Hisatsu Line in 1977

Early morning. A pair of mighty D51 steam locomotives pull Suhafu-type coaches to the remote Okoba station. It is 1977 again.

Seen at http://homepage3.nifty.com/ryouhei/site1/hisatsu/hisatsu-okoba/hisatsu-okoba.html

The site features photos of C57 and D51 steam locomotives working the Hisatsu Line between Yatsushiro and Yoshimatsu, the arrival of a Kiha 58 trainset, as well as a good coverage of mixed consists and the Okoba loop.

Paper models from JR West

Don't have enough fancy models by Kato, Tomix and Microace? Time for scissors, glue and a bit of fun! Whether you have a kid who is so keen about making something for his toy railroad with his/her hands, or you feel you are that kid yourself, there's a good chance there are quite a few paper models of Japanese prototype buildings and vehicles that will most probably suit your needs. The only trouble is these models are exclusively posted at Japanese websites, so once in a while take your search in one hand, Google Translate in the other - and here we go!
One of the most exciting aspects of searching (for me) is that sometimes you find something better than what you've been looking for. This time it is the website of JR West Railway Company that contains quite a number of paper models, including:

• Simple train station of the Western region
• Grade crossing
• Tunnel
• Brick two-stall engine-house
• Platforms and overpass
• More kids' stuff like pictures that need coloring, screensavers with painted steam locomotives 
• A whole bunch of track elements, simple models of locomotives and multiple-unit trains (even the Shinkansens!)

And if you feel these are models just for kids (well, Iactually they are) - try your hand at the former Nijo  station (above).

The website contains no less than five sections of paper models and fun things, and there are also sub-cathegories in dropdown menus. Browse the sections - and assemble a toy-train scene, or use the structure print-outs as a base for scratchbuilding projects.

The River Line

Hisatsu Line is mostly famous for its mountain part featuring a loop, two double zig-zag stations, and a 2,5 km long tunnel on the summit of Yatake mountain. Before the line's elevations reach as much as 30%, however, more than 50 kilometers of track can be found curving along the turns of the Kuma river. Some sources refer to this section as 'the River line', however officially it is the Yatsushiro-Hitoyoshi segment of the Hisatsu Line, which is still used for local passenger traffic. 

The 'River line' features numerous bridges, small tunnels and galleries, as well as a variety of rolling stock including Kiha 185-series trainsets that were some time ago offered in N scale by MicroAce. It is also notable for its picturesque surroundings, small towns along the banks of the river, and the mountains that still dominate the whole landscape. 

Both parts of the line feature stations and towns that are so small that they almost look like a model train layout. 

Sakamoto Station

Sakamoto station is the third station of the Hisatsu Line. The station has two tracks and a wooden station building. Stop signs for freight trains led by the mighty D51-s are still preserved. The station was opened in 1908, and became unmanned after the electonic blocking was introduced in 1986. According to data collected in 2006, the station is used by 91 passengers daily. 

This station was brought to my attention by the following photo posted by goagoa on Panoramio:

View full-size image

Click the link above for the full-size image, and you will see Sakamoto station with its complete surroundings, the Kuma river and, of course, the mountains. 

Impressed by the site's completeness and character, I have taken some time to count all the houses in the area surrounding the station. It turns out there are no more than 70 buildings at all. Fore one who would desire to model a complete station of a DMU-powered railway in Southern Japan, this is a very attractive prototype. Reducing the number of houses and the required length of track by what is called the selective compression, one would be able to reproduce the same picture by a modest amount of buildings and detail.

As far as operations are concerned, there used to be some freight traffic on this section of Hisatsu Line. Besides, according to Wikipedia, about 1 km away from the station there is an industrial branch, so there may still be an occasional movement of goods - no further information for these branches is available.

All station signs on the Hisatsu Line have an image painted on the station sign. The sign for the Sakamoto station features an observatory. One would never tell from the rural look of the neighbourhood that some serious scientific research is going on, however the place seems more than convenient for this type of activity.

Kyushu Choo Choo

A fine article under a fun title "Kyushu Choo Choo" (pdf) summarizing the available information about the Hisatsu Line and the Isaburo-Shinpei retro train was written by Beth Reiber and published in the American Chamber of Commerce Japan journal in 2006. Nothing presented is new, however it is a major step forward from trying to guess the same facts from Google Translate and not being able to understand half of what is meant by the original texts.

