Watarase Keikoku Railway Godo Station Building and Down Platform

A Standard Station of 1912

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Godo Station Building and Down Platform (わたらせ渓谷鐵道神戸駅本屋及び下り線プラットホーム) is a single-storey timber station building and stone down platform of Godo Station opened in 1912 at Godo, Azuma-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 2, 2009 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey timber building roofed partly in tile and partly in sheet metal, with a building area of 81 square metres and a covered crossing and lever house, and a stone platform 134 metres long, registration number 10-0282.

The Ashio Copper Railway

According to Watarase Keikoku Railway, the Ashio copper mine, bought by Furukawa Ichibei in 1877, grew to produce half of Japan's copper, more than horses and a horse tramway could carry, so a railway was built from Kiryu to Ashio. The Ashio Railway opened to Omama in 1911, reached Ashio in December 1912 and was completed to Ashio Honzan in 1914. Nationalised in 1918 as the Ashio Line, it has been run by Watarase Keikoku Railway since 1989.

According to Watarase Keikoku Railway, Godo Station was named Godo with different characters in the Ashio Railway and national railway eras, to avoid confusion with Kobe Station in Hyogo, which is written the same way; it took the local place name when Watarase Keikoku Railway began operating in 1989. The Watarase Keikoku Railway Godo Station Building and Down Platform lies about 7,000 metres south-west of Sori Station (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Godo Station Building and Down Platform was registered as a structure that has become a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the original standard station design survives largely intact and conveys the atmosphere of its time.

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes an east-west gabled building 13 by 3.7 metres roofed in cement tiles, with a lever house for the points attached to the west and a platform of squared stone laid in mortar to the south.

Watarase Keikoku Railway's pamphlet notes that, with Kamikanbai, it has served since the line opened, and forms a single group with the staff rest house and the points lever house. In 1930 the down platform was extended, and at 134 metres it is the longest on the line; its original walls are no more than 76 centimetres high and those of the extension no more than 92 centimetres.

Visiting

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Godo Station Building and Down Platform can be seen when using Godo Station. Watarase Keikoku Railway notes that all of its registered structures can be seen from the train.

Do not enter the tracks; view it from the train, the station or nearby roads. It is located at 886-1 Godo, Azuma-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture, and other lots. Of the line's 38 registered structures, the 26 in Gunma and 11 in Tochigi are gathered on the group pages Watarase Keikoku Railway (Gunma Section) and Watarase Keikoku Railway (Tochigi Section).