The is a Japanese railway line which connects Kanaya Station in Shimada,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

with Senzu Station in Kawanehon, Haibara District,

. It is owned and operated by the

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

operator

Ōigawa 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 ...

. In September 2022, the Ōigawa Main Line suffered substantial damage from Tropical Storm Talas. Rail services between Kawane-Onsen Sasamado and Senzu Station were suspended until further notice.

History

The Ōigawa Main Line began operations on June 10, 1927 as a private line for the Ōigawa Electric Company, to carry workers and materials upstream to facilitate dam construction. The single-track line was extended from Kanaya in stages, reaching it current

terminal station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

of Senzu on December 1, 1931. The entire line was electrified on November 18, 1949, with EMUs for the passenger services commencing then and freight operation by electric locomotives beginning in August 1951.

Express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

operations commenced in 1971. The line runs through an isolated mountain area with no cities or towns, and has a very small population density. Most of the passengers are tourists visiting one of the hot spring resorts along the line, or

alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

s and hikers heading for the peaks of the Southern Alps National Park. To boost ridership and popularity of the line, steam locomotives were restored from July 9, 1976. A variety of historical locomotives and carriages are used, both for the steam and for the electric services, making the line a favourite with train enthusiasts and photographers. Freight services ceased in 1983. In September 2022, the Ōigawa Main Line suffered substantial damage from Tropical Storm Talas. Rail services between 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. Ōigawa Railway advises customers intending to travel beyond Ieyama Station to the Ikawa Line, towards Senzu and the Sumata Gorge area, to transfer to Kawanehon Town's community buses at Ieyama Station, which provide connections to Senzu Station.

Stations

:●: Always stops :◇: Occasionally stops :｜: Passes

Rolling stock

, the Oigawa Main Line fleet is as follows.

Electric multiple units

* 300 series 2-car EMU (former Seibu MoHa 351, stored out of use) * 420 series 2-car EMU (former Kintetsu 6421 series, stored out of use) * 3000 series 2-car EMU (former Keihan 3000 series, stored out of use) * 6000 series 2-car EMU (former Nankai 6000 series) * 7200 series 2-car EMU (former Tokyu 7200 series, purchased from Towada Electric Railway in 2015) * 16000 series 2-car EMUs x2 (former Kintetsu 16000 series) * 21000 series 2-car EMUs x2 (former Nankai 21000 series) File:Oigawa railway 3507 20140824 001.jpg, A 3000 series EMU in August 2014 File:Oigawa-railway-16003-20120402.jpg, A 16000 series EMU in April 2012 File:Oigawa 21003.jpg, A 21000 series EMU in July 2013

Electric locomotives

* Class E10 x3 * Class ED500 x1

Steam locomotives

* JNR Class C10 (C10 8) *

JNR Class C11 The is a type of steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways and the Japanese National Railways from 1932 to 1947. A total of 381 Class C11 locomotives were built and designed by Hideo Shima. Overview The Class C11 was based o ...

(C11 190/227/312) * JNR Class C12 (C12 164, stored out of service) * JNR Class C56 (C56 44) File:C11190-Oigawa.JPG, Steam locomotive C11 190 In 2016, The Oigawa Railway purchased four 14 series coaches from

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to by its official abbreviation: . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart c ...

, which were formerly used on the '' Hamanasu'' services. These coaches are scheduled to enter service on steam-hauled services on the line in June 2017, reducing the burden on the ageing heritage coaches operated by the railway. File:InteriorOigawaMainLineJP22a.jpg, Interior of a heritage carriage

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oigawa Railway Oigawa Main Line Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Shizuoka Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1927 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan