International Railroad Discussion > Japan Trip Part 1 - Omiya

We recently spent 5 weeks in Japan (mid Dec 2024-late Jan 2025), and it was a great trip.  This was my second time in Japan (2002 was the first), and I managed to grab quite a few days for railfanning, in addition to riding trains as our main way of getting around (of course!).  Over the next few weeks I'll post a series of short segments on various aspects of the railroads we saw and rode.

We started out with a week in Tokyo, and one of the best railfanning spots I encountered was Omiya Station, on the northside of Tokyo in Saitama Prefecture.  I knew that there was a lot of freight train activity there, in addition to the usual constant parade of EMU passenger trains.  There is a separate part of the station for Shinkansens, and there is also a museum to the north of the station, but I'm not much of a museum-goer.   My goal was to see a lot of freight trains, and I did manage to see 13 freight trains in 3 hours (1030am-130pm).   I found the north end of platforms 6/7 was the best photo vantage for southbound freight trains, and I was often joined by large groups of Japanese teenage railfans who would show up right before each freight train, so they must have some kind of app or website access like realtimetrains.com in the UK with upcoming train predictions. 

1)  Southbound JRF intermodal with one of the ubiquitous EH500 locos on the point.  The EH-series locos are 2-unit sets.
2)  Southbound Shonan-Shinjuku line train with a JR East E231 set. 
3)  JR East E257-2000 set on an Odoriko working, which is a reserved seat limited express from Omiya to Izukyu-Shimoda south of Tokyo.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/25 21:10 by dwatry.

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4)  Another JRF EH500 on an intermodal.
5)  Southbound Utsonomiya line train with E233 EMUs.
6)  Saphir Odoriko working with a Class E261 EMU set. 
 

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7)  Southbound intermodal with a JRF EH200 locomotive on the point.
8)  Moving to the south end of the station, here's a northbound intermodal with a JRF EH500 locomotive.  The viaduct in the background is the Shinkansen line.
9)  Another northbound - this one a tank train with a JRF EF210 on the point.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/25 21:12 by dwatry.

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10)  Sign at end of platform with list of rules for railfans.
11)  One more southbound intermodal rolling through with an EH500 set.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/25 21:20 by dwatry.

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I'm looking forward to the rest of this show.  Gerry

Oh, excellent.

Very productive session. Quite a while ago since I was in Japan but you've done well for freight. Chris uk.

Very interesting series!

Larry

dwatry Wrote:
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> I was often joined by large groups of Japanese teenage
> railfans who would show up right before each
> freight train, so they must have some kind of app
> or website access like realtimetrains.com in the
> UK with upcoming train predictions.

Most JR Freight trains run on precise schedules, so the railfans know when to show up. Apps, websites, and social media help, but they are not necessary, because I've shown up when they have using "only" paper schedules like the JR Freight Timetable.

Most teenage railfans go for time slots where they can catch a parade of trains (free time before cramming for exams). Next time you visit, keep an eye for older railfans with big, expensive lenses - stick around, because there's a likelihood of a high value target coming soon (MOW train, historic train set, trains facing retirement, "koshu" or brand new train sets being towed).

I'll stop talking. Anyway, love your report, and looking forward to the next installments!
 

This is a great post -- even made me dig out my slides from Omiya, some of which I will have to digitize and post.  Things certainly have changed in some respects, and not in others.

I was hoping that "someone" [ cough, hint, nudge...] would provide a good translation of the 'railfan sign'.  I'm surprised it would be needed.

Best regards, SZ

Steinzeit2 Wrote:
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> I was hoping that "someone" [ cough, hint,
> nudge...] would provide a good translation of the
> 'railfan sign'.  I'm surprised it would be
> needed.

Omiya platforms can become dangerously crowded, especially when non-railfans waiting for trains mingle with railfans seeking photo angles when high value targets are about to show up. I nabbed the now-retired EF66-27 locomotive at Omiya few years ago, and experienced this firsthand.

Station staff who show up for crowd control will point to the sign to remind "errant" railfans of their misbehavior, and it works, because he will be joined by rules-abiding railfans and the "errant" one(s) will get called out.

Social media has made railfanning in Japan a kind of a flash mob these days, so that's why you'll see more of these signs now. Occasionally, misbehavior will make the news, especially trespassing too close to the tracks in rural areas, but for the most part, Japanese railfans are well-behaved.

Translation (with my amateurish knowledge of Japanese):

When You Photograph within the Station Complex (please):

(You'll be warned if station staff considers your activity a hazard, or if you interfere with passengers)

Especially refrain from doing the following:

- Stepping past the yellow blocks (yellow line) on the platform.
- Photo-taking during congestion (i.e. commute).
- Use of tripods or similar (monopods, for example).
- Standing on a camera case (or prop to get height).
- Use of loudspeaker, or anything generating loud noise.
- Use of flash, or anything using bright lights.
- Selfie sticks too close to the train.
- Microphone attached to a pole (for sound foamers).

Most of these rules are self-explanatory, but the microphone-on-a-pole practice might be foreign to some. Japan's sound railfans (Oto-tetsu or 音鉄) want to get the microphone as close to the ceiling mounted speakers as possible so they can isolate other sounds when they edit the recording. I've run across quite few in my travels, and most use telecoping poles and extend them "last minute" so they can sneak up to the speakers without people noticing.

What are they recording? Hatsumelo or music played when train is about to depart, or arrive. Some of them will record general announcements, too.

As for why be specific about self-sticks close to a train? Electrocution from 25K AC catenary, which can elecrocute people and destroy electronics without making contact. If use of selfie-sticks are not hazardous or interfere with passengers, station staff is usually a bit forgiving, especially to non-railfan tourists.

dwatry Wrote:
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> 1)  Southbound JRF intermodal with one of the
> ubiquitous EH500 locos on the point.  The
> EH-series locos are 2-unit sets.

Nitpick, but EH series (200 and 500) are articulated "2 unit" sets. Technically, they are classified as 1 unit.

E stands for Electric, and H is for the "unit's" axle count. B = 2 axles, C = 3. D = 4, and so on. F = 6, and H = 8 axles, so EF210 is 6 axles, electric. The unusual one is DE10, which is Diesel 5 axles.

I don't know if you posted your photos chronologically, but JR Freight #3086, the one that goes through Shinjuku in daytime, runs through Omiya at 11:27 am, so if it wasn't annulled or delayed, one of the EH500-pulled intermodal you caught could be it. If you are curious, you can check the time stamp of your photo.

EH200-pulled freight should be #2088, arriving at Omiya at 11:50 am, and departing at 12:02 pm. Don't know where it waits for a signal to let passenger trains by, maybe Track #5? But there are sidings south of Omiya Station where that can be done. Northbounds often hold within the Omiya Station complex, on a siding track (#10) between Track #9 and #11. I should have an interesting story on #2088, when I post a report later.

Northbound tank train pulled by EF210 could be #3093, arriving at Omiya at 11:51 am, and departing at 12:03 pm. If correct, it might have been running late, as it'd be difficult to catch #2088 and #3093 together if you had to walk the length of the platfrom, north to south,

According to my paper schedule of passenger trains, you did good catching E257 and E261 at Omiya, as only seasonal extras depart from Omiya. Odoriko and all First Class (Green Car) Saphir Odoriko usually depart from Tokyo or Shinjuku.

Just showcasing what knowledge can be obtained with real precision scheduled railroading.
 

cchan006 - in answer to your question - the photos are not in strict chrono order.   I often tend to put the better shots up front for max TO impact!  Also I shot a lot more freights than I posted, but the parade of EH500s on intermodals gets a bit boring to repeat after 10 or 12 of them.    I did not have a freight timetable, so did not know the various train numbers.  Would be useful to have next time!

Question about the EH500s - if these locos are two bodies and have 4 trucks (2 trucks under each carbody), I think they are not articulated, right?  For an articulated loco or car, there has to be a single truck shared by the two carbodies, such as with Muni's articulated LRVs, or SP's articulated Daylight coaches, which have 2 carbodies and 3 trucks.   I would call these a two-unit semi-permanently-coupled set.  I'm guessing there's a drawbar between the two carbodies - do you know?

dwatry Wrote:
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> cchan006 - in answer to your question - the photos
> are not in strict chrono order.   I often tend
> to put the better shots up front for max TO
> impact!  Also I shot a lot more freights than I
> posted, but the parade of EH500s on intermodals
> gets a bit boring to repeat after 10 or 12 of
> them.    I did not have a freight timetable, so
> did not know the various train numbers.  Would be
> useful to have next time!

The freight timetable is most useful for planning an intercept, to predict where the target might go next. And its next usefulness is researching information after you got the train, "I wonder what train that was?" like I did in my reply. We get TO members in Western Discussion asking in public for train symbols, but that's not necessary with the timetable.

Japanese railfans do try to post "heads up" on social media. They often use the train # for reference. Sometimes I find that info early enough that I do what's too expensive for them - use the JR Rail Pass + timetable for a high speed Shinkansen intercept.

JR Freight's web site will post delays of their trains, usually updated semi-hourly. Most railfans will give up when they see delays because most of them squeeze in railfanning in middle of other plans. I ran into a JR Freight employee wanting to intercept the EF66-27 right at the Tokyo Freight Terminal, but he had to abandon it to go back to work, because the train ended up about 1.5 hours late (weather delay).

Anyway, shot #4 is unlikely the #3086, because that train is not known to carry the green gondola-containers. 

> I would call these a two-unit semi-permanently-coupled set.
> I'm guessing there's a drawbar between the two carbodies -
> do you know?

Yeah, that's a better description of the EH series. Quick research says "bolted" instead of coupled, so it implies a drawbar connection. That's what it looks like from the sideview images I found.

Thanks for the translation and explanations on the sign.  I would never have guessed that Social Media Disease had spread that far.....
I first learned about Sound fans in a short article in one of the railfan magazines;  they were recording the sounds of the paddle fans [ ceiling fans in US-speak ] of older MU cars.  That article together with the level and range of photographic coverage convinced me that Japan did have the world's 'best' railfans.

The concept of a close-coupled pair of four axle units for freight haulage goes back to the early fifties with the EH10 class;  a good approach when tractive effort is as important as horsepower.
[ I first posted this photo 12 years ago;  just search EH10.]

Best regards, SZ



 

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Steinzeit2 - Would love to have seen an EH10!

dwatry Wrote:
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> Steinzeit2 - Would love to have seen an EH10!

EH10 pulled the ancestor to today's "Super Rail Cargo," the Takara-Go, Japan's first regularly scheduled limited express freight train, between Tokyo (Shiodome Freight Terminal), and Osaka (Umeda Freight Terminal). As with you, I would have loved to see them in action, too, but that was before my time - all of them were retired by the early 1980s.

EH10 #61 is the only remaining example, in a park in Osaka, presumably non-operable.