JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY 6

Upgrading Narrow Gauge
Standards
Shinichi Kato40

When the railways were nationalized
between 1906 and 1907, the skeleton of
the nationwide trunk rail network wasnearly completed, as mandated in theRailway Construction Act of 1892. At theend of 1907, nationalized railway lines inoperation totalled 7,165 km. Construction
continued and 2,677 km of line wereadded by the end of 1919. In addition toactive line expansion, the first decade after the nationalization up to the 1910s
was characterized by vigorous efforts toimprove the quality of facilities.
The nationalization of railways was accomplished by merging governmentowned railways and 17 private railways.
The facilities and equipment varied
widely in level of technology due to different histories of imports and management
policy. Some large private railways hadpoor facilities and equipment. In somecases, different interconnected railways
did not allow through operation of freightcars. Thus, technical unification was animportant goal to complete the nationalization, and served as the basis of furtherimprovement.

Unification of standards and gauges
was accomplished by incorporating thelatest technologies. The process was concurrent with the industrial revolution in
Japan, which occurred between the 1890s
and the 1900s, followed by the burgeoningof the heavy and chemical industries in
the 1910s. Rapid development of railway
technology formed an integral part of theindustrialization process and boosted
transport capacity significantly. Government railways, a gigantic industrial customer, also had an engineering arm covering basic research and manufacturing,which led development of Japanese railway technology and modernization of therail industry.

■ 9600 Locomotive(Transportation Museum)

Improvement of Railroad
Facilities and Equipment
A major event, which undoubtedly contributed to the development of railway
technology in the 1910s, was the debate
on the use of standard gauge (1435 mm).
Although standard gauge was not formally adopted, it was

Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995

■ 8620 Locomotive

persistently advocated by many in therailway industry, and the debate spurred
extensive research reconfirming the disadvantages of narrow gauge. In otherwords, the railway authority tried to ensure the upgrading of railroad facilities byadopting technical standards equivalent
to those for standard gauge as far as possible within the restraints of the narrowgauge.
Construction gauge, loading gauge, distance between track centres, bridge specifications, and other standards were established on the basis of standard gauge. For
example, standards for axles wereadopted to eliminate the need for replacement, at conversion to standard gauge,
which incidentally brought side benefitsof better riding stability and comfort.
Another notable improvement waseliminating steep grades commonly associated with Japanese railways. On theTokaido Line, for example, there weremany sections (1 in 40) consisting of continuous 25 per mill grades, and rerouting
was carried out to reduce them to 10 per
mill (1 in 100) levels, including excavation(Transportation Museum)

Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

■ Yasujiro Shima (1870-1946)(Transportation Museum)■ Class 9900 (D50) at Yamakita Depot on Old Tokaido Routeof long tunnels. One of the most memorable works was construction of theTanna Tunnel connecting Atami andNumazu, designed to avoid the mountainroute via Hakone, which constituted thelargest bottleneck to the reduction oftravel time on the Tokaido Line. Excavation of the 7,804-m tunnel faced numerous obstacles as it advanced through volcanic zones characterized by soft formations and water seepage, as well as a major fault, until its completion in 1934. In
the process, there were many sacrifices
and tragedies, together with heroic episodes, which form the subject of various
novels and dramas. Clearly, constructionof the Tanna Tunnel stands as a milestone for major projects in pre-war Japan.
On the other hand, use of heavy rails
progressed at a much slower rate. 60pound (30 kg) rails were selected as standard rails in 1906, with 75 pounds (37 kg)
being used in some sections. The use of
100-pound (50 kg) rails had to wait until
1922. Also, no systematic effort was madeto ease tight curves.
Thus, standardization of the Japanesenarrow gauge rail system progressed toachieve relatively high loading gauge,
while remaining structurally vulnerable in many aspects compared to international standards. Double tracking
work was delayed, while electrificationof trunk lines did not progress to the fullextent. Meanwhile, to develop a comprehensive transportation system supplementing the insufficient capacity of railways by coastal shipping, regional ports
and harbours as well as water-land interfaces were constructed.
Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

(Transportation Museum)

