Heritage route
SL Banetsu Monogatari
Niitsu → Aizu-Wakamatsu · Japan
C57 180 — “the Lady” — hauls seven retro coaches up the Agano river gorge from Niitsu to castle-town Aizu-Wakamatsu, one of Japan’s last full-size mainline steam runs.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 17425406 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 4 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: JR East — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the SL Banetsu Monogatari?
The SL Banetsu Monogatari runs 111 km from Niitsu to Aizu-Wakamatsu.
How long does the SL Banetsu Monogatari take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 3 h 30 min for the 111 km. That is an average of 32 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 65 km/h.
Who runs the SL Banetsu Monogatari?
JR East, with C57 180 + 12 series.
How old is the SL Banetsu Monogatari?
The line has been in service since 1999. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More heritage routes
- Durango & Silverton
1882 gold-rush narrow gauge: steam-hauled ever since, on the Highline ledge blasted 120 m above the Animas River gorge.
Wikipedia ↗ - La Trochita
Theroux’s Old Patagonian Express: 750 mm gauge, 1922 steam locomotives and wood-stove-heated wooden coaches across the steppe.
Wikipedia ↗ - Sagano Scenic Railway
A retired JR alignment above the Hozugawa rapids: twenty-five slow minutes of maples and gorge that the modern main line skips through tunnels.
Wikipedia ↗ - SL Gunma
Restored D51 498 “Degoichi” and C61 20 haul retro coaches up the Joetsu Line on weekends: steam echoing off the Tone gorge under Tanigawa’s wall.
Wikipedia (JA) ↗
More train routes in Japan.