Saitama

Travel

Chichibu Railway “SL Paleo Express” will start operation in February 2021!

2020.12.25

Chichibu Railway Co., Ltd. will start operating SL Paleo Express from February 2021. All cars operate as reserved seats, and you can use the “Chichibu Railway SL Reservation System” service, which allows you to select your desired seat when making a reservation in advance.

2021 "SL Paleo Express" operation

Operating period: A total of 105 days, mainly on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from February 13th (Sat) to December 5th (Sun), 2021
Service section: Chichibu Railway Kumagaya Station-Mitsumineguchi Station one round trip a day (all reserved seats)
How to get on: In addition to the regular ticket for the boarding section, “SL reserved seat ticket 740 yen” is required separately
Reservation method: Advance reservation from “Chichibu Railway SL Reservation System”
(From 1 month before the operation date to 30 minutes before departure)
* February 13th and February 14th service starts from 10:00 on January 15th (Friday)
* Reservations will be closed as soon as the seats are full each day.
Contact: Chichibu Railway Co., Ltd. Transportation Division 048-580-6363 (9: 00-17: 00)
* For inquiries regarding SL group use (15 people or more), please contact us.
Chichibu Railway SL Group Section 048-523-3317 (Weekdays 9: 00-17: 00)

Due to the general inspection of the steam locomotive “C58363” that drives SL Paleo Express, there was no SL operation in 2020, so it will be the first SL operation in about 1 year and 2 months.

Turntable Park
Turntable Park

At the terminal Mitsumineguchi Station “SL Turntable Park”, you can observe the turntable work that rotates the direction of the steam locomotive.

SL Paleo Express
The C58363 (Shigohachi Sanrokusan) was a steam locomotive manufactured by Kawasaki on February 19, 1944, and was active mainly in the Tohoku region during its active career.

After retiring from active duty in 1972, he spent the rest of his life in the schoolyard of Fukiage Municipal Fukiage Elementary School (currently Fukiage Elementary School in Konosu City), but at the Saitama Expo held in March 1988, “SL service!” The voice was raised, and C58363 was selected as the major role. Approximately 15 years after retirement, it has been revived as the “SL Paleo Express” that runs on Chichibu Road, and is now active as a steam locomotive that is indispensable for sightseeing in Chichibu Road.

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