Gyeongbuk Line (1924–1945)

The Gyeongbuk Line was a railway line of the privately owned Chōsen Railway (Chōtetsu) in colonial-era Korea, located in North Gyeongsang Province, connecting Gimcheon (on the Chōsen Government Railway's Gyeongbu Line main line) with Gyeongbuk Andong.

This article is about a defunct railway line. For the present line, see Gyeongbuk Line.

Gyeongbuk Line
Overview
Native name	경북선 (慶北線)
Type	Heavy rail, Regional rail Passenger/Freight
Status	Operational (see text)
Locale	North Gyeongsang
Termini	Gimcheon Andong
Stations	25
Operation
Opened	1924–1931
Owner	Chōsen Railway
Operator(s)	Chōsen Railway
Technical
Line length	118.1 km (73.4 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Sentetsu Gyeongbu Line 0.0 Gimcheon Sentetsu Gyeongbu Line ?.? Namsan Closed 1927 7.7 Acheon ?.? Doam Closed 1927 20.0 Oksan 27.1 Cheongni 36.0 Sangju 44.4 Baekwon 47.9 Yangjeong 55.8 Hamchang 60.0 Jeomchon orange section closed 1944 66.9 Yonggung 73.3 Gaepo 79.7 Yucheon 85.3 Yecheon 89.3 Gopyeong 94.7 Homyeong 100.7 Gyeongbuk Pungsan 108.2 Myeongdong 118.1 Gyeongbuk Andong

History

Construction of the line was begun by the privately owned Chosen Industrial Railway; however, before the line was finished, that company merged with five others to create the Chosen Railway (Chōtetsu) in 1923, and it was the new company which completed the first section of the line, opening the Gimcheon–Sangju section on 1 October 1924,[1] followed by the Sangju–Jeomchon section on 25 December.[2] Chōtetsu then extended the line in several stages, first reaching Yecheon on 1 November 1928,[3] then reaching Gyeongbuk Andong on 16 October 1931;[4] however, the Jeomchon–Andong section was dismantled in 1944 to use the material elsewhere as Japan's military faced material shortages during the Pacific War.[5]

After the Liberation of Korea, Chōtetsu was nationalised along with all other railways in the country. The Gyeonbuk Line was subsequently operated by the Korean National Railroad, retaining the name Gyeongbuk Line but extending it to Yeongju instead of rebuilding it to Andong.

Services

In the November 1942 timetable, the last issued prior to the start of the Pacific War, Chōtetsu operated the following schedule of third-class-only local passenger services:[6]

Distance (read down)	1741	1743	1745	741	1747	743	Station name	Distance (read up)	740	1742	1744	1746	742	1748
0.0	05:20	08:55	13:00	15:00	17:20	21:00	Gimcheon	118.1	07:34	10:31	13:32	15:36	18:55	23:25
36.0	06:42	10:32	14:17	16:13	18:50	22:02	Sangju	82.1	06:34	09:10	12:05	14:13	17:43	22:06
85.3	08:40	12:35	16:09	17:52	20:50	23:28	Yecheon	32.8	05:14	07:18	09:53	12:27	16:13	20:18
118.1	09:48	13:50	17:20	18:56	21:59	00:20	Gyeongbuk Andong	0.0	04:15	05:55	08:25	11:00	15:06	19:05

Route

慶北線 - 경북선 - Keihoku Line - Gyeongbuk Line

Distance		Station name
Total; km	S2S; km	Transcribed, Korean	Transcribed, Japanese	Hunminjeongeum	Hanja/Kanji	Connections
0.0	0.0	Gimcheon	Kinsen	김천	金泉	Sentetsu Gyeongbu Line
?.?	?.?	Namsan	Nanzan	남산	南山	closed 1927
7.7	?.?	Acheon	Gasen	아천	牙川
?.?	?.?	Doam	Dōiwa	도암	道岩	closed 1927
20.0	20.0	Oksan	Gyokusan	옥산	玉山
27.1	7.1	Cheongni	Shōri	청리	靑里
36.0	8.9	Sangju	Shōshū	상주	尙州
44.4	8.4	Baekwon	Hakugen	백원	白元
47.9	3.5	Yangjeong	Yōtei	양정	楊亭
55.8	11.4	Hamchang	Kanshō	함창	咸昌
60.0	4.2	Jeomchon	Tenson	점촌	店村
66.9	6.9	Yonggung	Ryūkyū	용궁	龍宮
73.3	6.3	Gaepo	Kaiho	개포	開浦
79.7	3.0	Yucheon	Ryūsen	유천	柳川
85.3	11.7	Yecheon	Reisen	예천	醴泉
89.3	2.7	Gopyeong	Kōhei	고평	高坪
94.7	5.4	Homyeong	Komei	호명	虎鳴
100.7	6.0	Gyeongbuk Pungsan	Keihoku Hōzan	경북풍산	慶北豊山
108.2	7.5	Myeongdong	Meitō	명동	鳴洞
118.1	9.9	Gyeongbuk Andong	Keihoku Antō	경북안동	慶北安東

References

1. 朝鮮總督府官報 私設鉄道運輸営業開始 (Bulletin of the Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea: Private railway transportation enterprise started), 7 October 1924
2. "경영원칙 > 경영공시 > 영업현황 > 영업거리현황". Korail. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
3. 朝鮮總督府官報 私設鉄道運輸営業開始 (Bulletin of the Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea: Private railway transportation enterprise started), 13 November 1928
4. 朝鮮總督府官報 私設鉄道運輸営業開始 (Bulletin of the Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea: Private railway transportation enterprise started), 21 October 1931
5. 朝鮮總督府官報 (Bulletin of the Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 1130, 15 September 1944
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)