The SL Paleo Express Again at Last: Part 1
Golden Week has entered its second half.
How are you spending it?
Yahata Sushi was closed for only the final three days, so on the first day I took a day trip on the Chichibu Railway’s SL Paleo Express.
It had been a long time since I last took a rail journey, and even longer since I travelled by steam locomotive.
The last one I rode may have been JR’s SL Minakami, or perhaps Tobu Railway’s SL Taiju.
In any case, every now and then I find myself wanting to experience once again the powerful running of a steam locomotive and the whistle that resonates deep within me.
Since I was going to ride trains anyway, I decided to make the most of the day: from Ueno to Kumagaya on the Kusatsu-Shima limited express, then the SL from Kumagaya, and finally Seibu Railway’s Laview limited express, making my way around Tokyo and Saitama.
These days, the Kusatsu-Shima limited express is unusual in departing from Ueno Station’s ground-level platforms.
In the past, the ground-level platforms constantly saw premium trains such as daytime limited expresses, expresses, and sleeper limited expresses arriving and departing. But with the development of the Shinkansen network, most limited express trains have disappeared, and since the Ueno-Tokyo Line opened, even local trains now arrive and depart only a handful of times.
While the changes of the times have brought greater convenience, they also leave me with a touch of sadness.
Right on schedule at 9:00, the Kusatsu-Shima limited express glides out of the station and runs along the Tohoku Main Line, known as the Utsunomiya Line.
Its speed of around 100 km/h, unlike the Shinkansen, is just right for taking in the scenery.
Once on the Joetsu Line, scenes of water-filled rice fields come into view, at the time of year when rice planting begins.
In just under an hour, I arrived at Kumagaya, the connecting station for the Chichibu Railway.
And now, it is time to board the star of today’s trip: the SL Paleo Express!
The platform was already bustling with people, a clear sign of the steam locomotive’s popularity.
At last, with a roar from its whistle, the magnificent black iron locomotive pulled into the station.
And aboard we went.
The JNR-era Series 12 passenger coaches have nostalgic face-to-face box seats, with upright seatbacks.
With a single blast of the whistle as the departure signal, the train slowly begins to move.
The elderly gentleman sitting opposite me must have been accustomed to riding these trains in his younger days, as he closed the window soon after departure.
That was to keep soot and coal cinders from entering the carriage.
Even with the windows closed, the distinctive scent of a steam locomotive wafts through the carriage.
Perhaps it is the smell of burning coal and the steam itself; that scent excites me every time.
And the vibrations are another delight.
The vibrations from the exhaust as the locomotive accelerates and runs are what make you feel the presence of a steam locomotive more than anything else!
To put it another way, it feels like propelling a rowboat forward with powerful stroke after powerful stroke.
The speed was not as high as I had expected, perhaps because of concerns about soot affecting the surrounding area.
To go faster, the locomotive would have to burn more coal, sending out more black smoke, so it cannot be helped.
When I rode JR’s SL Minakami before, I was thrilled by one burst of power after another.
Outside the window, the Arakawa River, full of snowmelt, draws near in a deep green hue.
Once this scenery appears, Nagatoro is finally close.
I did not realize this had become rather long, so I will leave it here for this time.
I will save the journey beyond Nagatoro for the next installment.
Thank you for reading 😊
