Hand operated train
A hand-operated train , also known as a coolie train or trolly train , was a special type of rail-bound train from the 19th and 20th centuries, in which the wagons were pulled or pushed by people. The basic requirement was the availability of cheap labor. Hand -powered vehicles in the form of hand- drawn trolleys were also developed and used for use on normal railways .
overview
They were most widespread in the Japanese area of influence at the time. In today's states of Japan , North Korea , the island of Taiwan and South Korea, there were more than 80 companies of this type, 60 in Taiwan alone. There were another 18 in the European colonies in Africa , most of them in Mozambique . Despite this drive, they, like the Atami Railway between Odawara and Atami , reached distances of more than 25 kilometers.
All but one company were closed until the end of the Second World War . Only the plant in Shenten in Taiwan survived as a tourist attraction until the end of the 1990s. She drove from Wulai , a village south of Taipei, to the Wulai Waterfalls, a popular destination. The railway called Wulai Taiche still exists today, but had to be switched to diesel operation in 2000 for safety reasons (too dangerous for the drivers of the cars, frequent accidents).
The Japanese wagons for these railways were almost all made of lightweight construction so that they could be used as efficiently as possible. They were pushed over vertically attached handle bars or pulled over rope loops or handles on the front sides. There were running boards for the trip downhill. They were braked by hand brakes. The track width of these vehicles was generally 610 millimeters. The last two surviving vehicles of this type of train can be seen in a small transportation museum in Matsuyama City in Miyagi Prefecture and in the Tokyo Transportation Museum. A second car in Matsuyama is a replica and is demonstrated in operation in a park once a year at the Cosmos Festival. The original was used from 1922 to 1928 in Matsuyama-Machi on the route between town and train station.
history
The history of the hand-operated railways began in France. Paul Decauville founded the Decauville company in 1875. His idea was to create a narrow-gauge system with 400 to 600 mm gauge and prefabricated, easily transportable rail elements. The French army used these railways to bring supplies to the front using the power of soldiers or horses . It was not until around 1888 that steam locomotives were also used for propulsion.
In Japan, at the same time, Emperor Meiji began to lead his country from feudal rule into the industrial age. To this end, foreign consultants were hired to help the country modernize. With the French advisers for the army, the transportable rails (gauge 500 mm) and the small hand-pushed wagons from Decauville also came into the country.
During the Japanese wars and occupations, the army used this railway system in many other Asian countries. The two Japanese colonies of Chōsen (today North and South Korea) and Taiwan were upgraded in terms of infrastructure.
List of manually operated railways
Europe
country | City / route | Gauge | length | promotion | Years of operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
France | Mont des Cats monastery | 600 mm | ? | earth | around 1898 |
Brewery in Issy-les-Moulineaux | 600 mm | 8 kilometers | beer | around 1930 | |
Austria |
Vienna - Lainz ( Feldbahn Geriatriezentrum Am Wienerwald ) |
500 mm | 4.0 km | goods | 1904-1925 |
Africa
country | City / route | Gauge | length | promotion | Years of operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ivory Coast | Grand Bassam | 600 mm | ? | Wood and goods | around 1906 |
Gambia | Bathurst | 600 mm | 1.9 km | goods | 1907-1956 |
Guinea | Conakry (light rail) | ? | ? | Goods / people | 1904/1905 |
Cameroon | Ebony transport | 600 mm | ? | Wood | around 1905 |
Kenya | Mombasa | 600 mm | approx. 7 km | Goods / people | 1910/1914 |
Congo | Vivi | 500 m | approx. 0.8 km | goods | 1884 |
Libya | Leptis Magna | 600 mm | approx. 50 m | Excavation | 1960 |
Madagascar | Fidirana – Tompoko | ? | ? | Goods / people | ? |
Mandrapihaona | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Mozambique | Angoche | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Beira | 600 mm | approx. 10 km | People / goods | 1925/1927/1930 | |
Chinde | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Inhambane | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Quelimane Companhia da Zambézia |
? | ? | ? | ? | |
Tete | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Vila de João Belo | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Zambia | Livingstone | ? | approx. 7 km | ? | ? |
Senegal | Rufisque | ? | ? | goods | 1885 |
Zimbabwe | Victoria Falls | 600 mm | approx. 4 km | Goods / people | 1920-1957 |
Tanzania | Muansa | ? | ? | goods | ? |
tanga | 600 mm | ? | people | 1909/1911 | |
Togo | Lomé | 1000 mm | approx. 2 km | people | 1910 |
America
country | City / route | Gauge | length | promotion | Years of operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brazil | Construction of the Madeira-Mamoré Railway | 600 mm | ? | Excavation | around 1907 |
