Happy New Year everyone.
Hello, Kapinozuka here.
How was your end/new year break?
I ended up sleeping in over the new year.
During the break, I was looking over the data from my camera,
and I found images from my trip to Kumamoto in 2008.
So I think I will share that with you all today.
Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau Type 1200 (No.1205)
Photographed from the tram stop (?) of "Shiritsu Taiikukan Mae" stop.
It’s the car No.1205 of the Type 1200 tram of Kumamoto City Tram.
It was originally a Type 200 electric car produced in the late 1950s, and had become a Type 1200 along with the customization for making it One-Man driven car.
Currently, the original coloring is white base with green line,
but this 1205 car had been colored sky blue for advertisement purposes.
Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau Type 1200 (No.1207)
And similarly, the car No.1207 of Type1200.
This one had also been colored differently for advertisement purposes done on the body as well, with a striking yellow coloring, making it stand out.
There are 5 lines currently on the Kumamoto City Tram, running in 2 different types.
The 2nd is bound for "Tasakibashi" via "Kumamoto Eki Mae".
The 3rd splits path at "Karashimacho" and heads for "Kami-Kumamoto Eki Mae"
There are only the two different trams left in Tokyo, being the Toden Arakawa Line and the Tokyu Setagaya Line, not to mention the area they run on the road, like in the above photo, is very short.
When seeing trams running so boldly on the wide road of places like Kumamoto, you can’t help but feel the tension rise.
Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau Type 9200 (No.9205)
Something that made me seriously think Kumamoto is awesome was this tram stop.
This is the "Shiritsu Taiikikan Mae" stop, and there is a very nice footbridge for getting onto the platform.
I guess this is something that can only be achieved on a main road like this, and I also thought that this footbridge was interesting, for the top half of the stairs on either side spirals, giving it quite a character. The left side that
can’t be seen on the photo is also similar in construction to the right side, semi-spiraling.
By the way, the car in the image is the Type 9200 electric car, No. 9205.
This one had been decorated with the advertisement of Kumamoto’s rice.
Also, the car No.9201 had been given a nickname of "Heidelberg".
Apparently it’s related to the fact that the sister city of Kumamoto is Heidelberg city in Germany.
I really wanted to see it, but unfortunately I was unable to encounter it that day.
The trams up to this point were the good old trams, but I think we need to introduce the low-flooring trams as well.
Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau 9700 (Early Type - 9701A+9701B)
This is the Type 9700 Electric Car 9701A + 9701B.
For Japan, this was the first Super Low-Floor Tram to be introduced. And an articulated car at that.
Something that could be seen as the leader of the LRT trend in Japan, don’t you think this modern design of the Type 9700 is just cool?
It’s interesting that these cars are also running amongst the old type trams.
By the way, this car No. 9701A + 9701B
will be released as N-Scale in the Railway Collection!
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The Railway Collection Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau Type 9700 (Early Type)
There is a reason the product name says "Early Type".
The 9701A+9701B was a formation introduced in 1997.
The undercarriage and electrical parts were made in Germany, and only the body was made in Japan.
And later, 2 formations added in 1999, another 2 formation in 2001, and as there were two years gap each, there were slight changes in specification over the time.
Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau 9700 (Mid Period Type - 9703A+9703B)
The cars that are classified as the mid-period types are 9702A+9702B and 9703A+9703B.
The easiest point for distinguishing them is that the destination sign isn’t LED, but uses hang screen instead.
Unfortunately it seems that there are no plans for mid-period types to be made in the Railway Collection series.
And the late types are those introduced in 2001, the 9704A+9704B and 9705A+9705B.
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The Railway Collection Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau Type 9700 (Late Type)
Also scheduled for release in the Railway Collection, the models of the Late Type will be the 9704A+9704B.
The actual car had the control system changed to Mitsubishi Electronics, so we can see that it’s gradually becoming more Japanese.
And the improved version of the Type 9700 is the Type 0800, which made its debut in spring of 2009.
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The Railway Collection Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau Type 0800 (#0801)
Although it hadn’t been introduced yet at the time of my visit, it was turned into model in the Railway Collection already, following Toyama Light Rail, which surprised me very much.
Yup, I would love to ride that!
Such modern tram is running just at the foot of Kumamoto Castle!
It’s a sight as if looking at the past and the future, both at the same time.
Right then, let’s look at other photos, before I go too deeply into the Railway Collection talk.
Kumamoto Prefectural Government building
Beyond the rows of yellowing Ginnan trees, we can see the Kumamoto Prefectural Government building.
The trees lined up so very nicely, they just look brilliant!
It really makes you take a photo directly from the front like this.
The view from a certain hotel (Tasakibashi side)
The night view from a hotel that had been built recently in front of JR Kumamoto Station.
The view is very nice, don’t you think?
You can see the red lines of the rear light of cars, and they are on the road that the Kumamoto City Tramway runs on, with the further side being direction towards "Tasakibashi".
It would also have been nice to be in a room with the window on the Kumamoto Castle too, I would imagine.
In March this year, the Kagoshima Routes of Kyushu Shinkansen will start its full operation, so the bullet trains will also stop at the Kumamoto Station as well.
We might be able to see a different Kumamoto by that time too.
So anyway, please keep your eyes on our blog this year as well!
By Kapinozuka (I want to go travelling to other places too!)