A weekend getaway can mean packing the family into the car and hitting road for destination away from the every day. As you drive through the countryside trains running parallel occasionally shoot by- the local commuter with school children and salarymen, the long-haul expresses or even the Shinkansen. Then there’s a hoarse whistle and an archaic black engine trailing clouds of smoke passes you by.

SL Yamaguchi

The sight of steam-powered trains running down the tracks has mostly been consigned to the past but in Japan about ten train lines still run steam engines to quiet rural getaways creating a chance to enjoy the countryside and see some of Japan’s natural and nostalgic sights along the way while having fun on a rare breed of transportation. Three SLs are just a few hours from U.S. military installations country-wide, SL Hitoyoshi, SL Yamaguchi and SL Oigawa.

They’re all different in what they have to offer and how they do it so we’re going to see which one is the best SL. To do so we’ll compare the steam engines themselves, the qualities and amenities of their passenger cars and services, the route and stops, and their destinations.

The whistle is blowing and the conductor is ringing her hand bell so let’s get onboard this SL Battle Royale!

SL Oigawa

Best Steam Engine

SL Hitoyoshi’s 8620-series engine No. 58654 is the oldest on this list. Manufactured in 1922, it’s been running passenger around Kyushu for almost a century and is an example of Japan’s first domestically designed and mass-produced passenger train engine. Fitting, as it’s also the most handsome with its engine polished to shine and brass fittings. Age does not go before beauty, they go hand in hand.

SL Hitoyoshi’s 8620

SL Yamaguchi runs two different engines from the 1930s, C57 1 and D51 299. Both are slightly longer and beefier in build than SL Hitoyoshi but clearly an evolution for pulling bigger loads further with the C57 designed for hauling passengers and the D51 for hauling freight. I rode the D51, popularly called a ‘degoichi’ (literally “D-5-1” in Japanese) by rail fans and was the most mass-produced Japanese steam engine of all time. These models were modern workhorses during World War II and these two examples are beautifully maintained.

If you want to ride a specific engine, SL Yamaguchi’s website shows which engine runs on which days so you’re guaranteed to get what you want.

SL Yamaguchi’s D51

SL Oigawa is a bit different as they run four different engines on a rotating basis. The one I rode, C10 8, was built in 1930 and the class was the first produced by Japan Government Railways after nationalization. Not as large or impressive as the SL Yamaguchi engines or handsome as SL Hitoyoshi, it shows a lot more wear than the rest likely because SL Oigawa runs almost every day. Unlike SL Yamaguchi there’s no announced engine running on any particular day so you get what you get. Riding on two consecutive days I got C10 8 twice.

SL Oigawa’s C10

WINNER: Tie

Steam engines are like cherry blossoms, they’re all winners because they’re all steam engines.

Best Passenger Cars

SL Hitoyoshi has custom-made sightseeing cars designed with modern comfort and nostalgic touches. Its café car has locally produced food and drink from Kumamoto beer and sochu to non-alcoholic banpeiyu cider and chestnut strips. (Banpeiyu is a citrus unique to Japan that grows in Kumamoto.) The windows are not to be opened and the scent of smoke is only slightly noticeable, which is kind of a letdown. The train has an enclosed observation car at both ends for taking in the countryside.

The conductors were all energetic young women who shared information about the places we passed in the observation car and since I didn’t speak Japanese one gave me an English map with explanations and tried to help me. When herding passengers back aboard after stops she rang a large hand bell like had been done by conductors in the past.

SL Hitoyoshi

SL Yamaguchi takes a different tack by reproducing in detail classic passenger cars of the 1920s and 1930s. Some modern touches have been added such as tables and a USB outlet between passenger sets, but overall it feels right. Like SL Hitoyoshi the café car also local food and drink. It also sported a game room which passengers picked via seat number lottery are invited to play. I got to try my hand at virtual coal shoveling, “tossing” virtual coal with a shovel into the furnace. The observation car also has an open platform which I preferred because I could feel the wind rushing by and could lean around the corner when taking pictures.

Unlike Hitoyoshi you can open all the windows and take in all the smoke you desire, which going through tunnels is a lot. The degoichi is as smoky as a middle-aged salaryman. Passengers can also request certain cars such as the 1927 or 1939 third class or 1938 art deco “first class” cars. (All tickets cost the same, it’s only styled after a first class car.) I requested the 1927 car like the one ridden in “In This Corner of the World.”

SL Yamaguchi (Reproduction 1927 Oha 31- In This Corner of the World Car)

SL Yamaguchi (Reproduction 1939 Oha 35)

SL Oigawa is the only one which exclusively uses original passenger cars from the 1930s and 40s. This is the real, no-frills deal. You open the windows wide for air conditioning and food only comes from a lady rolling a cart down the aisle. No observation car though as this steam engine is also a cheater- it has an electric engine pushing from behind, which is probably why it produces so much less smoke than SL Yamaguchi.

