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Modified Trains, the Japanese way...

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WideRanger

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There are often reports of various Japanese railway companies doing special trains. The thing that is impressive about this one is that the fare to ride this train is the same as the standard fare on the Hankyu Line (around £2.50) between Osaka and Kyoto.

https://soranews24.com/2019/05/20/new-kyoto-train-looks-amazing/
With tatami mats, noren curtains and a zen garden, this is one of the most stunning and affordable ways to travel in Japan.


Kyoto is well known for being a city of historic beauty, with an impressive number of ancient shrines and temples, pristine Japanese gardens, and rows of beautifully preserved traditional townhouses known as machiya. It’s these machiya, in fact, that give the streets of downtown Kyoto its unique charm, and while it can be a dream for many to step inside one, there’s now a novel way to experience their beauty firsthand, even before arriving in the old capital.

All it takes is a ticket to ride the Kyotrain Garaku, a new train that takes you from Osaka to Kyoto on the Hankyu Kyoto Line in less than 45 minutes. Although you might wish the ride was longer, given that the train looks like this.
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The actual train this is converted from is a pretty standard and old commuter stock on Hankyu (a fully private company). 153s anyone?
 
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Midnight Sun

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The nearest thing that I think we had on the UK railways would be the Southern Railway Bulleid Tavern Car. Which was laidout like an old English Pub inside.
this-novel-and-controversial-design-originated-on-the-southern-the-picture-id90748448
 
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dutchflyer

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Its many years ago now that I travelled from far noth till far south on a 2-week JR pass, but I remember-at that time there was an overnight train from the then-end of the northern HS-line (Morioka? or so) to Sapporo on Hokkaido:
this train also had a ''tatami'' sleeping car, just as many JPNes ferries in fact have, which is just a common large room with mats, on which you could lay down to catch some sleep. Not very unusual in JPN as such. Except that it seemed barred for the visiting whitenoses. Had to do with a seat. On Hokkaido itself were also a few overnight trains-seats only, just the normal daytime ones.
 
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WideRanger

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squizzler said:
I liked the traditional rock garden. Presumably the sand has been sprayed with glue to stop it settling as the train goes along?
Click to expand...
I would expect that they would redo it everyday at the very least (and probably at the start of each journey). The whole point of that kind of rock garden is that it is meant to break down. So even in static locations, they'll do it everyday. For one that size, it would only take a minute.
 
squizzler

squizzler

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I had in fact known that they rake such gardens everyday - to do so is symbolic of constant renewal if I remember correctly - but assumed on the train they would have to cheat:)
 
Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun

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squizzler said:
I had in fact known that they rake such gardens everyday - to do so is symbolic of constant renewal if I remember correctly - but assumed on the train they would have to cheat:)
Click to expand...
Maybe they use magnetic sand instead of normal sand.
 
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STEVIEBOY1

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Midnight Sun said:
The nearest thing that I think we had on the UK railways would be the Southern Railway Bulleid Tavern Car. Which was laidout like an old English Pub inside.
this-novel-and-controversial-design-originated-on-the-southern-the-picture-id90748448
Click to expand...


That looks amazing, never seen anything like that before, what routes would these carriages have run?
 
mallard

mallard

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STEVIEBOY1 said:
That looks amazing, never seen anything like that before, what routes would these carriages have run?
Click to expand...

Largely the West of England and Bournemouth lines apparently. I do like the quote attributed to then Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, James Callaghan regarding these carriages; "nobody likes these tavern cars except for the public". Seems attitudes towards "the pax" in the rail industry haven't changed much in 60+ years...
 
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