Ward Name Tags 区名札

[yakumo381]

All JRF locomotives in active use carry at least one and sometimes two "区名札" (translates as Ward Name Tags) usually below the cab window at one end on both sides, as metal or latterly plastic plates slotted into a pair of holders. These tags identify the depot or agency district within Japan that the loco is allocated to (first or left tag position) and any specific use they are to be put to (second or right tag position).

 

These tags date back to the early days of steam and are collected by train enthusiasts in Japan with particularly old and rare examples or those from long defunct depots being highly valued.

 

Each tag is a kanji character that represents the depot or agency, in the first example the EF210 has "岡" for Okayama. The second example is from an EF66 from Shimonoseki, as shown by the "関" tag and with the second tag showing the symbol for a "Limited Express Blue Train" (this photograph happens to be from one of the last runs of the "Akatsuki" at Kyoto).

 

Alternatively the second position is also used for despatching information, for example if an out of use loco is to be returned to its allocated depot as in the third example.

 

Also if a loco is out on loan from one company to another then a kanji or symbol representing the temporary user is placed in the second position (fourth example: Aichi Depot JRF loco on loan to JRW).

 

If a loco has no tags then it could either be unallocated or "resting" as a spare or, given the on-going run down of older types within the JRF fleet, it may have been struck off and is awaiting disposal.

 

As I have many photographs of JRF locos, I have started a project to working through them identifying these different tags.

 

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a Japanese website that identifies all of these tags and what they represent, so I have had to use vendor websites, such as this for one of the Karamatsu Train shops ( http://www.karamatsu-train.co.jp/yokohama-index.htm  ) who sell JR collectables and where pictures and descriptions are posted.

 

Now the big ask. Even using these vendor websites, I have (so far) one tag that I cannot identify so can anyone on this forum help by identifying the kanji so I can try to relate it back to the issuing depot or agency that this tag in the fifth example belongs?

 

 

 

 

 

[kvp]

For the last one my guess is Umekoji.

[miyakoji]

Yeah as kvp says it's ume for Umekoji.  Looks like an orange background and white stripe, here's a video of Umekoji's DE10 1118 going on to the turntable, you can see the tag clearly, although in your picture I think it has a blue background, this one looks black:

 

 

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, yakumo381 said:

All JRF locomotives in active use carry at least one and sometimes two "区名札" (translates as Ward Name Tags) u

 

 

FWIW the 区 here is from 機関区, better translation would be "Depot tag" or similar.

[miyakoji]

Locos owned by the passenger companies also have these (the Shimonoseki EF66 must be JR West), and MU passenger trains have them too in the form of 所属略号 (shozoku ryakugou), although they're painted/screened on in most cases:

 

Chi-Keyo (Chiba-Keiyo)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ファイル:JRE-chi-keyo.JPG

 

A beastly JRW 419 series with Kana-Tsuru (Kanazawa-Tsuruga).  The article says it was changed from Kana-Fui (Kanazawa-Fukui).

http://rail.hobidas.com/rmn/archives/2010/08/jr419.html

[yakumo381]

9 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

FWIW the 区 here is from 機関区, better translation would be "Depot tag" or similar.

 

Agree however digging a bit deeper, these tags appear to link to both Depots and Agencies. I assume an "Agency District" is more related to a JRF geographical area presumably with a focus on specific customers or types of goods.

[yakumo381]

Anyone got any clues as to what this tag may represent?

[Pashina12]

At a guess... it's marked as not being in service at the moment? 一休 means a break, in Chinese anyways...

[railsquid]

Relevant Wikipedia article: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/休車

[yakumo381]

So 一休車 means a "resting car" as in a loco not allocated to a specific depot or use or in the equivalent of a spare pool but not necessarily down to be disposed of or scrapped.