Former site of Sasajima Freight Station
Along with the opening of the Nakagawa Canal, this freight station on the Tokaido Main Line served as a relay point for land and water cargo. In 1929, it opened as a cargo handling office at Nagoya Station, and in 1937, it became Sasajima Station. It supported logistics in Nagoya during the Showa period, but was abolished in 1986. The vast 12.4 hectares of the former station site has been transformed into a new town as a large-scale redevelopment area.
The only remaining remains are the cobblestone pavement under the oldest elevated railway tracks of the Tokaido Line, shown in the photo below. The scale pattern of the cobblestone pavement, which was laid to prevent wagons (whether horses or donkeys), which were still the mainstay of the line when it was opened, from getting caught in the muddy road, remains, but will disappear with the construction work in 2023. It is unfortunate, but I guess this is how times move on.
旧国鉄笹島貨物駅跡地
中川運河の開通とあわせて水陸貨物の中継点としての役目をになっていた東海道本線の貨物駅。昭和4年(1929年)に名古屋駅貨物取扱所として開業し、昭和12年に笹島（ささじま）駅となりました。昭和の名古屋の物流を支えてきましたが1986年に廃止。12.4ヘクタールもの広大な駅跡地は大規模な再開発エリアとして新たな街ができあがりました。
唯一残されていた遺構が、上記写真の最も古い東海道本線高架下（GZ）にある石畳でした。開設当時まだ主力であった荷馬車（馬かロバなのかは不明）がぬかるみで足を取られないよう敷き詰められた石畳の鱗模様が残っていましたが、2023年の工事によって消滅。無念ですが、こうして時代は進んでいくのでしょう。