Evolution of Rolling Stock
Technology
At nationalization, there were approximately 2,000 locomotives of 190 models inJapan. The majority were made in the
USA and UK, each of which held roughly
equal shares, followed by Germany (20%),and the remaining number were built domestically. Their performance varied
widely making it difficult to deploy themaccording to actual needs or to develop anationwide transportation system. Although local works were manufacturinglocomotives by the end of the 1890s, there
was still strong demand for foreign locomotives, partly because the industry
could not reduce manufacturing costs bymass production because orders camefrom a wide range of customers with different specification.
After nationalization, Government railways purchased a few large tender 2C1
type locomotives from the UK, the USA,and Germany. They developed domestic
standard locomotives based on these imports. After establishing standards andmanufacturing methods a 1C type locomotive for express passenger trains(Class 8620) and a 1D type locomotive for
freight trains (Class 9600) were completed. The 8620 was relatively small andlightweight and represented a realistic
design for actual grades and curves. Its
maximum speed was limited to 85 km/h
based on track standards. The 9600 had afire box above the driving wheels providing more tractive force from a bigger
boiler. Up until 1926, 620 units of the8620, and 770 units of the 9600 were pro-Yasujiro Shima graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Imperial University in 1894. Initially, heworked at Kansai Railway, a major
private railway company, before nationalization, and then joined the government railways as head of the Rolling Stock Division until the 1910s. Mr
Shima was a leading figure in standardization of domestic locomotives,
and the 8620 and 9600 locomotives
incorporated his ideas. As a vigorous
advocate of standard gauge, Mr
Shima successfully conducted tests
on technical converting to a standard
gauge system in the suburbs of Tokyo. He devoted himself to upgrading
national railways by implementing
new standards under the restraints ofnarrow gauge. In 1918, he was appointed Chief Engineer, the highestranking railway engineer. In 1939, hespearheaded a shinkansen project
led by the government and developed
a plan for a standard-gauge highspeed rail system connecting Tokyoand Osaka in 4 hours and 30 minutes.
The project, held in abeyance during
WWII, was resumed on the basis of
his master plan and became reality as
the Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964. The
technical manager of that project was
his son, Hideo Shima.

Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995

41

JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY 642■ Class 18900 (C51) hauling Tsubame Test Train(Transportation Museum)

duced and deployed nationwide.
After World War I, two new models
were developed to meet rapidly-growing
traffic volumes on trunk lines, the 18900(later renamed C51) for passenger trains
and the 9900 (D50) for freight traffic. The
former was designed to achieve performance equivalent to that available on
standard gauge. It adopted the 2C1 axle
layout, then standard for express passenger locomotives in Europe and the USA,and its driving wheels had a diameter of1750 mm, the largest of the narrow-gauge
locomotives in the world. A total of 289
units were manufactured after 1919 andmainly introduced to trunk lines including the Tokaido and Sanyo. In 1930 C51
started hauling “Tsubame” limited express train on the Tokaido Line connecting Tokyo and Osaka in 8 hours and 20minutes. The train long served as the starof Japanese railways and relied on theC51’s outstanding performance. In 1934,
completion of the Tanna Tunnel reduced
the travel time to 8 hours. On the otherhand, the 9900 with the 1D1 axle layout
was built from 1923, totaling 380 units.
The locomotive brought a breakthroughin freight transport by increasing haulingcapacity on 10 per mill (1 in 100) grades to
950 tons, compared to 600 tons offered by
the 9600.
The first standard passenger carriage
was designed in 1910. The Americanstyle, walk-through, center-aisle, wooden(steel body used after 1928), bogie car
dominated the industry for many years.
Freight cars before nationalization
mostly had a loading capacity of 7 to 8tons. After 1913, 10-ton cars were adopted

as the standard and existing cars weremodified to help boost transport capacity.
The shift to 15-ton cars was initiated in1914.
The government railways set a policy toestablish technical standards for rollingstock by joint development with manufacturers who were responsible for production, while the railway operated repair
shops. As a result, large manufacturers
accumulated technical and production
ability.
The most notable innovations improving transportation efficiency were air
brakes and automatic couplers. In 1919,
the government railways decided to use
air brakes in place of traditional vacuum
brakes and started to develop a local

model on the basis of technology from
Westing-house. All freight cars wereequipped with pneumatic brakes by 1930,
followed by passenger cars in 1931. Similarly, the use of American-type automaticcouplers was decided in 1919. Freight carspresented a problem for replacement because they travelled all over the country
and were coupled freely. It was decided toreplace couplers in the field and at othersites nationwide on the same day, 17 July
1926 (20 July for Kyushu). To facilitate replacement, automatic couplers were temporarily fixed to 41,661 freight cars in advance and successfully took over on thepreset dates. From the huge amount ofwork involved, it was a notable event inworld rail history.

