A bizarre slow trip through the middle of Kyushu

Coming from the Tokyo area, I was initially surprised as to how infrequent the train system is in Kyushu (excluding the newly opened Shinkansen track of course). That being said, most people use the train to move from city to city, and hence take the more expensive "limited express" models. If you're like me, and are using the Seishun 18 Kippu, then getting from Hakata, Fukuoka to Kagoshima proved to be a bit of a challenge.

2 - 4 car trains were the norm!

At only 300km, Kyushu doesn't seem that big, and with only 5 transfers listed on my Hyperdia guide, it looks easy. Then you realize that you're traveling from 7:10 to 17:46!

Hakata 7:10 -> 9:51 Kumamoto 10:10 -> 10:46 Yatsuhiro 11:09 -> 12:22 Hitoyoshi 13:21 -> 14:47 Yoshimatsu 15:45 -> 16:37 Hayato 17:05 -> 17:46 Kagoshima

Not our train, but steam train??? Only in Kyushu.

Despite the long periods of waiting after Kumamoto, the reason it takes so long is due to the leg between Hitoyoshi and Yoshimatsu. Upon arriving at the platform we saw what appeared to be an old "classic" train, with box seats, curtains, a bar, and lots of dark wood. Turns out that this was the "local" train over the mountains; the catch is you had to pay 500 yen extra for a seat (we stood!)
The train is more of a tourist train, and stopped at 3 stations while going through the mountains so people could stop and take pictures of the view....and the train as well.

It was fun, but not the easiest or fastest way to get there in terms of local trains.

The ride was worth it. Sakurajima!!
We got around Kagoshima by rental car ;)