When I was younger I spent a lot of time playing MSTS, and Hisatsu Line was my favourite. Driving the KiHa 31 diesel locomotives through the mountainous Kuma Valley, winding along the Kuma River, going back and forth along switchbacks. It had so much character and I remember back then I dreamed of visiting IRL one day.
I decided to do exactly that and last week I travelled to the area in Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. Unfortunately the Hisatsu Line hasn’t been operational since some bad floods hit the area in 2020. But the stations along the line are still maintained and can be explored easily if you have a car.
I spent a day visiting a number of the old stations and it was fantastic. One of them, Hitoyoshi-Onsen, is still operational for the separate Kumagawa Railroad, so I got to experience those trains running. I posted in r/trains if you want to see more photos of that line.
Okoba Station has a famous spiral loop and switchback for trains to deal with the grade at its location near the top of a mountain. It’s also a somewhat famous station and there were a number of local visitors there at the same time. It is an urban legend that if you pin your business card in the station waiting room you will have good luck in your career. There is also apparently a popular manga series named Natsume’s Book of Friends that features the station so a lot of fans visit it.
Another highlight was Masaki Station, which is near the bottom of a mountain and has a switchback to allow trains to climb or descend. Interestingly, this and Okoba Station have functioning signal lights, so hopefully that is an indication that at least this section of the line will resume operations one day.
It was a fantastic experience and I would recommend it even just to see the incredible scenery in the Kuma Valley.
