The Tomon Railway Company (

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 ...

: 図們鉄道株式会社, ''Tomon Tetsudo 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 ** ...

: 도문철도주식회사, ''Domun 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 Tomon Railway's line ran from Kainei to Tōkanchin, and was opened in three stages: the Kainei– Jōsanpō section () was completed on 5 January 1920, the Jōsanpō–

Shōjō A is the Japanese reading of Chinese ''xing-xing'' () or its older form ''sheng sheng'' (, translated as "live-lively"), which is a mythical primate, though it has been tentatively identified with an orangutan species. Some Western commentato ...

section () on 1 December 1922, and the Shōjō–Tōkanchin section () on 1 November 1924.朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 669, 28 March 1929 (in Japanese) The narrow-gauge Tiantu Railway, opened in 1923,http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~travel-100years/travelguide_054.htm signed a cross-border operational agreement with the Tomon Railway on 26 June 1926, after which a bridge across the Tumen River between Jōsanpō and Kaishantun was opened on 30 September 1927. The last line to be opened by the Tomon Railway was the Kainei Colliery Line from Kainei to

Keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gamblin ...

, which was opened on 11 August 1928.Japanese Government Railways (1937). 鉄道停車場一覧. 昭和12年10月1日現在 he List of Stations as of 1 October 1937(in Japanese). Tokyo: Kawaguchi Printing Company. p. 506. This line was nationalised on 1 April 1929, becoming the West Domun Line of the Chōsen Government Railway (''Sentetsu''). Subsequently, merged with Sentetsu's East Tomon Line (Tōkanchin– Yūki), the management of the entire line was transferred to the

South Manchuria Railway The South Manchuria Railway ( ja, 南満州鉄道, translit=Minamimanshū Tetsudō; ), officially , Mantetsu ( ja, 満鉄, translit=Mantetsu) or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operatio ...

; at that time, the merged Tomon Line was added to the existing ( Genzan- Seishin) Kankyō Line. In 1933 the

Manchukuo National Railway The Manchukuo National Railway (Traditional Chinese and Japanese kanji: , Japanese romanization: ''Manshū Kokuyū Tetsudō'') was the state-owned national railway company of Manchukuo. Generally called the "國線" ("National Line", ''Kokusen' ...

bought the Tiantu Railway, converting it to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

to make a shorter, more direct line from Kaishantun to

Chaoyangchuan Chaoyangchuan is a town in Yanji, Yanbian, Jilin, China. It has a total population of 54,000 and an area of 393 sq km. 65% of the population is Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Pen ...

on the MNR's Jingtu Line to

Xinjing Xinjing may refer to: *'' Heart Sutra'' or ''Xinjing'' (心經), a Chinese-language sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism Places in China * Changchun, the capital city of Jilin, known as Xinjing (新京) during the Manchukuo era (1932–1945) * Xinjing Tow ...

, opening the new line for use at the end of March 1934. After the end 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

Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea The People's Committee of North Korea (Chosŏn'gŭl: 북조선인민위원회) was a provisional government governing the Northern portion of the Korean Peninsula from 1947 until 1948. Established on 21 February 1947 as the successor of the ...

nationalised all railways in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

zone of occupation on 10 August 1946, and following the establishment of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, the

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–195 ...

was created.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 131, After the end of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the restructuring of the North Korean railway system, including the rearrangement of rail lines, led to the Hoeryeong–Sambong line becoming part of the Korean State Railway's

Hambuk Line The Hambuk Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from Ch'ŏngjin) on the P'yŏngra Line to Rajin, likewise on the P'yŏngra line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama n ...

running from

Cheongjin Chŏngjin (; ) is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province (함경북도) and the country's third largest city. It is sometimes called the ''City of Iron''. History Prehistory According to archaeological findings near the lower ...

to Rajin via

Namyang * Hwaseong, formerly named Namyang (남양 / 南陽) * Namyang clan, of the Hong family of Korea * Namyang Workers' District Namyang Workers' District (남양로동자구) is a town in Onsong, North Hamgyong, North Korea. It lies on the Tumen R ...

.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 89,

Rolling stock

Little is known about the Domun Railway's motive power; however, it is known that four

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 ...

T tank locomotives operated by the Domun Railway became Sentetsu's Pureko- and Purero-class locomotives after nationalisation of the company.

Network

References

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