Nippon Railway

Not to be confused with Japan Railways.
Nippon Railway
Overview
HeadquartersTokyo
LocaleJapan
Dates of operation1883–1906
SuccessorJapanese Government Railways
Technical
Track gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Length860.8 miles (1906)

Nippon Railway (日本鉄道, Nippon Tetsudō) was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1906, and many are now operated by East Japan Railway Company.

Outline

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The company was incorporated in 1881 as the first privately funded railway company in Japan, where the railways had been built only by the imperial government since early 1870s. If, however, the definition of "railway" includes horsecars, Nippon Railway is behind Tokyo Bashatetsudō, established in 1880 as the first private railway in Japan.

Major investors to the company were kazoku, led by the highest-class court noble Iwakura Tomomi. The company, incorporated to help expansion of national railway network in line with the national policy, received strong support from the government, both technically and financially.

The first 38 miles (61 km) of the railway, between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kumagaya Station in Kumagaya, Saitama, opened on July 28, 1883.[1] The mainline to Aomori was completed in 1891.[2]

The company expanded the railway by means of both construction and acquisition of other companies. As of 1906, it operated 860.8 miles (1,385.3 km) of railways including the present-day Tōhoku Main Line, Jōban Line, Takasaki Line and Yamanote Line.

On November 1, 1906, the entire operation of the company was purchased by the government of Japan under the Railway Nationalization Act. Consequently, the company was dissolved.

List of lines

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Operation of Nippon Railway as of October 31, 1906[3]
Endpoints Length
(miles) 		Line names
(designated after nationalization) 		Notes
Ueno – Aomori 456.9 Tōhoku Main Line
Nippori – Mikawashima 0.8 Jōban Line
Ōmiya – Maebashi 52.5 Takasaki Line, Ryōmō Line
Oyama – Maebashi 50.9 Ryōmō Line
Oyama – Tomobe 31.4 Mito Line
Tabata – Iwanuma 213.6 Jōban Line
Tabata – Ikebukuro 3.3 Yamanote Line
Shinagawa – Akabane 13.0 Yamanote Line, Akabane Line
Utsunomiya – Nikkō 25.0 Nikkō Line
Iwakiri – Shiogama 4.3 Shiogama Line
Shiriuchi (present-day Hachinohe) – Minato 5.1 Hachinohe Line
Ueno – Akihabara 1.2 Tōhoku Main Line Freight
Mikawashima – Sumidagawa 2.0 Jōban Line Freight
Mito – Nakagawa 0.8 Jōban Line Freight
Total 860.8

