Japanese Freight Depots and Team Tracks

[Szdfan]

So I’m aware that most of Japanese freight is handled by trucks. I do have a question on how freight was handled on rural lines during the Showa era. 
 

Did rural stations have freight depots or “team tracks” like in the US, or was freight loaded and unloaded in a different way?

[marknewton]

They had both. We've had discussions about this topic before, see this thread from page 4 onwards:

 

 

Cheers,

Mark.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by marknewton

[bikkuri bahn]

Take a look at this. Akechi Station in late JNR days (1979).  Rural end of the line station with a freight shed, track that can function as team track and what appears to be an industry siding that ships out ceramic looking vessels on gondolas. In steam days there was a single track shed for the c12 that hauled the local freight.

http://senrohaisenzu.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2008/03/19791225_f48e.html

[Szdfan]

Thanks for the responses. They are both very helpful.

 

True previous thread confirms what I already suspected — that Rapido couplers don’t play well with shunting. The thought of swapping out my Kato and Tomix stock with Kadees is a bit daunting, but that’s newbie anxiety there. 

[Szdfan]

2 hours ago, bikkuri bahn said:

Take a look at this. Akechi Station in late JNR days (1979).  Rural end of the line station with a freight shed, track that can function as team track and what appears to be an industry siding that ships out ceramic looking vessels on gondolas. In steam days there was a single track shed for the c12 that hauled the local freight.

http://senrohaisenzu.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2008/03/19791225_f48e.html

Thanks for this. I’m moving in a couple of weeks to the home I expect to live in for the next twenty years or so. There won’t be a lot of room for a layout, but this page is giving me ideas for something small.

Edited October 12, 2021 by Szdfan

[MeTheSwede]

2 hours ago, Szdfan said:

True previous thread confirms what I already suspected — that Rapido couplers don’t play well with shunting. The thought of swapping out my Kato and Tomix stock with Kadees is a bit daunting, but that’s newbie anxiety there. 

 

 

My pointed stick works excellently for shunting my quite eclectic collection of two axeled freight cars from Kato, Tomix and Popondetta. In with the stick under the rapidos, a gentle lifting movement, and the cars will uncouple.

 

I don't know where Rapidos got their bad shunting reputation here from. Maybe because people tried with modern tanker and cement cars where the coupler is bogie mounted and hits into the car body when trying to lift it? When separating two of those from eachother I will fairly often fail and cause a derailment. Still, they uncouple and couple fine when coupled to something with an unhindered rapido (like a locomotive for instance).

 

Also there's the Tomix auto uncoupler function, i.e. a track piece with a magnet and locomotives with a magnet under it's rapido, that will cause an uncoupling if you stop and reverse direction over the magnetic track. It won't help with shunting, as it only allows the locomotive to auto uncouple, but it works great for situations such as if you want to be able to deliver cars to some hard to reach destination.

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by MeTheSwede
splelling fix

[cteno4]

Is anyone still making the old electromagnet rapido uncoupler (I think Arnold rapido made it)? The electromagnet when fired lifted up a little arc of metal that would lift the rapido pins when you went across it. I had a bunch in my yard on my first layout as a kid and they worked really well. I vaguely remember there maybe a new one in box lurking in my old cigar boxes of atlas track, I’ll go dig around.

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

Modern day shunting.   Shunting at Ryuo Station (Video with Yard Diagram)

 

 

[bill937ca]

Musashino Marshalling Yard 1974-1986

 

 

[marknewton]

15 hours ago, bikkuri bahn said:

Take a look at this. Akechi Station in late JNR days (1979).  Rural end of the line station with a freight shed, track that can function as team track and what appears to be an industry siding that ships out ceramic looking vessels on gondolas. In steam days there was a single track shed for the c12 that hauled the local freight.

What a great little station and yard. It could have been designed by a modeller! 😉

 

Interesting that you mention the shed for the C12, too. The Akechi Railway owns a preserved C12, #244, that they run on compressed air. They're advertising a "steam locomotive operating experience" day on the 23rd of October.

 

https://www.aketetsu.co.jp/train/sl_menu

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[bikkuri bahn]

I know the OP is likely more interested in rural settings, but it's somewhat amazing to realize that into the late 70's and early 80's, even in urban Tokyo you could see scenes of carload and less than carload handling at freight stations.

At Tachikawa Station (from the excellent site linked before):

http://senrohaisenzu.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/15/19790504tachikawa12.jpg

 

http://senrohaisenzu.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/15/19790504tachikawa13.jpg

 

Of all places, Kamata Station in Ota Ward, about as urban Tokyo you can get outside of the Yamanote Loop, there was a three track freight terminal:

http://d51791.com/pg24kamatadd.html

http://d51791.com/pg24kamatael.html

http://d51791.com/pg24locoup.html

[Rod.H]

On 10/13/2021 at 7:24 AM, bill937ca said:

Modern day shunting.   Shunting at Ryuo Station (Video with Yard Diagram)

 

 

Ah knew I remembered that from somewhere, though the video I saw I don't think had that diesel shunter