Sayonara '183'

A real unexpected treat today. After several weeks of 'nose to the grindstone' writing at home I had to make a trip into Tokyo and on the way home I had to change trains at Tsudanuma ...

Just a few moments before our 'kaisoku' showed up this old 183 class drew up for a signal on the opposite platform. It was travelling light somewhere, maybe into Tokyo to handle one of the afternoon expresses standing in for a more modern unit under repair.

I love these '183's - classic Japanese 1970's express EMU developments and in a classic livery too. They handled all the expresses on our line until 255 class took over in December 2005 and I miss them rumbling through our village. Makuhari deport still seem to have at least two kept for emergency stand-by though. Long may it last ...

Surely in a land so full of rail enthusiasts at least one of these sets will be preserved for posterity?

Narita

If you come to Japan the first railway station you will see - apart from the platform at the Tokyo International Airport air terminal of course - is Narita town station.

It is almost ten years to the day since our Tokyo-bound 'Narita Express' pulled up at Platform 1 (where I'm standing) on our first trip to Japan. I was astonished just how 'English' the place looked, even down to the platform canopies and railings.

Narita is junction. A double track main line comes in from Tokyo here from the south west, and to the north a busy single track route heads towards Choshi. A line diverges west towards the main line for Mito, and of course just north of the station the line to the airport heads off to the east. By Japanese standards it isn't a busy place but you'll see around six trains an hour.

Here's the Tokyo bound Narita Express heading non-stop through Platform 2 and slowing for the crossovers to the south of the station. In fifty minutes the passengers will be getting out at Tokyo central station.