Former Temiya Line Walking Path

A 1.6-kilometer walking path in Otaru follows the route of Hokkaido's first railway, opened in 1882 to carry coal from the Horonai mine to the port. The preserved tracks pass so close to former residents' front doors that the trains would have been heard and felt from inside. Railway engineer Joseph Crawford, hired from the United States, designed the line with narrow-gauge rails suited to Hokkaido's terrain. The first two locomotives were named Yoshitsune and Benkei. By 1906, coal volume was so high that passenger services were suspended; they resumed after a separate track was added in 1912. Freight services continued until 1985. A preserved passenger platform near the Ironai banking district still stands, waiting for a train that never comes.