International Railroad Discussion > Bridges in Ashikaga, Japan

First is the Watarasebashi built in 1934 for 95,000 yen! 6 warren truss bridge. All the fasteners are rivets. Second is the Tobu line Ryomo headed for Ota on the concrete viaduct built in the 1970's. Third is the Nakahashi built in 1936. Besides the unique architecture I noticed riveted construction with structural bolts to fasten the members to each other. Fabricated off site and assembled?

Pictures shot on real film ASA 400 developed D-76 1:1 then scanned.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/17 14:15 by Railpax71.

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These B&W shots provide a nice "Showa Era" atmosphere, and they look natural. Thanks for posting these.

I notice in the second photo a building in the distance with the name SPALDING painted on it and a small distance to the left on another building a giant bowling pin. Must be a sports gear store or manufacturer there.

Jim
Hatboro, PA

Chooch Wrote:
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> I notice in the second photo a building in the
> distance with the name SPALDING painted on it and
> a small distance to the left on another building a
> giant bowling pin. Must be a sports gear store or
> manufacturer there.
>
> Jim
> Hatboro, PA

The effects of zoom compression is very pronounced here. The giant bowling pin belongs to Ashikaga Star Lanes bowling alley. About 2 city blocks behind is the Ashikaga Antares Building, and the "SPALDING" sign is a billboard sitting on top of that office building. Older photos have other billboards on top of that building.

Quick look at businesses in the city with the name "Antares" (in Japanese katakana) shows there's a sports club with that name, out of the composition to the left (geographical north) of the Tobu Line ROW. It's very possible the same business that owns the office building also owns the sports club, so having the "SPALDING" billboard might not be a coincidence.