International Railroad Discussion > Chasing the Luxurious "Train Suite Shikishima" (Japan)

For more info on the newest "Cruise Train" in Japan, see the thread below:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4120101

As advertised, revenue service began this month, and the first journey occurred on May 1, 2017.

I just made a quick visit to Japan, and on my last day, today (yesterday Japan time), I found out the Train Suite Shikishima was going to embark on a 4 day, 3 night trip around northern Japan. While the official JR East web site posts the schedules for the actual stops, I had to interpolate the time it would arrive on intercept locations in between. Fortunately, I found a blog last minute which did have "intercept schedules" based on eyewitness accounts from previous trips. I was off by only about 1-3 minutes, so there was no need to cancel the Shinkansen and Narita Express reservations I made in advance.

First video clip is at Uguisudani Station, which is one north of Ueno. This is proof that you can have too many trains, as a northbound train blocked my shot of the Shikishima deadheading to Ueno.

JR East staff blocked access for me to get a clean shot of the Shikishima at Ueno, so I decided to hop onboard the adjacent Takasaki Line train to get a video of the entire train, second clip. Other JR East staff have congregated at the front of the train for the send off.

I had 2-3 options for the next intercept location, and I chose the southern end of Akabane Station, where I was guaranteed a clean shot of the train without other trains blocking, third clip.

I hopped on the next train to Omiya, then hopped on the Tohoku Shinkansen to Utsunomiya, and got ahead of Shikishima by about 20 minutes. The train is coming into Utsunomiya under catenary power here in the fourth clip.

In order to go to Nikko, the train has to change direction at Utsunomiya. Not only that, Shikishima's E001 set switches to diesel-electric power, obvious here in the fifth clip, from the noise and the smoke. The Nikko Line is electrified so the reason is unclear as to why Shikishima switched to diesel power, but I suspect the train might be using a non-electrified "luxury siding" at Nikko.

- Shikishima in the background at Ueno. The train in the foreground is a Takasaki Line train, which I hopped on to Akabane to get my shot there.

- A Shikishima passenger being escorted between the special lounge and the train at Ueno. The boarding area is cordoned off from spectators and non-passengers, so even with a zoom lens, a clean shot of the train is difficult at Ueno.

- Video as described.

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There's a maintenance yard north of Ueno beside the Oku Station on the Tohoku (Utsunomiya) Line. I noticed some guys in hardhats congregating, so I got some snapshots of them, suspecting a Shikishima-related event.

After the chase was over, I hopped on a Tokyo-bound Tohoku Shinkansen for the ~1 hour ride, then on a Narita Express to the airport for my flight home to the U.S. While too many trains might be bad for tori-tetsu (photog/video) foamers, they are great for nori-tetsu (riding) foamers, where I can reliably arrive at a destination with margins of few minutes, not hours.

- Maintenance workers at Oku.

- Just as my train was departing Oku, I noticed one of the guys unveiling a sign, so I hit the shutter ("Have a Good Journey" with a Shikishima logo).

- Train Suite Shikishima at Utsunomiya, about to head to Nikko. FYI, Nikko is a National Park.

That's it for the quick report.

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off the hook! thanks for all the info! Talk about ground breaking.

Not bad for $12,000 per person.

Fun photos. They take their trains seriously in Japan. Well done.

Fantastic - that's a striking looking beast and qute spectacular inside from the images I've seen.

Not the window size or placement I'd expect for a luxury cruise train. It looks like the operator's compartment at each end is spacious and has great views, with no passenger access due to the power units. Maybe the many small windows are just to make observers curious/envious. "Oooh, what goes on in there?"

mile250 Wrote:
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> It looks like the operator's compartment at each end is spacious and
> has great views, with no passenger access due to the power units.

Actually, passengers can access the observation room ("View Terrace") behind the operator's compartment for the great views. While I couldn't hop onboard to document that myself, there are plenty of information available to verify that.

The town of Nikko is actually a world heritage site with its Edo period shrine served by two railroads--Tobu and JR East. The Nikko national park is a bus ride away and Tobu is building a cruise boat for Lake Chuzenji in addition to their frequent bus tours.

