out.

Back at Yoshiwara, I checked my freight timetable and saw that there'd be a JR service arriving shortly to drop off cars for the Gakunan Railway. There were also to be other services passing, so I grabbed a bite to eat and waited.

I then returned to Osaka, taking the Tokaido Line to Shizuoka and the Shinkansen from there. You can find the complete photo album for the Gakunan Railway here.

And yes, I failed miserably to stick to the timetable I had previously wanted to follow. I'd slept in and therefore got to Minoakasaka around 1100 for the 1108 JR service. It was still definitely worth the wait. Below are a few of the good shots (including some of the Yoro railway.) Note that I walked from Ogaki to Minoakasaka and I do not recommend this, it's a considerable distance.

Here's a link to the full album.

Note that once the JR engine has detached, the Seino diesel hooks and pulls away very quickly, they have no other traffic on their line and don't wait around!

I then proceeded to run back to Ogaki as I'd realised there was no JR passenger service at 1200 and there were also no visible taxis (I should've asked the station attendant!). On the way I dropped my camera battery, ruined my feet due to my sandles and missed the ~1300 Yoro Railway service. I then jumped on JR and got to Tomida to see the cement trains. If only I'd gotten up on time!!

Once in Tomida, I got to see one cement train leave and then two JR oilers pass... not as much as what the timetable would have indicated should have passed. There was a strange bogie-carrying-maintenance-car on the Kintetsu line though! I soon returned back to Osaka.

So, after discovering all these railways, I scoured the internet for timetables... this was always going to be impossible. I then stumbled across the Railfreight Association of Japan who actually collate freight timetables and produce a single annual freight timetable of Japan. After getting a Japanese friend to talk to them, it was discovered that they did not like the idea of posting their products internationally! Fortunately my friend found a copy at Shosen Book Store in Akihabara. They sent it immediately and it arrived within 4 business days.

The title of the timetable is "2010 JR Kamotsu Jikokuhyou" ("2010 JR Freight Timetable") and it's valid from March 2010. It contains a thorough coverage of freight operations in Japan, starting with a Map of the country, a breakdown of services, a listing of locomotives (and the depots they belong to), a description of the types of freight, station diagrams and a lot more. The best part of this timetable is that they cover all of the private railways still operating and provide intricate timing details.

The sorting of the trains for each of the railways is a little confusing, and so I have reproduced the times of the railways above for my own benefit; but hopefully for that of others too. You'll find the timetables on my
Japan Freight Railway Timetables page.

The Daytrip

Since I now had an idea of what to see, I created a plan to visit all of these railways in one day. The only exception was the Mizushima Rinkai Railway as it is in the opposite direction from Osaka to all the others.
After a little bit of creative planning on Hyperdia (clockwise vs. counter-clockwise was a big decision) I decided on the following plan:

As per usual, I've left myself no time to scratch my balls; but as per usual I will also rely on the ever-trustworthy JR.

This plan is currently to be executed on Monday the 13th of September; we'll see what happens.

It seems that, back in the day, Kato didn't want to put money in to actually designing the models for America and therefore just repainted a (very slightly) remodeled EF81. Of course, it could be an exact copy of another Japanese electric locomotive, but I haven't had the time yet to do further research.

Update:
Toni Babelony of the JNS Forum posted a message in the thread I created on this locomotive that indicated that this is much closer to a Seibu E851. Thanks for pointing this out! Here is the Kato page on the Seibu E851. You'll notice that the Seibu has port holes, and other differences, but is obviously what Kato used as a base for this Amtrak locomotive.

Meanwhile, here are some photos I've taken of EF81s in Japan:

And, of course, if this locomotive really does exist, then please comment and tell me!

I'm usually found loitering around Shin Osaka station (both photographing and residing) as it's the only place to get on the Shinkansen and also has a lot of limited express services stopping through. I usually stay in the same place; a room rented out by a Japanese citizen for a very good deal, but this time his apartment was booked. I instead ended up near Noda Station (On the JR Osaka Loop Line) and had to, more or less, start my learning of the timetables and networks again. Of course, due to JRs punctuality and level of service, I really had no issues getting around... It just meant getting up 30mins earlier if I wanted to jump on a Bullet train.

