Subscribe via RSS
27Jun/190

Kumamoto – May 2019

Thanks to the Kyushu Shinkansen, it's now really easy to make a stop-over at Kumamoto when on the way further south. The travel times are as good as getting to Tokyo and it's always nice to ride on the Tsubame class! I've also wanted to check out the Kumaden for a long time... and realised there was a Hard-Off nearby, so it was time to visit!

DSC08400

The morning started with a spirited run to Shin-Osaka Station to get the first westbound Shinkansen. Being that I hadn't eaten yet, I utilised the facilities on the platform!

DSC08401 DSC08403 DSC08404

It was then a very non-eventful trip on the Sakura to Kumamoto, the service itself continuing south to Kagoshima.

DSC08408

Kumamoto Station is one of the few where the Shinkansen hasn't caused a 'Shin-' station to be built. Therefore it's a very quick transfer to get down to the local lines below. One goal for this Kyushu trip was to see all three colours of the 200DC diesel series. I was straight away presented with a perfect specimen in red.

DSC08411

DSC08413 DSC08415 DSC08420

I used it to transfer through to Kami-Kumamoto Station, slightly north-east of the main Kumamoto station. Here you will also find the terminus of Kumamoto Electric Railway's Kikuchi Line.

DSC08423

Thanks to the careful consideration given to transferring between trains in Japan, the timetables often line up perfectly and a short stroll gets you to the Kumaden with a train waiting to depart within minutes.

DSC08424

As with most private railways, Kumaden also uses hand-me-downs from other railways. This one just happened to be a Kumaden 200 Series EMU which is really a recycled Nankai 22000 Series. The unit was in good condition for its age. As you'll see later, Kumaden is constantly working on their vehicles, so I'm sure this one gets TLC!

DSC08425

I rode two stops through to Ikeda Station. This is a cute little single-platform station with a perfect view of the first tunnel.

DSC08431

DSC08437 DSC08427DSC08433

From here, it was a hike up the hill to Hard-Off where much junk was bought. They had a great 'Junk Corner' here where I found random old ISA Sound Cards and even a Roland SC-88!

DSC08443

The view of the station as you're coming back down is lovely... especially when it stops raining. I wanted to stay and take a picture with a train in it, but my timetable actually demanded that I ride that same train.

DSC08444

And in short time it came back through the tunnel. This actually happened to be the return service of the one I'd caught to the area.

DSC08449 DSC08458 DSC08462

Patronage was light-on, but consistent. The interiors where of a 'local service' bench-seat style and very clean and tidy! For those people without an electronic ticket, you would take a paper ticket from the dispenser next to the entrance. You then give this to the driver at your destination and he'll calculate your fare. The machine in front of the driver also gives change from notes and 500yen coins.

DSC08463

Trams! - KamiKumamotoEkiMae Station

Sorry, that capitalisation above is all mine... it's in an effort to help you understand what that name means. Kami-Kumamoto is the area, "Eki" means station and "Mae" means in-front-of. Pretty self-explanatory actually! This is the name of the tram stop out the front of the JR KamiKumamoto Station.

DSC08468

DSC08471 DSC08465 DSC08474

That last poster is hilarious... they must really have issues with zombies using their "smart"-phones and getting in the way of railway vehicles. I'm not surprised... I'm still to be found on the footpaths shoulder-barging people who can't be bothered to look up or keep-left.

DSC08467 DSC08470 DSC08469

The station also has an engine-shed associated and there were quite a few trams, of assorted models, either resting or under repair. I ended up riding the one pictured, through to town for lunch.. with a new objective! I wanted to go and see the green frog! But, back to the tram... from the outside, you can get a hunch that it's also a private railway in need of more love. The inside was just as ... romantic.

DSC08475 DSC08476 DSC08477

Beautiful velour seats (Hankyu-esque?), wooden floors and cable ties! The mechanical side was fantastic though; that tram purred it's way down the center of the streets with zero effort.

DSC08479

From here it was back to Kumaden once more. The 'green frog' that I eluded to above is none other than Aogaeru, the famous ex-Nankai Zoom Car that Kumaden (used to) run. I say used-to as I expected it to be running when I was there... I was sorely mistaken to hear that they'd taken it out of service 2 years earlier! Now it's all bloody Kumamon!

DSC08480 DSC08481 DSC08482

DSC08486

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I'd transferred from the Tram back to Kumaden and faced off with Kumamon on the railcar. Instead of running in fear, I negotiated the ticket system and rode through to Kita-Kumamoto (North Kumamoto for those playing at home) and was presented with a beautiful station, something akin to an Oigawa Railway scene!

DSC08495 DSC08494 DSC08496

I spent quite a lot of time at this station... Once Kumamon was out of the picture, the colour-tones of the rail vehicles settled back into a normal palette... all except one, really...

DSC08492

There you are! Aogaeru! Wait... The 'Aoi' part of 'Aogaeru' means 'Blue'... it's green. But that's a-whole-other fight to be had with the Japanese language. And what? There's only half the train there. Turns out the other half is in Shibuya, Tokyo! I've even seen it there and didn't think that it was half of this set! Anyway... there was much more to see around the yard.

DSC08497DSC08502 DSC08503

There was a miriad of different company railway cars under all phases of restoration. That's a Tokyo Metro EMU right there, in pieces. It was even being driven back and forth single-car style! I would have thought that it'd have some kind of fail-safe tech to stop it working without further cars attached, but they obviously managed to override those sensors?

DSC08506 DSC08507 DSC08508

DSC08509 DSC08510 DSC08512

Oh ... Kumamon really does pop-up everywhere... Of course, it's the #1 advertising element of Kumamoto City, so I suppose I can forgive them.

DSC08519

DSC08525 DSC08523 DSC08524

Numerous services came and went before I took the Kikuchi Line back to Kami-Kumamoto. It was an easier transfer to the Shinkansen at Kumamoto station and I wanted to check out the full length of the line.

DSC08504

Not that it's a long line... or branch. From the map above, Kita-Kumamoto is at the junction down below where the branch joins. This poor 200 series was destined, all day?, to run back and forth between 5 stops.

DSC08516

I was then off to South Kagoshima... but I'll save that for another post!

Filed under: JPN Leave a comment
Comments (0) Trackbacks (1)

No comments yet.


Leave a comment


*