Tsuchizaki Works

Tsuchizaki Works (Japanese: 土崎工場 Tsuchizaki Kōjō) was a rolling stock maintenance facility under the jurisdiction of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is currently part of the Akita General Rolling Stock Center (Japanese: 秋田総合車両センター Akita Sōgō Sharyō Sentā), having been part of it since 2004.

History[]

Tsuchizaki Works was opened on 25 December 1908 by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR). Tsuchizaki Works completed its first steam locomotive, D51 232, on 1 November 1938; a total of nine steam locomotives, all D51s, were manufactured by Tsuchizaki, with the last steam locomotive being manufactured by Tsuchizaki being D51 554 in February 1942.

Ownership of Tsuchizaki came under the Japanese National Railways (JNR) following JGR's reorganization post-war. Conversions of Class D50 locomotives to Class D60 locomotives commenced in April 1955. Fifty-four new boilers were manufactured at Tsuchizaki to replace faulty boilers on Class D51 steam locomotives from 1958 to 1960. The last steam locomotive to be given a major inspection at Tsuchizaki was C57 1 on 13 April 1972, while the last steam locomotive to be given an inspection at Tsuchizaki was C11 204 in November 1973. Following the privatization of the JNR, Tsuchizaki Works came under the ownership of the JR East.

Tsuchizaki Works commenced knockdown production of 77 701 series cars in 1 February 1993, the first production of any type of rolling stock on the site in over fifty years, with an inauguration ceremony occurring on 29 March 1993. Tsuchizaki Works obtained ISO 9001 certification on 22 December 2000. Tsuchizaki Works was renamed the Akita General Rolling Stock Center on 1 April 2004 and ceased to exist. Akita General Rolling Stock Center today houses diesel and electric multiple units and locomotives and passenger cars.

Preserved steam locomotives[]

The following steam locomotives built by Tsuchizaki Works have been preserved:

Number	Class	Serial number	Date manufactured	Date withdrawn	Location	Disposition
D51 232	D51	1	8 December 1938	1 April 1971	Omoriyama Park, Akita, Japan	Static display

Factories operated by the JR Group
JR Central	Hamamatsu • Nagoya • Shizuoka
JR West	Gōto • Hiroshima • Suita
JR East	Kōriyama • Morioka • Nagano • Ōfuna • Ōmiya
JR Kyushu	Kagoshima • Kokura
JR Hokkaido	Kushiro • Naebo
JR Shikoku	Tadotsu
Defunct/Former	Hatabu • Hyōgo • Kobe • Mattō • Niitsu • Ōi • Shimbashi • Takatori • Toyokawa • Tsuchizaki • Yokkaichi