7305レ
The trouble with getting coverage every day for 5 weeks straight is that you end up with quite a backlog of photos to edit. I've slowly started getting around to editing my shots of Japan & this one had been in the back of my mind since I landed back in Australia.
On the Chichibu Railway, a DeKi 500 locomotive is seen crawling across the famous Arakawa River bridge working empty limestone train #7305 from the Taiheiyo Cement plant in Kumagaya to the mine in Kagemori.
After spending 3 weeks solo in Taiwan & Korea it was a welcome change to be joined by two good friends from back home (also railfans), in the process I somehow doubled up as a tour guide & a translator despite only knowing about 4 sentences in Japanese.
I didn't have much of a plan this time around, the main thing I came back for was the EF64s on the Hakubi line, anything else that was seen would be considered a bonus. Safe to say our trip got off to a very rough start. After convening in Narita we drove up to Chichibu to shoot some limestone trains, everything was looking promising with 2 spotless days forecast. Only problem was, the trains weren't running. After spending the morning hoping one would turn up we went to a few stations to ask the staff if they knew anything about the limestone trains running. Sadly they had been suspended for the weekend.
We made our way to Fuji the next day & got our EF210 fix. Next on the hitlist was the Sangi Railway, surely that would be running right? No. We spent the afternoon sat at Nyugawa waiting for something to turn up. Having seen nothing, we went to the station & the guys asked the station master if any cement trains were running. He made a few phone calls & told us that nothing was running for the next few days. Safe to say things were looking bleak.
From the next day onwards we finally started seeing results, the Hakubi line certainly didn't disappoint & when we went back to Chichibu for the second time we were pleased to find the limestone trains were running.
It was certainly a rollercoaster of a trip. With about 4000km of driving, god knows how many litres of Sake & Strong Zero's consumed, it was a fantastic time. I look forward to coming back to Japan again in the near future.
Wednesday the 26th of November 2025.
20251126 DeKI 500 7305 Arakawa River
7305レ
The trouble with getting coverage every day for 5 weeks straight is that you end up with quite a backlog of photos to edit. I've slowly started getting around to editing my shots of Japan & this one had been in the back of my mind since I landed back in Australia.
On the Chichibu Railway, a DeKi 500 locomotive is seen crawling across the famous Arakawa River bridge working empty limestone train #7305 from the Taiheiyo Cement plant in Kumagaya to the mine in Kagemori.
After spending 3 weeks solo in Taiwan & Korea it was a welcome change to be joined by two good friends from back home (also railfans), in the process I somehow doubled up as a tour guide & a translator despite only knowing about 4 sentences in Japanese.
I didn't have much of a plan this time around, the main thing I came back for was the EF64s on the Hakubi line, anything else that was seen would be considered a bonus. Safe to say our trip got off to a very rough start. After convening in Narita we drove up to Chichibu to shoot some limestone trains, everything was looking promising with 2 spotless days forecast. Only problem was, the trains weren't running. After spending the morning hoping one would turn up we went to a few stations to ask the staff if they knew anything about the limestone trains running. Sadly they had been suspended for the weekend.
We made our way to Fuji the next day & got our EF210 fix. Next on the hitlist was the Sangi Railway, surely that would be running right? No. We spent the afternoon sat at Nyugawa waiting for something to turn up. Having seen nothing, we went to the station & the guys asked the station master if any cement trains were running. He made a few phone calls & told us that nothing was running for the next few days. Safe to say things were looking bleak.
From the next day onwards we finally started seeing results, the Hakubi line certainly didn't disappoint & when we went back to Chichibu for the second time we were pleased to find the limestone trains were running.
It was certainly a rollercoaster of a trip. With about 4000km of driving, god knows how many litres of Sake & Strong Zero's consumed, it was a fantastic time. I look forward to coming back to Japan again in the near future.
Wednesday the 26th of November 2025.
20251126 DeKI 500 7305 Arakawa River