Heritage route
SL Paleo Express
Kumagaya → Mitsumineguchi · Japan
View on the map →Wikipedia (JA) ↗
The closest steam to Tokyo: wartime C58 363 huffs four retro coaches from Kumagaya into the Chichibu hills past Nagatoro’s rock terraces — running since 1988.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 1926309 — 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 3 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Chichibu Railway — 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 Paleo Express?
The SL Paleo Express runs 57 km from Kumagaya to Mitsumineguchi.
How long does the SL Paleo Express take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 2 h 39 min for the 57 km. That is an average of 22 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 60 km/h.
Who runs the SL Paleo Express?
Chichibu Railway, with C58 363 + 12 series.
How old is the SL Paleo Express?
The line has been in service since 1988. 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.