ELECTRIC TRAINS AT YOKOHAMA TERMINAL; BREWERY; VINTAGE LOCOMOTIVE SMOKING, STARTING, PULLING TRAIN.




Initials LD/VS/AE/PS



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Background: IN SPITE OF SUPER-EXPRESS RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, JAPANESE "BUFFS" OF ALL AGES STILL LOVE AN OLD LOCOMOTIVE- AND SUCH A ONE, THE 80-YEAR-OLD "KRAUS, IS BEING OPERATED AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION FOR RIDES IN THE GROUNDS OF A BREWERY AT NAMAMUGI, NEAR YOKOHAMA CITY.

JAPAN'S RAILWAYS HAVE BEEN ELECTRIFIED FOR MANY YEARS - AND ITS EXPRESS TRAINS TRAVEL AT SPEEDS UP TO 180 MILE PER HOUR, (290 K.P.H.) ON THE NATIONAL SUPER-EXPRESS NETWORK WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY LINK TOKYO TO THE MOST DISTANT CORNERS OF THE COUNTRY'S FOUR MAIN ISLANDS IN A MATTER OF FEW HOURS. THE SYSTEM, STARTED IN 1964, IS EXPECTED TO BE FULLY COMPLETED BY 1984.

THE "KRAUS", BUILT IN MUNICH, GERMANY, IN 1889, ARRIVED NEW IN JAPAN WHERE IT WENT INTO SERVICE ON KYUSHU ISLAND PULLING A PASSENGER TRAIN. THEN, AS ELECTRIFICATION TOOK OVER ON THE PASSENGER ROUTES, THE KRAUS WENT NORTH TO HOKKAIDO TO PULL COAL-FREIGHT CARS. BUT, WITH THE DECLINE OF THE COAL INDUSTRY, IT ONCE AGAIN BECAME OBSOLETE - AND WAS PUT UP FOR AUCTION.

A COLLECTOR PAID 6,150,000 YEN (ABOUT 7,500 POUNDS STERLING OR 18,000 DOLLARS) TO SAVE KRAUS FROM THE SCRAP HEAP - BUT KRAUS' SIZE BECAME A PROBLEM AND THE OWNER DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT UNTIL THE BEER COMPANY AT NAMANUGI OFFERED ITS GROUNDS.

IN SPITE OF ITS AGE, THE 18-TON LOCOMOTIVE WAS STILL FULLY OPERATIONAL, AND THE BREWERY BROUGHT IN ONE OF THE ENGINEERS WHO HAD RUN IT IN THE LAST MONTHS AT THE COAL-MINE TO KEEP IT GOING. TODAY, WITH YOSHIO NAGAMACHI AT THE THROTTLE, KRAUS IS A GREAT FAVOURITE FOR THE YOUNG AND OLD FANS OF STEAM ENGINES WHO COME TO NAMAMUGI FROM ALL OVER JAPAN JUST FOR THE RIDE.