International Railroad Discussion > Tobu Ikaho line

Tobu operated a streetcar from Shibukawa to Ikaho, Gunma, Japan until 1956. One of the original cars is preserved at Ikaho. We visited it today on the way to the Ikaho Ropeway.

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The line shown in red is the original route of the Tobu Ikaho line. Blue is a currently operating cable car to Uenoyama. Orange is a former funicular railroad to the top of Harunayama.

The terminus station refers to Ishidan--the 365 stone steps from the bottom of Ikaho to the top.

The current Ikaho cable car

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Fascinating report! Thanks for doing some railroad archaeology in your neck of the woods. It's nice that one of the trolley cars was preserved.

Tobu Ikaho Line was one of three streetcar lines connecting Takasaki/Shibukawa/Maebashi areas. I won't elaborate here, but they were abandoned because the lines were no longer profitable, and Ikaho Line was the last one abandoned. To make a connection with the ropeway/gondola line, the Ikaho Line had a series of switchbacks to climb the grade.

Not all streetcar abandonment in Japan had sad endings like what happened to most cities in the U.S. In bigger cities, streetcars were replaced by subway lines so rail traffic and auto/bus traffic wouldn't conflict, so passenger rail never went away. Many of the trolley cars which no longer had places to run migrated to cities like Hiroshima, and found new homes where they continue to run today - see Hiroshi in Hiroshima thread for a proof of that.

Does anyone have a link to a map of abandoned railroads in Japan? I haven't found evidence of the other two street railways that Charlie mentions. The switchbacks on the Ikeho line are worth looking for evidence.

Notice the Tobu logo is the pre-2011 version. Interior of the car is also restored. I first saw this trolley driving down from Haruna last summer but did not notice that the park also had two nice parking spaces so you could get off Route 33 and enjoy the display!

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