Gaecheon Light Railway

The Gaecheon Light Railway (Korean: 개천 경변철도, Gaecheon Gyeongbyeon Cheoldo; Japanese: 价川軽便鉄道, Kaisen Keibentetsudō) was a privately owned railway company in Japanese-occupied Korea.

Gaecheon Light Railway
Overview
Native name개천 경변철도 (Gaecheon Gyeongbyeon Cheoldo)
价川軽便鉄道 (Kaisen Keibentetsudō)
Route map
to Sentetsu Gaecheon Line 1 September 1933
to Sentetsu Joyang Colliery Line 1 September 1933
to Sentetsu Manpo Line 1 November 1932
Sentetsu Manpo Line
Sentetsu Gyeongui Line
0.0 Sinanju
6.4 Anju
11.1 Puksongri
16.3 Yeonpung
21.3 Unheungri
29.5
0.0
 Gaecheon
Sentetsu Gaecheon−Gujang (Manpo Line 2nd section open 15 Oct 1933)
35.8 Cheondong
8.6 Gueup
Sentetsu Suncheon−Gaechon (Manpo Line 1st section)
17.8 Seokgan
22.1 Joyang Tan-gwang

On 13 May 1916 the Mitsui Mining Railway (미츠이 광산 전용 철도, Mich'ŭi Kwangsan Chŏn'yong Ch'ŏldo; 三井鉱山専用鉄道, Mitsui Kōzan Sen'yō Tetsudō) opened its first railway line, a 29.5 km (18.3 mi) 762 mm (2 ft 6.0 in) narrow-gauge line from Gaecheon to Sinanju, where it connected with the Chosen Government Railway's (Sentetsu) Gyeongseong−Sinuiju mainline, the Gyeongui Line. The Mitsui Railway subsequently extended its line with a 6.3 km (3.9 mi) section from Gaecheon to Cheondong, which was opened on 1 December 1918. Passenger service was relatively frequent, with four daily return trips in 1920 between Sinanju and Jeondong; a fifth daily train ran between Sinanju and Gaecheon.[1] In 1927 the company was reformed, becoming the Gaecheon Light Railway.

Sentetsu leased the new extension on 1 November 1932,[2] in order to incorporate it into the Suncheon−Manpo Manpo Line then under construction; Sentetsu opened the first section, from Suncheon to Cheondong, on that same day. Sentetsu immediately began converting the Gaecheon–Cheondong section to standard gauge, completing this work on 15 July 1933,[3] and incorporating it into the Manpo Line, whose second section from Gaecheon to Gujang was completed three months later, on 15 October 1933.

On 1 September 1933, Sentetsu bought the Gaecheon Light Railway out outright, and the remainder of the line was absorbed officially into the Sentetsu system, with the Gaecheon–Cheondong section becoming part of the Manp'o Line. The Sinanju−Gaecheon section, named the Gaecheon Line, however, remained a narrow-gauge line; it was only after the partition of Korea and the subsequent nationalisation of the railways in North Korea that it was converted to standard gauge.[4] The Korean State Railway began the regauging work in March 1949, completing it in eight months.[5]

Services

In the November 1942 timetable, the last issued prior to the start of the Pacific War, Sentetsu - which by then had absorbed the Gaecheon Light Railway - was running six round trip passenger trains, third-class only, between Sinanju and Gaecheon daily; the 29.5 km (18.3 mi) trip was scheduled to take one hour and twenty-five minutes, and a ticket for the entire distance cost 60 sen.[6]

Rolling Stock

Little information is available about the specifics of the locomotives and rolling stock used by the Gaecheon Light Railway. However, steam locomotive No. 1 and a wooden passenger car are preserved at the Pyongyang Railway Museum.[7] Locomotive No. 1 was originally built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of the United States for the South Manchuria Railway, which used it on the Anpo Line prior to its conversion to standard gauge; after the regauging of the line was complete, the engine was transferred to the Gaecheon Light Railway.[7]

Route
Main Line
DistanceStation name
Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Connections Opened Notes
0.0 0.0 Sinanju Shinanshū 신안주 新安州 Sentetsu Gyeongui Line 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 September 1933
6.4 6.4 Anju Anshū 안주 安州 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 September 1933
11.1 4.7 Buksongni Hokushōri 북송리 北松里 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 September 1933
16.3 5.2 Yeonpung Enpō 연풍 延豊 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 September 1933
21.3 5.0 Unheungni Unkōri 운흥리 雲興里 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 September 1933
29.5 8.2 Gaecheon Kaisen 개천 价川 Sentetsu Manpo Line (opened 1933),
Gaecheon Lt Ry Joyang Colliery Line		 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 November 1932
35.8 6.3 Cheondong Sentō 천동 泉洞 1 December 1918 to Sentetsu 1 November 1932

+ 朝陽炭鉱線 - 조양탄광선 - Chōyō Tankō Line - Joyang Tangwang Line

DistanceStation name
Total; km S2S; km Transcribed, Korean Transcribed, Japanese Hunminjeongeum Hanja/Kanji Connections Opened Notes
0.0 0.0 Gaecheon Kaisen 개천 价川 Gaecheon Lt Ry main line 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 November 1932
8.6 8.6 Gueup Kyūō 구읍 旧邑 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 November 1932
17.8 9.2 Seokgan Sekikan 석간 石間 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 November 1932
22.1 4.3 Joyang Tan-gwang
(Choyang Colliery) 		Chōyō Tankō 조양탄광 朝陽炭鉱 13 May 1916 to Sentetsu 1 November 1932
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References
  1. Official Guide to Eastern Asia vol. 1 Chōsen & Manchuria, Siberia, p. 134, Department of Railways, Tokyo, 1920
  2. 朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 1741, 26 October 1932 (in Japanese)
  3. 朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 1947, 7 July 1933 (in Japanese)
  4. 国分隼人 (January 2007). 将軍様の鉄道: 北朝鮮鉄道事情. ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6.
  5. North Korea Geographic Information: Transportation Geography - Kaech'ŏn Line (in Korean)
  6. Tōa Travel Co. (東亜旅行社), Ministry of Railways Combined Timetable 1 November 1942 (鐵道省編纂時刻表昭和１７年１１月１日)
  7. 鉄道省革命事績館
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