The Nakeha (Japanese ナケハ, Korean 혀게하) class railcars were a group of 3rd class narrow-gauge petrol-powered railcars of the Chosen Government Railway (''Sentetsu''). There were two classes of such railcars, one built in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and one built in Korea. After Liberation, they all remained in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, where they were operated by 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 ...

; none were preserved.

Nakeha1 class (ナケハ1)

By 1925 local and urban railway passenger transport was coming under threat from the increasing usage of the automobile. Seeing their successful use abroad, Sentetsu decided to put railcars with internal combustion engines into service. In Korea, the first 3rd class petrol-powered railcars entered service in 1928 on the narrow-gauge Donghae Jungbu Line (Daegu-Gyeongju, now part of the

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

and Jungang lines). These were the Nageha1 class railcars. These small, 30-passenger railcars, the Nakeha1 class, were made in Japan by Nippon Sharyō and were powered by a Ford engine. A total of seven were built in 1928 and 1929, and they quickly proved well suited to frequent suburban service due to their low operational costs when compared with locomotive-hauled passenger trains.

Nakeha2 class (ナケハ2)

Drawing on their experiences with the Nakeha1 class and with the British-made Shiki2 class

steam railcar A steam railcar, steam motor car (US), or Railmotor (UK) is a railcar that is self powered by a steam engine. The first steam railcar was an experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams in Britain. In 1 ...

s, Sentetsu designed the Nakeha2 class narrow-gauge gasoline railcars in-house. Powered by a Waukesha Motor Company 6-KU 6-cylinder petrol engine imported from the United States, they carried 45 passengers in 3rd class accommodations. Originally numbered 11 through 16, they were renumbered ナケハ2-1 through ナケハ2-6 in Sentetsu's general renumbering of 1938. A total of six were built by the

Gyeongseong Works Seoul has been known in the past by successive names, including Wiryeseong () and Hanseong (Baekje era), Bukhansangun (Goguryo era), Hanyang (North and South states period), Namgyeong (, Goryeo era), Hanyangbu (Goryeo under Mongol rule), Hanseong ...

, the first four being delivered to Sentetsu in 1930, followed by two more in 1931.

Korean National Railroad

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 ...

and the subsequent

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 ...

, all thirteen railcars of both Nakeha classes remained in the South Korea, where they were operated by the

. They were retired in 1965, being replaced by the Narrow-gauge DC-class diesel-hydraulic railcars.

References

{{Korail rolling stock Railcars of Korea Railcars of South Korea Railway locomotives introduced in 1928 Railway locomotives introduced in 1930 Gyeongseong Works locomotives Nippon Sharyo locomotives