Nippon Railway
Overview
HeadquartersTokyo
LocaleJapan
Dates of operation18831906
SuccessorJapanese Government Railways
Technical
Track gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Length860.8 miles (1906)

Nippon Railway (日本鉄道, Nippon Tetsudō) was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1906, and many are now operated by East Japan Railway Company.

Outline

The company was incorporated in 1881 as the first privately funded railway company in Japan, where the railways had been built only by the imperial government since early 1870s. If, however, the definition of "railway" includes horsecars, Nippon Railway is behind Tokyo Bashatetsudō, established in 1880 as the first private railway in Japan.

Major investors to the company were kazoku, led by the highest-class court noble Iwakura Tomomi. The company, incorporated to help expansion of national railway network in line with the national policy, received strong support from the government, both technically and financially.

The first 38 miles (61 km) of the railway, between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kumagaya Station in Kumagaya, Saitama, opened on July 28, 1883.[1] The mainline to Aomori was completed in 1891.[2]

The company expanded the railway by means of both construction and acquisition of other companies. As of 1906, it operated 860.8 miles (1,385.3 km) of railways including the present-day Tōhoku Main Line, Jōban Line, Takasaki Line and Yamanote Line.

On November 1, 1906, the entire operation of the company was purchased by the government of Japan under the Railway Nationalization Act. Consequently, the company was dissolved.

List of lines

Operation of Nippon Railway as of October 31, 1906[3]
Endpoints Length
(miles)
Line names
(designated after nationalization)
Notes
UenoAomori456.9Tōhoku Main Line
NipporiMikawashima0.8Jōban Line
ŌmiyaMaebashi52.5Takasaki Line, Ryōmō Line
OyamaMaebashi50.9Ryōmō Line
OyamaTomobe31.4Mito Line
TabataIwanuma213.6Jōban Line
TabataIkebukuro3.3Yamanote Line
ShinagawaAkabane13.0Yamanote Line, Akabane Line
UtsunomiyaNikkō25.0Nikkō Line
Iwakiri – Shiogama4.3Shiogama Line
Shiriuchi (present-day Hachinohe) – Minato5.1Hachinohe Line
UenoAkihabara1.2Tōhoku Main LineFreight
Mikawashima – Sumidagawa2.0Jōban LineFreight
Mito – Nakagawa0.8Jōban LineFreight
Total860.8

Rolling stock

Fleet of Nippon Railway[4]
YearSteam
locomotives
Passenger
cars
Freight cars etc.
WagonsTrucks
189054158763
19002868241,6461,957
19053568572,3453,386
Nippon Railway Steam Locomotives[5]
ClassRoad numbersWheel
arrangement
TotalBuilderBuild yearWorks numbersJGR Class and numbers (1909)
B3/5501-5032-6-2T3Baldwin189313776, 13777, 13780Class 3250 3250-3252
504113781Class 3390 3390
505113782Class 3250 3253
Bbt2/5506-5294-4-224Baldwin1897 ? 15175 - 15198 ?Class 6600 6600-6623
Bt4/5576-5872-8-012Baldwin190628914-28917,28946-28947,28960-28965Class 9300 9300-9311
Bt4/6530-5492-8-220Baldwin189715203-15222Class 9700 9700-9719
D2/437-390-6-0T3Dübs18882356-2358Class 500 500-508
66-71618922874-2879
D3/325-300-6-0T6Dübs18872275-2280Class 1850 1864-1881
87-92618943081-3086
117-122618963324-3329
D3/460-650-6-2T6Dübs18912771-2776Class 2100 2106-2111
Db3/6201-2044-6-2T4Dübs18983653-3655, 3659Class 3800 3800-3803
Dbt2/44-154-4-012Dübs1883 ?Class 5230 5230-5241
205-206218983657-3658Class 5830 5830-5831
Dt3/4326-3310-6-26Dübs19024304-4309Class 7050 7050-7055
H3/5825-8302-6-2T6Hanomag19033046-3051Class 3170 3170-3175
HS3/5831-8322-6-2T2Henschel19046480-6481Class 3240 3240-3241
M3/3甲10-6-0T1Manning Wardle1881815Class 1290 1292
Ma2/2+2/27010-4-4-01Maffei19032314Class 4500 4500
N3/3105-1160-6-0T12Neilson18944776-4787Class 1960 1960-1971
Nbt2/472-764-4-05Neilson1893 ?Class 5630 5636-5640
Nt3/477-862-6-010Neilson18934658 - 4665,4656,4657Class 7750 7750-7759
NB3/4833-8440-6-2T12North British190517021-17022, 17043-17052Class 2120 2366-2377
NBt3/4332-3370-6-26North British190315951-15956Class 7050 7056-7061
O3/3401-4060-6-0T6Ōmiya Works1904 ?Class 1040 1040-1045
Obt2/434-4-01Ōmiya Works19011Class 5270 5270
P3/3123-1280-6-0T30Dübs18963802-3807Class 1900 1900-1924
129-1523828-3851
P3/5801-8242-6-2T24Beyer, Peacock19044497-4520Class 3200 3200-3223
Pbt2/41-24-4-02Beyer, Peacock18822161-2162Class 5300 5312-5313
93-1041218943640-3651Class 5500 5506-5565
153-1883618973889-3924
189-2001218984014-4025
213-218618994038-4043Class 5600 5600-5617
219-2301219024479-4490
Pt3/4320-3250-6-26Beyer, Peacock19024393-4398Class 7080 7080-7085
Rt4/5588-5992-8-012ALCo-Rogers190641261-41272Class 9400 9400-9411
S2/4550-5752-4-2T26Schenectady18984863-4888Class 900 900-925
SS2/316-172-4-02Sharp, Stewart1875 ?Class 140 140-141
SSbt2/4207-2124-4-26Sharp, Stewart1898 ?Class 5650 5650-5655
W2/418-192-4-2T2Nasmyth, Wilson1895467-468Class 600 600-615
31-3661887326-331
40-4121888342-434
42-4761889383-388
48-5361890396-401Class 600 621, 616-620
W3/321-240-6-0T4Nasmyth, Wilson1886-1898524, 298, 307, 309Class 1100 1105-1108
Wt3/454-592-6-06Nasmyth, Wilson1889369-374Class 7600 7600-7605

Notes

  1. Ishino, p. 323, vol. I
  2. Free, Early Japanese Railways 1853–1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan, Tuttle Publishing, 2008 (ISBN 4805310065)
  3. Ishino, p. 324, vol. I
  4. Wakuda, p. 64
  5. Inoue, Kouichi (2014). 図説国鉄蒸気機関車全史. JTB Publishing. p. 87.

References

  • Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. {{{1}}}. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. {{{2}}}. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
  • Wakuda, Yasuo (1993). Shitetsushi Handobukku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Denkisha Kenkyūkai. ISBN 978-4-88548-065-2.
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