One good bit about the Loop Line is that it's not all just boring local trains. It so happens that I was in the 4th quarter of the line (counting clock-wise from Osaka Station) and therefore only 2 stations from Osaka itself. This was really convenient, but also meant that I was on the Limited Express line (that bypasses Osaka and goes direct from Shin Osaka to Fukushima) that is also used for freight!

Of course, it wasn't until my last day that I actually saw freight on the line, as you either have to fluke it and see standard container trains to the port out near Universal Studios Japan or wait until around 11pm to see the M250 Super Rail Cargo leave. Since I'd found out the timetables of the M250 prior to this trip, I'd known what to do this time (instead of just seeing it shoot by when stumbling home from karaoke) and got in position to get a photo of the damn thing.

M250 Super Rail Cargo

My first attempt to see this train was on a weeknight from Noda Station at 10pm, heading to Ajikawaguchi Station (which is right next to the yards where the M250 is loaded.) Upon arriving, I saw the M250 cab lit, but also noticed that the Sagawa Transport trucks were still speeding into the yard in quick progression. I watched (walking from Ajikawaguchi Station up to USJ Station) as the trucks drove in, lined themselves up in a queue and then were unloaded by forklifts. They all knew exactly which car number (flat wagon in the consist) to drive up next to. The forklift would then pick up the container, the truck would drive off and the forklift would place the container on the train.

I soon realised, as I walked along the yard towards USJ, that there were only about 3 or 4 more containers left to load... and those trucks were already in the queue waiting to be unloaded! Hence I started speeding up my return, on foot, to Ajikawaguchi, as this is where the M250 would join the Yumesaki line (the line from the Loop Line to USJ/Sakurajima), as this would provide a good vantage point for a photo. Turns out I couldn't get a clear or steady shot without a tripod, so a movie was to be it.

All of a sudden this random music started playing (turn the volume up on the movie, you can hear it at the start) over ALL speakers in the yard... I thought the Thunderbirds were about to arrive. Then I heard a very feeble train horn and, before I knew it, the M250 was departing. It was 2304 and I looked at the timetables on the platforms at Ajikawaguchi... there were to be no trains for the next 4 minutes, a perfect time for this high-speed freight service to depart. And it did! It accelerated quite quickly, passed onto the left line and then disappeared out of sight.

Of course, I then wanted to get this train at another station along the line. I tried again the following Sunday and but I only got to see the consist shut down in the yard and partially loaded. As I arrived at Ajikawaguchi Station, the lights in the yard started shutting down row by row (around 2250) and I could tell that an employee was walking along the yard, manually switching them off. Fail for this night to get a movie.

I then ran out of time in Osaka to get another shot. The train departs at a bad time, as its always when you've had your fill of shabu-shabu, you've sung a few songs at karaoke and you're just not ready to leave the booth! Of course, the last loop line train is also sometime just after midnight, meaning a run to get a video of a train is usually always out of the question. The only real vantage points are at Nishikujo, Noda and Fukushima Stations which are out of the way from where the nightlife is.

Hence I only have the above video... but I'm glad I saw the train, finally... functional.

Umeda Freight Yards

Another favourite place of mine is the Umeda Freight Yards north-west of Osaka Station. This yard seems to be shrinking everytime I go there (due to construction of new buildings), but is often receiving traffic as the west-most lines are dedicated to freight from Shin Osaka and further on to Kyoto. These lines are also shared by the limited express trains that bypass Osaka Station. This includes the Ocean Arrow, Kuroshio and Haruka (to name a few.) Seen below is a Haruka service returning from Kansai International Airport to Kyoto via Shin Osaka. The lanes are also used by the M250 on it's way to Sakurajima.

Noda Station

This station on the loop line has meant nothing at all to me before; infact I resented stopping at it on local trains as I would have been able to get to Osaka quicker if it hadn't existed. This trip was, of course, different as it was my closest station. I also had Noda-Hanshin but my JR Railpass dictated a lot of travel paths.

