Pieced together a route from Toyama to Niigata today, mainly on local trains. Given the infrequent local service in depopulating areas, I took short Shinkansen rides at the start and end so I’d arrive in Niigata today. Here, I’m contemplating the narrow-gauge tracks (3’6″). British engineer Edmund Morel recommended this gauge in 1870 to reduce costs in this mountainous country.
