A Warehouse Built in Timber to Imitate Steel
South of the great Workshop No.17, and joined to Warehouse No.7 on its western side, stands Warehouse No.4, completed in 1941. It is a single-story building with a ridge of 42.2 meters and a span of 18.2 meters, covering a floor of 768 square meters and roofed in sheet iron.
Its interest lies in a substitution forced by its date. The roof is carried on a bolted timber Pratt truss, a form usually built in steel. With metal in short supply during the war years, the works framed a structure meant for steel in wood instead.
Why It Is Registered
That timber-for-steel truss is a direct record of its time. The bolted joints and the Pratt geometry copy the logic of a steel frame, yet every member is wood, an improvisation that speaks plainly of material shortages around 1941.
Warehouse No.4 was registered in 2012 as a contributor to the historic industrial landscape. Set beside the steel-framed Warehouse No.7, the two together show how the works adapted its building methods to the conditions of successive years.
What to Notice, and How to See It
Compare No.4 with its neighbor No.7 and the lesson is in the trusses: timber bolted into the shape of steel on one side, true steel on the other. Reading them side by side is the clearest way to grasp how wartime scarcity left its mark on ordinary railway buildings.
The works is active railway property and closed to casual visitors. It opens to the public once a year around Railway Day in October for the event known as Kisha Poppo Matsuri, when a shuttle train runs from Tadotsu Station into the grounds; group tours can sometimes be arranged in advance. Because dates shift from year to year, confirm the current schedule with JR Shikoku before setting out.
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Q&A
- Why is Warehouse No.4 unusual?
- Its roof is carried on a bolted timber truss shaped like a steel one, because metal was scarce when it was built in 1941.
- How does it relate to Warehouse No.7?
- No.4 joins No.7 on the west; No.7 is steel-framed, so the pair records a shift in building materials at the works.
- How big is it?
- The ridge runs 42.2 meters with a span of 18.2 meters, over a floor of 768 square meters.
- Can it be visited?
- It sits within an active JR Shikoku works and is closed to casual visitors, though the grounds open once a year around October.
Basic Information
| Name | JR Tadotsu Works Soko No.4 (Warehouse No.4) |
|---|---|
| Location | 122-3 and others, Ōdōri, Tadotsu, Nakatado District, Kagawa |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registered 13 August 2012 |
| Registration No. | 37-0390 |
| Count | 1 building |
| Built | 1941 (Shōwa 16) |
| Structure | Single-story timber building, sheet-iron roof, floor area 768 sq m; bolted timber Pratt truss substituting for steel, ridge 42.2 m, span 18.2 m |
| Owner | Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) |
| Access | Active railway works, not open to casual visitors; annual public open day around October |
References
- 文化遺産オンライン 香川県・仲多度郡多度津町
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/region/37/37404
- 四国旅客鉄道多度津工場
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/四国旅客鉄道多度津工場
Last verified: 2026.07.03