Continued from part 2. I don't have many pictures of the scenery on this section, so let's have a look at the usual rolling stock (having already covered the Joyful trains on the route).
Imabari (145 km) is a town I've already talked about somewhat. There's more I could show, but nothing within immediate reach of the train station. So here's one of the latest trains on the line: the tilting 8600 series, introduced in 2014. It shares the Shiokaze and Ishizuchi limited express services with older 8000 series trains (see below). The round face is peculiar for what's supposed to be a fast machine, but it's supposed to evoke the days of steam engines.
It uses pneumatic suspension for its tilt, which strikes me as odd given the U-turn JR Shikoku made on its tilting Diesel trains. I can only guess that the profile of the Yosan line is a good fit for this system, whereas other lines are not.
Rounding the North-West cape of Shikoku where the Imabari Shipyards are located, we reach Namikata (152 km). Actually, I say that, but the photos are actually from a train going to Imabari, so we're working backwards... Anyway, much of the Yosan line is single-tracked, and double-tracked only in stations, meaning a lot of waiting happens, even for express trains. The waits are even longer in local trains like the 7000 series pictured (and the one from which the picture is taken), as they also wait for express trains to overtake them.
Kikuma (166 km), and another wait as a swish 8000 series tilting express train races through in the other direction. Time for some stats: the Yosan line is 194 km long between Takamatsu and Matsuyama, the capitals of Kagawa and Ehime prefectures - the name "Yosan" comes from the old province names, Sanuki and Iyo, but "San'yo" would be ill-advised, as there is also a San'yô line from Kôbe to Shimonoseki (san'yô meaning the South face of a mountain range). The Ishizuchi limited express does the trip in 2 hrs 30 minutes, with an average speed of 77 km/h; you're looking at nearly 5 hours by local train, with more waits, and changes at Kan'on-ji and Iyo-Saijô.
At Matsuyama (194 km), the line splits. The old route, non-electrified and using KiHa 54 Diesel railcars, follows the coast and serves the famous scenic seaside station of Shimonada. I considered going there, but the frequency is pants: one train every 2 hours, which wouldn't be so bad if there was something to do at Shimonada other than wait for the next train. I found a window in the timetable where I could get a return trip 45 minutes after arriving, but even then, in the heat of summer, the three-hour total round trip from Matsuyama (bear in mind my guest house was at Imabari!) didn't feel worth it. I encountered the same dilemma later in the trip with the Tarumi line - spectacular as it may be, getting there with the train is, ironically, not very inviting.
So we will be using the newer, quicker Uchiko branch to reach the final segment of the Yosan line, from Ôzu to Uwajima, in the last installment of the mini-series.
Prompt #4:
Original Fiction: Broken Mirrors Series
Rating: E
Warnings: N/A
Characters: Xiong Liu, Kikuma Liu, Seyoung Liu, Hinata Liu, Lin Liu, Leon Liu
Ships: N/A
Xiong smiled softly at the small girl curled in his lap as she slept. He had stopped reading the story to her a few minutes before when he was interrupted by the small snore that escaped her. He stifled a chuckle as he slowly transferred her to his bed, she hadn’t even gotten halfway through the book.
“What happened to not being tired, my little stone sleeper?”
He wasn’t expecting an answer as he gently placed his blanket over her and made his way out of the room, she could sleep through anything.
“You can’t keep her.”
Xiong jumped at the sudden voice behind him before glaring at the familiar guest, “I was unaware you were stopping by, Kiku. If you had informed me, I could have had tea ready, or a meal.”
Kikuma rolled his eyes as he walked toward the kitchen, “I wasn’t aware I needed to call. And my name is Kikuma, if you keep forgetting I may start believing you are not aging gracefully.”
“Disrespectful little -”
“He’s not wrong Xiong, you can’t keep the kid.”
Xiong’s gaze shifted to the doorway to see his eldest son leaning against it, as if he hadn’t been away from home for nearly four decades.
“Seyoung? What are you doing here?”
Seyoung sighed as he walked over to the counter, setting up a tray for tea, “Leon called, he was worried about you when you took in the stray.”
Kikuma and Xiong both shot a glare at the younger man.
Taking a cup from the tray, Kikuma glanced away from his surrogate family, “Seyoung, she is a child, not an animal.”
“She has no place to call home, I’m not letting her waste away in the village when I can do something about it.”
Xiong’s fist clenched as Seyoung rolled his eyes, “And she will grow and die like all the rest. You can’t keep torturing yourself by taking these strays in. We don’t belong here and they aren’t like us.”
Kikuma was quick to interrupt before Xiong could argue, “I don’t agree with his word choice, but he isn’t wrong. She will grow and die like the rest of the people here, she isn’t like us. You can’t keep taking these kids on and watching them die. You are torturing yourself.”
Xiong glared at the two, he knew they weren’t wrong, but they weren’t right either.
“She has no one. What if she wants to stay? Do you expect me to toss her to the streets?”
“She will stay, she will become one of us. She said she wants to stay with us.”
The three older men stiffened as they turned to see Hinata, clutching the small girl beside her. Her dark brown glare left no room for arguing.
“She’s my little sister now, so you old bats can argue all you want, we’re keeping Lin. She’s a Liu now and until she decides to die.”
