Shihoro line

Shihoro line
Bridge over the Taushubetsu at the Nukabira reservoir
Route length:	78.3 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Dual track :	No
Legend ↑ Nemuro main line 1905– → Hiroo line 1929-1987 → Tokachi Railway 1920-1977 00.0 Obihiro ( 帯 広 ) 1905– → Nemuro main line 1907– Tokachi-gawa 4.4 Cinema ( 木 野 ) 1925-1987 10.0 Otofuke ( 音 更 ) 1925-1987 15.6 Komaba ( 駒 場 ) 1925-1987 Otofuke-kawa 18.4 Mugi ( 武 儀 ) 1956-1987 22.5 Naka-Shihoro ( 中士 幌 ) 1925-1987 26.4 Shin-Shihoro ( 新 士 幌 ) 1966-1987 30.1 Shihoro ( 士 幌 ) 1925-1987 34.4 Kita-Heiwa ( 北平 和 ) 1957-1987 → Hokkaidō Takushoku Tetsudō 1928-1949 38.4 Kami-Shihoro 1926-1987 → Ōjiseishi horse-drawn tram 43.5 Hagigaoka ( 萩 ヶ 岡 ) 1935-1987 48.8 Shimizudani ( 清水 谷 ) 1935-1987 Otofuke-kawa (2 ×) 53.6 Kuroishidaira ( 黒 石 平 ) 1956-1987 Otofuke-kawa ← (old route) 1937-1955 54.6 Denryokusho-mae ( 電力 所 前 ) 1963-1987 Otofuke-kawa Nukabira-damu ( 糠 平 ダ ム ) 59.1 Nukabira ( 糠 平 ) 1937-1955 Fufuta-gawa 59.7 Nukabira ( 糠 平 ) 1955-1987 Nukabira-gawa Taushubetsu-gawa Otofuke-kawa 71.3 Horoka ( 幌 加 ) 1939-1978 Otofuke-kawa (2 ×) 78.3 Tokachi Mitsumata ( 十勝 三 股 ) 1939-1978 → Otosara-Honryū Forest Railway

The Shihoro Line ( 士 幌 線 , Shihoro-sen ) was a railway line in the center of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . It was opened in several stages between 1925 and 1939 and was in operation until 1987.

description

The 78.3 km long Shihoro Line was Cape-gauge , single-track and not electrified; it served 18 train stations and stops on demand. It branched off the Nemuro main line in Obihiro and led north through the Tokachi plain . In doing so, she followed the Otofuke-gawa River, which she crossed several times. In Kami-Shihoro there was a connection to the route of the Hokkaidō Takushoku Tetsudō to Shintoku . The Shihoro Line then reached the Nukabira Reservoir and passed it on its west side. The terminus Tokachi-Mitsumata was south of the Mikuni Pass in Daisetsuzan National Park and was the highest station in Hokkaidō.

A special feature is the railway bridge over the Taushubetsu-gawa tributary, which was used until 1955. Since then, the 130-meter-long concrete bridge with eleven arches has been flooded every June when the water level of the Nukabira reservoir rises due to the melting snow and heavy rainfall. In winter, when the water level sinks due to increased electricity production, it reappears. For this reason it is also known as the “phantom bridge”.

history

The surveying work on the Shihoro line began in April 1921, the actual construction work in November 1922. The Ministry of Railways opened the first section between Obihiro and Shihoro (30.1 km) on December 10, 1925. The section to Kami-Shihoro (8, 3 km) followed on July 10, 1926. A petition organized by the Mayor of Shihoro Municipality in 1928 calling for the Shihoro Line to be continued northwards was successful. The survey began in 1929, was interrupted two years later and resumed in 1933.

On November 26, 1935, the 10.4 km section between Kami-Shihoro and Shimizudani was opened. From there it went on to Nukabira on September 26, 1937 (10.3 km). With the commissioning of the section between Nukabira and Tokachi-Mitsumata (16.9 km) on November 18, 1939, the Shihoro line was completed. In the appendix of the revised Railway Construction Act of 1922, a continuation of the line through the Ishikari Mountains to Kamikawa was noted, but this project was never implemented. In 1952, construction of the Nukabira Dam began. Since part of the Shihoro line would be flooded by the future reservoir , a bypass route had to be built. The Japanese State Railways put this into operation on August 1, 1955.

Massive population decline, the effects of mass motorization and a crisis in forestry led to a sharp drop in demand in the upper Otofuke Valley in the 1960s. On December 20, 1978, the state railway stopped freight traffic north of Kami-Shihoro. Five days later, she set up a permanent replacement rail service between Nukabira and Tokachi-Mitsumata (the first ever in Japan). On November 15, 1982, the cessation of goods traffic on the remaining section followed. Finally, on March 23, 1987, a week before its privatization, the State Railroad shut down the entire Shihoro line.

List of train stations

Surname	km	Connecting lines	location	place
Obihiro ( 帯 広 )	00.0	Nemuro main line Hiroo line (until 1987)	Coord.	Obihiro
Cinema ( 木 野 )	04.4		Coord.	Otofuke
Otofuke ( 音 更 )	10.0		Coord.
Komaba ( 駒 場 )	15.6		Coord.
Mugi ( 武 儀 )	18.4		Coord.
Naka-Shihoro ( 中士 幌 )	22.5		Coord.	Shihoro
Shin-Shihoro ( 新 士 幌 )	26.4		Coord.
Shihoro ( 士 幌 )	30.1		Coord.
Kita-Heiwa ( 北平 和 )	34.4		Coord.
Kami-Shihoro ( 上士 幌 )	38.4	Hokkaidō Takushoku Tetsudō (until 1949)	Coord.	Kamishihoro
Hagigaoka ( 萩 ヶ 岡 )	43.5		Coord.
Shimizudani ( 清水 谷 )	48.8		Coord.
Kuroishidaira ( 黒 石 平 )	53.6		Coord.
Denryokusho-mae ( 電力 所 前 )	54.6		Coord.
Nukabira-damu ( 糠 平 ダ ム )			Coord.
Nukabira ( 糠 平 )	59.7		Coord.
Horoka ( 幌 加 )	71.3		Coord.
Tokachi Mitsumata ( 十勝 三 股 )	78.3		Coord.

Web links

Commons : Shihoro Line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Shihoro Line Information with Photo Galleries (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Shunsuke Yamamoto: Now you see it, now you don't: Hokkaido's 'phantom bridge'. The Japan Times , April 30, 2014, accessed October 4, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{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. 201-202 .

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap