I am interested in identification of old and new equipment in Japan. The JR East site, in English,
includes a 1999 JR East Train Index, with many pages of train
descriptions and photos in the categories of Shinkansen, Limited
Express, Conventional and Joyful Trains. Searching can be done by name
or model number. Want to look up a train mentioned in the BULLET IN or
find details on a train you spotted? If it ran in East Japan, you may
find it here.
JR West's site is
under construction. It includes some interesting bits about the Kansai
area and 12 interesting links. The most interesting link is to the
Modern Transportation Museum (Osaka) where there is a railway archive
on the site. It includes the steam locomotives at Umekoji Locomotive Museum in Kyoto.
There is no active link from the Japan Railways Group site to the
Central (Tokai) Railway of Japan website, however, I picked up a link
to this site and was pleased to find English text.
As one might guess from its name, this company's most prominent
activity is the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin Osaka. The 1999
Data Book on this site includes interesting information about that line
and its trains.
I don't know how I first found Dave's Rail Pages,
but I keep returning to this site. This private site, run by Dave
Gossett, has four major divisions: Shinkansen, Trains around Tokyo,
Trains around Kyushu and Differences in British and American rail
terminology. The secret of the site is Dave's apparent love for the
bullet trains. Most of the activity is on the Shinkansen part of this
site. That's where you'll also find a number of links to other
interesting sites.
The conductor of the Japanese Railways Page
also appreciates the Shinkansen for its speed and convenience, but
points out the cost and viewing benefits of other trains. A map and
text introduce over 35 scenic routes, including secondary lines some of
which may not operate for many more years.
Finally, don't miss the Japanese Railway Society
site. There's lot's of interesting material there. I especially enjoy
the summary of steam operations in Japan and the description of
locomotives at the Umekoji Locomotive Museum in Kyoto, which adds to
the official information on the Modern Transportation Museum site,
described above.
If you are looking for a wider range of railroad sources on the Internet, try these three sites. Railserve lists over 4,000 sites in 29 categories: real or model, industry organization or historical group, freight or passenger, etc. TrainWeb
is a webring of over 200 railroad related websites. Any of the sites
will give you access to the site on either side in the ring, or to the RailSearch homepage.
It makes the claim to be building the largest rail-related, searchable
database on the Internet. I got 485 hits by searching for "Japan."
RailSearch claims to provide "best matches first." My search listed the
JRS homepage first!