International Railroad Discussion > Hudson Pinch Hitter (Japanese Steam)

JR East (East Japan Railway Company) has a Pacific for their "SL Banetsu Story (SLばんえつ物語)" steam excursion, the 4-6-2 C57-180. I'll post more on the C57-180 in a later report, but in the meantime, you can read the thread below, where Ardenwood has posted some action photos of the Pacific:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,1646851,1647425#1647425

Starting in 2013, the C57-180 started to experience mechanical problems. Even with repairs, the problems got worse in 2014 where a diesel locomotive had to substitute for the C57 on numerous occasions. In October of 2014, C57-180 was pulled from service for a major overhaul.

When I visited Japan last May, the fate of C57-180 was with the mechanical department. In the meantime, JR East had to settle with "DL Banetsu Story," with a diesel locomotive pulling train. However, both railfans and no-railfans know why this train is special, that it's supposed to be pulled by a steam locomotive!

Enter C61-20, the recently-restored Hudson in JR East's steam arsenal. I posted a story on the 4-6-4 last year:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3543918

JR East decided to restore the C61-20 in 2011 because the popular D51-498 suffered boiler damage three years prior and was sidelined for 10 months, and JR East did not want to suffer another steam locomotive shortage. In hindsight, that was a great move, because now the C57-180 was ailing and the railroad needed the Hudson's services without pulling the D51-498 from its usual duties out of Takasaki.

I was hoping to catch the C57 in action when I visited last May, but when I looked at the timetable, JR East had renamed the train "C61 Banetsu Story" and assigned the Hudson to pull the train for the entire month of May when it's peak tourist season, especially Golden Week. I was busy chasing JR Freight trains my first weekend in Japan, so I wanted to ride the C61 Banetsu Story the next weekend, but as mentioned in my previous report, I missed the Shinkansen I needed to ride to Niigata by mere ~4 minutes to make that possible. My plan to ride first, find locations from onboard the train, then intercept the train on its return trip was dashed.

- Fukushima Prefecture's symbol, Mount Bandai (磐梯山) viewed from onboard the train, near Aizu-wakamatsu (会津若松).

- Banetsu West Line (磐越西線, pronounced Banetsu-sai-sen) hosts a good variety of DMUs on the scenic line. Here's a Kiha E120 set, which is a relatively new design, going into service in 2008.

- Video to be described next.

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First clip in the video is at Ogino Station. I had just ridden the local from Aizu-wakamatsu and detrained. JR East's most common DMUs, the 110 Series sandwich the newer E120, and the train is departing west toward Niigata. You can see a couple of railfans waiting for the eastbound "C61 Banetsu Story," and they have decided to use the station platform to get the forested mountains in the background.

I walked about 300 yards west to the next crossing, and found the photo line already crowded, so I walked on a few more hundred yards for a Plan B location, which was also crowded, but there was enough room for me to set up without blocking anyone. That's where I got the second clip of the eastbound steam excursion heading to Aizu-wakamatsu.

I took the next DMU east to follow the steam excursion, but only partially. I detrained at Kitakata for a non-railfan mission to eat at the restaurant where Kitakata ramen (noodles, 喜多方ラーメン) originated. After a very satisfying meal, I headed back west onboard the next DMU and went deep into Agano River Canyon (阿賀川). Third clip is at Hideya Station (日出谷) where Kiha 40 + 47 DMU set that I had just ridden is departing west.

Agano River Canyon has a lot of similarities to Feather River Canyon in California, in my opinion.

From Hideya Station, I walked about a mile east to the intercept location, which I picked because it was a good representation of the Agano River Canyon - forested, bridges, and the Agano River. I hadn't studied the map carefully enough to realize that most of that walk was through a highway tunnel (with sidewalks, so perfectly safe), but that was a nice surprise, since I didn't have to go up and down an old twisty road which the tunnel bypassed. This is where I recorded the fourth clip, the C61 pulling the train west through a bridge.

- Photo line at the first crossing west of Ogino.
- Closer look at the same photo line. Tripods, ladders, expensive lenses...
- Birthplace of Kitakata ramen, Genrai-ken (源来軒). They have been in business since 1926, now run by the family's second generation.

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Yikes these guys are serious. Check out the number of tripods and ladders. Much more than you would see in a typical photo line here or  in Europe.

Couple of months after the C61-20 pulled this steam excursion, 4-6-2 C57-180 has returned to duty, in July of this year, so things are now back to normal for the "SL Banetsu Story" train. But before that happened, Japan's railfan community was worried about the Pacific's future. Some were worried that the restoration of C57-180 wouldn't go well, and it'd end up in a museum, never to run again. Fortunately, that probably won't be the case - I went to see it run during my recent visit in October - hope to post a report of that later.

For TO Japan railfans, there is another gossip that I want to pass on. JR West's (West Japan Railway Company) 2-6-0 C56 #160's days are numbered, so go catch it if it's still running on your next visit to Japan (I haven't done so yet). The railroad plans to retire this locomotive due to aging, and replace it with 2-8-2 D51-200, which is undergoing rebuilding to certify it for main line running. That means there will be two different "Degoichi" running main line steam excursions in Japan. D51-200 in the past has been used at the Umekoji Steam Locomotive museum in Kyoto. Currently, the museum is closed for renovation, which will eventually become the Kyoto Railway Museum, scheduled for reopening sometime in Spring of 2016.

- Hideya area tourist map.

- "Spot cab" marker for the SL Banetsu Story train.

- Video capture of the C61 through the turn near Ogino.

That's all for now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/15 06:55 by cchan006.

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Soo many train opportunities in Japan! 

Another item on my "Bucket List"; see Japan. Did you noticed that there is absolutley NO LITTER seen in any of these pictures or videos? Everything is neat and well kept. It makes parts of our country look like a trash heap. 

gandydancer4 Wrote:
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> Another item on my "Bucket List"; see Japan. Did
> you noticed that there is absolutley NO LITTER
> seen in any of these pictures or videos?
> Everything is neat and well kept. It makes parts
> of our country look like a trash heap. 

I was disappointed to see some graffiti in Tokyo. Easy to spot if you are joyriding the Yamanote Line loop.

The neighborhood elderly women are usually up at sunrise with their broom to clean the litter, so give credit to their volunteer efforts. When I was waiting at an unmanned station while chasing the C58-239 last year, a volunteer came up to me with instructions on preventing leaves from blowing into the station shed, and I heeded his advice - do as the Romans do when I'm a guest in someone else's 'hood, right? :-)

However, I try not to mention how clean it is in Japan, since people still DO litter, and there's no need to set expectations or stereotypes. We don't want the handful of TO members to exercise their subliminal patriotism whenever they see a piece of litter while visiting Japan and gloat about how wrong the claim of "cleanliness" is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/15 02:00 by cchan006.