International Railroad Discussion > 15 minute Railfanning in Tokyo

Tokyo is usually my "home base" whenever I visit Japan, but with a JR Rail Pass in hand, it feels like a waste staying around. Many of my Japan threads have been far away from Tokyo (Kyushu, Hiroshima, Hokkaido) because of that.

I got some video clips of trains in Tokyo when I visited last October, which I'll post in this thread. I visited two locations on two separate days while on my way to go somewhere else, and stayed no longer than 15 minutes each, since I had a train to catch.

On my way to visit the SCMaglev and Railway Park in Nagoya Thursday morning, I de-trained in Shinjuku to see if I can record some action on JR East's quadruple double tracks (8 main lines) south of the station. (JR = Japan Railways)

Shinjuku is the busiest station in Tokyo (and the world) with more than 3.6 million passengers per day.

The clip opens with a northbound Shonan-Shinjuku Line suburban commuter train (teal and light brown stripes) arriving, which meets a southbound Saikyo Line train (teal stripes) just departing. Both trains run on the Saikyo Line double track main.

On the farthest mains, you might be able to spot Yamanote Line trains running both directions.

Moments after that, an eastbound Chuo Line Rapid train (orange stripes) meets a westbound Sobu Line train (yellow stripes). Chuo Line and Sobu Line are running on separate pair of mains. The Sobu Line is running at a higher elevation to flyover the pair of Yamanote Line mains, so transfers can be made between westbound Sobu Line and northbound (outside loop, or "soto-mawari") Yamanote Line on the same platform. There's more to explain, but maybe in a separate thread another time. Yes, Japanese take their railroad infrastructure VERY seriously.

An eastbound Sobu Line departs Shinjuku after the westbound disappears into the station, then a westbound Chuo Line Rapid rushes into Shinjuku. Can you spot the westbound Odakyu Line train (non-JR) running in the background? That should cover the first clip, about 1:53 long.

- Image #1: Chuo Line 4 track main west of Shinjuku (between Kichijoji and Nishi-Ogikubo). I couldn't wait for a shot with all 4 mains occupied, so I settled with 3. The blue-striped train to the left is an eastbound Tokyo Metro Tozai Line train.

- Image #2: I'm about to board the eastbound Chuo Line, the nearest train to the right. Limited Express Azusa is running yellows on a less than 2 minute headway behind it - ATC (Automatic Train Control) at work. This is 2 minute headway territory in the middle of the rush hour.

- Video clips described above and below. Next post will describe the next two clips.

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I walked a few paces south and changed my angle for the next two clips in the video, so I could take a better look at the Yamanote Line trains, the farthest mains from where I was standing. The station visible to the left is Yoyogi, which is served by both Sobu and Yamanote Line trains. Chuo Line Rapid trains and Saikyo Line trains don't stop there.

The second clip starts with a southbound Saikyo Line train racing a southbound (inner loop, "uchi-mawari") Yamanote Line train in the distance. Westbound Sobu Line train is seen stopping at Yoyogi, then an eastbound Chuo Line Rapid joins the race.

As the westbound Sobu Line train departs, it meets an eastbound arriving into Yoyogi, which ends the second clip.

Third clip starts with the deadheading View Yamanashi train racing an uchi-mawari Yamanote and eastbound Chuo Rapid trains. I rode the View Yamanashi train to visit the Maglev Test Tracks back in March of 2014. It is deadheading to JR East's Oi facility via the Saikyo Line tracks, for maintenance and/or storage.

After a few seconds of calm, a westbound Chuo Line Rapid shows up, then the Sobu Line trains meet at Yoyogi while a soto-mawari Yamonote Line train departs and the northbound Saikyo Line train shows up moments after that. The westbound Sobu Line train meets the uchi-mawari Yamanote Line arriving into Yoyogi (~2 minutes behind the previous one).

The clip ends with an eastbound Chuo Line Rapid train rushing out of Shinjuku, about 2 1/2 minutes behind the previous one which was seen at the beginning of this clip.

- Image #3: Limited Express Azusa is right behind the eastbound Chuo Line Rapid train I rode to Shinjuku. Due to medical emergency a train or two ahead of mine, the trains bunched up, protected from collision by ATC and a responsible engineer at the controls. Westbound Chuo Line Rapid is to the left, and a MOW vehicle parked in the middle. This is at Ogikubo Station.