On the south side of the station is a "Tetsudou Toshokan" or "Railway Library". It turns out you can pay 180yen for 30minutes of access to everything they had available. I snuck a peek from the stairs and saw shelves of maps, diagrams and manuals... but didn't enter. They'd only be picture books to me!

On my last day I took advantage of the sunset and photographed everything coming towards the station (actually, I lie, most of this was from Nishikujo, but the effect is the same.) I was impressed to see a freight locomotive coming towards me and laughed when I saw it towing only 2 flatbeds to Sakurajima.

Sakurajima Station

This is the end of the Yumesaki line, whose main purpose is to serve Universal Studios Japan. I just thought I'd add in some photos of the USJ liveried loop line EMUs.

Sapporo

Two words... "Damn cold". I think we averaged around 3 degrees celsius whilst there but loved every minute. Crossing road intersections was a deadly game as you quickly found the ice under the snow and watched as either you or others around fell flat on their asses. All this snow also gave express trains a challenge, but the effects are magical when you get to see one at full speed.

I actually started from Hachinohe and took the Super Hakucho and Hokuto to get to Sapporo. There was no snow falling in Hachinohe but the ground was icy. As we got closer to Aomori the snow on the tracks got thick (I love the front windows in both express services) to the point where you couldn't actually see the rails. I was disappointed to not see any snow plough trains in action.

I didn't really get to venture out too far, but the first night there was spent in Otaru. This is a beautiful "canal city" and I happened to stumble upon a steam locomotive when first arriving.




Unfortunately it was cheating with a DE10 up it's rear end. Of course this is required as a fail-safe on mainlines, but you could hear the DE10 doing a lot of the work.

Returning to Sapporo I saw all sorts of services and also rode on the Super Kamui and happened to see one pass another.

I returned to Osaka overnight on the Hokutosei. I travelled from Sapporo just after 1700, arriving at Fukushima at 0600 to swap to the Tohoku Shinkansen and then the Tokaido Shinkansen. Swapping to the Shinkansens early (instead of sleeping through to Tokyo) meant I saved around an hour and a half in transit.

Oigawa Railway

This trip started from Osaka, with a detour via the Entetsu Railway and Tenryu Hamanako Railways:

Oigawa Railway is a third sector railway running from Kanaya (JR Hokkaido Line) to Senzu, known as the Main Line, and then through to Ikawa on the Ikawa Line. The line as built to transport equipment and materials to build a dam on the Oigawa River. The Ikawa line is partially a rack railway due to the gradients in some places.

My trip involved travelling through to Okuizumi on the Ikawa Line and staying at the Okuooi Ryokan (highly recommended). I returned via the SL the next day and I also totally recommend this. It was the christmas day special and I booked ahead on their website.

I took a lot of photos, you can find the whole album here... but here are a select few:

The highlights were the workmen at the start pushing a rail ladder along, the manual operation of the turntable and the in-car entertainment on the way back!

I'll be returning again...

Minamisenju

This is an area of Tokyo known to be a bit of a ghetto. Here you'll find a lot of down and out souls wandering, drinking and sleeping in the streets. It is a real eye-opener and really brings a different feeling to Tokyo. There are 2 youth hostels here; I stayed at the Aizuya Inn.

Now, the great thing about this place is that JR East has a nice freight station (Sumidagawa Station Container Terminal) that acts as a transfer point for freight up the east-coast line. Upon first arriving to the passenger station (On the Joban Line, 2 stations off the Yamanote Line) you must cross a pedestrian bridge south to get to the hostel. This bridge passes the entrance to the freight yards and the east-bound freight line.

The yard becomes very active at night and quietens during the day. You will find freight trains coming in from both directions, but the best are those heading towards Tokyo, as they will pull past the yard and then reverse in. There are a few DE10 shunters and usual stabled EF81s and smaller electric locomotives. I stayed back one night until it got too cold and saw at least 5 freight trains enter to form at least 2 that then left. Freight seems to be sorted and then longer trains formed. This provides for still shots when the locos are paused to change direction and you have quite a few vantage points along the fence.

