[Aomori Prefecture] "Shirayuki" express train that connected Kanazawa and Aomori over 12 hours

From now on (2025) to about 40 years ago, express trains ranging from Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture to Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture over 12 hours.
It's a train called "Shirayuki".
It had characteristics that could not be imagined on current JR trains, such as the length of the operating section and time, and the fact that even if the facilities were fully equipped to operate by train, the train was not turned into a train until the end.

The Shirayuki Express, which ran over 770km

The express " Shirayuki " began service in 1963, when JR was still in the JNR era, when JR had not yet been established.
Initially, one train per day was operated: a down train from Kanazawa Station to Akita Station and one train from Aomori Station to Kanazawa Station.

According to the timetable for October 1964, the year after the service began, the down train departed from Kanazawa Station at 6:45am.
The main stops along the way are Takaoka, Toyama, Itoigawa, Naoetsu, Kashiwazaki, Nagaoka, Niitsu, Niigata, Shibata, Sakamachi, Tsuruoka, Sakata, and Ugo Honjo.
I continued to drive endlessly along the Sea of ​​Japan coastline, including the Hokuriku Main Line (at the time, it is no longer the JR Hokuriku Main Line), the Shinetsu Main Line, the Uetsu Main Line, the Shirashin Line, and the Ou Main Line (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Nihon Sea Longitudinal Line"), and arrived at Akita Station at 5:05pm.

The up train departs from Aomori Station at 6:25am.
On the uphill "Shirayuki", another express train called " Akebono " was connected to Akita Station.
The main stops to Akita Station are Hirosaki, Odate, Takanosu and Higashi Noshiro.
After being separated from Akita Station as "Akebono" the main stop was the same as the "Shirayuki" descent.
We arrived at our final stop, Kanazawa Station, at 8:36pm.
The length of the service area exceeded 770km , and took as long as 14 hours and 11 minutes

In 1965, the down train was extended to Aomori, and both the top and bottom trains began to operate between Kanazawa Station and Aomori Station.
During this period, the Seikan Ferry departs and arrives at Aomori Station, and you could take a boat from Aomori Station to Hakodate Station in Hokkaido.
However, the waiting time for transfers on the Shirayuki and Seikan Ferry was set to be about two hours both up and down.
In later years, the connection between the Shirayuki and the Seikan Ferry was completely lost, indicating that this train was not in anticipation of the demand from people who traveled from Aomori Station to Hokkaido or from those who came from Hokkaido.

Additionally, the Shiratori Express, which connects Osaka Station and Aomori Station, had already begun operation in 1961 on the Nihonkai Longitudinal Line.
It is believed that the "swan" was primarily responsible for passenger transport, which directly connects the Hokuriku region and the Tohoku region.

Tohoku Rokken trivia media: NEFT

[Tohoku region] 16 hours from Osaka to Aomori! Shiratori, Japan's longest daytime express train

There used to be a limited express train called Shiratori, a JNR, that runs over 1,000km along the Sea of ​​Japan coast from Osaka Station to Aomori Station. When it first appeared in 1961, it took 15 hours and 45 minutes to travel from Osaka Station to Aomori Station. However, despite being a long-term train, Shiratori is not a sleeper express train. It was a daytime express train that you could sit in your seat and board. This time we will introduce the Shiratori, which was the longest-distance train in Japan on conventional lines (lines other than bullet trains). The introduction of "swan" The word "express" is a term that has become a norm among people who use railways on a daily basis...

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For this reason, few passengers used Shirayuki across the entire section of Kanazawa Station to Aomori Station.
Many passengers only use some sections, from Kanazawa Station to Niigata Station, from Niigata Station to Akita Station and Aomori Station, and it appears that many passengers inside the train have been replaced at major stations.

It should be possible on a train, but it continues to operate with diesel cars.

The Shirayuki used a Kiha 58 series diesel vehicle since its service began in 1963.
At that time, many Japanese Railways lines were still unelectrified, even on major main lines, without facilities for trains to run, and diesel vehicles that used diesel fuel were widely used.
The Kiha 58 series is a group vehicle that has been built many of the Japanese National Railways' diesel vehicles.

Electrification was progressing on the Nihonkai Longitudinal Line to allow trains to run, and in 1972, the entire line was completed.
Therefore, in October 1972, the express train "Shiratori" was immediately changed from the Kiha 82 series diesel train to the 485 series train.
The 485 series is also a group of vehicles that have been made many express trains in the JNR.

Meanwhile, the Shirayuki was left as a diesel vehicle.
There are two possible reasons why it was still a diesel car, even though it was now possible to operate by train.
One is that even if they wanted to change the Shirayuki train to a train, they probably didn't have enough express trains to procure.
In particular, in the Shirayuki section, there were three electrification methods, starting from the west, 60Hz AC, DC, and 50Hz AC, so in order to change to a train, it was necessary to prepare an expensive train that could accommodate all three types of electrification methods
(of course, the 485 series train used for the Shiratori Express Express is compatible with all three types).

Another thing is that the Shirayuki is already operated in conjunction with other diesel express trains, and the diesel cars used in the Shirayuki are also used for other purposes, so it is likely that the Shirayuki alone could not have been turned into a train.

