International Railroad Discussion > Japan, railfan's paradise.

As I get spare time I'll post a bit of my video and photos from my trip to Japan with bakersfielddave.

First up, two extremes of JR East.  C57 class pacific C57 180 heads west at Shiokawa with the return run of the SL Banetsu Monogatari on 10 Sept, then just over an hour later an E5 Shinkansen hurtles through Koriyama towards Tokyo with an Hayabusa service from Hokkaido.  The steamer makes the 156 mile round trip between Niigata abd Aizu-Wakamatsu every Saturday and Sunday during summer with less frequent trips during winter.
 

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

yes Wes

 was worth the walk to get to  this location

some pictures from our journey



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/16 18:13 by bakersfielddave.

---

---

---

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/16 18:27 by bakersfielddave.

---

---

..

---

---

...

---

---

---

The train left Niigata at 0930 stopping at a number of locations on the Ban etsu west line arriving at Aizu at 1335

servicing there then returning a few hours later back north to Niigata

---

---

westfalen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> First up, two extremes of JR East.  C57 class
> pacific C57 180 heads west at Shiokawa with the
> return run of the SL Banetsu Monogatari on 10
> Sept, then just over an hour later an E5
> Shinkansen hurtles through Koriyama towards Tokyo
> with an Hayabusa service from Hokkaido.  The
> steamer makes the 156 mile round trip between
> Niigata abd Aizu-Wakamatsu every Saturday and
> Sunday during summer with less frequent trips
> during winter.

C57 180 and the Banestsu Monogatari train make the longest roundtrip journey for a regularly-scheduled steam excursion in Japan. Unlike other steam locomotives that were restored by JR East, C57 180 was a community effort, where the residents of former City of Niitsu along with others (tourists, railfans) bought "orange cards" (JR train tickets the size of a credit card with photos or artwork) and raised half of 200 million yen (~$2 million using recent exchange rate as a guide) needed for the restoration. I believe the other half was covered by JR East. The restoration started in 1998.

Before the restoration, the Pacific was stored on elementary school grounds in Niitsu, and taken care of by students and teachers.

Times have changed. Orange cards (which in my opinion are collectible, especially by railfans) ceased to be sold in 2013, and City of Niitsu got annexed by Niigata in 2005. However, Japan will always be a railfan's paradise. It was, when I started to use the JR Rail Pass almost two decades ago, and it will be when I'll be visiting many years from now after freeing myself from wage slavery.