Friday 18 October 2013

Street Car and Whirling Wave in Ehime Prefecture

 Electric car, type MoHa 50 (1st batch) leaves Ookaido Stop on the Shinai Line, Iyo Railway
 
Following the classic Botchan train, I am going to show you a standard street car on the Matsuyama City Line. Look at the top photo. It is an electric car type MoHa 50 of Iyo Railway. Type 50 was manufactured from 1951 to 1965 by Naniwa Koki and Teikoku Sharyo. Although this group of street cars is being replaced by the new tram, type MoHa 2100, it is still one of the main fleet on the Shinai (Matsuyama City) Line.

The electric car unit number 57, which I show you in the top photo, belongs to the first manufactured group of the type 50. The rounded high roof with a large single front light is nostalgic and is my favorite. The roof top air conditioners are bit of an eyesore, but we have no alternative to maintain a comfortable cabin condition in the hot summer.

In the meantime, I am going to show you a photogenic spot in Ehime Prefecture. Look at the following photo. It is a whirling wave in Kurushima Channel, offshore Imabari City. This place is famous for its very fast tidal current due to a special topographic situation. The maximum speed is 10 knots/hour (11.5MPH). We can observe the fast current with whirling waves on a special sightseeing boat.

As you may know, "keep right" is a global rule for marine traffic; however, Kurushima Channel is the one place in the world, where "keep left" is applied depending on tidal conditions.
 
Whirling wave is observed in Kurushima Channel, Seto Inland Sea