International Railroad Discussion > Suggestions for 8 hours at Narita (Tokyo airport)

I might be in a situation with an 8+ hour layover 9am to 5 PM at Narita. Any suggestions for a short train ride to a good spot to take photos for a few hours I know the airport express goes to the main station in Tokyo, but is there something part way that has overpasses or stations that provide some wayside photos of mainline action with a variety of equipment? Any help appreciated.

If you plan to railfan JR (Japan Railways, in this case, JR East), then picking a station along the Sobu Line corridor between Chiba and Tsudanuma might yield good results. 4 track main, locals, rapids, and limited express trains. Handful of freights travel on the Sobu Line, too - might be too infrequent to nab one during your layover.

For the locals, they are yellow-striped. Majority of them are Type E231 EMUs, but there might be a good number of the older E209 EMUs also.

For the rapids, they use E217 EMUs. Blue and beige stripes.

Good variety of limited express trains run on this corridor, starting with the Narita Express (E259 EMUs). Type 255 ("Boso View Express", one of my favorites) can also be seen, as well as the newer E257 EMUs. If you want to focus on the 255 and E257, I'd make the short hop from Chiba to Soga (going away from Tokyo) where the Sobu and Keiyo Lines merge. This is because Sobu Line Limited Express trains can use either the Sobu Line or the Keiyo Line (runs closer to Tokyo Bay) from Tokyo to Soga.

If you travel a few stations closer to Tokyo from Tsudanuma to Nishi-Funabshi, you can catch the Tokyo Metro Tozai Subway Line EMUs. A handful of them uses the Sobu Line local tracks for the one seat ride run through to/from Tsudanuma. If you are a Tokyo Metro foamer, you can spend the entire time at or near Nishi-Funabashi and "collect" the variety of EMUs that they use, Type 05, 07, and 15000 as well as blue-striped E231 (sister to the Sobu Line local EMU) and Toyo Rapid Railway's Type 2000 EMU.

As for elevated locations, I haven't specifically railfanned the Sobu Line yet, so you might have to rely on Google Maps/Street View to find them. Quick look just now says most roads go underneath, but I found one between Inage and Shin-Kemigawa, where you should be able to shoot above the fence from the sides of the ROW, but not directly above. You can go "cold turkey" and joyride between Chiba and Tsudanuma and probably find a road, or a pedestrian/bike path from onboard the train, which is what I usually do.

Chiba Monorail also runs in the area.

You can also railfan the Keisei Line, since Toei Asakusa Subway Line as well as Keikyu Line do run throughs. To get the best variety, you'll have to head to Takasago/Aoto but that gets you pretty close to Tokyo already.