The Chosen Gyeongnam Railway (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 朝鮮京南鉄道株式会社, ''Chōsen Kyōnan Tetsudō Kabushiki Kaisha'';

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 조선경남철도주식회사, ''Joseon Gyeongnam Cheoldo Jusikhoesa''), was a privately owned

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

company in Japanese-occupied

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

History

The company began operations in 1912, and by 1931 it had opened a network of nearly in the area around

Cheonan Cheonan (; 천안시, ''Cheonan-si''), also spelled Ch'ŏnan, is a city in South Chungcheong, South Korea. Cheonan has a population of 666,417 (2018), making it the most-populous city or county in South Chungcheong, and the third most-populous ci ...

. Following the

partition of Korea The division of Korea began with the defeat of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be li ...

, the entirety of the Chosen Gyeongnam Railway's network was located in the

American zone of occupation Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...

. All railways in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, including the Chosen Gyeongnam Railway, were nationalised in 1946, becoming part of the

Korean National Railroad The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사, Hanja: ), branded as KORAIL (코레일, officially changed to in November 2019), is the national railway operator in South Korea. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed ...

. The Chosen Gyeongnam Railway opened the following railway lines between 1912 and 1931: * 1912: Gunsan Line, from

Iri IRI or I.R.I. refers to: Businesses and organizations * Iringa Airport, an airport in Tanzania serving Iringa and the surrounding Iringa Region by IATA airport code * India Rejuvenation Initiative, an Indian anti-corruption organization forme ...

on the

Chosen Government Railway Chosen or The Chosen may refer to: The chosen ones *Chosen people, people who believe they have been chosen by a higher power to do a certain thing including **Jews as the chosen people Books *The Chosen (Potok novel), ''The Chosen'' (Potok novel ...

Honam Line {{Infobox rail line , box_width = auto , name = Honam Line , other_name = , native_name = 호남선(湖南線) , native_name_lang = kr , color = , logo = , logo_width = , logo_alt = , image = Korail H ...

Gunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an int ...

; * 1919–1927: Gyeonggi Line, from

on the Chosen Government Railway's

Gyeongbu Line The Gyeongbu Line (''Gyeongbuseon'') is a railway line in South Korea and is considered to be the most important and one of the oldest ones in the country. It was constructed in 1905, connecting Seoul with Busan via Suwon, Daejeon, and Daegu. ...

to Janghowon; * 1922–1931: Chungnam Line, from Cheonan to Janghang Jangyo; * 1931: Gunsanhang Line, from Gunsan to

Gunsan Port The Port of Gunsan() is a port in South Korea, located in the city of Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. References Gunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the G ...

(became Gunsanbudu (Gunsan Wharf) Station) in 1943. After the nationalisation, the Korean National Railroad took over these lines, eventually rearranging them. The Gunsan–Gunsan Wharf section of the Gunsan Line was detached to create the Gunsan Freight Line, whilst the Iri–Gunsan section of the Gunsan Line and the entirety of the Ch'ungnam Line from Gunsan to Cheonan were merged to create the

Janghang Line The Janghang Line is a railway line serving South Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The line connects Cheonan (on the Gyeongbu Line) to the railway junction city of Iksan. The Janghang Line is served by frequent Saemaeul-ho and Mugunghwa- ...

in 1955. The Gyeonggi Line was renamed Anseong Line ( ko) in the same year.

Services

In the November 1942 timetable, the last issued prior to the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the Chōsen Gyeongnam Railway was running extensive passenger services on the Chungnam Line, along with three daily round trips on the Gyeonggi Line.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)

Rolling Stock

Few details are available about the rolling stock operated by the Chosen Gyeongnam Railway; known are the 100 series and 200 series

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The major ...

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

s, which were later used by the KNR as the Pureo7-100 and Pureo7-200 classes. In addition, two locomotives identical to the

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Rai ...

Class C11 were delivered new in 1935 and 1936 from Hitachi, numbered 25 (w/n 624) and 26 (w/n 725) respectively.

Network

References

{{reflist Rail transport in South Korea Rail transport in Korea Korea under Japanese rule Defunct companies of Japan Defunct railway companies of Korea