West Chosen Central Railway

The West Chōsen Central Railway (Japanese: 西鮮中央鉄道, ''Sōsen Chūō Tetsudō''; Korean: 서선중앙철도, ''Seoseon Jung'ang Cheoldo''), was a privately owned railway company in Japanese-occupied Korea.

History

The West Chōsen Central Railway opened its lines from Seunghori to Jangsang in several staged between 1939 and 1945. The first section, from Seunghori to Seongneum, was opened on 29 June 1939,朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 3736, 5 July 1939 (in Japanese) followed five months later by an extension to Pyeongnam Gangdong.朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 3851, 20 November 1939 (in Japanese)

On 1 October 1941 a second line was opened, isolated from the first, made up of a mainline running from Sinseongcheon to Bukchang with a branchline, the Jaedong Line, from Gujeong to Jaedong.朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 4410, 4 October 1941 (in Japanese) The two sections of mainline remained isolated from each other until 18 September 1942, when the gap between Pyeongnam Gangdong and Sinseongcheon, a distance of was closed.朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 4699, 25 September 1942 (in Japanese) The newly built line did not long remain part of the West Chōsen railway, as on 1 April 1944 the line from Seunghori as far as Sinseongcheon was nationalised by the Chosen Government Railway (''Sentetsu'') and incorporated into the Pyeongyang Colliery Line.朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 5143, 29 March 1944 (in Japanese)

The West Chōsen Central Railway nevertheless continued expanding its truncated mainline, called the Seoseon Line, receiving approval from the Railway Bureau on 21 June 1940 to extend its line to Deokcheon and thence onwards to the Jangsang coal fields,朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 4021, 18 June 1940 (in Japanese) in order to transport coal from the mines in the area opened in 1938 by the Chosen Anthracite Company.- 植民地朝鮮における石炭産業 - 大阪経済大学
/ref> The first of these extensions was a stretch from Bukchang to Okcheon opened on 28 December 1944,朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 5376, 10 January 1945 (in Japanese) which was followed by a second extension, to Jangan, opened on 25 May 1945,朝鮮総督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 5500, 6 June 1945 (in Japanese) reaching Deokcheon a few months later.

The West Chōsen Central Railway planned its Deokbal Line (덕발선, 徳八線) line to run from Deokcheon to Gujang via Jangsangri, to connect there with Sentetsu's Manpo Line. However, the terrain proved too difficult, and, after adding a signal station at Hyangjang between Hyangwon and Jangsangni, construction on the current alignment of the line to Gujang began. However, this wasn't completed before war's end; it was only after the end of the Korean War that the connection to Gujang and the Manpo Line was finally made.

After the end of the Pacific War and subsequent partition of Korea, the line was within the territory of the DPRK, and was nationalised by the Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea along with all other railways in the Soviet zone of occupation on 10 August 1946, becoming part of the Korean State Railway. The line is now part of the P'yŏngdŏk Line, with the Hyangjang–Jangsang section now forming the Changsang Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō),

Operations

In addition to trains on its own lines, the West Chōsen Central Railway also operated a train in conjunction with the Chōsen Pyeongan Railway, from Deokcheon to Yonggang Oncheon, terminus of the latter's Oncheon Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), p. 86

Rolling Stock

As traffic volumes increased significantly through the Pacific War, the West Chōsen Central Railway found itself needing more power. As a result, eight Mikasa (ミカサ) class 2-8-2 steam locomotives were bought in 1943 and 1944.

More were needed, but as the capacity of locomotive builders in Japan and Korea was already being stretched, Mikaro (ミカロ) class locomotives were borrowed from the South Manchuria Railway (''Mantetsu'') to alleviate the power shortage. Of these, the identities of two are known for certain - ミカロ18 and ミカロ22.

Network

References

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