Okayama Electric Tramway: An Encounter with the Mysterious Chuggington Train (with Video)

This time, I am reporting from the city center of Okayama, the second largest city in the Chugoku region after Hiroshima. The main street in front of Okayama Station is served by the Okayama Electric Tramway, which runs quite frequently, so you can easily take photos even if you only have a short wait for the Shinkansen.

First, at the tram stop was the Type 7200, which seems to have been built using equipment salvaged from retired vehicles from Oita Kotsu. Since it says "8ch" on the side, it appears to be an advertising car for Okayama Broadcasting. The character looks a bit like Kuta.

I have no idea what Higashiyama is, but it seems to be the most common Type 7900. Just like the Tokyu 5050 series 4000 series, it is quite common for the written number and the model name not to match.

At this point, I hear some cheerful music coming from the back at a considerable volume. Some kind of large, primary-colored vehicle is approaching...?

What is this! It's Chuggington! Does a real train exist!? It's even singing... lol

In the Kanto region, GOGO Chuggington airs on Fuji TV on Saturday or Sunday mornings. A tram that looks exactly like it just arrived. When I looked it up later, it seems it has an official model name, the Type 9200. I really didn't know that a real vehicle existed, so I was genuinely confused when it suddenly appeared.

In the first place, isn't Chuggington a power-concentrated locomotive...? (Don't be pedantic)

While blasting that familiar song—♪Chuggington ♪chaka-chaka-chaka ♪chaka-chaka-chaka—it entered the terminal tram stop to turn around.

I don't know what Every is, but since it says "Fresh" and "Great Value," it seems to be a local supermarket.

It looks like a one-man operated car, and it seems that a face is provided for the rear of the direction of travel. Come to think of it, the front car I saw earlier had a face that looked like a Kintetsu ropeway car.

This is the Type 7000, which is said to have reused equipment from retired Kure City trams. I didn't know Kure used to have city trams.

After letting the two trains that were parked in tandem depart first, the Chuggington train finally came back around.

The red Chuggington, its ego sucked out by a human driver. It turned back toward the outbound direction while playing that familiar rock-paper-scissors song. I can't grasp the situation even one bit, but it's delightful nonetheless.

Since my stay outside the ticket gates at Okayama Station while waiting for the Shinkansen was at most 30 minutes, I was lucky to hit the jackpot with Chuggington on the first try. It seems the strong style of live-action anime (physical version) isn't limited to just the Oigawa Railway. That was fun.

That's all for now. Likes, comments, and Twitter shares are all very encouraging.