International Railroad Discussion > Mizushima Seaside Railway (Kurashiki, Japan)

They are also known as Mizushima Rinkai Railway (水島臨海鉄道), a port railroad moving freight to/from ports. Japan has a number of these types of railroads (10 listed in the JR Freight Timetable, there are more) and I posted a video of Akita Rinkai Railway in 2014.

Mizushima Rinkai Railway also operate passenger diesel cars which other port railroads don't. That allowed me to "chase train by train" on this report.

Before making the 2 mile hike to catch the "500 Type EVA" Shinkansen near Kurashiki, I woke up at dawn to catch Train #3091, which shuttles containers from JR Freight's Okayama Freight Terminal to Higashi Mizushima Terminal. I suspect none of the containers go on ships, but instead get trucked to industries nearby. There are numerous chemical plants near Higashi Mizushima which explains the tanktainers on this train.

First clip is at JR Kurashiki Station, where #3091 is still running on JR tracks. I hurried over to hop on a Mizushima Railway's diesel car to get ahead of #3091, detrained at Nishi Tomii Station, then recorded the departures of the Class MRT300 DMUs there, second clip.

In the third clip, I show the entire Train #3091 at Nishi Tomii.

In the fourth and final clip, I get passed by JR Freight #1058, running east from Fukuoka to Utsunomiya. I'm onboard the Mizushima Railway diesel car returning to Kurashiki, while #1058 is running on JR West 2 track main. You can see the crossover #3091 took from JR to Mizushima Railway tracks at 3:45.

MRT300 is unique to Mizushima Railway, not purchased secondhand from JNR/JR Group, which Mizushima Railway also have a few. The blue one I rode is nicknamed "Himawari-go (sunflower)" as it has sunflowers painted on the sides.

DE701 (Class DE70) diesel locomotive is basically JR/JNR's Class DE11 locomotive. It is similar to the DE10, but without a steam generator, as it was designed for non-passenger service. Unfortunately, DE701 might have suffered damages from overheating in June of 2021 according to railfan gossip, and has not been seen operating since.

That's it for the report.

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Interesting operation. The rail diesel cars sure have a unique sound.

Are the freights frequent?

Thanks for sharin.

King_Coal Wrote:
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> Are the freights frequent?
>
> Thanks for sharin.

You're welcome.

The timetable has 4 roundtrips listed, but 1 roundtrip to Kurashiki Freight Terminal (the other destination from Higashi Mizushima Terminal) is scheduled as extra. Not frequent for Japan, but all the outbound trips out of Okayama Freight Terminals are in daylight, so the freights are not difficult to catch.

Here is the fright train time table as of March 2022.

Kurashiki 06:37 --> Higashi-Mizushima 07:10 DE701
Kurashiki 11:36 --> Higshi-Mixzushima 121:10 JRF DE10
Kurashiki 12:33 --> Kurashiki Terminal 13:07 Extra
Kurashiki 15:44 --> Higashi-Mizushima 16:15  JRF DE10

Kurashiki Terminal 09:59 --> Kurashiki 10:31 Extra
Higashi-Mizushima 13:01 --> Kurashiki 13:36 JRF DE10
Higashi-Mizushima 18:29 --> Kurashiki 19:03 JRF DE10
Higashi-Mizushima 19:45 --> Kurashiki 20:19 DE701

Kurashiki Terminal 10:40 --> Mizushima 10:45
Mizushima 10:52 --> Higashi Mizushima DD50 COFC train

Mizushima's DE701 is a clone version of JRF DE10

Mizushima also operates RDC passenger service between Mitsubishi-Jikomae (Mitsubishi Automobile Assemble Plant) and Kurachi-shi (JR connection) using MRT 300 and ex-JR equipment such as Kiha 30, Kiha37, and Kiha 38.

Hope this helps.

Hiroshi