International Railroad Discussion > Freight Train Chase in Japan

Currently, I'm in Japan for a railfan trip. I'll try to simplify the report, for example, NOT use "nobori" (inbound) or "kudari" (outbound) to explain the direction a train travels, since that itself can cover at least a full thread. I'll simply use north/south/east/west for now. Feel free to ask questions, so others (like Hiroshi) can chime in.

On Sunday 3/16, the second day of my trip, I decided to visit Japan's Railway Museum in Omiya, which is located about 30 km north of Tokyo. I used the trip to scout the triple double track main (quadruple, if you count the Shinkansen) between Ueno and Omiya, to see how JR freight trains travel along the corridor. I rode in front of a northbound Keihin-Tohoku local train for a good frontal view.

At Akabane Station, I saw some railfans with expensive lenses, waiting for a train to show up. I decided to get off at the next station, Kawaguchi, and reversed direction on a southbound train (and ride the rear) to see what that was about. I got lucky and got a good look at the southbound Limited Express Sleeper "Hokutosei" which travels between Sapporo, Hokkaido and Ueno (Tokyo). THAT was what the railfans were waiting for!

First and second clips in the video show the Hokutosei chasing my train, then going through Akabane.

- Maintenance of Way equipment at Nakano Station while on my way to Omiya.
- Light engine move (EF65 electric locomotive) I just missed at Kawaguchi.
- Video, total of 13 clips, which will be described in the following posts:

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After stumbling onto the Hokutoseui, I chose Higashi-Jujo as the location to check out the trains running the Ueno-Omiya triple double main. It is located between Akabane and Tabata (Tabata is where northbound freights get a hold signal before merging onto the main). Third clip in the video shows how busy this place can be, where triple meets are routine. I saw another group of railfans here, seemingly much more patient than the ones I saw at Akabane...

They were waiting for freight trains also, as one after another showed up between the passenger trains while I was there. Fourth clip shows what appears to be Train #4094, a short southbound, and fifth clip shows what appears to be Train #2071, a northbound.

The train I really wanted to see, Sapporo to Nagoya Train #3086 showed up next, sixth clip. After that, the railfans at Higashi-Jujo wrapped up their gears and left, and I decided to continue my plan to visit the Railway Museum...

- Railfans ("Passenger foamers") at Akabane.
- Railfans ("Freight foamers") at Higashi-Jujo.
- Chasing a freight train with a train (story next post).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/14 21:19 by cchan006.

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At Akabane, I detrained the local Keihin-Tohoku Line train and waited to hop on the quicker Tohoku Line suburban commuter train toward Omiya. While waiting, another northbound freight train showed up, most likely #3055 to Sapporo. That's the seventh clip.

I hopped right on the Tohoku Line train that showed up seconds later, and the chase was on! I almost caught up to the #3055 at Omiya, but the freight highballed Omiya with a green signal and did not stop. Eighth clip shows the train I was on, and the rear of #3055...

Crap!

I decided to ditch the Railway Museum for another day. It was now time for revenge railfanning.

I bought a JR Rail Pass for this trip, and I decided to invoke its Superpowers to summon the ultimate chase vehicle. I rushed toward the Shinkansen platform to hop on the next available train, Yamabiko #51...

- Rear of JR Freight #3055 as I approach Omiya.
- #3055, Highball Omiya! (and I got skunked)
- Ultimate Chase Vehicle, Shinkansen Series E5 arriving in Omiya as Yamabiko #51.

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I had purchased the more expensive "Green" version of the JR Rail Pass, which entitles me to ride inside the higher class "Green Car" which is equivalent to Business or First Class, depending on how you look at it. Reservation is required. I was in enough of a rush that I did not want to risk waiting in line for a reservation, so I hopped onboard Yamabiko #51's unreserved seats.

However, I DID have time to grab a Kara-age bento (Japanese fried chicken), which I can highly recommend. When I returned to the same station platform bento store later (for another chase), it was sold out.

I went near the vestibules to view both sides of the train through the exit door windows, to show what it's like to ride a Shinkansen at speed. While the E5 Series is capable of 320 km/h, I believe it was travelling between 240-275 km/h when I recorded the ninth and tenth clips. There's a meet on the ninth clip. Tenth clip shows Yamabiko #51 passing Oyama Station.

- 2x3 seating in an unreserved car, the "cheap seats."
- Kara-age bento and mineral water in a Shinkansen bottle. Try THIS while driving!
- Shinkansen Series E6, which is the "prototype" of the water bottle. :-)

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JR Freight #3055 had a 15 minute head start out of Omiya, but I guesstimated (while eating bento) that I should be able to make up enough time to catch it at Utsunomiya, the Shinkansen's next stop.

Unfortunately, #3055 showed up sooner than I expected so I was out of position to go for a cleaner "across the platform" shot. I improvised and ran next to the signals at the south end of the platform to compose that in my video while #3055 rumbled by, eleventh clip.

I was determined to remedy that screw up, so I hopped on the next available northbound Shinkansen, Yamabiko #53 to continue my revenge railfanning. #3055 had only a ~5 minute head start this time, so I had plenty of time to plan my intercept once I arrived at Koriyama, the next stop.

- Tank cars and Schnabel cars? Spotted from onboard Yamabiko #51.
- Tank cars parked at Koriyama.
- Closer look at the tank cars.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/14 22:16 by cchan006.

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Things turned out much better at Koriyama. Before #3055 showed up, I got a nice surprise, southbound freight #3050, a Sapporo to Sumidagawa (NE Tokyo) freight train, twelfth clip. Not too long after that, #3055 showed up, thirteenth clip, and I believe I got "highball the foamer" from the engineer, who should have been seated on what would be on the left side, or the "fireman's side" on an American locomotive.

I've observed so far that most Japanese freight trains are container trains, with a few tank trains (crude oil), and fewer cement trains. Don't think there are many manifest trains, if at all.

That's all for now. I'll be posting more reports from Japan as time allows.

- Yard switcher at Koriyama. Might be the HD300, which is a Hybrid of some sort.
- EH500 parked at Koriyama, same type that pulled Trains #3086 and #3055.
- EH500 is nicknamed Kintaro, a child of superhuman strength from Japanese folklore.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/14 22:32 by cchan006.

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awesome pics and vid. thanks for the effort to bring this to us........

66

Great pictures. Thank you for sharing.

The trucks on those tank cars look very interesting. Do you happen to have information and close-ups on them?

ReginaX55 Wrote:
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> Great pictures. Thank you for sharing.
>
> The trucks on those tank cars look very
> interesting. Do you happen to have information and
> close-ups on them?

You're welcome! No additional information known by me, but I did take a close up:

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Are all their freight trains held to being only 20 cars long?

Orient Wrote:
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> Are all their freight trains held to being only 20
> cars long?

Seems that way.

I did some research, and the longest known freight train in Japan has 26 cars of containers, similar to the cars you saw in my video. Speculation is that trains can't be much longer, due to passing siding length, as these trains run on a tight schedule and mingle with passenger trains. This is based on railfan info. I'm hoping to find official information somewhere.

Back when 2 axle boxcars were common in Japan, trains of up to 60 cars were seen in that era, which would be at least two decades ago.

There are some "foamable" freight trains to catch in Japan: the high speed 80 mph "Super Rail Cargo" between Tokyo and Osaka that runs mostly at night which uses the unique Series M250, electric locomotive that also carries freight; and the "Toyota Long Pass Express" which is a "unit" container train of all blue Toyota labeled boxes carrying parts.

Guess I got more chasing to do next time I visit Japan.

i was there in the seventies and rode the rail , i came upon a station that looked like thomas the tank any body have a picture