Iburi line
| Iburi line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 83.0 km + 7.5 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1067 mm ( cape track ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Iburi Line ( Japanese 胆 振 線 , Iburi-sen ) was a railway line in the west of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . It was opened in four stages between 1919 and 1941, linked Date with Kutchan and operated until 1986.
description
Overall, the Iburi line had a length of 90.5 km, made up of the 83.0 km long main line and a 7.5 km long branch line. Both had a track width of 1067 mm ( Cape gauge ) and were not electrified. From Datemombetsu station on the Muroran Main Line , the main line first ran northeast through the Osaru Valley, past Usu-zan and other volcanoes. North of Shin-Ōtaki, the route turned to the northwest and then led through the Shirebetsu Valley. After she had passed the Yōtei-zan volcano on its east and north sides, it finally ended in Kutchan station , where there was a connection to the Hakodate main line . The branch line led from Kyogoku station eastwards through a side valley to Wakikata and opened up an iron ore mine there .
In addition to passenger trains, which traveled the entire route, there were also trains on the Datemombetsu – Kubonai, Datemombetsu – Shin-Ōtaki and Misono – Kutchan sections. From 1962 to 1980, the Iburi Express also ran on weekends , clockwise from Sapporo via Tomakomai , Higashi-Muroran , Datemombetsu, Kutchan and Otaru back to Sapporo.
history
The main reason for the construction of a railway line in this sparsely populated, predominantly agricultural area was the development of large iron ore deposits east of Kutchan . The mined ore should, especially in the steel mills of Muroran be processed. First, the Ministry of Railways built a 13.4 km long section of the Kyōgoku Kleinbahn ( 京 極 軽 便 線 , Kyōgoku-keibensen ) between Kutchan station and Kyōgoku, which went into operation on November 15, 1919. The line was extended on July 15, 1920 by a further 7.5 km to Wakikata station near the Kutchan mine, with the steel company Japan Steel Works providing all the rails required for this free of charge. After the expiry of the Small Railroad Act, the line was renamed Kyōgoku Line ( 京 極 線 , Kyōgoku-sen ) in September 1922 .
In February 1925, the private railway company Iburi Tetsudō was founded. After almost two years of construction, it opened on October 21, 1928 the 10.8 km long route between Kyōgoku and Kimobetsu, which follows the Kyōgoku line. In September 1936, another private railway company was founded, the Iburi Jūkan Tetsudō , which began building the line in May 1937. About three and a half years later, on December 15, 1940, it put the 35.0 km long section between Datemombetsu Station and Shin-Ōtaki into operation. In September 1941, the Iburi Tetsudō went on after a merger in the Iburi Jūkan Tetsudō . The latter opened shortly afterwards, on October 12, 1941, the missing 15.4 miles between Shin-Ōtaki and Kimobetsu. For the next three years there were two train stations in Kimobetsu, with the older one, together with a 0.7 km long section, only being used for freight traffic.
During the Pacific War , the Japanese state strove to bring under its control various private railways of strategic importance that had emerged after the first wave of nationalization in 1906/07 . According to an ordinance issued in 1941, a total of 22 railway companies were affected by the nationalization, including the Iburi Jūkan Tetsudō , which passed into state ownership on July 1, 1944. On the same day, their route was merged with the Kyogoku line to form the new Iburi line. However, it was barely able to fulfill its intended strategic role. This was due to eruptions of the volcano Usu-zan , between December 1943 and September 1945, the emergence of the crypto Doms had Showa shinzan result. The piling up layers of lava repeatedly damaged the railway line near Sōbetsu, which made several interruptions and repairs necessary.
After the closure of the Kutchan mine in October 1969, the volume of traffic on the Wakikata branch decreased significantly, which is why the Japanese State Railways shut it down on November 1, 1970. Another severe eruption of Usu-zan on August 7, 1977 interrupted the Iburi Line between Datemombetsu and Shin-Ōtaki for several weeks. It was not until September 30, 1977 that traffic could be resumed continuously. On November 1, 1986 the state railway shut down the entire Iburi line due to a lack of profitability. It was then replaced by a bus line from the Dōnan Bus company .
