Hi Everyone! The wife and I have been travelling around Japan via rail for close to a decade now. On recent trips, we've been exploring the more rural parts of Japan, and have been astounded by the incredible charm of the quieter railway stations. On our last trip, we thought we'd take more photos and videos to share with friends and fellow enthusiasts. So, presenting 5 Stations of Shiga - mostly on the Ohmi Railway - hope you'll enjoy them as much as we did! Stations:
You've done some really nice work there. I loved the video with all of its wonderful detail and also the soundtrack that you chose. You well illustrate that it's not always about the trains and how diverse an interest in railroading can be.
Thank you! Yes, we did search quite a long time to find a soundtrack that captured the mood of the stations. Glad you liked it!
Neat images. I don't assume the Shinkanese trains would be serving these rural parts. How were the speeds of the trains in this section?
Thanks! Shinkansen - Hehe, no not at all. The Ohmi Railway company and line serving these areas have been around since 1896, and some parts really feel frozen in time. Speeds - pretty slow and gentle. I'll be publishing a video later showing more of the train-riding experience, but in the meantime you can sort of tell from the end of the video above where the train pulls out of the station. It's in real-time, not slowed down. At 4:30: Edit: Hmm, TrainBoard truncates the 4:30 direct link: Code: https://youtu.be/eX4hnwEsPng?t=270
The rakes seem so short. I guess lack of passengers in the rural areas. Here, even the rural stations are served by atleast 8 rake coaches, but then my country is bubbling with population. Did you spot any diesel locos or Japan has also gone full electric traction in all locations?
Simply beautiful could be the theme of these stations, where a slower, more gentle lifestyle reigns. Nice, calm music that really fits this theme. Thanks for sharing this.
Hah yes! Apparently the ridership peaked 30 yrs ago and has been dropping since. Kinda sad. Nope, only saw electric.
Yes, and yes! We live in a crowded city, so the nostalgic charm of these rural stations was so relaxing. For the music, I really wanted to recreate the beautiful mood of the stations, was overjoyed to find this track.
It is very interesting to note how these buildings all seem to be so non-railroady, and not the utilitarian "standard" type design we used to know here in the States. Very different.
Totally. I believe it's all down to the Japanese' deep appreciation of culture, heritage and purpose beyond basic utility - e.g. the waiting rooms all feel warm and welcoming with their wooden paneling and some have curved rests. Even when they rebuild stations, they try to keep the original design intent, and perhaps more critically - they actually have craftsmen around who can still reproduce the generations-old techniques!
