This is the former site of Horokanai Station on the closed former Japanese National Railways Shinmei Line, but it's a rather shabby railway relic with just a small stone placed there. Perhaps the town isn't very enthusiastic about preserving railway relics. Apparently there's a railway museum on the ２nd floor of the nearby bus terminal that also houses the chamber of commerce, but it wasn't open on the Saturday I visited.

This stone monument and the remaining piece of track are enough.

My first visit was on August 31, 2024, on the way from the parking lot to “幌加内町新そば祭り”. The station opened in 1929(S4), and apparently stood near the midpoint of the 21 stations on the “Shinmei Line (121.8km from Fukagawa Station on the Hakodate Main Line to Nayoro Station on the Soya Main Line)”, which closed on September 4, 1995(H7). The former Horokanai Station itself burned down in March 2000(H12), after the line closed (apparently the platforms had already been demolished and the tracks removed before that). Today, the station name sign (a destination board; Horokanai Station was between Shin-Narinari Station and Kami-Horokanai Station), rails (about 10m?), and a stone bearing the historic site's name (practically a garden stone) serve as monuments. Many materials about the Shinmei Line and Horokanai Station are displayed at “JR深名線資料館” on the 2nd floor of “幌加内交流プラザ” (perhaps better called Horokanai Bus Terminal, the building housing “幌加内そば 雪月花”).

Visited while touring the stations of the Shinmei Line. Only a stone monument and track remain of the station… perhaps the station building, forecourt, and shops once stood on the open land around it…? It makes me reflect on the traces left by changing times….

A monument showing that a railway once passed through here and there was a station. There is less than 10m of track and a station name sign, but nothing that gives the impression of a former station. Beside it is a parking lot that fits a few cars. There probably won't be enough visitors arriving at once to fill this parking lot.

+1