Some photos:

Also, the passenger station has the Ltd Exp. Hitachi services shooting through:

Aizuwakamatsu

Following the plan in the previous post, I took a Bullet train from Tokyo to Koriyama and then the Aizu Liner 1 from Koriyama to Aizuwakamatsu. The plan was then to catch the local train to Shiokawa to get a shot of the SL Banetsu, but the connection wasn't made as the Aizu Liner 1 was about 4 minutes late and that meant there wasn't enough time to put luggage away in lockers.

Fortunately this paid off, as the SL was to arrive at 1331 and I was to then catch the return Aizu Liner to Koriyama at 1414. The SL didn't show up until 1404 and that left very little time to get photos.

Since I arrived at Aizuwakamatsu juse after 12pm, I then had an hour to loiter and wait for the SL to arrive. I wandered around the station and found a few locals walking a track through the yards, it seemed harmless enough... this turned out to be an amazing walk through the inner workings of the DMU service area (see the photos below.) The snow made it even more perfect.

I made it to a good spot near a pedestrian underpass and waited for the SL. I was about 20mins walk from the station and knew I had to run as the Aizu Liner wasn't going to wait for me. From where I was I saw the Liner pull out of staging and head into the station and I knew I was running out of time. I went back to the station, put my luggage in the Aizu Liner and then the steamer arrived.... took photos... and then went north.

Here's the shots from the day... it's welll worth staying longer:

Ingredients

• Red SMD LEDs
• Metal tubing, hollow, for the main pole. I used brass from the local hobby store.
• Copper 'winding' wire. Used since it's already insulated.
• Soldering equipment.
• Thin cardboard

The process

Firstly cut a length of the metal pole and then grind a hole in it behind the area where you intend on soldering the LEDs.

You can see I've run the copper wire through to make sure there are no obstructions. Be careful when doing this as you may well remove the insulation where the wire will rub on the metal pole.

Next rotate the pole around and then solder the LEDs into place. Make sure that one LED is reverse polarity!

Also solder a wire to the base of the main pole.

Run the thing copper wire from the tabs on the LEDs into the hole and then out the bottom of the main pole. Do this after all soldering to avoid melting the insulation.

Cut some thin strips of cardboard and glue them as the cross above the lights.

Apply some paint, I was a little sloppy.

Add your favourite flasher circuit. Make sure that it swaps polarity to only have to use two wires.

And that's about it... Signals next.

Link to Banetsu West Line on Wikipedia

The West Banetsu Line (磐越西線 Ban'etsu-saisen) is a rail line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture to Niitsu Station in Niigata Prefecture. The name "Banetsu" refers to the Meiji-era province of Iwaki (磐城) and the ancient province of Echigo (越後), which the East and West Lines together connect. "Sai" means "west" in Japanese.

Main SL Banetsu Web Site

SL Banetsu Monogatari-go is a special express train that runs on a 126-kilometer track from Niigata to Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima. On an approximately 3.5-hour ride, it stops at 10 stations on the way to Aizuwakamatsu and at nine stations on the way back. Passengers can enjoy a one-way trip to either destination or a round trip on weekends and holidays mainly from April to November. This steam locomotive is a C57-180 type train that was in service from 1946 to 1969. By restoring and repairing the train that had been stored at an elementary school in Niitsu City, its routine run on the Banetsu line began in April 1999. The interior of the train and the uniform of the crew are designed in a style unique to the Taisho era which is also the period when the Banetsu line was opened. The track located along the Agano River runs in a beautiful natural setting. The train stops for approximately 10 to 15 minutes between two of the stations, allowing passengers some time to take pictures. While fully enjoying seasonal scenery with features such as fresh green leaves and crimson foliage, you can experience a pleasant ride on an old-fashioned steam locomotive.

Photos

Timetable

Just for anyone wanting to catch this train, here are some pointers to grabbing tickets:

The train runs usually twice each weekend, sometimes only in one direction, see the website and follow these notes:

• The current timetable is here
  • [Green] 新潟～会津若松（往復運転）
    Niigata to Aizuwakamatsu RETURN trip.
  • [Pink] 新潟→会津若松（片道運転）
    Niigata to Aizuwakamatsu one-way ONLY trip.
  • [Yellow] 会津若松→新潟（片道運転）
    Aizuwakamatsu to Niigata one-way ONLY trip.

