Interurban Railways of Japan

7 p.m. Central Time

www.tinyurl.com/CERAonZoom

JAPAN’S ELECTRIC RAILROADS

by Harvey Laner

Join us Dec. 9 for a mixed media tour of three Japanese electric railroads in a program hosted by our friend Harvey Laner.

The program features the Nagoya Railway and Laner’s first-person experience riding Japan’s third largest electric railroad, known more commonly as the Meitetsu.

The program includes a front seat ride on one of the distinctive Panorama Car 7000 series trains in which the motorman’s compartment is above passenger space.  The view from the front seats is unrestricted as we travel the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line to Gifu City.  

Up next, Harvey takes us to the Kyoto terminal of the Eizan Interurban Division of the Keifuku Electric Railway where he boarded a two-car train of 1936 Kawasaki Car Company built 121 series cars for the 7.83-mile trip to Kurama.   

The approximately 30-minute ride begins on the Eizan Main Line passing through Kyoto’s solidly urban area.  This portion of the Eizan Main Line is shared with cars that serve the branch line to Yase-yuen.  The line becomes more rural as the train reaches the end of double track at Iwakura and changes even more as the valley narrows and the grade steepens.  The cars are equipped with dynamic brakes as grades can reach 5%.
  
Finally, Harvey shows us the Shonan Monorail, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and opened in July of 1971.  It was the first monorail of its kind in Japan.

The 4.1-mile line is used by commuters that work in Tokyo or Yokohama and by tourists visiting Enoshima’s beaches in the summer months and city dwellers who visit the parks and baths there as well.  To support the demand, the 15-minute base service increases to 7 1/2 minutes on summer holidays. 

As in the past, you'll find our Zoom programs at www.tinyurl.com/CERAonZoom. 
Please note that, unlike during programs in the past, we will have a Waiting Room, in which the host will let people into the program. We are working on ways in which to deter any potential unwanted, disruptive guests and will likely keep all guests' videos turned off during the program. Please be patient as we work through these adjustments.