A Day Trip on the Kiha 189 Series! Kansai Freight Line Tour with a Visit to the Kyoto Railway Museum

For the sake of the world, for the sake of others. Spend a luxurious time together and find vitality for tomorrow.

The Club Tourism Railway Department, known for this slogan, held its third Kansai Freight Line Tour.

Tour Highlights

1. The train will enter the Kyoto Railway Museum directly while you remain on board. Additionally, as a participant benefit, you can enjoy the following at the Kyoto Railway Museum:

● Tour inside the 500 series Shinkansen
● Tour inside the 583 series
● Ride on the Steam-go train

2. Includes original Club Tourism Railway Department merchandise (one per person)

● Original Railway Department hard ticket set with mount
● Original Railway Department train sign (sabo)

To Kobe Freight Terminal

The chartered train we were to board had already entered the tracks.
This time, a 3-car Kiha 189 series train was used.

The train made a technical stop at the next station, Osaka, and departed at 10:03. From here on, it operated mostly according to the scheduled timetable. We crossed the Yodo River again and passed through Tsukamoto.
We passed through Amagasaki Station with ease. Since all trains from the Special Rapid and below stop here, you cannot experience passing through unless you are on a limited express or a special train. We crossed the Mukogawa River and passed through Nishinomiya, which should be called the midpoint of the Hanshin area.
In recent years, the number of JR stations in the Hanshin area has increased, and the distance between stations has become shorter. Sakura Shukugawa, Konan-Yamate, and Maya, which opened in 2016, are examples of this. After passing Rokkomichi Station and descending the elevated tracks, we approached Higashinada Signal Station, but part of it is now operated as Maya Station. Beyond Maya Station is Nada Station, which conveys how short the distance is. From here, we proceeded at once to the Kobe Freight Terminal located next to Takatori Station. We passed through Sannomiya, Motomachi, Kobe, Hyogo, and Shin-Nagata, and arrived at Kobe Freight Terminal Station.
After Shin-Nagata Station, we switched tracks into the freight terminal premises, and while slowing down from 65 km/h to 45 km/h to 35 km/h, we arrived at Kobe Freight Terminal Arrival/Departure Track 2.

The customary train name and destination display festival at Kobe Station Platform 1!

After a 10-minute stop at Kobe Freight Terminal Station, we turned back and arrived at Platform 1 of Kobe Station. Since Platform 1 is only used during the morning hours, it is extremely rare for it to be used during the day, including on Saturdays and holidays. At Kobe, the doors opened and we stopped for 13 minutes.

After departing from Platform 1 at Kobe Station, the train merges onto the outer main line and travels along the inbound track.

Kitagata Freight Line & Miyahara Yard

From here, the train will run non-stop without any operational stops until it reaches Miyahara Yard. It is extremely rare to be able to experience passing through Sannomiya Station, where few trains pass through. After passing Amagasaki and crossing the Kanzaki River, the train enters the Kitagata Freight Line. In addition to freight, the Kitagata Freight Line is used as a deadhead section for limited express trains starting or ending at Osaka Station to pull into the Miyahara Yard ahead. You can see scenes of the Limited Express Thunderbird, Limited Express Hida, and the Limited Express Super Hakuto running here. The train proceeds while running parallel to the Sanyo Shinkansen. After about three minutes, the yard can be seen on the right side of the train window, and this time we entered North Track 7 of Miyahara Yard.

Next to us, in addition to the Limited Express Thunderbird, you could see the waiting 225 series, 223 series, and Twilight Express Mizukaze up close. Also, the new 227 series Urara, which runs in the Okayama area, was parked there this time. Although it was only a one-minute stop, it was a valuable experience. Conductor Nagao was also very excited.
Before long, the freight line curves sharply to the left, passing by Platform 1 of the conventional lines at Shin-Osaka Station.

There is no platform on the Kitagata Freight Line side. Looking up at Higashi-Yodogawa Station on the right, the train merges with the Umeda Freight Line, and for a while, six tracks—a combination of freight and passenger lines—run parallel until Suita Freight Terminal. After crossing the Kanzaki River, we enter the premises of Suita Freight Terminal. Shortly after separating from the Osaka Higashi Line tracks, we merged with the Joto Freight Line, which branches off just before Minami-Suita Station.

