Monday, November 20, 2006

Enoden Railway


At the moment I'm not able to add items here as often as I would like but keep checking back please - I'll make sure that something gets posted regularly. My collaborator Norman is still in Cyprus I think, which has no railways at all, but something deep in my memory suggests that it once had a 3' gauge line. Is that right?

Anyway - last week a trip with visiting friends over to Kamakura to see the daibutsu - the great bronze Buddha statue. Although this is now outdoors it was once housed in a temple that was swept away by a tsunami in 1498. It must have been a heck of a wave as the statue is about half a mile from the sea ...

To get to the daibutsu you take the Enoden Railway three stops from JR Kamakura station to Hase. This line runs around the coast for about 20 miles and is one of the most charming 3'6" gauge tram systems you will ever come across. These little geen and yellow cars clatter along tracks just a few inches from people's back yards. It would make a perfect prototype for anyone interested in modelling Japanese towns ...

2 Comments:

At 12:42 PM, November 25, 2006, Blogger Eddie said...

This is one of the finest photographs I have seen in a while.
This is a very nice looking tram line. The equipment looks modern but charmingly quaint.
This is bound to get the attention of traction modelers anywhere.

I could imagine, that except for the color scheme...This is proboubly what the Chicago and Joliet electric Railway would have looked like today, if they didn't go out of business in 1934.

Definately a touch of a light interurban line of ages ago.

Thank You.
Eddie.

 
At 4:50 AM, November 27, 2006, Blogger Iain said...

Yes, you are right Eddie, they are a really neat design but newer than they look. The railway does have some vintage cars at the back of the depot though. I'm keeping my eyes open for some working drawings - the railway actually has a souviner shop in Kamakura station but sadly nothing technical on the shelves ...

 

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