Companhia Agricola Bom Retiro | 600 mm | ? | Bananas | around 1931 | |
Panama | 1. Attempt to build a canal | 600 mm | ? | Excavation | 1881-1889 |
Japan
prefecture | city | route | Gauge | length | promotion | Years of operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Akita | Futatsui | Nakanishi line | 610 mm | 0.78 km | goods | 1922-1936 |
Chiba | Ichikawa | Tōkatsu train | 610 mm | 12.3 km | Goods / people | 1909-1918 |
Isumi | Isumi train | 610 mm | 15.5 km | Goods / people | 1912-1927 | |
Noda | Noda Railway | 762 mm | 3.5 km | goods | 1900-1926 | |
Fukui | Takasaki | Hongo Railway | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Gunma | Takasaki | Taishaku train | 762 mm | 3.12 km | goods | 1921-1932 |
Hokkaidō | Ebetsu | Urban tram Ebetsu | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Ibaraki | Kasama | Kasama Railway | 610 mm | 1.4 km | people | 1915-1930 |
Sakuragawa | Kabaho-Kogyō Railway | 609 mm | 3.7 km | goods | 1900-1916 | |
Iwate | Kitakami | Waga train | 762 mm | 20.1 km | Goods / people | 1907-1922 |
Kanagawa | Yokohama | Drinking water supply | 600 mm | Excavation and pipes | 1886-1887 | |
Miyagi | Matsuyama | Matsuyama Railway | 610 mm | 2.5 km | Goods / people | 1922-1928 |
Shizuoka | Atami - Odawara | Atami Railway | 610 mm | 25.3 km | people | 1895-1907 |
Iwata | Nakaizumi Railway | 762 mm | 5.78 mm | Goods / people | 1909-1932 | |
Shimada | Shimada Railway | 610 mm | 2.94 km | goods | 1898-1959 | |
Yaizu | Fujieda-Yaizukan Railway | 610 mm | 4.5 km | Goods / people | 1891-1900 | |
Tochigi | Iwafune | Iwafune Railway | 635 mm | 4.3 km | goods | 1900-1916 |
Ōtawara | Nasu Railway | 762 mm | 5.2 km | Goods / people | 1908-1925 | |
Oyama | Otome track | 610 mm | 1.6 km | goods | 1899-1917 | |
Sakura | Kitsuregawa Railway | 610 mm | 8.2 km | Goods / people | 1902-1918 | |
Tochigi | Nabeyama Railway | 610 mm | 15.9 km | Goods / people | 1900-1933 | |
Utsunomiya | Utsunomiya quarry railway | 610 mm | 29.5 km | Goods / people | 1897-1928 | |
Tokyo | Katsushika | Tashaku train | 610 mm | 1.5 km | people | 1899-1912 |
Yamagata | Akayu | Akayu tram | 610 mm | 1.9 km | people | 1919-1926 |
Other Asian countries
country | City / route | Gauge | length | promotion | Years of operation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hong Kong | Praya East Reclamation | 600 mm | approx. 1 km | sand | 1922 |
Indonesia | Trinil expedition | 600 mm | approx. 100 m | Excavation | 1907-1908 |
Korea ( Chosen ) | Heijō | 610 mm | 1.93 km | people | 1914 |
Chinampo – Pyongyang ( Nampo - Pyongyang ) |
533 mm | 88 km | Goods / people | 1895 | |
Wakan – Rakutoko (Wäkan – Naktongkang) |
610 mm | 1.12 km | people | 1914 | |
Hoangkang ( Keifu Line Station ) |
? | approx. 22 km | goods | 1914 | |
Taiwan | Ro Liao-Yu Na-Wu Tu (between Taipei and Keelung ) |
500 mm | approx. 6 km | Goods / people | 1895-1988 |
Wulai / New Taipei ( Wulai Taiche ) |
545 mm | 1.6 km | Goods / people | 1928-1974 | |
Shui Nan Tung (south of Keelung ) |
? | 10 km | goods | until 1973 | |
Shen Ao Li (south of Keelung ) |
500 mm | ? | goods | until 1974 | |
Gwaishatei-Fumpo-Dairin-Horisha (near the Sun-Moon-Lake ) |
? | ? | Goods / people | until 1926 | |
Horisha | ? | 8 kilometers | Goods / people | until 1926 | |
Vietnam | Halong bay | 1000 mm | 3 km | coal | 1899-1930 |
literature
Austria
- Andreas Mausolf: The narrow-gauge railway of the Lainz geriatric center. In: Railway courier. Issue 10. EK-Verlag, 2011, pp. 72–73.
Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zambia, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Togo
- Martin Pabst: Tram & Trolley in Africa. Röhr, Krefeld 1983, ISBN 3-88490-152-4 (German / English).
Japan, Taiwan
- Charles S. Small: Rails to the Mines, Taiwan's Forgotten Railways. Railroad Monographs. Greenwich CT 1980 (English).
- Richard Goldschmidt : New Japan. Travel pictures from Formosa, the Ryukyu Islands, Bonin Islands, Korea and the southern Manchurian lease area. Springer, Berlin 1927.
Chosen
- Preyer-Elberfeld: The railways in Korea. In: Archives for railways. Springer, Berlin 1914, pp. 402-418, 720-743.
- Norbert Weber : In the land of the morning calm. Travel memories of Korea. Seidel, Munich 1915.
See also
Web links
- Pushcarts (Daisha) on taipics.com
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles S. Small: Rails to the Mines. P. 1, foreword
- ^ Preyer-Elberfeld: The railways in Korea. 1914, p. 738
- ↑ Norbert Weber : In the land of the morning calm. archive.org: p. 387 : Picture from 1911 showing a hand-operated rail car for four people.
- ↑ List regardless of nationality
- ^ Charles S. Small: Rails to the Mines. P. 14
- ^ Charles S. Small: Rails to the Mines. P. 45
- ^ A b Charles S. Small: Rails to the Mines. P. 51
- ^ Richard Goldschmidt : New Japan. Starting on page 59, the author reports on the approximately four-hour journey on this route between Gwaishatei and Fumpo. He uses the Japanese names customary at the time. From the Fumpo stop, he goes on a hike to the Sun and Moon Lake
- ^ Richard Goldschmidt: New Japan. From page 47 the author reports on a trip on this route (with Japanese names). The route is at the end of the previous line