The is a railway line of the
ÅŒigawa Railway
is a railway company in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which first opened in 1927. The company is commonly known as . The company belonged to the Meitetsu Group until 2015, when it was sold to Eclipse Hidaka, a food and hotel company headquarte ...
. It runs from
Senzu Station in
Kawanehon, Shizuoka
270px, Kawanehon Town Hall
is a town located in Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 6,731 in 2895 households and a population density of 13.4 persons per km². The total area of the town was ...
, the end station of the
ÅŒigawa Main Line
The is a Japanese railway line which connects Kanaya Station in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture with Senzu Station in Kawanehon, Haibara District, Shizuoka Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the private railway operator ÅŒigawa Railway ...
, and terminates at Ikawa Station in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka. The line has 61 tunnels and 51 bridges along its 25.5 kilometer length and includes the only rack railway, rack-and-pinion railway section currently operating in Japan.
In September 2022, the ÅŒigawa Main Line suffered substantial damage from Tropical Storm Talas (2022), Tropical Storm Talas. Rail services between Kawaneonsen-Sasamado Station, Kawane-Onsen Sasamado and
Senzu Station were suspended until further notice. Steam locomotives were changed to only operate between Shin-Kanaya and Kawane-Onsen Sasamado. ÅŒigawa Railway advises customers intending to travel beyond Ieyama Station to the Ikawa Line, towards Senzu and the Sumata Gorge area, to transfer to Kawanehon, Kawanehon Town's community buses at Ieyama Station, which provide connections to Senzu Station.
History
The Ikawa line began operations on March 20, 1935, as a private line for the ÅŒigawa Electric Company, to carry workers and materials upstream to facilitate dam construction.
The single track line was originally constructed with Narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge; however, in order to have dual usage with carriages on the Senzu-Shinrin Line (now closed) a dual gauge, third rail was added the following year for the Japanese standard gauge (). In 1954, the line was extended under the aegis of the Chubu Electric Power Company to facilitate the construction of the ÅŒigawa Dam. Railway operations were spun out of Chubu Electric into a separate company in 1959, with the foundation of the ÅŒigawa Railway Company.
With the completion of the Nagashima Dam, a portion of the line had to be re-routed along a 1.5 km section with a maximum grade (slope), gradient of 9% (~1 in 11). This required the installation of an Abt rack system on October 2, 1990.
An automatic train stop system was installed at the end of March 2009.
Stations
Image:Oku-oi Rainbow Bridge on Oigawa railway.jpg, Okuoi Rainbow Bridge
Image:Ikawasen2.jpg, Mountainous terrain
Image:Abt rack rail 02.jpg, Rack railway#Abt (1882), Abt rack rail
Image:Oigawa-ED903.jpg, Oigawa ED903 rack locomotive
See also
* List of railway lines in Japan
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oigawa Railway Ikawa Line
Railway lines in Japan
Rail transport in Shizuoka Prefecture
Rack railways in Japan
Railway lines opened in 1935
1067 mm gauge railways in Japan
2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Japan