It's been a year since the SL Ginga's last run: "Thank you SL Ginga!" [Iwate Prefecture]

The Kamaishi Line, connecting Hanamaki Station and Kamaishi Station in Iwate Prefecture,"SL Ginga,"a steam locomotive (SL) train. The SL Ginga made its final run about a year ago, in June 2023, much to the regret of its many fans. This article will reintroduce the SL Ginga and what kind of train it was.

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What kind of train was the SL Ginga?

The Kamaishi Line is a JR East line connecting Hanamaki Station and Kamaishi Station.
The SL Ginga was a train that ran on this section for nine years, from 2014 to 2023, mainly on Saturdays and Sundays.
a writer from HanamakiKenji Miyazawa,written by"Night on the Galactic Railroad,"was a train themed after

"Night on the Galactic Railroad"that the Galaxy Railroad featured inRailwaywas modeled after
"Night on the Galactic RailroadLine. It could be said that this was the perfect railway line for a steam locomotive train inspired by

The SL Ginga was created in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
In order to support the recovery of the area in terms of tourism and to revitalize the region, including the area along the Kamaishi Line, a new steam locomotive train was put into operation in 2014.

For the nine years since then, it has continued to run on the Kamaishi Line, invigorating the areas along the line and leaving behind many memories for tourists and railway enthusiasts

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C58 steam locomotive No. 239 preserved in the park

The SL Ginga, as the name suggests, is a train pulled by a steam locomotive.
JR East decided to acquire a new steam locomotive for use with the SL Ginga. The locomotive chosen was C58 type steam locomotive No. 239, which had been preserved at the Iwate Prefectural Sports Park in Morioka City.

The C58 steam locomotivewas a medium-sized locomotive that debuted in 1938, with 427 units manufactured over a 10-year period. It was used to haul passenger cars and freight cars on local lines of the Japanese National Railways (the predecessor of JR). Unit 239 was manufactured in 1940, and three years later, in 1943, it was assigned to the Miyako locomotive depot, and then to the Morioka locomotive depot in 1970. It spent almost its entire life, from manufacture to decommissioning, as a locomotive belonging to a depot within Iwate Prefecture.
After being decommissioned in 1972, it was carefully preserved in a park from 1973 onwards.

No. 239 was removed from the park in 2012 and underwent thorough repairs, including a boiler, over a period of about a year. It was then returned to a running condition and arrived at JR East's Morioka Rolling Stock Center in January 2014

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The interior of the train is inspired by "Night on the Galactic Railroad"

In addition to the steam locomotive, an SL train requires passenger cars.
The SL Ginga train consists of four passenger cars, and both the exterior and interior are decorated with designs inspired by "Night on the Galactic Railroad."

The exterior was decorated with the symbols of Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquila, and Cygnus, starting from car number 1, the lead car on the Hanamaki side

The interior design evokes the worldview of the Taisho era, the time when Kenji Miyazawa lived. It
gas lamp-style lighting,stained-glass-style decorative lighting, andluggage racks reminiscent of Nambu ironware, creating an atmosphere unlike any other train.
Furthermore, Car No. 1the world's first onboard planetariumhoused

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An unusual passenger car, the Kiha 141 series

The passenger cars of the SL Ginga were quite unique and unusual, not only in their interior and exterior design, but also from a technical standpoint.
Not only were they not originally built for steam locomotive trains, but they weren't even JR East vehicles to begin with.

The KiHa 141 series passenger cars used for the SL Ginga were originally operated by JR Hokkaido, which JR East purchased and modified. Interestingly,
JR Hokkaido's KiHa 141 series cars were originally modified versions of the 50 series passenger cars manufactured during the Japanese National Railways (JNR) era.

The 50 series passenger carswere manufactured starting in 1977 and, being unpowered, were towed by locomotives.
They were popular vehicles widely used on local trains in Hokkaido, Tohoku, San'in, and Kyushu, and"Red Trainwere also known as the
" In the Tohoku region, they ran regularly until the 1990s, and I myself remember riding one on the Ou Main Line with my father just before the opening of the Yamagata Shinkansen in 1992.

However, trains pulled by locomotives were inefficient in many ways, sothe 50 series passenger carswere gradually replaced by electric trains and diesel railcars (vehicles that run on diesel fuel), which were self-propelled vehicles.
In particularJR Hokkaidoconverted surplus 50 series passenger cars into self-propelled diesel railcars by installing driver's cabs and diesel engines.
Thesethe KiHa 141 series diesel railcars.

Returning to the story of the SL Ginga, the Kamaishi Line has some steep gradients,the C58 steam locomotiveto pull four passenger cars up these steep inclines on its own.
Therefore, it was decided that JR Hokkaido's KiHa 141 series, which were originally passenger cars with added power, would be suitable as the passenger cars for the SL Ginga. JR East purchased four surplus KiHa 141 series cars from JR Hokkaido and remodeled them to be used as passenger cars for the SL Ginga.

During the operation of the SL Ginga, drivers were present not only in the steam locomotive but also in the driver's cab of the passenger cars, and on steep uphill sections, the locomotive and passenger cars worked together to propel the train.
The operation of a steam locomotive train using passenger cars that could also move under their own power was unprecedented in Japan.
Furthermore, when these passenger cars were being moved to a different location, the KiHa 141 series trains were used to move them under their own power.
to distinguish them from regular passenger cars, as they were self-propelled"passenger cars"referred to the KiHa 141 series as

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SL Ginga's retirement

In 2021, it was announced that the SL Ginga would cease operations due to aging.
The problem wasn't with the steam locomotive, which was built in 1940, but with the Kiha 141 series passenger cars. On June 11, 2023, the SL Ginga ended its nine-year and two-month run with a special group train from Kamaishi to Hanamaki. While the SL Ginga usually ran during the day, its final run was after sunset, reminiscent of "Night on the Galactic Railroad." The aging passenger cars are expected to be completely retired, but the steam locomotive will be kept operational for the time being.

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summary

The SL Ginga, which was created to support reconstruction efforts and revitalize the areas along its railway line, has reached a significant milestone: its service has come to an end due to the aging of its passenger cars.
However, it will forever continue to run in the memories of those who rode the SL Ginga and those who waved goodbye along the line.
"Thank you, SL Ginga!"

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