My First Love, the Locomotive | Naoyuki Agawa (Dean, Faculty of Policy Management)
2008.06.05
The other day, I casually turned on the TV at home and found a special program about steam locomotives on a BS channel. It was a leisurely paced show, the kind you don't see much these days, endlessly showing old films of steam locomotives. Two men, who seemed to be enthusiasts, were having a conversation that an ordinary person would find utterly incomprehensible, saying things like, "Mmm, a D51 shot from above at this location and angle is rare, isn't it?" and "When they uncouple at Seno-Hachihonmatsu, the driver lets out a little puff of smoke as it pulls away... it's just incredible." As I found myself engrossed, my wife snapped at me, "What are you doing? Get back to work!"
I've written several times before about how I love all kinds of ships, including warships, passenger ships, and cargo ships. I must confess, I also love trains and electric trains. And airplanes, too. My aunt and uncle lived in Hiroshima, and as a child, it was customary for me to visit them every summer vacation, either with my family or just with my younger sister. Therefore, the memory of train journeys—taking a sleeper train westward on the Tokaido Line and arriving in Hiroshima early the next morning—is deeply ingrained in me from my childhood.
The aforementioned "Seno-Hachi" refers to the 10.6-kilometer section of the Sanyo Main Line between Seno Station, the sixth station east of Hiroshima, and Hachihonmatsu Station, the seventh. It's a section with a very steep grade. Because a single locomotive cannot pull an ascending train up this incline, a helper locomotive has been attached to the rear to push, a practice that has continued from the Meiji era to the present day. Imagine the sight of two steam locomotives, one at the front and one at the back, their fireboxes furiously stoked with coal, their cylinders working hard powered by the high-pressure steam from their boilers, belching two thick plumes of smoke from their smokestacks as they pant and struggle their way up the mountain pass. Is it not a beautiful sight? I feel as if I can hear the sound of the locomotives even now.
After running for a while and finally cresting the pass, the rear locomotive uncouples while still in motion and pulls away from the train. Then it slowly disappears from view. When I was in the first grade, my father and I took up a position at the very end of the train and watched intently as the helper locomotive receded into the distance. It's something I could never forget, even if I tried.
Although I am a railway fan, I'm not the kind of enthusiast who goes out with a camera to photograph the imperial train passing by or memorizes the entire composition of every limited express train. When I visit regional areas for work, I'll hop on a local line if I get the chance. That's enough for me. If I can't ride it, just watching is fine. On a recent trip to Hiroshima for business, on the way back, I took the Kure Line through Takehara, Mihara, and Onomichi to Okayama, where I boarded the 10:33 p.m. "Sunrise Seto" from Okayama, in a Type B single sleeper car, bound for Yokohama. The "Sunrise Seto" sleeper limited express, which originates in Takamatsu, couples with the "Sunrise Izumo," originating in Izumoshi, at Okayama Station, and they run as a single train to Tokyo. While the Shinkansen can get you from Okayama to Tokyo in three and a half hours, the sleeper limited express takes eight and a half. I thought there wouldn't be many people making such a leisurely journey so late at night, but the platform was packed. They were watching with bated breath as the delayed "Sunrise Izumo" slowly approached the "Sunrise Seto," which was already at the platform. At the moment of coupling, camera flashes went off one after another. It seems there are enthusiasts everywhere.
By the way, I realized later that the theme I was given the last time I wrote for this column was "first love." I've had about fifty "first love" experiences from elementary school through university, but the censorship at my home is strict, so I cannot write the details here. So, let's just say that my first loves were the locomotives, like the EF58 and C62, that majestically pulled the "Asakaze" sleeper limited express and the "Kamome" limited express along the Tokaido and Sanyo Main Lines.
(Published: 2008/06/05)