Hamnam Line (咸南線, ''Kan'nan-sen'') was the name given by the
Chōsen Railway (''Chōtetsu'') of
colonial-era Korea to a small network of narrow gauge railway lines in
South Hamgyeong Province.
[Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), ]
History
A line from
Hamheung on the
Hamgyeong Line
The Hamgyeong Line was a Rail transport, railway line of the Chosen Government Railway (''Sentetsu'') in Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese-occupied Korea, running from Wonsan Station, Wonsan to Sambong Station, Sangsambong. Construction began i ...
of the
Chōsen Government Railway to
Oro
Oro or ORO, meaning gold in Spanish and Italian, may refer to:
Music and dance
* Oro (dance), a Balkan circle dance
* Oro (eagle dance), an eagle dance from Montenegro and Herzegovina
* "Oro" (song), the Serbian entry in the 2008 Eurovision S ...
, to exploit forestry and other resources in the area, was originally planned by the
Chosen Forestry 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), a 1967 novel by Chai ...
as part of a trunk line connecting Hamhung to
Manpo
Manpo () is a city of northwestern Chagang Province, North Korea. As of 2008, it had an estimated population of 116,760. It looks across the border to the city of Ji'an, Jilin province, China.
History
Manp'o was incorporated as a city in October ...
via
Changjin
Changjin County is a mountainous county in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea.
Geography
Changjin lies on the Rangrim and Pujŏllyong ranges, and most of the county sits atop the Kaema Plateau. Due to this location, Changjin has a particul ...
and
Huju. The first section, from Hamheung to Oro, was opened on 7 June 1923,
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō No. 3251, 13 June 1923] and on 25 August 1923, the Oro–Jangpung section and
West Hamheung Station were opened.
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō No. 3320, 4 September 1923]
On 1 September 1923, the Chōsen Forestry Railway merged with five other private railway companies to form the Chōsen Railway (''Chōtetsu''); Chōtetsu subsequently named the Hamheung–Jangpung line Hamnam Line.
On 1 October 1926, Chōtetsu opened a section of line from Oro to
Sangtong;
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Taishō No. 4244, 13 October 1926] this was followed on 1 February 1928 by the section from Pungsang to
Hamnam Songheung.
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 354, 7 March 1928] Two years later, on 1 February 1930 the Hamnam Line was taken over by a newly established subsidiary company, the
Sinheung Railway
The Sinheung Railway ( Japanese: 新興鉄道株式会社, ''Shinkō Tetsudo Kabushiki Kaisha''; Korean: 신흥철도주식회사, ''Sinheung Cheoldo Jusikhoesa''), was a privately owned railway company in colonial era Korea.
It was a subsid ...
.
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 930, 10 February 1930]
The Sinheung Railway continued to expand the network, and on 15 January 1932, after the existing Hamnam Songheung Station was renamed Hasonghung Station, the present
Hamnam Songheung Station was opened from Hasongheung,
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 1510, 22 January 1932] and on 10 September 1933, the line was extended to
Bujeonhoban.
The Sinheung Railway was absorbed by Chōtetsu on 22 April 1938,
[朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 3385, 3 May 1938] and Chōtetsu separated the
Hamnam Sinheung–Bujeonhoban section from the Hamnam Line, naming that portion the
Songheung Line.
After the establishment of
North Korea and the nationalisation of its railways, the Hamnam Line was split up, with the Hamheung - Oro - Sinheung section becoming the
Sinhŭng Line, and the Oro - Sangtong section becoming part of the
Changjin Line
The Changjin Line is an electrified narrow gauge line of the North Korean State Railway running from Yŏnggwang on the Sinhŭng Line to Sasu on Lake Changjin.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), There is a cable-haul ...
. At the same time, the Songheung Line was merged into the Sinhŭng Line.
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 ...
, Chōtetsu operated the following schedule of third-class-only local passenger services:
[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)]
Route
References
{{ChosenRyLines
Rail transport in North Korea
Rail transport in Korea
Korea under Japanese rule
Defunct railway companies of Japan
Defunct railway companies of Korea
Chosen Railway