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International Railroad Discussion > Fukui's Street Running EMUs (Japan)Date: 06/21/15 08:30 Fukui's Street Running EMUs (Japan) Author: cchan006 After finishing the Hokuriku Shinkansen joyride at Kanazawa, we boarded JR West's non-HSR limited express Thunderbird and visited the city of Fukui (福井市) next.
FYI, Fullerton, CA is a sister city to Fukui. Right next to the JR station to the east was Echizen Railway (えちぜん鉄道) which operates typical EMUs. It looked interesting, but the ROW was fenced, and I couldn't get a good look without buying a ticket to go on the platform, or go on a joyride. Before I committed to that, I looked at a nearby city map, and spotted something even more interesting to the west side of the JR station, what looked like a streetcar line. That was the Fukui Station access spur of the Fukui Railway (福井鉄道), which has a nickname of Fuku-tetsu (福鉄). While majority of Fuku-tetsu's fleet are light rail type vehicles, I got lucky and witnessed the "heavy rail" EMUs running during my short stay at Fukui. First clip captures the 610 Type EMU street running on the Fukui Station access spur. 610 Type EMU and its sister single car 600 Type EMU originally served in the Nagoya area, operated by the Nagayoa Transportation Bureau who operates subway lines. They are converted subway cars, original design dating back to 1965. They migrated to Fukui in 1997-1998. I walked a few yards and waited for the 610 EMU where the spur joins the double track main line, and got the 610 EMU meeting the 200 Type EMU, which is heading into the spur. That's the second clip. 200 Type EMU was originally manufactured in 1960 for Fukui Railway. It is rather unique for a Japanese EMU, as it is an articulated set, two cars, three trucks. Note the small "Fuku-tetsu" drumhead on the nose of the EMU. I capture it leaving Fukui along the spur in the third clip. In the fourth clip, I catch a 770 Series "lighter rail" set doing the street running. There's a reason why I pan my camcorder to the left at a famous American institution at the end of the clip. I was hungry, looking for a quick lunch, but couldn't find any Japanese curry fast food joint nearby, so I settled for a Big Mac meal, NOT super-sized. :-) - 200 Type EMU done with the short street running. - Schedule for 735 Type tram, from Stuttgart, Germany. Nicknamed "Retram," it's a railfan attraction. - Video as described. Looks like I'll have to make another trip to Fukui (along with Toyama) in the future. That's all for another quick report. You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today! Date: 06/22/15 17:05 Re: Fukui's Street Running EMUs (Japan) Author: Steinzeit The Fukui Rwy and especially the articulated sets were certainly on my "must see" list. The articulated cars seemed so out-of-place on that line -- almost as if they were a cancelled export order for, say, Turkey -- with almost all other rolling stock prewar, most of it second hand. 141-1 and -2, and 142-1 and -2, photos (2) and (3), were typical; they were rebuilt from Nagoya Electric and Nagano Rwy prewar cars, one from each in each set.
More..... Date: 06/22/15 17:33 Re: Fukui's Street Running EMUs (Japan) Author: Steinzeit cchan006 Wrote:
> Right next to the JR station to the east was > Echizen Railway (えちぜん鉄道) which > operates typical EMUs. It looked interesting, but > the ROW was fenced, and I couldn't get a good look > without buying a ticket to go on the platform, or > go on a joyride............ > > Looks like I'll have to make another trip to Fukui > (along with Toyama) in the future. That's all for > another quick report. I knew the Eichizen as the Keifuku, which at one time also was the operator of, inter alia, the Kyoto streetcar system, although the main line to the east has always [ ? ] been the Eichizen line. Their depot is on the east side of the JR tracks coming from the north, although it looks like [ from the overheads ] a lot of construction for the Shinkansen extension may make access difficult now. But yes, another trip is warranted, if only for the Toyama interurbans as well, plus what remains between the two. I'll post some Keifuku photos later; a while back I posted photos of both lines, now gone, from Komatsu; I have some from Kanazawa and Kaetsuno. And if you had told me in 1972 that there would be a McDonald's in Fukui and Komatsu, I would have had a good laugh....... Two more views of the Fukuitetsu: This is 21, a motor-control trailer pair. The 141 and 142 pairs in my previous post are, somewhat unusually I think, both motor cars. At one time it was a non-wholly owned subsidiary of the Nagoya Rwy, which might partially explain its recent purchases ...... With best rgds, SZ Date: 06/22/15 20:57 Re: Fukui's Street Running EMUs (Japan) Author: cchan006 Steinzeit Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Two more views of the Fukuitetsu: This is 21, a > motor-control trailer pair. The 141 and 142 > pairs in my previous post are, somewhat unusually > I think, both motor cars. At one time it was a > non-wholly owned subsidiary of the Nagoya Rwy, > which might partially explain its recent purchases > ...... > > With best rgds, SZ Lately, Japanese have been fascinated with anything from the Showa Era (昭和時代, 1926-1989, but especially the 1960s and 1970s). It might have had something to do with last year's 50th Anniversary celebration of the Shinkansen, which got people thinking back to that era. Many of your photos posted so far are so Showa, especially the automobiles. |