I'm also presenting here my favourite Hisatsu Line wallpaper, published by goagoa on Panoramio. Its colors, harmony, and composition have been inspiring me for nearly half a year. 

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11093079

This photo shows the feel of the remote station of Masaki, featuring another double zigzag arrangement of the Hisatsu Line. The trains appear from the right side (where the Yatake summit and the Okoba station are), come to a halt in the upper left part on a stub track hidden by the trees, then reverse to the station and continue to the lower part again hidden from view here.

Masaki area was heavily populated and had even some amount of freight operations (Station Staff, last photo), however, after a series of devastating landslides culminating in a massive landfall in 1972 when approximately 300 000 square meters of earth slid from their place and destroyed several dozens of houses, the population moved away, leaving the area deserted. The station however continues to operate. To commemorate the massive amount of work in order to restore the line after the landslide, a 8-ton boulder was left on the platform.

The Masaki station would make a tremendous small layout in N scale, however, proficiency in landscaping may be required to reproduce at least some of its remarkable features.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

All the Happiness, Joy and Luck! Let the new year bring many new models, layouts, projects, and achievements!

If, by any chance, you are not in Japan now (like me, for example), may be you would like to spend some holiday time looking through Japanese landscapes, stations, trains, architecture, why not make a virtual journey at least? And if you do, why not see some of the most picturesque rail-related landscapes, like wooden stations, train meets at remote locations, and supplement this with traditional houses, temples, tree groves, rice paddies, castles, or even a ruin of a roundhouse?

If you are eager, head straight to Movie Stock, which has all of this to offer, and even more. Videos of various train-related as well as general interest locations are of the highest quailty (HD in several flavors), and their quantity is enough for quite a bit of watching!

You can find some harmony and internal balance by watching the Okoba Station video posted below.

Kiha 58 and Kiha 47 Meeting at Okoba Station

According to most sources, there used to be both local and express traffic on the Hisatsu Line. The local traffic is still carried by KIHA 47s and KIHA 140s (the famous Isaburou-Shinpei trainset), and the express traffic used to be represented by the Ebino express, i.e. KIHA 58 in white with blue stripe ("Kyushu") or special blue livery. It is also clear that since the express service through the Hisatsu Line became discontinued, the train meets at the picturesque Okoba station do not happen any more. To my surprise, however, the video hereunder is dated November 2008 and proves that the train meet at Okoba still happens, at least from time to time.

The video shows KIHA 58 at the upper portion of the loop, at the switchback, meeting with KIHA 47, and finally leaving the scene via the lower station exit.

Recent Activities

Quite a lot has been happening recently. First of all, I have devoted some time to testing and continuous operation of my Class 9600 No. 39679. Some internet search revealed that this particular loco was used on Hokkaido, so it should not theoretically be regarded as a start for the Kyushu layout pictured in previous posts, but according to Google these steam beauties were used on Kyushu as well, so no problem here.

Class 9600 No 39679 from Microace A0327 Set pulling Kato boxcars 

The engine looks quite impressive and quite in place for its consist, however it does not perform too well on slow speeds in DC mode. First I thought that the cab-tender link was too low and actually made contact with turnout elements,  now (after some bending and testing) I feel the problem is with my old DC box which may be not quite up to date (though my Liliput and Roco and LH stock runs quite well). As I don't think I'll ever buy a suitable DC box, I'd rather spend the money on a suitable decoder. On high speeds the engine is quite ok and rumbles on a test track loop with its headlight in full bloom. But as it slows, the speed begins to float. May be the DCC load compensation feature will solve the problem, I'll keep posting.

Second, I have been lucky enough to acquire a steam engine service station kit from Tsugawa Yoko Co., Ltd., Inc. It is a colored plastic kit intended for assembly and optional painting. The kit includes a water tower with a pump-house, a couple of water columns with separate valves, an elevated deck which I suppose should be indended for coaling, a couple of shallow tanks with yet unknown function (one may be for ashes to be collected under the track and the other for sand, but who would keep sand out in the open?) and eight wooden planks/platforms which functions I haven't been able to guess. All in all, it took a couple of tries to scan the instruction, OCR it and feed to google translator to get a result. 

Steam Servicing Facility Kit

I have also been doing some work on the trackplan, quite successful - thanks for the useful and timely advice - but remembered that the elevation issue has still not been resolved, which means the trains should climb a grade via a loop, then descend in a couple of carlengths - completely impossible. Therefore I'm beginning to think I need to do something more simple just to get started, and move to mountains and stuff a bit later.