SEKISUI WORKS is a new factory of Sekisui Metal Co., Ltd. (KATO), which has been manufacturing railway models in Japan for a long time. The site area is 3.25 hectares.
As a hometown tax donation partner company, we have been working closely with Tsurugashima City, Saitama Prefecture, where our current factory (Sekisui Metal Saitama Factory) is located. Taking this decision to build a new factory in the Tsurugaoka area of the city as an opportunity, we concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with Tsurugashima City in October 2019.
As a collaborative project based on the agreement,SEKISUI WORKSThe idea is that the green space within the premises and the adjacent Tsurugaoka Children's Park will be comprehensively redeveloped as an ``English Natural Garden'', allowing visitors to safely and leisurely view the premises from outside the new factory premises.
SEKISUI WORKSA three-track (dual gauge) narrow gauge preserved railway [KATO Railway Park/Sekisui Main Line] is scheduled to be built on the outer periphery of the railway and in the English Natural Garden, with two types of tracks of 762 mm and 610 mm gauge. Japan's newest and nostalgic narrow gauge.
The railway line isSEKISUI WORKSIt will be a non-electrified, single-track railway with an endless loop of around 620m, and one station with an engine shed.
AlsoSEKISUI WORKSA narrow gauge exhibition room will be set up adjacent to the engine shed, separate from the engine shed, where the iconic narrow gauge vehicles will be preserved and exhibited.
On the walls of SEKISUI WORKS, custom-made tiles inspired by Cotswold dry stone are carefully pasted one by one by craftsmen.
Railway heritage (preserved railways) in the UK is
The idea is to preserve the entire town or village, down to the sense of the times.
Even if only the railway cars were running, it would be difficult to convey to people who didn't know when they were in service.
We thought that it could be a legacy only if we could experience the inconvenience and danger along with the scenery of that time.
The trains we often ride are often a means of getting from one point to another.
However, with preserved railways, the purpose of riding is itself.
The Sekisui Main Line is a loop line, so you won't be able to go anywhere else.
The smell of steam, the vibrations, the sense of freedom and danger of riding in a windswept passenger car,
Listen to the birds chirping as you walk along the garden path.
When waving at the passing train.
The Sekisui Main Line is a very, very small railway,
We hope to become a railway that makes everyone smile.
Our efforts continue.
