September - Intercity Railway Society

No time was wasted and a sightseeing tour of a shrine and gardens prior to a tram ride from Sangen-
Jaya to Shimotakido. First impressions of this city were how friendly the people were and how clean
the streets were, no litter, no graffiti. Japan in general has a very low crime rate. It is said that if you
lost a valuable in the street and went back looking for it, someone would be there standing guard,
waiting your return. This has also been confirmed by the number of wallets, purses and even safes
handed in after the recent tsunami.
Our hotel was right outside Shinjuku station, the busiest in Japan which carries over 750.000
passengers a day. I had to have a quick look. Fifteen car units, in a range of liveries, flying in and out.
Forget a notebook, even with a dictaphone it was not always possible to get all the numbers from the
platform ends. The only way to get them all is to stand in the middle of a platform but this prevents you
seeing the other lines. However, after a while a pattern began to emerge and it appeared that they run
in fixed formations.
At least the steam, diesel and electric locomotives carry sensible numbers, as you will see in the
photographs.
To add to the confusion over units, a fifteen car
set can have the same number up to three
times in its formation prefixed with a different
Japanese symbol. This identifies the type of
vehicle. The example, right, in English is MO
which means motorised vehicle. There is also
KUMO, motorised with a cab, KU cab, driving
trailer and SA extra coach. Here MOHA 415
1516 is seen at Kagoshima. 21 May 2011.
(left)
one of the 45 private railway companies in
Tokyo is the Keio line, we rode this line from
Shinjuku to Shimotakido, where 7759 is seen
arriving, 12 May 2011
from Shimotakido we had a tram ride to
Sangen-Jaya, where tram 302 is seen
arriving, 12 May 2011
Friday 13 th May 2011:
3am and wide awake and this was to last for the next few days, as slowly I got into Japanese time.
The morning itinerary was a visit to the Edo Tokyo Museum to learn about the city’s history and
culture.
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