Sounds like a very successful trip in Japan. The ultimate country to chase trains via trains. What a crazy looking train.

Does Japan still have any freight trains?

SCUfoamer Wrote:
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> Sounds like a very successful trip in Japan. The
> ultimate country to chase trains via trains. What
> a crazy looking train.

Crazy-looking indeed! This is what happens when the chief designer (Ken Okuyama) goes international, designs Chevys, Porsches, and Ferraris, and returns to Japan and decides his passion is with trains. He is capable of creating more traditional Japanese designs, for example, the passenger car interior for the steam excursion "SL Ginga" which he created in Taisho Era (1912-1926) style:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,3763097,3763163#3763163

While chasing a train using the Shinkansen is a luxury affordable to "foreigners" with JR Rail Pass, I've been able to chase trains without the Shinkansen on my recent trips, using knowledge (crew change locations, scheduled stops when a train has to change main lines, passenger train priority scheduling, etc.). Hope to post reports of those chases in coming weeks.

daylightdon Wrote:
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> Does Japan still have any freight trains?

Absolutely, and plenty of them. Bakersfielddave has posted some reports recently, and you can probably find them using TO's search function.

I got countless video clips and images to sort through before I can post my reports, and there should be plenty of them, time permitting.

daylightdon Wrote:
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> Does Japan still have any freight trains?

DaylightDon -

Oh heck yeah... a lot of freight trains; but mostly short to medium length drags. The longer ones seem to be tank car trains.

2472Don
Manoa Valley, O'ahu

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For more info on the newest "Cruise Train" in
> Japan, see the thread below:
>
> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,
> 4120101
>
> As advertised, revenue service began this month,
> and the first journey occurred on May 1, 2017.
>
> I just made a quick visit to Japan, and on my last
> day, today (yesterday Japan time), I found out the
> Train Suite Shikishima was going to embark on a 4
> day, 3 night trip around northern Japan. While the
> official JR East web site posts the schedules for
> the actual stops, I had to interpolate the time it
> would arrive on intercept locations in between.
> Fortunately, I found a blog last minute which did
> have "intercept schedules" based on eyewitness
> accounts from previous trips. I was off by only
> about 1-3 minutes, so there was no need to cancel
> the Shinkansen and Narita Express reservations I
> made in advance.
>
> First video clip is at Uguisudani Station, which
> is one north of Ueno. This is proof that you can
> have too many trains, as a northbound train
> blocked my shot of the Shikishima deadheading to
> Ueno.
>
> JR East staff blocked access for me to get a clean
> shot of the Shikishima at Ueno, so I decided to
> hop onboard the adjacent Takasaki Line train to
> get a video of the entire train, second clip.
> Other JR East staff have congregated at the front
> of the train for the send off.
>
> I had 2-3 options for the next intercept location,
> and I chose the southern end of Akabane Station,
> where I was guaranteed a clean shot of the train
> without other trains blocking, third clip.
>
> I hopped on the next train to Omiya, then hopped
> on the Tohoku Shinkansen to Utsunomiya, and got
> ahead of Shikishima by about 20 minutes. The
> train is coming into Utsunomiya under catenary
> power here in the fourth clip.
>
> In order to go to Nikko, the train has to change
> direction at Utsunomiya. Not only that,
> Shikishima's E001 set switches to diesel-electric
> power, obvious here in the fifth clip, from the
> noise and the smoke. The Nikko Line is electrified
> so the reason is unclear as to why Shikishima
> switched to diesel power, but I suspect the train
> might be using a non-electrified "luxury siding"
> at Nikko.
>
> - Shikishima in the background at Ueno. The train
> in the foreground is a Takasaki Line train, which
> I hopped on to Akabane to get my shot there.
>
> - A Shikishima passenger being escorted between
> the special lounge and the train at Ueno. The
> boarding area is cordoned off from spectators and
> non-passengers, so even with a zoom lens, a clean
> shot of the train is difficult at Ueno.
>
> - Video as described.

Charles -

Thank you for this report of the new "Shikishima noh Densha"... and the video is outstanding. But I always expect that from you as you are a fastidious "Tori-tetsu".

Don
Manoa Valley, O'ahu