Suita Freight Station has been reborn as a massive terminal station that JR Freight is proud of. It opened on March 16, 2013, and is 7,258 meters long. You can see the Suita Factory in the back right. On this tour, we passed through Suita Freight Station. We traveled through the freight station premises until past Senrioka Station. Since we traveled about 5 kilometers from Suita to Senrioka, you can really feel how vast Suita Freight Station is.

We parted ways with the Tokaido Freight Line that branches off toward Osaka Freight Terminal Station and merged with the JR Kyoto Line main line. We passed through Ibaraki, JR Sojiji, Settsu-Tonda, Takatsuki, Shimamoto, Yamazaki, and Nagaokakyo.

The train made a 33-minute operational stop at Mukomachi. After departing Mukomachi, we passed through Katsuragawa and Nishioji. We arrived at Kyoto Station at 12:48 at platform 0. Except for Kobe Station, the doors did not open during this trip, so we could not step onto the premises, but I saw many people on the platform capturing this rare scene with their cameras.

Ride the train! To the Kyoto Railway Museum

We changed direction for the second time in Kyoto and used the shunting signal (25 km/h caution signal) to head toward the Umekoji Operation District. Unfortunately, since we could not enter the Kyoto Railway Museum directly, we headed to the Umekoji Operation District, changed direction twice, and entered the vehicle exhibition space of the Kyoto Railway Museum. This is a rare experience that is usually not possible while remaining on the train.

A special experience at the Kyoto Railway Museum

About two hours of viewing time was provided at the Kyoto Railway Museum. Furthermore, the interior was opened exclusively for tour participants. Interior viewing is usually impossible and is only opened a few times a year. In this tour, in addition to the interior viewing of the 500 series Shinkansen and 583 series train, a ride on the Steam-go was included in the tour price.

Next, inside the 500 series Shinkansen.

The Steam-go usually uses a steam locomotive, but on this day, it was operated with a diesel locomotive used by the Sagano Scenic Railway.

Before boarding from the Kyoto Railway Museum, we were able to watch the Kiha 189 series pull into the station. After it arrived, we boarded one by one using the boarding stairs. Of course, since it cannot enter the main line as is, it returned to the Umekoji Operation Depot once to switch tracks to the line connecting to Kyoto Freight Station. It arrived at track 7 of the Kyoto Freight Station. Kyoto Freight Station is located just before Nishi-Oji Station.

After a long stop, it departed from Kyoto Freight Station at 16:45. Within the Nishi-Oji Station premises, it switched to the track used by the Limited Express Haruka, crossed over the main line before Katsuragawa Station, and merged into the outer track of the main line heading down before Mukomachi Station. The vast Kyoto General Operation Depot Mukomachi Yard stretches between Mukomachi Station and Nagaokakyo Station, where many JNR-type limited express trains used to be parked, but now JR vehicles are lined up. In addition to the 681, 683, 221, and 223 series, I was able to confirm the presence of the WEST Express Ginga on this day. Trains arriving at and departing from Kyoto are sent to the Mukomachi Yard to be parked. In the past, passenger cars and long-distance night trains also used to turn around and undergo maintenance at Mukomachi. As I watched the vehicles parked in the yard, we passed through Nagaokakyo in the blink of an eye. From here, it passes through all stations until the final stop, Shin-Osaka. This Kansai Freight Line tour had a shorter ride time on the freight line because it included a visit to the Kyoto Railway Museum. We arrived at the final stop, Shin-Osaka, at 17:15. The arrival platform was track 10, the same as in the morning. After passengers disembarked, it departed for Osaka as a deadhead train at 17:20.

Although the third Kansai Freight Line tour had the novelty of using the Kiha 189 series, I also felt it was a bit lacking. On the other hand, it was great to be able to enjoy the special exhibition at the Kyoto Railway Museum, ride the Steam-go, and enjoy the museum in a relaxed atmosphere because it was a weekday.