Occasionally conductor will also walk through and play harmonica to amuse passengers.

SL Oigawa (Real Oha 35 produced between 1939-1945. Accept no substitutes.)

WINNER: SL Oigawa

I came to ride a train like its 1945 and this delivers exactly that experience. Smooth, worn wood everything; low seats designed for a 5’2” Japanese and not a 6’ American, open windows and no modern conveniences whatsoever. This is your great-grandfather’s train ride. (But SL Yamaguchi comes a very close second.)

SL Oigawa (Oha 35)

Most Scenic Route

SL Hitoyoshi’s 2 hour ride mostly follows the fast-moving Kuma River through a green mountain valley in scenery that would be at home in America’s Appalachian Mountains. It has a few stops including two at tiny stations that have changed little since Meiji was emperor more than a century ago.

SL Hitoyoshi (The Majestic Kuma River flowing through Japan’s Appalachians)

SL Yamaguchi’s 2 hour 10 minute ride has the most comely scenery of idyllic fields and forests. It stops twice long enough to stretch your legs and take pictures of the still steaming train at rest. A nice touch is that the station signs are all old-fashioned meaning the hiragana on the hand painted wooden signs is read right to left. Shin-Yamaguchi’s in particular uses its original name “Oguri Station.”

SL Yamaguchi

SL Oigawa’s 1 hour 19 minute ride mostly follows the Oi River through the southern Japanese Alps. It has one stop at a small century old station, but I didn’t have enough time to go through it and look around.

SL Oigawa (Not as Majestic Oi River)

SL Oigawa (Oi River at its most Majestic)

WINNER: SL Hitoyoshi

SL Oigawa’s scenery is similar to SL Hitoyoshi, but the Oi River changes between being majestic with vivid blue water and being little more than a stream surrounded by a very wide expanse of gravel. SL Hitoyoshi’s Kuma River is Japan’s third fastest and cuts through some countryside that feels like it came from America’s pioneering days. The two old station stops also gave it a leg up. Yamaguchi is a distant third by comparison.

Best Destination

It may be about the journey and not the destination when riding a steam engine, but where you’re going to crash for the night is worth considering. Both Hitoyoshi and Tsuwano (SL Yamaguchi) are rural historic resort towns that are designed to receive tourists but are not over-run with them; they each have a preserved traditional district or buildings, memorable temples and shrines and are connected to historic Japanese figures. For lodging, in addition to standard hotels both have traditional ryokan with long histories of their own.

SL Hitoyoshi (Aoi Aso-jinga in Hitoyoshi)

SL Yamaguchi (Tsuwano’s Little Kyoto)

Senzu (SL Oigawa) is a very small mountain town with hostels, small inns and minpaku, which are like bed and breakfasts. There’s not much to see in town, unless you love Thomas the Tank Engine, but it’s the jumping off point for hiking and taking the local vintage sightseeing trains further up river, past the dam where the river is still full and beautiful.

SL Oigawa (Senzu Station)

WINNER: Tie (SL Hitoyoshi and SL Yamaguchi)

After reviewing all of this there is no clear winner. All have their good points that make them worth riding and their locales worth exploring; as well as their relative downsides. The best thing to do would be to experience them all and decide for yourself which is Japan’s greatest steam train.

If I could create my perfect SL ride it would be SL Yamaguchi’s C57 1 to Hitoyoshi and SL Hitoyoshi’s No. 58654 on the way back, pulling SL Oigawa’s passenger cars through Kumamoto’s captivating countryside with SL Hitoyoshi’s energetic staff onboard.

You can reserve SL Hitoyoshi tickets at any JR West Station in person. Tickets cannot be purchased online. SL Hitoyoshi departs from Kumamoto Station, which is 2.5 hours by car from Sasebo.

https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/train/sl.html

For SL Yamaguchi, reservations can be made in person at any JR West Station. I recommend booking early because seats can go fast, especially in the “first class” car. All tickets are the same price but that car just has added demand. You can request whichever car you want to ride in.  The schedule can be found at the website, which also shows seat availability. SL Yamaguchi departs from Shin-Yamaguchi Station, which is 1.5 hours by car from Iwakuni.

http://www.c571.jp/

SL Oigawa is independently run by Oigawa Railways of Shizuoka Prefecture.  Booking can be done online by visiting their website below and filling in the application form. SL Oigawa runs almost every day of the year thanks to their volume of rolling stock. It departs from the non-JR Shin-Kanaya Station, which can be reached by car or by taking a bus or train from the JR Kanaya Station. (Oigawa’s line to Shin-Kanaya Station is outside of JR Kanaya Station.) Shimada City (Kanaya Station) is about 3 hours from Yokosuka.

http://oigawa-railway.co.jp/en/sl.html

SL Hitoyoshi