Rolling stock

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Baldwin built Bbt2/5 (JGR Class 6600) were the only Atlantics to operate in Japan
Fleet of Nippon Railway[4]
Year Steam
locomotives		 Passenger
cars		 Freight cars etc.
Wagons Trucks
1890 54 158 763
1900 286 824 1,646 1,957
1905 356 857 2,345 3,386
Nippon Railway Steam Locomotives[5]
Class Road numbers Wheel
arrangement		 Total Builder Build year Works numbers JGR Class and numbers (1909)
B3/5 501-503 2-6-2T 3 Baldwin 1893 13776, 13777, 13780 Class 3250 3250-3252
504 1 13781 Class 3390 3390
505 1 13782 Class 3250 3253
Bbt2/5 506-529 4-4-2 24 Baldwin 1897 15175-15198 Class 6600 6600-6623
Bt4/5 576-587 2-8-0 12 Baldwin 1906 28914-28917，28946-28947，28960-28965 Class 9300 9300-9311
Bt4/6 530-549 2-8-2 20 Baldwin 1897 15203-15222 Class 9700 9700-9719
D2/4 37-39 0-6-0T 3 Dübs 1888 2356-2358 Class 500 500-508
66-71 6 1892 2874-2879
D3/3 25-30 0-6-0T 6 Dübs 1887 2275-2280 Class 1850 1864-1881
87-92 6 1894 3081-3086
117-122 6 1896 3324-3329
D3/4 60-65 0-6-2T 6 Dübs 1891 2771-2776 Class 2100 2106-2111
Db3/6 201-204 4-6-2T 4 Dübs 1898 3653-3655, 3659 Class 3800 3800-3803
Dbt2/4 4-15 4-4-0 12 Dübs 1883 ? Class 5230 5230-5241
205-206 2 1898 3657-3658 Class 5830 5830-5831
Dt3/4 326-331 0-6-2 6 Dübs 1902 4304-4309 Class 7050 7050-7055
H3/5 825-830 2-6-2T 6 Hanomag 1903 3046-3051 Class 3170 3170-3175
HS3/5 831-832 2-6-2T 2 Henschel 1904 6480-6481 Class 3240 3240-3241
M3/3 甲1 0-6-0T 1 Manning Wardle 1881 815 Class 1290 1292
Ma2/2+2/2 701 0-4-4-0 1 Maffei 1903 2314 Class 4500 4500
N3/3 105-116 0-6-0T 12 Neilson 1894 4776-4787 Class 1960 1960-1971
Nbt2/4 72-76 4-4-0 5 Neilson 1893 ? Class 5630 5636-5640
Nt3/4 77-86 2-6-0 10 Neilson 1893 4658 - 4665，4656，4657 Class 7750 7750-7759
NB3/4 833-844 0-6-2T 12 North British 1905 17021-17022, 17043-17052 Class 2120 2366-2377
NBt3/4 332-337 0-6-2 6 North British 1903 15951-15956 Class 7050 7056-7061
O3/3 401-406 0-6-0T 6 Ōmiya Works 1904 ? Class 1040 1040-1045
Obt2/4 3 4-4-0 1 Ōmiya Works 1901 1 Class 5270 5270
P3/3 123-128 0-6-0T 30 Dübs 1896 3802-3807 Class 1900 1900-1924
129-152 3828-3851
P3/5 801-824 2-6-2T 24 Beyer, Peacock 1904 4497-4520 Class 3200 3200-3223
Pbt2/4 1-2 4-4-0 2 Beyer, Peacock 1882 2161-2162 Class 5300 5312-5313
93-104 12 1894 3640-3651 Class 5500 5506-5565
153-188 36 1897 3889-3924
189-200 12 1898 4014-4025
213-218 6 1899 4038-4043 Class 5600 5600-5617
219-230 12 1902 4479-4490
Pt3/4 320-325 0-6-2 6 Beyer, Peacock 1902 4393-4398 Class 7080 7080-7085
Rt4/5 588-599 2-8-0 12 ALCo-Rogers 1906 41261-41272 Class 9400 9400-9411
S2/4 550-575 2-4-2T 26 Schenectady 1898 4863-4888 Class 900 900-925
SS2/3 16-17 2-4-0 2 Sharp, Stewart 1875 ? Class 140 140-141
SSbt2/4 207-212 4-4-2 6 Sharp, Stewart 1898 ? Class 5650 5650-5655
W2/4 18-19 2-4-2T 2 Nasmyth, Wilson 1895 467-468 Class 600 600-615
31-36 6 1887 326-331
40-41 2 1888 342-434
42-47 6 1889 383-388
48-53 6 1890 396-401 Class 600 621, 616-620
W3/3 21-24 0-6-0T 4 Nasmyth, Wilson 1886-1898 524, 298, 307, 309 Class 1100 1105-1108
Wt3/4 54-59 2-6-0 6 Nasmyth, Wilson 1889 369-374 Class 7600 7600-7605

Notes

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  1. ^ Ishino, p. 323, vol. I
  2. ^ Free, Early Japanese Railways 1853–1914: Engineering Triumphs That Transformed Meiji-era Japan, Tuttle Publishing, 2008 (ISBN 4805310065)
  3. ^ Ishino, p. 324, vol. I
  4. ^ Wakuda, p. 64
  5. ^ Inoue, Kouichi (2014). 図説国鉄蒸気機関車全史. JTB Publishing. p. 87.

References

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  • Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. {{{1}}}. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. {{{2}}}. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
  • Wakuda, Yasuo (1993). Shitetsushi Handobukku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Denkisha Kenkyūkai. ISBN 978-4-88548-065-2.
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