As for the 'busy' periods:

• Standard weekends are 'boring' for locals, so there's usually no direct hurry to get tickets.
• The XMAS Special is ridiculous and getting tickets is impossible.

My experiences with SL Banetsu

• Saturday 27th June 2009
  • Had Japan-wide railpass, went to Tokyo Midori no Madoguchi office the day before and reserved my seat. (very easy with basic Japanese)
  • Arrived at 9am to Niigata station and heard an announcement: People wanting to travel Aizuwakamatsu should use Platform 1 (SL is Platform 9 or so.)
  • Asked station attendant, showed ticket, and he told me "today SL nai."... no reason was given.
• XMAS Special Saturday 19th December 2009
  • Had Japanese friend in Australia call JR Tokyo office on 16th November 2009 to reserve tickets, no luck, they said you can do it online.
  • Created account with her assistance on JR East ekinet: Could see SL Banetsu on other days but you can only book one month ahead.
  • Came to 19th November 2009 and there was still no visibility of XMAS SL for 19th December 2009.
  • Had friend call Japan again, they said it could not be booked online and over the phone bookings required a "view plaza" credit card.
  • Requested another friend in Japan to get tickets in person at Tokyo station. He couldn't make it for a week and was to get them on the 28th of November.
  • Australian friend called again on 26th November and ALL 3 XMAS special trains are fully booked.

My recommendations

• If you are going for a special service (there's a few in November and the XMAS specials in December) then go to Tokyo Midori no Madoguchi the morning of the day one month before the travel date. You can only book them one month before, and I'm not sure, but I'd wouldn't be surprised if there is a queue.
• Even if you have a ticket in hand, you should probably call Niigata station, or someone else in charge, to be certain that the SL is running on your day of travel.

My plan of attack now

• Saturday 19th December 2009
  • Catch the Shinkansen to Koriyama and then the Banetsu line via Aizuwakamatsu to Shiokawa.
  • Take a photo of that damn SL even if it kills me.

An EF81 (missing one panto and other bits) was still for sale from another seller for $80 and I passed on it again as, although I'm sure it'll run fantastically, I don't want to have to spend the extra money (and time search Poppondetta) for all the missing components.

And then... the find of the day... A, and I quote ”BB サウンドシステム　SLドラフトN” or translated to: "BB Sound System SL Draft N". [Note: SL stands for Steam Locomotive in Japanese, they've coined the acronym.] When I saw it, I could only guess that it made SL sounds... and should be towed behind an SL. I asked the price, was told $10 and I didn't even ask if it worked, as I just wanted to get it and test it instantly.

On the train back to the city (2 hour ride) I read the instructions... hah... read them like a picture book! I could read the Katakana.. and that hinted something at a 'Power pack' and 'SCR timing pulse'. I thought I'd just bought a lemon that required some magic to get the chuffing happening... boy was I wrong!

If anyone wants to look at this image and give me a proper translation of it then go ahead... I'll post it here. Otherwise, when I get the time, I'll attempt to type it in to Google translator and see what it spits out. I really should've studied Kanji further after Uni

Inspecting the Kato WAMU freight car (damn heavy!) I saw that there was a reed switch and a magnet glued to the axel. Primitive technology from Japan... but considering the age of the paper the instructions are on, I'm guessing this whole thing is over 10years old; but i'm yet to actually research it. Anyway, when rotating the axel you could hear the reed-switch clicking... meaning that it would be the 'pulse' required.

Opening it up, very gently, I found a reasonably dated PCB with quite large components.. but everything fitting nicely. There is a standard (what looked like a microphone) speaker mounted downwards and they've also added weights on the inside of the shell.

Finally, tonight, I put some voltage to the unit. I had to turn my Kato Powerpack up to notch '2' to get it hissing... and it sounds good!... I then pushed it along the tracks and the chuffing started... I realised that I could quickly get it to chuff way too fast and sound like a machine gun. After attaching my MicroAce steamer, I realised the main issue; the voltage required to start the sound was so high that the steamer was already flying. At this speed, although it sounded ok, it was still too fast to be enjoyed. When there was no loco on the tracks and the voltage was high, the sounds were great... you could even lock the reed switch open (at the sweet spot) and the chuff would continue forever... as in when an SL releases pressure at the end of a trip.

