West Chosen Central Railway

West Chosen Central Railway
Overview
Native name	서선중앙철도 (Seoseon Jung'ang Cheoldo) 西鮮中央鉄道 (Sōsen Chūō Tetsudō)
Route map Sentetsu lines transferred to Sentetsu 1 April 1944 West Chosen Central Railway Seoseon Line West Chosen Central Railway Jaedong Line West Chosen Central Railway Deokbal Line Pyeongyang Colliery Line (Sentetsu) 0.0 Seunghori Mandalli 8.0 Hwacheon Geumok 15.9 Songga 22.3 Samdeung 25.7 Heungnyeong 29.6 Seongneum 38.1 Pyeongnam Gangdong 46.5 Baegwon 53.0 Sundeok 55.4 Pyeongnam Seongcheon 62.4 Samdeok Gyeongwon Line (Sentetsu) ↑ to Sentetsu 1 April 1944 68.6 0.0 Sinseongcheon Gyeongwon Line (Sentetsu) 7.4 Pungpyeong 13.1 Wonchang 16.7 0.0 Kujeong Jaedong Line 4.4 Jaedong 19.2 Songnam 27.7 Gachang 36.1 Bukchang 42.0 Okcheon 44.4 Guhyeon 47.8 Hoean 48.4 Jangan 57.6 Jenam 63.3 Deokcheon 68.0 Hyangwon 73.3 Hyangjang planned extension to Gujang 75.2 Jangsangri

The West Chosen 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 Chosen Central Railway opened its lines from Seunghori to Jangsang in several staged between 1939 and 1945. The first section, 29.6 km (18.4 mi) from Seunghori to Seongneum, was opened on 29 June 1939,^[1] followed five months later by an 8.5 km (5.3 mi) extension to Pyeongnam Gangdong.^[2]

On 1 October 1941 a second line was opened, isolated from the first, made up of a 36.1 km (22.4 mi) mainline running from Sinseongcheon to Bukchang with a 4.4 km (2.7 mi) branchline, the Jaedong Line, from Gujeong to Jaedong.^[3] 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 30.3 km (18.8 mi) was closed.^[4] The newly built line did not long remain part of the West Chosen railway, as on 1 April 1944 the line from Seunghori all the way to Sinseongcheon was nationalised by the Chosen Government Railway (Sentetsu) and incorporated into the Pyeongyang Colliery Line.^[5]

The West Chosen 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,^[6] in order to transport coal from the mines in the area opened in 1938 by the Chosen Anthracite Company.^[7] The first of these extensions was a 5.9 km (3.7 mi) stretch from Bukchang to Okcheon opened on 28 December 1944,^[8] which was followed by a second extension, 6.4 km (4.0 mi) to Jangan, opened on 15 May 1945,^[9] reaching Deokcheon a few months later.

The West Chosen 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 Jangsangri, 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.^[10]

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.^[11]

Rolling Stock

As traffic volumes increased significantly through the Pacific War, the West Chosen Central Railway found itself needing more power. As a result, eight Mikasa 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 class locomotives were borrowed from the South Manchuria Railway (Mantetsu) to alleviate the power shortage.

References