International Railroad Discussion > 90 seconds at Yurakucho Station (Tokyo) - unedited, but cool!

My family and I just returned from a wonderful two weeks in Japan.  There were so many sights to see, but one of the biggest highlights of the trip was seeing so many trains without even having to overtly "go railfanning".  The trains were simply just EVERYWHERE we went.
 Of course, some casual ralfanning did occur once I learned that for many of the JR lines, it was great to just board the first car and get a birds eye view from the platform or cab most every time.  

Here is a unedited video of 90 seconds at Yurakucho Station in the Akihabara District of Tokyo. Be sure to watch it all the way to the end and count the number of trains in just 90 seconds!

More later if you guys are interested..

Cheers,
Harry K. Wong

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That was very interesting Harry. I would love to see more of your recordings.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

I second that, more.
 

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

That's really neat. Thanks for sharing. What was the drop center car in the middle of the last "green" consist? Looked like standing room only through the windows.

Amazing, thank you

Posted from Android

That's insane.

We were wondering ourselves, but those are double-decked “green” first-class commuter cars with upgraded reclinable long-distance seating and curved window glass reminiscent of a dome car or Amtrak Superliner lounge car. We rode one for a short segment, and they were nice and super quiet!

Cheers,
Harry

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/19 21:45 by tracktime.

The Japan rail transit system is second to none, easy, cheap and convenient. We spent 10 days in Tokyo and Nagoya two years ago and will be going back this fall. The [color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]Shinkansen Green class is wonderful. If you like lots of action Japan is the place to go. And the food is really great. [/color]

6 trains in 90 seconds.  Now, that is busy !

acltrainman Wrote:
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> I second that, more.
>  

I third that !!!

Great stuff Harry.More please.
Regards,DK

tracktime-san:

Welcome to Tokyo!

The first one: Yamanote loop line train, Class 235, the brand new class of JR East.  A 11-car consist EMU train.  Soon it will be introduced to Yokosuka-sobu line too;
The second and third one, JR Tokai's class 700 Shinkansen;
The fourth one is Keihin Tohoku Class 233, A 10-car consist EMU.
The fifth one behind the Yamanote line train is another Keihin Tohoku line Class 233.
The sixth one is the tail end of Class 700 Shinkasen.
The last one is doing RUN 8.  It is a 15-car consist Tokaido line train.  It is class 231.

Hope this helps

tracktime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My family and I just returned from a wonderful two
> weeks in Japan.  There were so many sights to
> see, but one of the biggest highlights of the trip
> was seeing so many trains without even having to
> overtly "go railfanning".  The trains were simply
> just EVERYWHERE we went.
>  Of course, some casual ralfanning did occur once
> I learned that for many of the JR lines, it was
> great to just board the first car and get a birds
> eye view from the platform or cab most every time.
>  
>
> Here is a unedited video of 90 seconds at
> Yurakucho Station in the Akihabara District of
> Tokyo. Be sure to watch it all the way to the end
> and count the number of trains in just 90
> seconds!
>
> More later if you guys are interested..
>
> Cheers,
> Harry K. Wong

Thank you so much for bringing back some wonderful memories. I made several business trips to Japan in the '70s, '80s and early '90s, and on at least one of those I stood in that same spot on the Yurakucho station platform and watched trains for about a half-hour; I did not want to keep my host there any longer, because the poor man was probably bored out of his skull! Anyway, please keep 'em coming! And Hiroshi-san, thank you so much for identifying the different lines' color coding and train series; I rememberd that the green identified the Yamanote loop, but was struggling a bit with the others.

Roger Lewis (airbrakegeezer)

tracktime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> More later if you guys are interested..
>
> Cheers,
> Harry K. Wong

Thanks for posting the video and the report, and yup, I'm interested in seeing more. Some of us might recognize a unique train or event in the videos you'll post next.

Thanks everyone!  I'll post some more when I get some time next week.  This week is a bear! =/

The hobby shops in Japan were insane over there too, to say nothing of the incredible railway museums in Japan.

Cheers,
Harry

tracktime Wrote:
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> The hobby shops in Japan were insane over there
> too, to say nothing of the incredible railway
> museums in Japan.
>
> Cheers,
> Harry

As in the U.S., there has been a decline (a more gradual one) in the number of hobby shops in Japan. Two that I used to visit in Akihabara closed last year, but it seems their inventories were taken over by larger ones nearby. However, model railroading won't go away, and you saw that firsthand where trains are everywhere.  Railroading, both 1:1: and models will continue to be relevant in Japan.

Wow!  I'm leaving for Tokyo on Sunday.  Can't wait!  I'll be staying in Shnjuku.

Jim Maurer

schaffner Wrote:
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> Wow!  I'm leaving for Tokyo on Sunday.  Can't
> wait!  I'll be staying in Shnjuku.
>
> Jim Maurer

Shinjuku has the world's busiest train station!  You'll have a blast!  I'm sure Hiroshi and cchan and others that are more familiar can fill you in on the best spots!
Be sure to check out Yodobashi Camera Akiba (Akihabara district) for the biggest hobby department I've ever seen.  Yodobashi also has a smaller train section in a separate building at their complex at Shinjuku.

Cheers,
Harry

My family went to Tokyo a couple of years ago and stayed at the Royal Park Hotel right between the Shimbashi and Shiodome stations, a few minutes’ walk from either. Very cool. Japan is a fascinating country and trains are all over. Great way to get around. We took the Sinkansen green car to Kyoto and what a great trip. We are going next spring. Helps my wife worked for Intel for three years in Japan. If you ever have an opportunity to go to Japan, go you will not regret it. Thanks Harry, fond memories.Video is from my hotel room window of Shimbashi station. 
 

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