Photo gallery
Japanese steam locomotives
Steam trains as scheduled express trains in Japan

What could be nicer for a railway spotter to know when the train of desire finally appears. For the Japanese steam locomotives on selected routes, the view in the timetable is enough. Steam trains in Japan are integrated as express trains in timetable operation, are fed into the electronic timetable system and can be used with a normal train ticket, even the Japan Rail Pass is accepted on JR routes, which also apply to the dominated motor coaches on these lines. Information about the individual lines, the operator and assignments will be made, if given, in the individual photo pages, which you can reach by clicking on the images in this gallery. The collection of photos is organized by geographical position beginning in the south west on Kyushu island up north to the Tohoku region.

Version

version

version

versione

versión

versão

Some Photos have a corresponding Video clip. If you prefer to see motion instead of a HD image then you should switch to Video to photo summary. There you will find videos which are listed in the same sequence as the photos and which are uploaded to the Internet. Please note that as starting sequence only the videos are selected which show steam engine operations (including Germany). You are welcome to modify as to your personal preference and then rebuild the overview again. Following on from the picture gallery, there are explanations and requirements. Further pages can be found on the subject of railways and steam locomotives.

The photos and pictures are only showing Japanese steam trains in regular service driving on the railway line. Images from musuems are missing by intention in this gallery. Snapshots could be made on the following lines.
JR: SL Hitoyoshi with steam locomotive 58654 on the Hisatsu line from Yatsushiro to Hitoyoshi.
JR: SL Yamaguchi with 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam loco C57-1 on the Yamaguchi line from Shin-Yamaguchi to Tsuwano.
Oigawa: SL Kawane and Thomas with the steam locomotives C10-8, C11-190, C11-227, C12-164 (not in service) and 2-6-0 "Mogul" C56-44 on the Oigawa main line from Shinkanaya to Senzu.
Chichibu: SL Paleo-Express with 2-6-2 "Prairie" steam locomotive C58-363 on the Chichibu main line from Kumagaya to Mitsumineguchi.
JR: 2-8-2 "Mikado" D51-498 at Takasaki station, running on the Shinetsu main line and Joetsu line.
Mooka: SL Mooka with C11-325 and C12-66 on the Mooka line from Shimodate to Motegi.
JR: SL Monogatari Go with 4-6-4 "Hudson" C61-20 on the Banetsu west line from Niigata to Aizu-Wakamatsu.
JR: SL Ginga with 2-6-2 "Prairie" C58-239 on the Kamaishi line from Hanamaki to Kamaishi.
Unfortunately pictures are missing from the SL from Maibara to Kinomoto.

German steam locomotives are grouped together in an extra gallery because of the amount of available pictures. This apply also for the steam train excursion tours in Sri Lanka as well as for Chinese steam locomotives on the factory railways in steel mills and coal mines. These photos you can enjoy in the Winter steam gallery. All other pictures of steam locomotives and their trains you can see in the international steam train photo gallery.

If your operating system doesn’t build the photo gallery, but instead displays a warning that restricts the display of active content, allow the blocked risk. The navigation, the selection menus of the photo gallery as well as the control of the gallery pages are completely written in javascript, which triggers the browser to display this warning. Furthermore, since version 3.0 the entire screen is designed in container technology with a maximum of 5 areas, which are set visible or kept hidden depending on the screen width. Same width also determines how many shots can be shown in a row and automatically adjusts to it when you refresh the screen, similar to your Windows Explorer. Due to the variable structure of the gallery, unfortunately, no headings can be given any longer, which area will be displayed next. The photo gallery itself as one on the 5 subsections is displayed with dynpro subscreen technology, means that in the screen encircled container 2 other containers are connected in the top left position. One of these sub-container shows as transparent background image the SL Ginga C58-239, the steam train to the stars; the other container contains the text. The wallpaper in the background is fixed with 100% x-axis and 100% y-axis and 3500 pixels, the text container calculates its depth itself. Depending to your screen configuration, one container is displayed deeper than the other, so there it at the bottom an overpowering beyond the edge of one of the containers. In normal cases the wallpaper should finish deeper than the text.

The pictures of the photo gallery are extremely compressed to 165 * 110 pixels, thus very fuzzy, but this is the intention. By clicking the frame you will get the actual size with an image resolution of 2250 * 1500 pixels and the detailed data to the picture. You can click the graphics right away, the second screen will open, but it may be that your Internet browser will load all the photos in the gallery before the single photo is activated in the zoom. Also note that your computer may issue a warning about active elements in the background. Without activation and during charging, the zoom screen remains black, which is not a program error, it is just the background color. Please be patient. How the photo description is structured and which possibilities you have in operating the system, is shortly summarized in the guidance to the photo.

Steam trains fans are welcome to contribute additional data, since the author doesn’t consider himself a professional for example concerning classes or history of a locomotive. Through our link summary you can access to other interesting galleries and presentations on the topic of steam locomotive and railway on the Internet. Webmasters, companies, railway stations, associations, museums, clubs, organizations, who like to be linked to our list, we offer the chance to cross reference by exchanging links to your presentation. Would you like to participate ?

Email for your proposals, suggestions, improvements and criticism.