--- title: Potatoes on Tracks Delay Train in Japan description: A train of passengers on the Odakyu Railway Japan were delayed "due to vegetables on the tracks." canonical: https://time.com/4387022/train-delayed-potatoes-tracks/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-29T14:24:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:33:53.875Z og:title: Train Delayed Due to 90 Inconvenient Potatoes on the Tracks og:description: No one was injured, and a train staff member had to remove each of the potato. og:url: https://time.com/4387022/train-delayed-potatoes-tracks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Train Delayed Due to 90 Inconvenient Potatoes on the Tracks twitter:description: No one was injured, and a train staff member had to remove each of the potato. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Train Delayed Due to 90 Inconvenient Potatoes on the Tracks by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 29, 2016 2:24 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 29, 2016 2:24 PM UTC A train of passengers on the Odakyu Railway Japan were reportedly [delayed](http://time.com/4373495/trucks-deli-meat-bread-collide/) “due to vegetables on the tracks,” according to _RocketNews24_. The photos from the incident show at least 90 inconvenient taters on the tracks, which the train had to stop for between Yamato and Shonandai stations in Kanagawa Saturday. No one was injured. But passengers had to wait as the driver removed each of the potatoes, just as he was likely taught to do on Day 1 of train school. This is yet another classic example of Stuff That Could Easily Be Avoided When You Keep Track of Your Own Potatoes. People on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tombousax/status/747591869987586048) delighted in stories of doomed taters, making use of excellent use of imaginary potato scenarios like, “didn’t feel like making fresh mashed potatoes?” and “the poor potatoes – they did nothing to deserve this!” \[[RocketNews](http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/06/29/japanese-train-stopped-in-its-tracks-after-elderly-resident-leaves-vegetables-in-its-path/)\] > [](https://twitter.com/proyakyuantenna/status/747349514369933313) > [](https://twitter.com/ta%5Fku%5Fkme/status/746925446936174592) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4387022/train-delayed-potatoes-tracks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4387022/train-delayed-potatoes-tracks/"},"headline":"Train Delayed Due to 90 Inconvenient Potatoes on the Tracks","datePublished":"2016-06-29T14:24:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:33:53.875Z","description":"“They must’ve wanted to make mashed potatoes.”","url":"https://time.com/4387022/train-delayed-potatoes-tracks/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4387022/train-delayed-potatoes-tracks/","name":"Train Delayed Due to 90 Inconvenient Potatoes on the Tracks"}}]}] ```