The Japanese Railway Society

Feature Heritage Railways

Richard Tremaine

My many professional visits to Japan politics—another parallel with the UK! special fascination and a wonderful ‘green’ between 1977 and 1989 were due to my Over the following weeks the myriad of value today so it seems strange that Japan employment in the opto-electronics railway lines around Tokyo, with their continues to cut back on its 22 remaining industry. I have since maintained my contrasting route colour schemes slowly systems while Britain is spending many Japanese interests through the Japanese turned from total confusion into some basic millions of pounds sterling building new Railway Society (JRS) and by railway understanding. It occurred to me that the tramways as a solution to the traffic jams inspired tourist visits, meeting up with colour-coded London Underground route caused by too many cars and trucks. While many old and new friends. map may have been the origin of Tokyo’s living in Japan, I also found an opportunity On my first visit to Japan, I arrived at colour-coded mapping system. to develop my sons’ model railway interests Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) on Unfortunately, unlike Japan, our over the Christmas period—Japanese N- 3 May 1977, during Japan’s ‘Golden Underground stock has never been painted gauge models were excellent quality and Week’ holidays. I was met by my new according to its route colour, so it is still competitively priced (due to a strong Japanese colleagues with whom I had confusing London’s international visitors sterling at that time). been working in Cambridge for several and natives too. Thankfully, I also found The Japan ‘91 Festival held throughout weeks prior to my journey to Japan. We most station names to be displayed in both the UK in 1991 saw the founding of the travelled by taxi to the impressive New Japanese and English. JRS. Knowing that a friend and member Otani Hotel in central Tokyo. I was keen Subsequent second and third working visits of the festival’s organizing committee had to do some sightseeing before my first to Japan took me to Osaka and Takasaki, common enthusiasm for Japanese railway official meeting the following morning. where I was to observe the construction of modelling, we exhibited a large Japanese However, it appeared that rain-all-day the Joetsu Shinkansen through the city model railway for 10 days at the London national holidays were a part of Japanese centre. Further visits gave me the Transport Museum sponsored by the Keio life much to like in the UK. Little opportunity to see more steam operations Electric Railway (which had recently sightseeing was possible, apart from the at the impressive Umekoji Steam established a London office). Leaflets journey to the hotel. Having been a rail Locomotive Museum near Kyoto and the proposing the formation of an enthusiast enthusiast all my life, the first glimpse of excellent rural electric Oigawa Railway, society were given to visitors and the the Tokyo Monorail near Haneda with its almost daily steam-hauled tourist response was sufficient to start a small immediately grabbed my interest but it trains. More recent visits have taken me group that has since grown to over 200 was another 10 days before I made any past the line’s steam terminus at Senzu to international members. We produce physical contact with Japanese railways. the standard gauge (3'6") upper sections, Bullet-In, a quarterly magazine with Next day, I took a taxi to our customer which seem like narrow gauge due to the articles about all railways in Japan, near Fussa City, where I stayed for some reduced clearance gauge. A 1990s including trams, narrow gauge, steam, 5 weeks. The nearby Yokota USAF base diversion caused by submersion of part of diesel and electric, monorail, shinkansen, was a somewhat less Japanese the route as a result of a new dam, offers a maglev, railway modelling and railway environment than I had expected, but I very dramatic 2-km deviation on a modern tourism. We have also taken 250 railway discovered that the exciting night-life was overhead electric Abt rack-and-pinion enthusiasts on trips to the many fairly typical of everywhere in Japan! section before returning to the ‘narrow- fascinating railway sites in Japan. Our By my second weekend, my Japanese gauge image’ at the Oigawa end of the line. Japanese members maintain a website at colleagues had got to know me quite well Like most of rural Japan, the mountainous www.japaneserailwaysociety.org. and decided that since I was interested in landscape presents both beautiful scenery A celebration of the 125 years since the steam railways, my first railway experience and major engineering challenges. British involvement in the financing, should be to the nearby Ome Railway Park. In 1982–83, I finally had the opportunity design, construction and inauguration of The Park had (and still has) a good to live with my family in the Shibuya district the first railway in Japan was arranged collection of early, mainly steam, British of Tokyo and I got to know many of Tokyo’s for October 1997. A group of 21 British and more recent Japanese locos, displayed railway routes better than in my London enthusiasts was entertained at the on an open hilltop but the location causes hometown. I discovered Tokyo’s sole Transportation Museum in Tokyo by some many visitors to ask, Why here? Sited 1 surviving Arakawa Tramway (known locally 50 staff and other railway historians and km from Ome Station on the Ome branch as a chinchin densha due to the bell’s ‘ching professionals. A large number of British line of the Chuo Line on top of a steep hill, ching’). I can just remember London’s last railway enjineers were employed in the answer is lost in the fog of local trams in the early 1950s. Trams have a building the early Japanese railway

