Monday, October 5, 2009

Traffic Park

 It reads "Sakura Traffic Park" or the traffic park in the Sakura area
. The most muscular-looking locomotive in Japan's history.
The right side of the train.

You can actually get in to see how the driver's seat looks like.

This railroad signal made me think of the times this locomotive was still used.

Fake signals to let children learn the traffic rules.

One can rent these cart for a dollar per hour.


There is a park in my city where kids can learn the traffic rules. This park is called "Sakura Traffic Park" and it also displays a very old Japanese steam locomotive, D5170.

It was manufactured by Hitachi in September '37. And the total distance this locomotive covered was close to 3 million kilometers, which translates into 4 times the length between the earth and the moon.

As you know "D" is the fourth alphabet, so the "D" in D5170 means the locomotive is a 4-wheel drive. People used to pay attention to how fast it ran, but this D5170 had excellence in its towing force and was used for towing freight trains. In comparison a locomotive whose name starts with the third alphabet "C" was a 3-wheel drive and towed passenger cars, which required less power.

I think among retired Japanese trains this D5170 is the most popular among the Japanese kids and railroad buffs.