Many people visit Niseko every year for its hot springs and winter sports. If it were not for the opening of the railroad, Niseko might not be the popular town it is today. The Niseko Railway Heritage Site, which will be open to the public in 2021, will allow visitors to learn about this history.

Located right next to Niseko Station, which is scheduled to be closed by 2030, the Niseko Railway Heritage Site is a popular spot for railroad enthusiasts to visit by train.

After getting off at Niseko Station and heading toward the railroad heritage site, the first thing you will see is the steam locomotive "9643" on display outdoors. The black, heavy car body sits on the rails with its lights on and looks as if it is about to start moving at any moment!

Steam locomotive "9643" was built by Kawasaki Shipbuilding in 1914, and is 108 years old as of 2022. 9643 ran until 1974, when the line was closed, and was preserved at Sapporo Biergarten in Sapporo City.

After it was relocated to Niseko Town, a shed was installed, and after painting and restoration, it will be put on display in 2019, in the hope that many people will be able to see it in a beautiful state for a long time. They can still sound the whistle. Depending on the day, a member of the Community Development Cooperation Volunteers can give explanations and guided tours.

On the left is the seat of the engineer (who drives the train) and on the right is the seat of the assistant engineer (who puts coal into the fire chamber). The equipment from the time when the train was in service has been left intact.

As we proceeded with the SL on our side, we saw something unfamiliar, like a bridge on top of a large circle.

The turntable is approximately 20 meters in diameter. The Niseko Ohashi Bridge in the back, with its color contrast against the blue sky, is also a sight to behold.
Image courtesy of Arishima Memorial Museum

This unfamiliar equipment is a "turntable. It is used to change the direction of the train. This turntable was built in 1957 and was in service in Shintoku-cho, but was moved to Niseko in 1989 to operate the "C62 Niseko" train. After about five years, the "C62 Niseko" was discontinued and the turntable was retired from service. Since then, it has never been seen by the public.

Image courtesy of Arishima Memorial Museum

In 2011, the town of Niseko began to show the turntable and its history to the public, and began exhibiting it in 2014. Incidentally, this turntable is maintained so that it can be moved manually or electrically.

The turntable is moved manually by attaching a lever. When you want to move it electrically, you operate it inside a box that looks like a phone booth.

And when you turn around here, what appears in front of you is the "Niseko Express," which many of you may recognize here.

This "Niseko Express" is actually a "Hokkaido Express" that was built in 1988 at JR Hokkaido's Naebo Plant. It ran between the Niseko area and New Chitose Airport in the winter and all over Hokkaido during the rest of the year. After being decommissioned in 2017, the car was preserved through crowdfunding and made its way back to Niseko in the summer of 2020.

Incidentally, the Niseko Express was also turned around on the turntable!

Image courtesy of Arishima Memorial Museum

Now, let's take a look at the "Niseko Railway Heritage Group" from a slightly detached perspective to unravel Niseko's history.

Behind the SL is Niseko Station, and to the right of the Niseko Express turntable is the Niseko Central Warehouse Complex. This Niseko Central Warehouses is now a facility that attracts many people, with space for telework, work, and exhibitions, and also houses a popular soup curry restaurant.

Niseko Central Warehouses Facility Guide
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At first glance, the Central Warehouses may seem unrelated to Niseko Station or the railroad heritage site, but in fact, the town of Niseko may not have developed without all three.

The railroad line opened in Niseko in 1936. The railroad connected what is now Niseko Town and Makari Village to transport agricultural products, mainly potatoes.

Image courtesy of Arishima Memorial Museum

Agricultural products were transported from Makari Village, unloaded at Niseko Station, stored and processed in a central warehouse, and then transshipped to Japan National Railways for shipment to other parts of the country. Niseko thus flourished as a transit point, and its population gradually increased. Although the time period has moved on, Niseko has flourished along with the railroads, with the "Niseko Express" in 1988 and the steam locomotive "C62 Niseko-go" in 1990.

Image courtesy of Arishima Memorial Museum

There is also an exhibit on the history of the railroad on the wall of the garage where the Niseko Express is housed!