List of train stations
| Surname | km | Connecting lines | location | place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main line | ||||
| Datemombetsu ( 伊達 紋 別 ) | 0.0 | Muroran main line | Coord. | Date |
| Kami-Nagawa ( 上 長 和 ) | 5.1 | Coord. | ||
| Sōbetsu ( 壮 瞥 ) | 10.3 | Coord. | Sobetsu | |
| Kubonai ( 久保 内 ) | 17.1 | Coord. | ||
| Bank egg ( 蟠 渓 ) | 23.1 | Coord. | ||
| Kita-Yuzawa ( 北 湯 沢 ) | 27.5 | Coord. | Date | |
| Yūtoku ( 優 徳 ) | 30.3 | Coord. | ||
| Shin-Ōtaki ( 新 大 滝 ) | 35.0 | Coord. | ||
| Oroen ( 尾 路 遠 ) | 43.7 | Coord. | ||
| Misono ( 御 園 ) | 48.4 | Coord. | Kimobetsu | |
| Kita-Suzukawa ( 北 鈴 川 ) | 53.5 | Coord. | ||
| Kimobetsu ( 喜 茂 別 ) | 59.2 | Coord. | ||
| Rusan ( 留 産 ) | 62.9 | Coord. | ||
| Minami Kyōgoku ( 南京 極 ) | 65.0 | Coord. | Kyogoku | |
| Higashi-Kyōgoku ( 東京 極 ) | 68.4 | Coord. | ||
| Kyōgoku ( 京 極 ) | 69.6 | Wakikata branch line | Coord. | |
| Kitaoka ( 北 岡 ) | 72.6 | Coord. | ||
| Kambetsu ( 寒 別 ) | 74.9 | Coord. | Kutchan | |
| Sangō ( 参 郷 ) | 78.4 | Coord. | ||
| Rokugō ( 六 郷 ) | 80.4 | Coord. | ||
| Kutchan ( 倶 知 安 ) | 83.0 | Hakodate main line | Coord. | |
| Wakikata branch line | ||||
| Kyōgoku ( 京 極 ) | 0.0 | Kyogoku | ||
| Wakikata ( 脇 方 ) | 7.5 | Coord. | ||
Web links
- Photos of the former railway line (Japanese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Keisuke Imao, Takeshi Hara (Ed.): 日本 鉄 道 旅行 歴 史 地 図 帳 . tape 1 (Hokkaidō). Shinchōsha, Shinjuku 2010, ISBN 978-4-10-790035-7 , pp. 37 .
- ↑ a b c Shunzō Miyawaki: 鉄 道 廃 線 跡 を 歩 く (hiking along disused railway lines) . tape 4 . JTB Publishing, Tokyo 1997, ISBN 978-4-533-02857-1 , pp. 203 .
- ↑ a b c Keisuke Imao: 日本 鉄 道 旅行 地 図 帳 (Japan Rail Travel Atlas ) . tape 1 Hokkaidō. Shinchosha, Tokyo 2008, ISBN 978-4-10-790019-7 , pp. 29 .
- ↑ Communication No. 308 of the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications. In: Official Gazette. National Parliamentary Library digital archive, July 27, 1944, accessed June 13, 2017 (Japanese).
- ↑ 添 付 資料 1-1 (1). (PDF, 2.4 MB) Japanese Civil Protection Agency, 1977, p. 1373 , accessed June 13, 2017 (Japanese).
- ↑ 添 付 資料 1-1 (2). (PDF, 2.0 MB) Japanese Civil Protection Agency, 1977, p. 1451 , accessed June 13, 2017 (Japanese).
Map with all coordinates: