International Railroad Discussion > Omiya in 1971

The recent excellent post on Omiya by TOér dwatry "made" me go down to Level 27 of the Steinzeit Slide Vault and dig out the slides I took there in 1971, when I was able to spend part of a late morning and another afternoon there on two weekdays in late July;  both days were somewhat hazy, and there was even rain/drizzle on one, but they were still enjoyable.

So much has changed:  The Shinkansen expansion did away with all of the long distance and much of the medium distance passenger traffic;  that and the abolition of mixed freight meant that the track layouts could be reduced.  Other effects were the rebuilding of the station and the disappearance of the car shops on the west side.  So rather than a chronological post I'll start with some general views of the layout:

1)  From the platform end a view looking north, with a southbound [ towards Tokyo ] mixed freight behind double headed electrics
2)  From the road bridge, a 481 set southbound from Sendai;  note the two sets of flyovers
3)  A rear view of a westbound 181 set on a Toki working with a Tobu emu in the background

To be continued....

SZ

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4)  Looking south towards the station from the road bridge, a sb 181 set has paused with a 454 rake at right
5)  The bridge also afforded this view of a transfer table at the car shop
6)  The south end was less easy to photograph;  this is the rear of a 581 set Ueno bound

To be continued.....

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I spent most of my time at the end of the long platform at the north end:
7)  The rear of a 80/81 class dmu Limited Express;  this was the only 'full cab' version I photographed.  This was the diesel equivalent of the 151 Kodama styling, and less successful.
8)  A solid rake of class 74 motor parcels vans
9)  EF15 154 and a sb autorack train

More coming.....

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Such interesting looking passenger trains!

Your last photo of the freight train almost looks North American after seeing the rest.

Thanks for posting.

Wow very cool to see! Wish I had seen those EMUs and locos!

Posted from iPhone

'Ordinary' locomotive hauled passenger trains -- that is, not the best overnight trains with their sleepers -- were already becoming a rarity in the Tokyo area, but the services north from Ueno did seem to offer the best choices, and Omiya was a good place to photograph them, especially the rolling stock.  Here's an outbound train behind EF57 9 ( 10 ) with a typical coach and the newest [ and last ? ] loco hauled RPO ( 11 - 12 ).
[ Edit to add:  The Class 10 RPO dates from 1957;  there was a later Class 12 from 1958, but that may have been for storage mail only, as it has less windows and wider double side doors.]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/25 06:46 by Steinzeit2.

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A Ueno bound passenger train the next morning;  trains like this usually had a good compliment of mail and/or express cars:
( 13-14 )  Two views of EF56 10
( 15 )  Baggage 60 2435.   The 2xxx prefix indicates electric heating.

More coming....

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Easily the most interesting passenger train I saw was this southbound consist of older passenger cars, all [ I think ] 80 class, in a uniform livery of blue with a white stripe.  The power was EF62 23.  I thought it might be some sort of tour special, but deadheading, as it spent some time at the platform and had very few on board.  Assistance required !

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( 19 )  Here's a better look at EF 62 23.  These passenger service Co-Co's were / are my fav JNR electric locomotive.  I think they may have been the only JNR electric or diesel class with this wheel arrangement.
( 20 - 21 ) Two photos of interior vehicles in a 581 set.  These trainsets operated in long distance services, in this case to/from Aomori;  overnight they ran as couchette trains, then at the end terminals the berths were stowed [ like a classic open Pullman ] and they were used as a day train to the same location.  They were AC-DC of course.  Illustrated are restaurant trailer  581-28 and interior motor 582-24.

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( 22 - 23 )  The adjoining JNR shops on the west side of the station also added to the variety;  there were these two work motors for example.  I photographed others on the road and at depots.
( 24 )  I wasn't able to get a very good shot of this 0-4-0 side rod works shunter due to the light available;  it carries the number 27-2.

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This is a fascinating set of pictures - thanks for posting!

Steinzeit2 Wrote:
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> The power was EF62 23.  I thought it might be some sort of
> tour special, but deadheading, as it spent some time at the
>  platform and had very few on board. Assistance required !

EF62 was designed specifically to run on the Shin-Etsu Line, the route that has the famous ~6.7% grade Usui Pass.

Usui Pass, when first opened was a rack railway (Abt system), but JNR (Japan National Railway) wanted to modernize and run the route adhesion-only. EF63 was the helper to a EF62-pulled train on the Usui Pass segment. This practice started in 1962-1963

Don't know exactly what the EF62-23 train you caught was, but I found an image of a regularly scheduled EF62-pulled train similar to what you caught:

https://blog-imgs-111.fc2.com/o/z/a/ozayo1965/blog_import_5d37d1e6be6e2.jpeg

Quick research says Class 489 Limited Express EMU (Bonnet-nosed like the 481/181 sets you posted above) started service on the Shin-Etsu Line in 1971, and was replacing the EF62-pulled trains in the schedules. That might explain the low passenger count? 489 also required EF63 helper assistance on Usui Pass.

If I find more info, I'll try to follow up... but we haven't heard from Hiroshi-san yet.

Thanks for posting historic gems from Omiya! Especially loved seeing the photo of Class 80/81DMU. 

Yes, the EF62's were built for just that line, which is why at the time they were seen in the Tokyo area only from Ueno.  The Co-Co wheel arrangement was dictated by weight reduction, not for the Pass itself [ as is obvious from the EF63 helpers ] but from the axle loading of some infrastructure beyond. 

Your photo shows a set of the much newer Class 12 coaches,  the 'last' large series of coaches built for long distance day services, and even then only to be used at peak summer times, tour extras, etc.;  they usually [ always ? ] ran in solid rakes.  Note that they are air conditioned;  see attached photo.

At the time of my visit I think just DC only emu's [ 18x ] were used over the Pass, since it was DC all the way to Niigata / Nagano.  They used the EF63 helpers I believe.

Glad you enjoyed these !

Best, SZ

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Very interesting look back!

Larry

Steinzeit2 Wrote:
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> At the time of my visit I think just DC only emu's
> [ 18x ] were used over the Pass, since it was DC
> all the way to Niigata / Nagano.  They used the
> EF63 helpers I believe.
>
> Glad you enjoyed these !

Yup! Now, I have to examine videos I've collected over the years (8 years worth) to see if I can motivate you to post more historic gems!

Further research says 18x EMUs were tried starting in 1968, as well as Class 165/169 EMUs, which were assigned to slower "express" (as opposed to limited express) service. I do remember seeing articles discussing Class 169s in regular service from Usui Pass history related articles in the past.

Yes, I used the 169 service en route to Nagano so I could stop off en route.  Here's a shot going up the Pass with a pair of the EF63's up front;  the lead 'unit could MU -- well, control -- the 169 consist.

SZ

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