Hakuba today

Took some walk after a long interval. It's nice to do this sometimes especially if you usually miss the chance and only ride on a car. The symbolic Hakuba 3 mountains were so beautiful in the sky.
Hakuba Goryu ski slope holds their ski festival tonight.

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Obasute switchback

Maybe some people noticed when they were keen enough to read the previous post about Shinonoi locomotive base, I visited Obasute as well. Obasute is a 2 next stop from Shinonoi, it was main 3 famous train scenery spot in Japan as well as Karikachi summit in Hokkaido, Okoba loop in Kyusyu.

Obasute is a dead-end station. Now local trains stop here are usually 3 trains car short with 115-1000 series. but the tracks are a lot longer perhaps because some longer freight trains needed to get in here to escape. Luckily local trains for both directions were meeting there when I arrived to escape from Shinano limited express train.



Obasute station house. Probably it was more interesting if I visited here earlier ( perhaps before it was renovated. )




Tracks are located like this. No double crossing is used here. There are other switchbacks in both side of Obasute station at which double crossings are used.


Time for a local train for Nagano to leave Obasute.

It slowly runs across the main track to get in an escaping track at the opposite side, then turn the direction forward Nagano and gets in the main track.
It's interesting that when the train gets in the escaping track, the tail lights are on at the front and the main lights are on at the back.


The main track and escaping tracks. You'll find how steep it is here.



Opposite side.



View of Zenkoji daira hollow from Obasute station. You can click it to see the thumbnail. Since it was a bit misty, the visibility was not so good. :( I would like to ride on a train here to see the scenery.

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EF64 at Shinonoi locomotive base

I went to Nagano city area today and found many locomotives so I sneaked up to them:)

EH200(left) and DE10? (right)




First time for me to see some real EH200. Very different from EH10. Feels as if I were living in a quite different age.





Lots of EF64!





A local train for Nagano just passed by the locomotive base. I met someone in the same hobby and talked about this and that. I thought this Shinonoi locomotive base was for trains went up and down the Ubasute but he told me this was a sub-base of Shiojiri main base. I guess perhaps Shiojiri was the base for trains went steep up/down hill at Chuo line. If I remember right, there used to be loco bases at Kamisuwa and Kiso-Fukushima as well. Probably there were more loco bases around a steep up/down hills lines than flat lines. Now Shiojiri locomotive base does not exist any more, so this Shinonoi locomotive base is an independent one. I found only one that had a yellow door at the front.




This yellow door at the front is unique enough to express that it was renewed in Hiroshima factory. The dark blue line at the bottom is also drawn lower than others. I even didn't notice that until when he told it to me. He also told me this loco belonged to Aichi base and only one that regularly pulls freight trains all the way here to Nagano.





Some of EF64 locomotives were just there doing nothing. Maybe their destiny is to be scrapped as the guy said?




EF64-55




Do electric locomotives also need some sand to avoid slipping at uphills? What is the stuff like a hose just beside the wheel and rail.





A EF64 holds 3 boggies, so wheels are located like B-B-B ( 2-2-2)
The side boggies have 2 springs each.




One thick and bigger spring at the middle boggie.





EF64-22





EF64-62




Says "built in 1973" 35 years old! It's in one's prime if they were human beings!







EF64-58




EF64-52.
It's how it goes old stuff retire when newbies show up. EF64 was born in more than 40 years ago in J.N.R (Japan National Railways) era to push/pull trains at the Itaya summit of Ouu main line before it was switched from Direct current to Alternate current. But now life is cruel, the last time gets close to them.........

Hayaokidori website

DVD converter?

I asked someone if there's something that enables to see the scenery from train scope in a laptop PC and got an answer.
I installed it OK and went ahead. But when a wizzard showed up to went ahead, it said something like " This might cause a problem for this computer system" so I just avoided it by clicking cancellation button. I am not sure if that caused another problem - Nothing visible at my laptop PC even if I connect this stuff and my laptop.
A lot often software packages say "Very easy to do" but not at all for me! lol....
I always have hard time to handle new softwares. Probably I am too old fashioned guy, better go to bed earlier as well :p

Hayaokidori website

Replaced the train scope

I replaced the train scope from Kuha165 to this freight car Toki. This is a lot open than kuha165, the antenna of the train scope works better than inside of the kuha 165. I expected the noise would be decreased a lot but.....it does not go like that.
I had to insulate some at this freight car Toki to replace the scope there. For some reasons, it also does not seem to go right :(
When something does not go good, I don't think about it too much, just go to bed earlier to take enough rest :)

Hayaokidori website

Cutting clothes

I found some time today and cut clothes for cleaning rails of my model train layout.
Usually a square is long and slender but this one is just like a square. Convenient when you cut some clothes.


Done. Cut one roughly in 2.5cms x 6cms big. One is fixed around the bad below a cleaning car to clean the rails. Have to do this sometimes when I have some time to spare.

Been cold, brrrr

Early in the morning on March 7th 2008. Everything got some new fallen snow in the previous night. After it had been warmer than usual until the second half of the previous January, it suddenly got cold and feels colder than usual here.



Ice candle covers also got some snow on top of them. It seems that it will have been still cold for a while, brrrr.....

Hayaokidori website