Hokkaido narrow-gauge preserved railcar

The scene of Hokkaido, which located in Northern Japan, looks like somewhere in Eastern Europe.

 

There were a lot of small narrow gauge networks in Hokkaido until the 1960s.

Hokkaido is a frontier in Japan against Russia and many people migrated after Meiji-resolution. There were no good roads in the rural area, therefore, it was necessary to build narrow-gauge with low-costing operation. After motorisation, the networks were  totally abandoned except 'Maruseppu' park's one.

Sometimes the SL/DL runs inside the park. If you are interested in this park, it is better to contact with Engaru-town near Abashiri in advance.


http://engaru.jp/kankou_info/maruseppu/sinrin-kouen/ikoinomori.html

(Japanese only)

Contact address: shokou^engaru.jp : please change from ^ to @ due to avoiding spams

 

However, we can see preserved locos and DMUs.

For example, in Bekkai-town (roughly 40 km from Nemuro-Nakashibetsu Airport), there are one DMU and DL.

DMU

DL

Ruin of the turn-table

Ruin of the depot

There are some amazing pictures taken in 1968, when the 762mm line still run.

http://homepage3.nifty.com/m_horikoshi/3KaniKidou/_Rk_01_bekkai.htm
(Japanese only)

This HP uploaded great valuable pictures of the other narrow-gauges in Eastern Hokkaido.

http://omotetsu.art.coocan.jp/hamanaka01.htm
(Japanese only but worth to see)


(08/Feb/2013)