EDITORIALS
What kind of Sapporo's Sasara train runs when it snows? When do they run?
Sapporo's sasara trains, which start running when it snows, are one of the typical winter scenes. But what kind of train is this train, which is almost unfamiliar to people outside of Hokkaido?
Sasara Train is a special snow-removal vehicle equipped with bundles of bamboo sasara
Bundles of bamboo sasara attached to the lower part of the front and rear of the train
Sasara trains are used to remove snow from the track on which the streetcars run. Customers are not allowed to board the train, but the driver and a staff member who operates the snowplow, ride on the train exclusively for snow removal.
By the way, what do you think a "sasara" is? A sasara is a bamboo brush. It is the same kind of brush that is used to clean dirt stuck on pots and pans with kitchen utensils. Bamboo is resilient, so it can bounce snow and ice off the track without damaging the rails.
Snow removal methods unchanged since the Taisho era
Lower part of a sasara train. The sasara is made of madake bamboo from the Tohoku region
Although it may seem a bit analog, this method of snow removal has not changed much over the past 100 years. The sasara train was introduced in the late Taisho period (1912-1926). It was inspired by a bamboo tawashi (sasara) used in the kitchen. Since then, other snow removal methods have been tried, but in the end, they settled on sasara as the best method, and the basic structure of the train is largely the same today as it was when it was created in the Taisho era.
Each sasara train has a total of 800 bundles of sasara per car, front and rear.
I heard that the installation of the sashes is all done by hand.
The saras are used heavily after many runs, so they are usually replaced two or three times a season. Especially in recent years, there has been a lot of sticky snow instead of powder snow, which puts more load on the sarsara and causes it to deteriorate faster, resulting in more frequent replacements.
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