The
Japanese
Railway Society (JRS) was founded in 1991 in
London to promote the knowledge of the
railways of Japan in the UK &
other non-Japanese-speaking parts of the world. Since 1991, there have
been
several activities like exhibitions (also of railway models), a TV-show
(on
Naruhodo The World, Fuji TV),
many meetings in the United Kingdom, Germany, the
Netherlands,
and many guided tours to and meetings in Japan.
Our membership is now more than 200 people in over 10 countries
worldwide.
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Bullet-In
# 101
In
this issue: -
* Editorial, Letters, Chairman’s Chat, Shop * News Update * Type 101 Rolling Stock * North by Kōnotori * To Japan in November 2018 * San Francisco’s Japanese Trams * Himeji to Okayama * In Yokohama and Kawasaki * Timetable Matters (1) * A Timetable Man Visits Japan (3) * No Train Toilets * My Eternal Railway Benefactors (1) * Travels in Japan in 1965 (1) * Japan Railway Museums (1) * 100-Year Celebration at the Hara Museum* Autumn 2018 ‘Vets’ Tour * Model-In: Modelling Calendar *
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Lost lines
As Japan's demographics shift towards an increasingly urbanised population, albeit a declining one, the effect on rural railways is greatly reduced patronage. This month we take a look back at some recent closures.
The Kanbara Railway was a private electrified line in rural Niigata Prefecture which originally linked the Shin Etsu Main Line from Kamo to the Ban Etstu West Line at Gosen. By the time this photo was taken by Kazuhiro Kobayashi in January 1999, the line comprised just the 4 kms from the depot here at Muramatsu, to Gosen. The line featured elderly rolling stock until the end, closing 20 years ago this month on 4th October 1999.
The Towada Kankō Electric Railway ran 15 kms west from its connection with the Tōhoku Main Line at Misawa to Towadashi. With the opening of the Tōhoku Shinkansen from Hachinohe to Shin-Aōmori in 2011, the railway lost its source of connecting patronage, with no intermediate station built on the new high-speed alignment to allow for a connection. The line closed on the 1st April 2012. On the afternoon of the 21st November 2010, an ex-Tokyū EMU awaited its return run to Misawa.
The Sankō Line has been the longest single line closure in recent times. The line ran 108 kms between Miyoshi & Gōtsu in the Sanin region of Western Japan through a sparsely populated area. In this shot by Alex Morley on the 28th September 2016, a pair of Ki Ha 120 DMU's laid over during a long break in the timetable at Iwami Kawamoto on the journey northbound towards Gōtsu. It was the largest settlement along the Sankō Line (just under 4000 residents), The line closed in March 2018.
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