On the second day, May 23rd, I travelled by Tenryu Hamanako Railway Tenryu Hamanako Line.
Before I planned to travel on Tenryu Hamanako Line once, I couldn't go because of a rescheduling. Six years later, I was able to realise.
Tenryu Hamanako Line runs between Shinjohara Station and Kakegawa Station in the west of Shizuoka Prefecture.
The railway spreads along the west side of Lake Hamana (from Chibata Station to Nishi-kiga Station), and on an alluvial fan around Tenryu River. Tenryu Hamanako Line was originally planned as a bypass of Tokaido Main Line. On that time, the line was called Futamata Line, and the entire line was opened in 1940. The operation of Futamata Line was taken over by Tenryu Hamanako Railway, and the line's name was changed to Tenryu Hamanako Line in 1987.
Some structures keep being used and are listed on tangible cultural properties of Japan, such as the station buildings built in the 1930s or 1940s (such as Tenryu-futamata Station and Enshu-mori Station), the bridge crossing over Tenryu River between Nishi-kajima Station and Futamata-hommachi Station, and a roundhouse and a turntable in the railyard near Tenryu-futamata Station. In addition, Hamanako-sakume Station is well-known for its location facing Lake Hamana and as a stopover for black-headed gulls in winter.
From Shinjohara, I boarded a train operated by TH2100 Series, which has been in service since 2001 and is the flagship model carriage on Tenryu Hamanako Line. However, the newer model to replace TH2100 Series will be manufactured and start its regular service in 2025.
I got off the train at Tenryu-futamata Station to join a walking guided tour in the railyard. I bought a ticket for the tour and waited for the start time, 1:50 PM. While waiting for the tour to start, I shot some photographs of the trains. Telling the station staff that I wanted to take photos at the platform, I didn't have to buy another entrance ticket because I had already purchased a walking tour ticket. I could photograph three trains stopping.
The time for the tour came. Crossing over the railway, I followed a tour guide to the railyard. First, I saw a water tower near the entrance of the railyard. The water tower is 11.6 metres (38.06 feet) high with a capacity of 70 litres (15.4 imp gallons/18.5 US gallons).
The buildings in the railyard, including the office, the separate break room, and the bathroom, were also built in 1940. The bathroom was used for steam locomotive drivers to wash their sooty bodies in the JNR period. Nowadays, the successive front signs of Tenryu Hamanako Railway trains are displayed in the bathroom.
Next to the bathroom, a small shrine called "Tenhama Railway Shrine" stands. The station staff and train drivers pray for their safety before their work.
Going along the walkway ahead of the shrine, I saw the turntable and the roundhouse. A carriage (TH2114) came out of the roundhouse and onto the turntable while I watched it.
The turntable started to rotate to change the direction of TH2114. Though the turntable is electric-powered nowadays, it was human-powered by four people.
After watching the turntable's rotation, I went to the museum beside the roundhouse. I could learn the history of Tenryu Hamanako Line through the exhibition, for example, old station boards and a pair of Tyer tablet instruments.
Coming back to the station building, the tour was over.
I have longed to join the tour to see the historical constructions on Tenryu Hamanako Line. It could be a financial difficulty for their renewal, but it was a nice idea to make them tourist attractions.