the Keifuku Randen tram

You should know by now that I'm nuts for trains. And not just the kind that go 200 miles per hour, either. I'm especially fond of old-fashioned trains (again, that should have been a no-brainer; look at my obsession with old-school warbirds). This not only includes steam engines but also trams and trolley cars. One of the only things that would attract me to San Francisco (besides the seafood and driving down Lombard Street) would be a free year-long pass on the cable cars.

Well, boy—was I in luck. My chosen route across Kyoto to the Golden Pavilion of Kinkaku-ji involved me taking the Keifuku Randen Line. I assumed that this would be an actual train, similar to the one that had conveyed me to Arashiyama on the Hankyu lines.

I was wrong. It was the cutest little purple trolley-car you ever did see: 

The charm didn't stop at the exterior, either. I got in and it was everything a little boy dreams about when he's a kid: a jangling bell, rattling wheels, wood detailing, a uniformed conductor, and a throttle with a brass knob that made a cranking, dinging noise when he turned it.

And the conductor was even round and jolly-looking. What more could you ask for?

I recorded a minute-long video of the ride, but Blogger's being stupid and won't let me upload it. So you'll just have to go to Kyoto and ride the damn thing yourself, I guess.

The stuff going by the windows was entrancing, too: rows of neat houses, tiny alleyways (which nonetheless had little safety gates with yellow and black stripes, no matter how small), shops, streets, and cars and bicycles and people going to and fro. The trees dipped so close to the tracks that I'd swear we brushed a few branches aside. Not for the first time, I figured I'd come to Japan during the wrong season. Had it been spring we would have been making our way through a corridor of exploding cherry blossoms.

Like this (not my photo):

From Wikimedia Commons

All too soon, the ride was over. We'd arrived at Kitano-Hakubaicho Station, a short bus journey from my next destination: KINKAKU-JI.

But that's a tale for another day. I just wanted you to geek out with me about trams, particularly Kyoto's. (I'll have more for you when we get to Kumamoto, just you wait.)

As always, stay tuned...