Two of Japan's greatest train services come to and end.

Yesterday marked the last run of the 'Twilight Express' and from March 14th the 'Hokutosei' (Blue Train) will cease running.
I guess if you have the Plarail sets of these trains, you might want to hang on to them.
The last time I saw scenes like this it the for the 'Deltic Farewell' at kings Cross.    

thanks for the info. wonder what will happen to the trains now. scrap or preservation? i like to think they would preserve them, but then you cant save everything!

Well all great things must come to an end.

I've always wanted a twilight express set, they are just always a lot of money!!

[Super]

Was the Twilight Express a single train or a series, more than one, train?

Was the Twilight Express a single train or a series, more than one, train?

not sure what you mean by single train or series? can you explain?

[Super]

Just one engine made and however many color matching coaches it pulled.

Just one engine made and however many color matching coaches it pulled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_Express

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Here is its 2017 replacement which I am sure you are already familiar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_Express_Mizukaze

[Super]

Oh, now that explains what the Mizukaze replaces, thanks Geris, I didn't connect the dots with that. Big difference as the Mizukaze is a hybrid diesel and should be able to go where no wires are. Hmm, wonder if there are going to be more than one Mizukaze? The Wiki page for the retiring Twilight Express is kind of inconclusive as t0 how many there might be. In the upper right it sounds like only one but further down its lists the Route and the different lines. I also wonder, that if the Mizukaze is the replacement for the Twilight Express, why retire it in 2015 when the Mizukaze won't start service for 2 years in the spring of 2017. Two years without luxury Sleeper cars...Oh my.

Over the years the set of coaches used for this train has been updated and by 2014 there were nearly enough to make up three complete sets. I think only one set ran at a time but in busy periods maybe two. The different lines listed is the route it takes as it makes it's way from Osaka (west of Tokyo) to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido.