Features

Which do you prefer, retro or modern?

Retro or Modern – Along the Koya Line

The area along Nankai Railway's Koya Line, which connects Namba, the center of Osaka, and Koyasan, a famous World Heritage site, is famous for its rich nature and history. There are many fascinating places where you can travel by train. Let's take a look at some great photos of the past and present along the line.

Factory of Trains

The Chiyoda Factory

This photo shows a detachable cart of the 20000 series Koya, formerly active as a deluxe tourist express, at Tengachaya Factory.

The factory started operation in 1903. This building was built in 1909, and you can see that it was made of bricks by looking at the walls. The factory survived the war and operated for nearly 80 years.

The Chiyoda Factory, where the Tengachaya Factory was relocated, began operations in March 1982. In addition to conducting large-scale vehicle inspections such as general inspections, the annual Nankai Train Festival attracts many visitors and contributes to railway fan services.

Hashimoto Station

This photograph of a bonnet bus that creates a retro atmosphere. This is a picture of the scenery in front of Hashimoto Station taken in the early 1950s. A signboard welcoming tourists to the "Kinokawa Cormorant Fishing" can be seen in the back right of the bus vehicle. It really makes you feel the times.

After that, after the completion of the station building renovation work in 1959, the scenery changed completely due to the maintenance work in front of the station.

Furthermore, in 2011, an overpass with an elevator was completed as part of the Hashimoto Station Barrier-Free Development Project, which was promoted in collaboration with JR West. Our station office, station equipment, etc. have been consolidated on the bridge and reborn as a station that is friendly to all customers.

Where is the cable car ...?

Gokurakubashi station

This is old Gokurakubashi station, the station just in front of Koyasan. Take a look at the right side - suprisingly, the cable car is waiting people inside the passageway!

This picture shows the brand new 3rd cable car in 1964. The cable car that runs through Koyasan now is the 4th cable car, and started running from March, 2019.

Cab-behind-engine bus

Koyasan station

Let us share another black and white retro pic from our library!
This is Koyasan station in the 1950s. Now, the bus station here became very wide, but in the past, as you can see in this picture, it was originally small.
Now, this new modern building welcomes every visitor to Koyasan.