International Railroad Discussion > Watarase トロッコわっし

The Watarase Railroad runs from Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture to Mato, Tochigi Prefecture. On May 25th they ran a special excursion for Asahi TV to film the tour of the abandoned line from Mato to Motoyama. The program will air June 20, 2018 at 5:30 pm . I was interviewed as being the only foreigner on the excursion! Topic of the program is abandoned railways in Japan.

History from Wikipedia

"The Ashio Railway Co. opened the line to Ashio-Motoyama (2km beyond Mato) in 1911/12 to service the Ashio Copper Mine, and leased the line to JNR in 1913. Passenger services were introduced in 1914, and the line was nationalised in 1918.

The copper mine closed in 1973, the same year the line was deviated for the construction of the Kusaki Dam, including the 5242m Kusaki Tunnel.

In 1989 the Ashio-Motoyama - Mato section was closed and the operation of the balance of the line was transferred to the Watarase Keikoku Railway Co."

1. The Torokko Washi train originated at Kiryu but we boarded at Omama station.
2. The tain made stops in Mizunuma and Godo before entering the long tunnel under Kusaki dam.
3. During the transit of the long tunnel a light show played on the ceiling of the open air sightseeing car.

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4. Emerging from the Kusaki dam tunnel we cross the Watarase River to Souri Station
5. The river gorge above Souri has huge water carved granite boulders. Trains usually stop here to admive the view
6. Crossing the Watarase again before Tsudo Station.

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7. Maruki Shota, one of the Asahi TV producers interviewing a passenger. CORRECTION Maruki is promoted to a Director.
8. Mato Station. End of the operated line and where we began our hike
9. President of the Watarase Railroad tells history of Ashio and the Railroad



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/18 01:02 by Railpax71.

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10. We start our tour of the abandoned railroad by crossing the Watarase again
11. Another short trestle
12. Now a 300 meter tunnel

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13. This will probably stop a train
14. The semaphore looked in working order but the president confided it had been repainted three years ago
15. Entering the last 50 meter tunnel



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/18 23:11 by Railpax71.

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16. End of the line. The last station at Motoyama can be seen.
17. We took a local train to Tsudo where we would reboard our special train which was stored at Ashio while we toured the copper mine museum. The museum uses a rack rail locomotive to pull the cars up to the boarding area. Into the mine the cars are electrically propelled.
18. You are carried into the mine and walk back trhoug exhibitrs of the mine history.

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Looks like another place to add to my bucket list. Nice series of pics.
In pic 11, is that a water flume to the right of the track?

As I recall the flume led to some dry ponds below an old school. The road leading to the school is the overpass in the first tunnel picture.

Next planned excursion is in July. I wouldn't do it as it would be a hot and sticky hike. Most of the railfans were from Tokyo and Saitama. I was a rare breed being from the area and a foreigner.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/18 01:01 by Railpax71.

Railpax71 Wrote:
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> Next planned excursion is in July. I wouldn't do
> it as it would be a hot and sticky hike. Most of
> the railfans were from Tokyo and Saitama. I was a
> rare breed being from the area and a foreigner.

Thanks for the great report. I was watching another Japanese TV program not too long ago (on Fuji TV), and the comedians being filmed were joking, "you need to do a special (for that topic) on TV Asahi!"

Fantastic photos.Thanks for going.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/18 10:42 by CPRR.