Inpaku
With being exposed to the morning sun

Let's Work Together

I put "Let's Work Together" as a title for the photos on this page.
These photos show how the steam locomotives were used co-operatively, both in double, and in triple combinations. Sometimes a second steam locomotive was used to assist a heavy freight train on a steep slope. The title photograph was taken in Hokkaido in January, 1970.

Let's Work Together

Kansai line (Mar, 1971) D51+D51

With the main engine at the front, and the auxiliary engine at the rear, this train climbs a slope of 25/1000. That means that for every one thousand feet of distance traveled, the locomotive must climb vertically twenty-five feet.
(Click on the photos for an enlargement)

Triple Connection("D51" Type)

Hakubi line (May, 1969) D51+D51+D51

This photograph shows a steam locomotive in a mountainous region. Japan is a very mountainous island country. There are many curves in the coastline, and there are many places with steep slopes among the mountains.

Triple Connection ("8600" Type)

Hanawa line (June, 1971) 8600x3

I wanted a picture of the 8600 type in a triple connection . So I looked on the train schedule and saw that none were listed. I asked the station employee in Hanawa when I could get a picture. To my surprise, he changed the schedule, just for me, and that's how this freight train became a triple connection. I remember the event as though it happened yesterday.

Passenger Train Waiting at the Station

Chikuho line (Jan, 1969) D51x2+C55

A D51 x 2 dual connection train passing a C55 train at a small station out in the country.

A Coal Transport Train

Chikuho line (Jan, 1969) D60x2

Kita Kyushu has many towns with coal mines. A steam locomotive is shown here pulling a string of coal cars. A January snow with a northerly wind is not unusual in Kita Kyushu.

Triple Connection ("D60" Type)

Chikuho line (Jan, 1969) D60x3

Three locomotives advance slowly, aimed at the tunnel entrance under the "Hiyamizu" high pass.

A Light Rain Falls

Hakubi line (May, 1969) C58+C58

A C58 x 2 locomotive running in the "Chugoku sanchi" while I am getting all wet taking pictures in a May rain shower.

Kansai Line in Early Summer

Kansai line (June, 1970) D51+D51

Here a D51 locomotive pulls a long train of hopper cars across the green landscape of early summer.

A Sight Long Past

Hahawa line (June, 1971) 8600x2

In the past, two locomotives pulling a long train was a common sight all over Japan.

PhotoFYoshihiko Kawaguchi

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