By Minoru Shinozaki

My final visit to Yokokawa on the Shinetsu Mainline was just one month before the closure of the line and opening of the Nagano Shinkansen on 1 October 1997. I was to fly over to the UK on that very day for a year's stay at Oxford and a friend of mine, who has a cottage in Karuizawa, gave a farewell party for me there. For Tokyoites the name of Karuizawa sounds special as it promises comfortable days in a highland setting away from hot and humid metropolitan summer. To get there by train, we got on special express "Asama" at Ueno, which took us to Yokokawa in one hour and a half.

The train would make a 4-minute stop at Yokokawa, where a pair of banking EF63s were coupled up to the Ueno-end of the train. EF63s were designed specially for Usui Pass, which lied between Yokokawa and Karuizawa and had a gradient of 6.7% at its steepest, and introduced in 1963 when the double track line replaced the even steeper old line which used Abt system. 25 of them had been produced and and allocated to Yokokawa depot and 22 survived to the final days. But Yokokawa was also famous for "Kamameshi" (a railway lunch cooked and served in a specially made china pot), so whether to observe the coupling or to buy a Kamameshi was always a big problem for me. Anyway, a 13-minute ride, during which the train ascended Usui Pass through tunnels and across bridges, took us finally to Karuizawa. This was the itinerary from Ueno to Karuizawa until the autumn 1997.

At that time I had no time to take pictures except a shot or two of the bankers liberated at Karuizawa. My final photographing visit to Yoko-Karu (short for Yokokawa-Karuizawa section) had been about one year before, in the late autumn of 1996. A friend of my wife's invited us to her cottage at Shinano-Oiwake (one stop north of Karuizawa) in the early November and I decided to devote two days to photographing the trains for it were to be my final occasion to shoot EF63s in autumnal tints. Although the first day (November 2nd) was rainy, I spent all the afternoon at the ruin of Maruyama Substation built for the Abt system and disused since the closure of the old line. At sunset I went back to Yokokawa station and took nighttime pictures of the depot. The scene of the depot in the dark was especially impressive in the evening as everything was wet with rain and reflected light. But the next day was very fine and the hills and valleys were beautiful in autumnal colour. I spent the whole morning at the most popular spot, where the lines ran side-by-side with the disused brick bridge or Megane Bashi. I climbed the steep hill above the national route with difficulty and shoot trains on the new bridge just beyond the old one, on which there were many photographers. After lunch I went to Maruyama Substation again. Photographers lined up the track but I found a place to shoot from at last. I spent my final day on Yoko-Karu lineside in the soft autumnal sunlight, enjoying the sights of holiday specials as it was a national holiday.

Some three years have past, and I visited Yokokawa with the members of JRS on 13 June this year. Although the weather was fine and many people enjoyed attractions of the Railway Park, the scene of the pass without railway was rather saddening to me.

A descending train is seen through the arch of the Usui bashi (bridge). The old Abt rack railway line used to run on this impressive viaduct.	Ueno/Tokyo bound limited express Asama descends along the 6.7% gradient behind banking locomotives.	The banking engines (EF63s) slowly descend along a sweeping curve protecting the EMU train behind with its safety braking capability. Type EF63 was specially designed for the usage on this steeply grading section.
The EF632 is shunting (switching) to the depot at Yokokawa, finishing its banking work for limited express Asama.	A night sight of Yokokawa engine depot.	Coupling work of banking engines continues even at night at Yokokawa.
The EF632 stands by at the siding for the next banking duty. The mountain behind is the symbol of Yokokawa. Taken by Hiroshi Naito in July 1997.	Yokokawa engine depot viewed from Yokokawa station. The depot was dedicated to banking work with EF63s allocated. Taken by Hiroshi Naito in July 1997.	Asama is leaving Yokokawa for Ueno/Tokyo. The cab car is type 189, which is numbered in the 500s with its special function to couple a banking locomotive. Taken by Hiroshi Naito in July 1997.

The photos above were taken by Minoru Shinozaki in Octover 1997 unless specified.