Friends of the Rail Forum

[We] were waiting at the Maibara station for an Omi Tetsudoo commuter (private electric train line) when we saw a giant puff of steam down the tracks. Of course we don't know what we were looking at, but perhaps it will interest you.... After the engine rushed up to the Maibara station, it puffed for a bit and then backed slowly down the track again. We thought that would be the last we saw of it. Our Omi Testudoo train took us back (one stop, through an elderly tunnel) to Hikone.... here came a small electric engine towing the poor steam engine backwards. They were going surprisingly fast... and steam was still pouring out of the engine as they went (presumably back to a museum or collector's shed somewhere).