38 Japan Railway & Transport Review 30 • March 2002 Copyright © 2002 EJRCF. All rights reserved. system; Edmond Morel (1841–71), engineer-in-chief for the first Shimbashi– Sakuragicho (Yokohama) line died just before its opening in 1872 and is buried in Yokohama Foreigners’ Cemetery along with his Japanese wife of only a few months. In planning our 1997 celebrations, we discovered that Richard Francis (1845–1913) and Francis Henry Trevithick (1850–1931)—grandsons of Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) who built the world’s first steam engine running on iron rails—had played major roles in Locomotives at a depot near Shizuoka with Mt Fuji for a background (2002) (H. Naito) Japanese railways during the first 20 years. Both men had married Japanese Tokyo day trips include regular steam undersea tunnel and on to Kumamoto women and the family line was reported operations on the third-sector Mooka (not yet connected to the shinkansen) the to have survived, under a Japanese Line, and the occasional Takasaki– Aso Boy steam operation takes travellers surname. Enquiries soon lead to a Minakami steam express with the Tokyo to Mt. Aso, one of the world’s largest meeting with the family’s senior member, (Ueno) main line heritage electric loco caldera volcanic craters (80-km Frank Trevithick Okuno who is now a connection. Lastly, the Poppo Town circumference) friend and patron of our society. Museum at Yokogawa on the truncated Much further north, on Hokkaido island, Further sites visited by tour groups Shin’etsu main line has a collection of the beauty of the winter Sapporo Yuki include the Hakone Tozan tour on the mainly electric heritage locomotives, Matsuri (snow festival) is enhanced by the Romance Car of the Odakyu Electric some of which can be booked for driving huge Otaru Transportation Museum with Railway to Odawara, then on to Hakone experience. Interestingly, there is also a some 50 locomotives and other rolling and the base of Mt. Fuji via switchback 1990s British steam operation on 2' gauge. stock. railway, cable car (over smoking sulphur Going south to Hiroshima visitors can Wherever the foreign railway enthusiast springs) and cruise boat on Ashinoko to ride the extensive Hiroshima Tramway visits in Japan, they can be sure of a return to Tokyo by bus to Odawara and stretching over 19 km, which extends out hospitable welcome by the many optional shinkansen. There is also the to Miyajima a further 16 km. Visit the Japanese fans of railways. A good delightful day trip from Tokyo on the moving Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park demonstration of the friendly railway Tokaido main line to Ofuna and then by at ‘ground zero’ of the Hiroshima atomic relations between Britain and Japan was the suspended Shonan Monorail to bombing and the Miyajima torii. Further recently demonstrated by JR West’s Enoshima connecting with the Enoden West but still on Honshu main island, one donation of a fully-restored 1964 design, Railway’s tramway running along the can step directly off the San’yo 1972 built Series-0 shinkansen driving shore of Sagami Bay to Kamakura (a Shinkansen at Ogori onto the steam car to the National Railway Museum at beautiful ancient capital of temples and operation running from the earlier station York. This kind gesture has generated a shrines that looks its best at cherry- underneath the shinkansen tracks. great number of new visitors to the blossom time), with the return to Tokyo Further South, after travelling via San’yo museum who can now share some of our on the Yokosuka Line. Shinkansen through the Kammon experiences of Japanese railways. I For steam enthusiasts there is also a two- stop trip on the Joetsu Shinkansen to Richard Tremaine Kumagaya from where the delightful Paleo Express steam train runs on the Mr Tremaine is a government social research interviewer. After graduating in materials science Chichibu Line on most weekends from from Surrey University, UK, he worked as a research and development engineer. He is also the Chairman of the Japanese Railway Society and the Society publishes a quarterly railway magazine spring to autumn. For many enthusiasts Bullet-In. The Society membership enquiry may be made by contacting him at jrsbullet- it has the additional attraction of much [email protected]. local freight activity relating to production of Chichibu cement. Other