Former JNR Tomiuchi Line Tomiuchi Station Yard Tracks

Track Laid with Rails from Three Countries

The Former JNR Tomiuchi Line Tomiuchi Station Yard Tracks (旧国鉄富内線富内駅構内線路) is the station yard track of 1923 in Hobetsu-Tomiuchi, Mukawa, Yufutsu District, Hokkaido, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on August 28, 2001 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a double track of earth bed, ballast, timber sleepers and steel rails, 380 metres long; registration number 01-0037.

Double Track Beside the Platform

The Former JNR Tomiuchi Line Tomiuchi Station Yard Tracks are made up of an earth bed, stone ballast, timber sleepers and steel rails (Agency for Cultural Affairs). They run as a double track parallel to the platform for 380 metres.

It was registered on the same day as the station building and platform, so the yard survives as a complete set of building, platform and track (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

What interests the Agency is where the rails came from. It notes Belgian rails ordered by the Hokkaido Mining Railway Company when the line was laid, along with German and American rails moved here from other lines in Hokkaido.

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The yard track records how a small mining railway built its line with imported rails and material reused from elsewhere.

What to Look For

The rails are the thing to see (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Rails often carry rolled-in marks on the web showing the maker and year, and here Belgian, German and American rails lie in the same yard.

No official guide to where the marks are or how to read them was found, so if you look for them, use your eyes only and leave the rails untouched.

Visiting

The track is in the open and can be seen from outside. The Japan Travel and Tourism Association lists the site as free to visit. Sleepers and ballast can be uneven, so watch your step if you walk along the track.