Enhancement of Railway
Facilities in Tokyo Area
Master plans for rail networks in urbanized areas of Tokyo were establishedunder city plans in the 1880s. However,the networks were incomplete at nationalization, and the completion and establishment of operation systems were left tothe government railways. In fact, management policy was focussed on establishment and operation of nationwide railnetworks, and did not feel responsibility
for developing the public transportation
network in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Nevertheless, the government railways
with large capital and technical capability
inevitably played a decisive role in devel-■ Newly-completed elevated section of inner city line near Shinbashi

Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995

(Transportation Museum)

Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

■ Changing to Automatic Couplers on 17 July 1926

oping urban transportation in Tokyo.
In 1906, immediately after promulgation of the Railway Nationalization Act, a
new master plan was established. Theplan, which essentially followed the previous policy, intended to make urban railways fully functional by increasing thenumber of tracks to 4 or 6 to allow separation of trunk lines from urban lines, andpassenger traffic from freight traffic, during construction.
New lines were primarily designed tointerconnect previously-isolated terminals of trunk lines by constructing a circular Yamanote Line, and inner-citylines connected to it. The plan focusedon interconnection of terminals via
feeder lines in the inner city, rather
than integration of terminal functions.
Since most new lines had elevatedstructure to pass through business orcommercial centres, considerable cost
and time were required. The circular
Yamanote Line was completed in 1925,
except for connection to a terminal station extending to Chiba Prefecture
which was delayed until 1932. This
marked the completion of the skeletonof the rail system in Tokyo. Tokyo Central Station, inaugurated in 1914, assumed the transportation hub in placeof Shinbashi Station, serving as the terminal both for the Tokaido and Sanyo
districts and city lines. Furthermore,

Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

noticed their advantages in urban transport and decided to expand operation. In
1909, electrification of the Yamanote Linewas completed and commercial operation
started. In 1915, electric multiple-unit
trains were introduced between Tokyoand Yokohama. With urban sprawl afterWWI, rail lines served by electric multiple
units were extended to the suburbs of Tokyo and started to serve as the mass transit system growing out of ‘inner city lines’.
The multiple units evolved with expansion of the network from two-axle cars
used by Kobu Tetsudo, which wereequipped with centralized controllers, tobogie cars used for the Yamanote Line,and train sets including Second and First
class cars for the Tokyo-to-Yokohama section. This development of electric multiple
units formed the basis of high-speed EMU
trains in later years. Geographical expansion of sections served by EMU trains andimprovement of service through higher
frequency allowed government railways
to become the major provider of public
transportation in the Tokyo area. For example, EMU trains between Tokyo andKurihama started operation in 1928 andcovered the long distance (62 km) at highspeeds.
■(Transportation Museum)

Tokyo Central became a major symbol
for railways in Japan.
Government railways started operating of electric multiple-unit trains when it
acquired a private railway in Tokyo (Kobu
Tetsudo-now Chuo Line). It immediately

Governmental Railway
Network in Tokyo in 1926AkabaneKaizuka

Ikebukuro
NakanoTabataNipporiShinjyuku

Sumidagawa
Ueno

Mansebashi
TokyoCentral

Akihabara
Ryogoku

Shinbashi
Shiodome
OosakiShinagawaElectrified double-track line
Non-electrified double-track line
Non-electrified single-track line
Main line terminal

Shinichi Kato
Mr Kato graduated in economics from Tokyo University in 1973 and joined the Ministry ofFinance where his responsibilities include research into fiscal policy and railway history. He is
the author of Fiscal and Monetary Policies during the Reconstruction and High-Growth Periodand Bibliography of Japanese Private Railways and Bus History. He is currently a board
member of the Railway History Society.

Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995

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