Nippon Railway

Not to be confused with Japan Railways.

Nippon Railway

Overview
Headquarters| Tokyo
Locale| Japan
Dates of operation| 1883-1906
Successor| Japanese Government Railways
Technical
Track gauge| 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Length| 860.8 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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

* 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.

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Japan