Regardless of the reason, Shirayuki was to operate as a diesel vehicle until it was abolished in 1982.
The operating section length of over 770km is probably the longest in Japanese history, if you
use diesel express trains that run only on electrified routes Shirayuki is becoming famous not only as a train that runs for long periods of time, but also as a train that runs only under the overhead line even though it is a diesel car.

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note that there are even longer
express that run only on electrified routes The Naha express train was operated from Osaka Station to Nishi-Kagoshima Station (now Kagoshima Chuo Station) via the Kagoshima Main Line.
After the completion of the electrification in 1970, it continued to operate with Kiha 82 series diesel vehicles until it was replaced by a 485 series train in 1973, and the length of the operating section was over 900km.

The train that ran alongside Shirayuki

As mentioned earlier, there were trains in Shirayuki that were connected and operated in sections along the way.

To repeat, as of October 1964 (probably from the start of service in 1963), the Akebono Express was connected to the Shirayuki to Kanazawa from the first Aomori Station to Akita Station.
After being separated from Shirayuki at Akita Station, the train went to Sendai Station via the Ou Main Line, Yokoguro Line (Oukokusen: renamed Kitakami Line in 1966), and Tohoku Main Line.
After the downhill "Shirayuki" was extended to Aomori, "Akebono" was also connected to the downhill train.
In addition, the timetable for October 1968, when the timetable was revised, called Yong San Too, shows that "Akebono" was renamed "Kitakami" (the operating section remains the same).

In the timetable for March 1972, a new express train called Hakuba is connected to Shirayuki between Kanazawa Station and Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture
(I think the author may have been confused with the Hakuba Express and Shiratori Express on some sections of the Japan Sea Longitudinal Line).
From Itoigawa Station, it entered the Oito Line and operated to Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture.
As the train name suggests, on the Oito Line, it stopped at Hakuba Station in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, which is famous for its ski resorts and summer resorts.

The Kitakami Line is unelectrified, and some sections of the Oito Line are not electrified (as is still the case today), so Kitakami and Hakuba were not allowed to operate by train.
Therefore, it is believed that diesel cars were also used in the Shirayuki, which runs in conjunction with these trains.

The last time I have "Shirayuki" appears in the June 1982 issue.
The descent departs from Kanazawa at 9:49 and arrives in Aomori at 10:18 .
The uphill started off Aomori at 6:50am and arrived in Kanazawa at 7:17pm.
The travel time was shorter than when the service began, but even so, if you ride all the routes, you will still have to travel for over 12 hours.

The express train "Shirayuki" has been upgraded to "Shiratori" and the express train "Shirayuki" has been abolished

The timetable revision in November 1982 saw the reorganization of express trains and express trains running along the Japan Sea-Sea Line, taking into account the full-scale opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Joetsu Shinkansen.
Shirayuki was extended to service between Fukui Station and Aomori Station, and upgraded to the Shiratori Express , and the history of the train called the Shirayuki Express was brought to an end.
Hakuba, which was the consolidated opponent, was also abolished at the same time.
The Kitakami Express was downgraded and the operating section was changed, so it no longer runs on the Japan Sea Line.

Furthermore, the Shiratori No. 1 and 4 between Fukui Station and Aomori Station, which were set at this time, were not possible to transfer to the Seikan Ferry at Aomori Station, but the same as the express era.
Perhaps because there were fewer users, the timetable revision in March 1985 was shortened to operate between Fukui Station and Niigata Station and was renamed "Hokuetsu."

"Shirayuki" has been revived twice

The express train "Shirayuki" during the JNR era was abolished in 1982, but after the JR was launched, a train named "Shirayuki" appeared twice.
The first time was in 1997, when the rapid train "Shirakami," which connects Akita Station and Aomori Station via the Ou Main Line, was re-appeared with the rapid train "Shirayuki."
However, in 2002, the rapid train "Shirayuki" was changed to a nameless rapid train, and the name "Shirayuki" disappeared again.

This is the second time that the Shirayuki express train that connects Arai Station or Joetsu Myoko Station in Niigata Prefecture to Naoetsu Station and Niigata Station, has begun operation since March 2015.
This express train is still operating today, and by connecting Niigata Station to Joetsu Myoko Station, where Hokuriku Shinkansen trains stop, it serves as a part of the transportation method between Niigata City and the Hokuriku region.

These "Shirayuki" have significantly shorter operating sections than "Shirayuki" during the JNR era, and even if the nickname is the same, it does not seem to be directly related.
However, the rapid train "Shirayuki" overlaps with the entire section between Akita Station and Aomori Station, and the limited express "Shirayuki" overlaps with the section between Naoetsu Station and Niigata Station, which is the majority of the sections operating on the express "Shirayuki".

Furthermore, the successor to Shirayuki during the JNR era was the limited express train "Hokuetsu" after the express train "Shiratori", and "Shirayuki" was set as an alternative to Hokuetsu, which was abolished with the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Nagano Station and Kanazawa Station in 2015, so it can be viewed as the current Shirayuki" as the successor to Shirayuki during the JNR era.
Therefore, it is possible that the name was chosen in response to the former express train "Shirayuki."
Personally, I think the nickname "Shirayuki" is a nickname that suits trains along the Sea of ​​Japan coast.