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On Sunday, the day I was flying back to the States via Narita Airport, I killed time by participating in Tokyo Railroad Festival "Stamp Rally" hosted by JR East, to celebrate Japan's Railroad Day which falls on October 14. The goal of the Stamp Rally is to visit a minimum of 5 out of 16 stations between October 11 and 13, stamp the designated pamphlet at each of the station visited, then go to Tokyo Station to collect a small prize. The stamps are located outside the stations, which require exiting, so the best way to participate is to buy a day pass instead of buying a ticket for each leg of the journey. That was not an issue for me, since my JR Rail Pass was still valid, so I placed my luggage inside a coin-operated locker at Tokyo Station and got started.

In the middle of the Stamp Rally, I found a foaming location I liked at Tamachi Station, so I spent about 15 minutes there to record video. This location is also quadruple double track (8 track main) but one pair is for the Tokaido Shinkansen, running at non-HSR speeds.

From nearest, the first pair is for the Shinkansen, and the next pair is for the Tokaido Line. These trains don't stop at Tamachi.

The next pair is for Keihin-Tohoku and Yamanote Line trains running in the same direction, which is southbound, and the last pair is for the same two lines running northbound. Keihin Tohoku Line trains have blue stripes, and Yamanote Line trains have the light green stripes, and they make stops at Tamachi in this video. I'm facing north.

You might be able to spot the Tokyo Monorail trains running in the distance to the right of the frame.

- Image #4: Tank engine C11 #292 displayed at the historic Shinbashi Station. This is where Japan's first railroad line started toward Yokohama. Shot from the station platform.

- Image #5: I had to exit the station for the stamp rally, so what the heck, I got another angle of the C11 #292 display.

- Video taken at Tamachi Station, which is two stations south from Shinbashi.

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- Image #6: To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Shinkansen, JR Tokai (a.k.a. JR Central) was promoting three special bentos, one each for Tokyo, Nagota, and Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto) areas.

- Image #7: I went instead for something more interesting and expensive, a unagi bento (freshwater eel) with a user-activated heating pad, so I can eat it warm. That's a "Doctor Yellow" water + water bottle to the right, based on the 700 Series MOW Shinkansen.

- Image #8: Pull the pin (string) and activate the heating pad... It's a bento grenade!

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- Hot unagi bento, yum! Doing the stamp rally made me hungry, and I needed the calories.

- Heating pad inside the bento box, underneath the food.

- Stamp Rally prize to the left (a kid's notebook with Tokyo Station and Shinkansen E5/E6/E7 graphics), and the pamphlet I used for the rally. There are 6 stamps, and 1 additional stamp on the back page, so I went 2 over the minimum. The stations I visited were Tokyo, Yurakucho, Shinbashi, Tamachi, Kanda, Ochanomizu, and Akihabara. One station I really wanted to visit was Showajima, where Tokyo Monorail had an open house at their maintenance facility. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to hop on the Narita Express to the airport. Had I flown out of Haneda, I could have visited on my way to the airport, oh well.

That's all folks.

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Charlie, is the stamp rally a yearly event or a one time?  There was one going on in Gunma which featured the Tobu, Jomo, Watarase, and some JRE--but I returned from a trip with only one day remaining.

Railpax71 Wrote:
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> Charlie, is the stamp rally a yearly event or a
> one time?  There was one going on in Gunma which
> featured the Tobu, Jomo, Watarase, and some
> JRE--but I returned from a trip with only one day
> remaining.

There are various stamp rallies going on all the time. I usually find out about them from the billboards at train stations, and sometimes onboard trains. I believe JR East's Hachiko Line had a stamp rally going on around the same time between Takasaki and Hachioji Stations. That one had better prizes, but I was too busy chasing and riding trains all over Japan instead.

Usually, JR East hosts a stamp rally to publicize a historic event, so technically this was a one time event celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Shinkansen and the 100th Anniversary of the Tokyo Station (and Railroad Day). However, I'm sure they'll come up with something else, to encourage parents to pay for day passes to help JR East's operating bottom line.

In your first video there are so many trains moving at the same time that you'd think it was a model railroad.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/15 19:30 by atsf121.