Friday 2 November 2012

Revisit to Burningbush Hill on the Minato Line


Rail car Miki 300-103 approaches Ajigaura Station on the Minato Line, Hitachinaka Kaihin Railway
 
The autumn color of burningbush is my favorite of the season. Just as last year, I visited Burningbush Hill in Ibaraki Prefecture. As I mentioned in my previous article (see my blog on October 10th, 2011), burningbush produces many small flowers in August. Then, in October, it turns a glowing red. It's very impressive as a signal of the coming of autumn. This year, I visited the hill in the late stage of its autumn color so I could view a different aspect of the burningbush autumn leaves. They were scarlet to reddish brown colored.

To get to this gorgeous spot, I took a local railway, the Minato Line of Hitachi Kaihin Railway from Katsuta Station on the JR East Joban Line. Connecting Katsuta and Ajigaura, there are 9 stations over a total operating length of 14.3km. It is single track and non-electrified wholly within the route.

This time I got on rail car number "Miki 300-103". The 300-103 was introduced in 1998 by Miki Railway in Hyogo Prefecture, the western part of Japan. Unfortunately, this railway was closed in 2008, as the number of passengers on the trains had declined. Then, this rail car was moved to Hitachinaka Kaihin Railway in 2009. Since then, the rail car Miki 300-103 has been operated on the Minato Line, maintaining the same color and unit number.

I hope that the sceneries of Burningbush Hill and the Minato Line won't change long into the future, either.


In the meantime, I have linked to the newly-opened blog, "Greek railways - Trainspotting in Greece since 2008 ". Please enjoy informative railway topics and beautiful sceneries in Greece.

Burningbush Hill in Hitachinaka City near Ajigaura Station on the Minato Line