Oigawa Railway

The Oigawa Railway runs about forty kilometres up the Oi valley from Kanaya through tea plantations and gorge, and it was the first private railway in Japan to restore regular steam operation, in 1976, when the national railways had just ended it. Several locomotives run scheduled services with old rolling stock, some with attendants who sell snacks and lead singing. The Ikawa line beyond Senzu is the unusual part: it includes the only rack-and-pinion section on any Japanese railway, on a gradient of ninety per thousand, and it serves a station, Okuoikojo, on a spit in a turquoise reservoir with no road access at all. The company also holds the Japanese licence for Thomas the Tank Engine and runs a locomotive rebuilt in that livery through a season each year, for which tickets are allocated by ballot months ahead.

What you actually see

• Daily steam - the first private line in Japan to restore regular steam operation, in 1976.
• A rack section - the only rack-and-pinion railway in Japan, on the Ikawa line.
• Okuoikojo - a station on a spit in a reservoir with no road access.
• Thomas trains - a licensed rebuild running a season, with tickets balloted.

When to go

All year for steam; the Thomas season runs summer into autumn. A day.

Honest expectations

Steam services carry a supplement and are not on every departure - check the timetable. Thomas tickets are balloted months ahead and are hard to get. Typhoon damage has closed sections of the Ikawa line for long periods. The valley is remote and services are infrequent.

Nearby

Sumata Gorge and its suspension bridge are upstream from Senzu.