A train lover's best day

 First Blog Post: On the way to Japan Tokyo -Day 1

Second  Blog Post : On the way to Japan - visiting Fuji-san 

Third Blog Post: Tour to Mount Hakone and Ashi Lake

Fourth Blog Post: Tokyo Skytree and Model train shop 

Fifth Blog Post: Food in Japan and Kyoto grandmother's small cafe 

Sixth Blog Post: Kyoto temple trips - Kiyomizu - dera or The pure water monastery 

Seventh Blog Post:  Kyoto Temple Pilgrimage - Temple of the Thousand Buddhas, Bamboo Forest, Zen Temple, Golden Temple, and Shinto Shrine.

Eighth blog post: Last day in kyoto and Deers of Nara 

This also happened on our last day in Kyoto, May 23, 2025. This was the couple of hours before we went to eat (p[lease see the previous post). After seeing the deer in Nara, we took the train back to the hotel. The tour bus had gone to get lunch (buffet style) and to show us how Japanese green tea is made. We skipped that part. The bus dropped us off at a train station to go to Kyoto. I uploaded that train journey to YouTube; you can watch it.

When we arrived in Kyoto, Ines said she was going to surprise me. I thought we were going to eat. But we had been walking for ten or fifteen minutes through the middle of the city, and she wouldn't tell me where we were going. One thing I noticed was that the city was almost completely empty. People were at work. There weren't many people on the streets. I saw children playing in two or three parks. Then we came to another park. As we walked through it, I saw small signs. The picture below shows one of them. The park is located next to several frequently used railway tracks. There are small model train engines made of cement or some kind of rock placed on tables throughout the park. I asked if we were going to see an old train.

And then came the surprise! It was the Kyoto Railway Museum. Inez had spoken to the travel agent and managed to free up the evening for us. That's what love is, isn't it? Finding out what your husband likes and taking him to see it.

From here on, it's a slideshow. I've uploaded several videos to YouTube.  

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I think I like engine types because of their creativity and diversity. As for hobbies, I've done a lot of things. For a while, I collected silver spoons from various cities we traveled to. After that, I collected shot glasses. I collected coins. I collected old car models. When the kids were in primary school, I collected rock types to teach them. When I was doing my astronomy degree, I bought a telescope and looked at stars. These are hobbies I can always go back to. However, building a model train set was always hidden in the back of my mind because they're expensive. Instead, I did plenty of rail journeys. My father-in-law has a good, expensive German model train set. It's mounted on the wall, but it's not really used. In Japan, these are relatively cheaper than in any other country. So, I got a Japanese set. I'm working on building a model train set these days.

In the thirteenth frame of the slide,  you can see how a train car has been set up so you can go underneath and look at it. In some pictures, you can see how the Shinkansen bullet train evolved.

Some pictures show old rail engines and carriages, a signal box room used in old railway systems, old computers, old ticket machines, and the pantograph that connects electric trains to the overhead power line. I took two videos of that for YouTube.

  Because there are so many pictures, I'll have to put up two more slideshows. In this second one, in addition to the ticket machines, you'll see the names of Japanese rail companies. Japan is where I truly saw how competition among private companies benefits the public (the consumer).

In England, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher privatized water, railways, electricity, and gas. We pay more, yet millions of cubic meters of water are wasted each year. Fat cat directors make profits, and we pay. It's been the same with gas and electricity for a long time. Now, due to some competition, prices are increasing less frequently, but the war in Europe has caused issues again.

The railway service was completely ruined. Railway companies made profits but didn't renovate the trains. The tracks were old. European tourists used to laugh when they saw them. Ticket prices were the highest in all of Europe. Eventually, previous opposition leader Corbyn even threatened to re-nationalize them if he came to power. That scared them into making investments. Now, there are good new train engines and rolling stock. When Corbyn lost, things regressed a bit. Recently, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government took over South Western Railway, transferring it to the new state-owned company, Great British Railways.

In Japan, different lines are run by separate rail companies. Sometimes, to get to one place, you have to use trains from two or three different rail companies. We made mistakes a few times, but it wasn't a problem because the staff provided excellent service. In some places, they'd even come out of the ticket window and show you how to get to the platform, or even escort you there. If you needed to buy a ticket from another company, they'd provide that information too. They work with incredible dedication for their own companies. It didn't seem to me like they were being forced to work, as some people claim. Also, it appeared to me that one company didn't get better than another through dirty tricks or underhanded dealings. They focus on treating the customer well to improve. That's how I saw it.

There's something else in these slides. This museum has created accurate replicas of various steam engines. I took as many pictures as I could. Some of them can be seen in this slide.

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This museum also features two model train cities. One is a bullet train and an intercity train that both children and adults can operate. The first video of that is here.

I've uploaded two videos here. Watch both of them.

This video is also very beautiful. It shows a train running through a model village or city. The plan for it is in this picture. If you watch the whole video, it's lovely to see the lights of the tiny model trains running at night.

Here's that video. It's about five minutes long.

The next two videos show a rare opportunity. You can watch a steam engine being loaded with coal in one video.

The next video shows that engine shunting and parking. This is very rare for me to see.  The last time I saw something like this was in Sri Lanka in the seventies .

  

I uploaded several other videos in youtube. Please watch them if you can. This blog post was delayed because it took time to create the slides and upload the videos.

However, I'm sure those who like trains and related things will enjoy the article more.

 

Ajith - 15/07/2025