I then had a closer look at the circuit board to see if I could drop the required voltage to get the sound moving and something dawned on me... The sound worked in both directions... meaning that the circuitry had to work either way the DC voltage was supplied... this meant it had to have a bridge-rectifier in it already... DCC AC Voltage here I come!!!!

Of course, I ran out of time to test it on DCC and I also have no SLs DCC'd up. My MicroAce steamer seems to have a large enough tender... but I love that thing and don't want to hurt it. It also manages to suck power through it's driving wheels and so it'll be a task to convert it.

Videos!

This is the unit running on DCC. I don't have any steamers converted to DCC yet, so I put it in the middle of my 'Aizu Renewal' set. Apart from grotty wheels and tracks, the sound is great.

The new Layout

Firstly, I bought a Shinkansen Layout on eBay from Victoria and, over the space of the last three weeks, have managed to transport, reassemble and finally run it.

I hired a flatbed/cage ute and drove it down to Melbourne without dramas. The return trip was a lot harder... I initially had the choice of two seperate utes until I'd realised one was slightly bigger, of which I then fought for. This became even more crucial as when loading the layout we soon found out that the space available was near-on perfect.

Once on the road, it turned out that the tarpaulins I bought were cheap-as-crap and split/shredded/tore very quickly. I got around 250~350ks out of them (out of the ~800k trip) until they failed and flew everywhere... We then had to stop at random intervals in random locations to either purchase new taps on the way and cover portions, or untie broken straps and tidy everything up.

We then proceeded to hit a storm... but ended up chasing it slowly through to Yass. The road in front was wet; but our load stayed safe.

The layout was dumped at the parents house in pieces and then not gotten back to until a week later. Of course, the night I was to reassemble, I'd forgotten the bag of bolts to connect everything and therefore couldn't do a thing. It wasn't until a week after that when I could finally set it all up (last Wednesday.)

The first run was of my Series 0 Doctor Yellow and my newly acquired Hikari RailStar. It ends out that I could not get either of them to complete a full lap. Sure, the layout had been through an ordeal and the tracks/wheels probably had not been cleaned for a while... but this was Japanese stock and I expected at least a full lap on full speed. Time ran out quickly that night and I went home at least accomplishing a fully reconstructed layout.

Finally today (Saturday, Jan 24th 2009) I was able to have a proper day of running. See the photo album here. I started to thoroughly clean the layout and also removed bits and pieces to see how it was all constructed.

I also bought a step-down transformer (as the Kato powerpacks weren't dual voltage) and ran the track on the provided transformers... it turns out that the shinkansen reacted much better than this doing laps at very low speeds and also achieving very high speeds.

The final goal was to attempt to set up a local line, but I'd forgotten the feeder cables to the unitrack I had and also ran out of time.

Japan Auction Center

So, you want something from Japan, but it's on Yahoo Auctions Japan and most of the sellers (if not all) wont ship internationally nor speak English. This is where Japan Auction Center comes to your rescue. For a nominal fee you can use their website to deposit money (must be done before you can bid) and then utilise the owners Auction ID to bid on Japanese Auctions. It's all done real-time and can be a lot of fun bidding against the Nihonjins.

There's an interesting note of difference between Yahoo Auctions Japan and eBay. The process is very much the same (proxy bidding, etc...) but if you happen to bid in the last 5 minutes of an auction then the auction end time will be extended another 5 minutes. This then means that there can be no sniping and that the buyer who truly wants the item will get it.

Anyway, I bought quite a few items and will be back online shortly to finally get my 300 Series Shinkansen.

The loot:

In conclusion...

I'm one happy camper... a new layout and new trains. I want to get the local lines done very soon and then the buildings/rural area/city planned out. I intend on changing the main city area to a Shin-Osaka style station with yards.. but we'll see what the space can provide.