The Samcheok Railway (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 三陟鐵道株式會社, ''Sanchoku Tetsudō Kabushiki Kaisha'';

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

: 삼척철도주식회사, ''Samcheok Cheoldo Jusikhoesa''), was a privately owned

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

company in Japanese-occupied

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. The first section of the line (Mukho Port–Dogye) was opened on 31 July 1940. The line was named Cheoram Line, which ran from

Mukho Mukho () is a harbor in Donghae City, Gangwon Province, South Korea. It is located on the shore of the Sea of Japan . In the past it played an important role in the shipping of iron ore and coal; much of this role has been taken over by Dongha ...

, a port on Korea's east coast that became part of

Donghae Donghae () may refer to: * East Sea, the South Korean name of the Sea of Japan ** Donghae Expressway, the name of the expressway in South Korea ** Donghae Line, a railway line in Busan, South Korea * Donghae City, in South Korea ** ''Donghae''-c ...

in 1980, to Cheoram in the

Taebaek Mountains The Taebaek Mountains () are a mountain range that stretches across North Korea and South Korea. They form the main ridge of the Korean peninsula. Geography The Taebaek mountains are located along the eastern edge of the peninsula and run alon ...

, to develop three coal fields. Between Simpo-ri and Tong-ri stations, the great height difference was scaled by a steep double-track railway. Freight railcars going up and down were connected to the same cable, passengers had to walk up the mountain. On 1 August 1940, a branch from Bukpyeong (today Donghae Station) to Mukho bypassing Mukho Port was opened, and the original alignment became the Mukho Port Line ( ko); this was followed by a branch from Bukpyeong to

Samcheok Samcheok (; ) is a city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. To the west are the Taebaek Mountains, which form a high flat plain of more than 1,000 meters, and to the east the coastal plain slopes sharply. Samcheok borders Donghae in the north, ...

, the Samcheok Line ( ko), that was opened on 11 February 1944.朝鮮總督府官報 (The Public Journal of the Governor-General of Korea), Shōwa No. 5103, 9 February 1944 After the

partition of Korea The division of Korea began at the end of World War II on 2 September 1945, with the establishment of a Soviet occupation zone and a US occupation zone. These zones developed into separate governments, named the Democratic People's Republic of ...

the Samcheok Railway's network was entirely within the territory of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and the company was nationalised on 10 August 1948 and made part of the

Korean National Railroad The Korea Railroad Corporation () is the national railway operator in South Korea. It is branded as KORAIL () and changed its official Korean name () in November 2019. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed by Ministry of Land, ...

. The Cheoram Line became part of the KNR's

Yeongdong Line The Yeongdong Line is a line of Korail. It connects Yeongju in North Gyeongsang Province with Gangneung in Gangwon Province. From Yeongju, it crosses the Taebaek Mountains and reaches the Sea of Japan (East Sea) at Donghae, thence proceedin ...

in 1963, whilst the Samcheok Line remained a separate line. The Samcheok Railway's network was isolated from the rest of Korea's railways, and remained so until 1955.

Motive Power

Amongst other locomotives, the Samcheok Railway operated two

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The maj ...

tank locomotive A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a #Tender ...

s built by Kisha Seizō of Japan for the railway in 1938; the company designated them the 350 series, numbered 350 and 351.

Network

References

{{reflist Railway companies of Korea under Japanese rule Defunct railway companies of Korea Defunct railway companies of Japan 1948 disestablishments in North Korea