JR East to develop former Manseibashi Station area

[miyakoji]

I've always thought that this is one of the coolest stations/sidings in Japan, just right there in the middle of everything.  Even if you do not recognize the name, you probably know it; it's next to the former Transportation Museum in Tokyo.  The sidings, on top of the brick building, may qualify as denryūsen 電留線 or ryūchisen 留置線, but I'm not entirely sure .  They seem more or less interchangeable, meaning a siding or small yard used for overnight/standby parking.  Anyway...

 

JR East has announced that this area will be open to the public by next summer.  The new structure, JR Kanda Manseibashi Building, seems to be situated in the museum's footprint, so that's likely set for demolition.  The inside of the brick structure will be renovated to make room for shopping.  Seems like it could be a real good location for various retail and food shops, and maybe a minor focal point for railway mania?

 

I don't know what JNR/JRE actually call these sidings, so it's difficult to search for images.  It would be cool to see some older pictures when (presumably) it was busier.

 

Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/WI40

Ompuchaneru thread with link to JR East pdf (in Japanese): http://rail-uploader.khz-net.com/index.php?&id=1041142

various images on Wikipedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Manseibashi_Station

English Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manseibashi_Station

mynavi.jp news article with some images and artist's renderings: http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2012/07/04/094/

architect's website with some images: http://www.jebl.co.jp/building/kandamansebashi/

bigger general image: http://www.take-office.co.jp/img.php?tid=13101031134&mode=G

Rail Hobidas News: http://rail.hobidas.com/news/info/article/132910.html

[Densha]

Ohhh, interesting.

But it looks pretty weird to me, those sidings. The viaduct, and especially the arches and the idea of shops reminds me of the Hofpleinlijnviaduct in Rotterdam. Ages ago there were shops in the arches, but they are long gone. There's a project for making it all look better like they are planning to do at Manseibashi, but it still doesn't really comes off the ground.

 

Here's a bit pictures and stuff on it:

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofpleinlijnviaduct

http://www.hofbogen.nl/spip.php?article39

http://straatkaart.nl/3032AE-Katshoek/media_fotos/hofpleinlijn-xCk/

http://straatkaart.nl/3032AE-Katshoek/media_fotos/eindpunt-hofpleinlijn-Btl/

 

 

[bikkuri bahn]

Looks to be an exciting new project.  Especially like the plan to have a platform level cafe and observation deck using the old station platform.  Apparently it will be open in summer of 2013.  This pdf has the best plan views, it seems possible the sidings will remain intact (and in service?):

 

http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2012/20120701.pdf

 

And speaking of old railway sites on the Chuo Line, there was once a freight station near Iidabashi, called Iidacho Station.  It was closed in 1999 due to increasing containerization, and redeveloped, including the building of JRF corporate HQ.  Three aerial views, from 1963, 1989, and 2009 (notice it even had a turntable):

[bikkuri bahn]

Zenmentenbou view, starting at 3:00 you can see the old platform:

[cteno4]

now open! more info on the new and old (courtesy Profit of the Way on JRforum)

 

http://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/topics_event/topics/130909/topics.html

 

http://blogs.timeout.jp/en/2013/07/30/manseibashi-station-gets-a-revamp/

 

http://www.maach-ecute.jp/access.html

http://www.maach-ecute.jp/about.html

 

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ファイル:Manseibashi_Station_primary.jpg

 

jeff

[Mudkip Orange]

Nice design.

 

But all those Wiki commons photos with 201 series make me sad.

[KenS]

This is very cool.  I've always liked the look of the place, even when it was run down. It's rare to see a brick structure like this in Tokyo, as few survived the 1925 earthquake. And the derelict platform on top with the sidings always captured my attention. Having a cafe there is an excellent idea.  If I ever make it to Tokyo, I know where I want to eat lunch.

 

Here are a few old and new photos (Panoramio, found on Google Earth), unfortunately rooftop views seem hard to come by (I only found one old one), aside from the Google satellite/airplane ones, which seem to be pretty old.

 

Old:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12907852

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/16224303

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/49114895

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/71691270

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7542586

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/71691269

 

New (August):

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/93996037

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/94084705

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/94453757

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/94084695

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/94084707

 

[miyakoji]

Good find Ken, in the third old photo, you can see some MOW equipment up there, and the fifth is a relatively good picture of the sidings I mentioned in the first post.