Watarase Keikoku Railway Third Kanbai Tunnel

Brick Bore and Concrete Shed

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Third Kanbai Tunnel (わたらせ渓谷鐵道第三神梅トンネル) is a single-track tunnel extended in reinforced concrete first built in 1912 at Omama-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 reinforced concrete, brick and stone, 45 metres long, with a rock shed and retaining walls, registration number 10-0297.

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.

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Third Kanbai Tunnel lies about 3,100 metres south of the Fukasawa Bridge (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Third Kanbai Tunnel was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. It shows the original brick bore and a Showa-era concrete extension as one structure (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a bore four bricks thick with stone portals and full brick lining, extended at the south end by a 15-metre rigid-frame reinforced-concrete structure; the whole curves gently, and the extension is inscribed with its date and contractor.

Watarase Keikoku Railway's pamphlet says the Watarase Keikoku Railway Third Kanbai Tunnel was a 45-metre horseshoe brick tunnel until a box-shaped concrete rock shed was added in 1937, bringing it to 60 metres.

Visiting

On a Kiryu-bound train the Watarase Keikoku Railway Third Kanbai Tunnel comes into view about two and a half minutes after Kamikanbai Station; the run on to the First Kanbai Tunnel and Teburiyama Flume takes about a minute (Watarase Keikoku Railway). 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 Shimokanbai, Omama-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture. 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).