International Railroad Discussion > Japan...a Prarie on a branch line

on the Motegi line  from Shimodate to Motegi with  the Mooka railway in 2012

the 25 miles long  line is just over 100 years old  it was taken over from the main JR system in the late 1980s

this train serves local communities as well as tourists and railfans
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/17 16:13 by bakersfielddave.

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refer back to this previous post i made

the musical turntable at the terminal

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3954849,3954849#msg-3954849

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bakersfielddave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> on the Motegi line  from Shimodate to
> Motegi with  the Mooka railway in 2012
>
> the 25 miles long  line is just over 100 years
> old  it was taken over from the main JR system in
> the late 1980s
>
> this train serves local communities as well as
> tourists and railfans

There was a pre-WW2 railroad network plan to somehow connect the line to the east (JR Suigun Line's Hitachi-Omiya Station in Ibaraki Prefecture) but the plan was never completed. One of the first examples of "Third Sector" Railroad in Japan, as this line was spun off in 1988, about a year after the privatization of JNR (government-run Japan National Railway) into the JR Group of railroads.

Did a joyride (in a DMU) almost two decades ago, when Honda's Twin Ring Motegi (oval and road race courses) hosted CART/IndyCar races and was about to host a NASCAR exhibition race. That must have been back in 1998 (based on a research I just did now). I was unable to coincide my visit to Japan with any of the races, but the race course is NOT a walking distance from the Motegi Station. There is a proposal to extend the Mooka Railway to Twin Ring Motegi, but it hasn't happened.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/17 01:36 by cchan006.