is a railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 on the Gotemba Line of Central Japan Railway Company

Central Japan Railway Company

The is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...

 (JR Central) located in south-east Yamakita

Yamakita, Kanagawa

is a town located in Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the town had an estimated population of 11,863 and a density of 52.8 persons per km². The total area was 224.70 km².-Geography:...

, Ashigarakami District

Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa

is an administrative district of Japan located in western Kanagawa Prefecture. Most of the mountainous district is sparsely populated, and is part of the Tanzawa-Ōyama Quasi-National Park.-History:...

, Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

History

Yamakita Station was opened on February 1, 1889 on the Japan National Railways (JNR) line linking Kōzu Station and Shizuoka Station

Shizuoka Station

is a major railway station on the Tōkaidō Main Line of Central Japan Railway Company in Shizuoka, Japan, on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Tōkaidō Main Line. The station is 180.2 rail kilometers from Tokyo.-History:...

. The steep gradient of the line in this area necessitated the use of bank engine

Bank engine

A bank engine or helper engine or pusher engine is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grade...

s, and Yamakita Station developed as a center for the maintenance and refueling of these engines. It was designated a station of the Tōkaidō Main Line

Tokaido Main Line

The is the busiest trunk line of the Japan Railways Group , connecting Tōkyō and Kōbe stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities...

 on November 12, 1909. However, with the opening of the Tanna Tunnel

Tanna Tunnel

is a railroad tunnel in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by JR Central’s Tōkaidō Main Line. This 7.8 km long tunnel shortened the trunk route between Tokyo and Kobe by omitting a detour round the mountains between Atami and Numazu.-History:...

 and the development of stronger steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s, Yamakita Station gradually decreased in importance. It was designated a station on the Gotemba Line from December 1, 1934. The Yamakita Engine Center was abolished on May 15, 1943. Freight services were discontinued on March 31, 1979 and small parcel services from February 1, 1984. On April 1, 1987 along with privatization

Privatization

Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

 and division of JNR, the station came under control of the Central Japan Railway Company

Central Japan Railway Company

The is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...

.

Station layout

Yamakita Station was built with two island platforms, but now has only a single island platform

Island platform

An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...

. A set of tracks outside the southern track is used for parking trains at night, when not in use. The station is manned during daylight hours, and has automated ticket machine

Ticket machine

A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine , is a vending machine that produces tickets. For instance, ticket machines dispense train tickets at railway stations and tram tickets at some tram stops and in some trams...

s and TOICA

TOICA

is a rechargeable contactless smart card ticketing system for JR Central railway network which was introduced in the Chūkyō Area of Japan on November 25, 2006.The name is an acronym for Tōkai IC Card...

 automated turnstile

Turnstile

A turnstile, also called a baffle gate, is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be made so as to enforce one-way traffic of people, and in addition, it can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, a ticket, a pass, or similar...

s. A JNR Class D52

JNR Class D52

The Class D52 is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways and various manufacturers from 1943 to 1946. The name consists of a "D" for the four sets of driving wheels and the class number 52 for tender locomotives that the numbers 50 through 99 were assigned to...

steam locomotive is preserved in a park near the station.

Platforms

Adjacent stations