Kominato Line

The Kominato Line (小湊鉄道線, Kominato Tetsudō sen) is a railway line in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kominato Railway (小湊鐵道, Kominato tetsudō). It extends from the west coast of central Bōsō Peninsula (where it connects with the Uchibō Line at Goi) to Yorokeikoku in the town of Ōtaki (where it connects to the Isumi Line). All of its stations with the exception of the Yorokeikokuterminus are within the city of Ichihara. Diesel cars manufactured between 1961 and 1977 run through the scenic hilly areas of Bōsō Peninsula, and the line has many antique station buildings.

Kominato Line
A KiHa 200 diesel car on the Kominato Line in January 2015
Overview
Native name	小湊鉄道線
Owner	Kominato Railway
Termini	Goi Yorokeikoku
Stations	18
Service
Type	Passenger
History
Opened	1925
Technical
Line length	34.9 km (21.7 mi)
Number of tracks	Single
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None

Uchibō Line 0.0 Goi 2.5 Kazusa-Murakami Saihiro Station -1944 5.4 Amaariki 7.2 Kazusa-Mitsumata 8.6 Kazusa-Yamada Futsukaichiba Station -1944 10.6 Kōfūdai 12.4 Umatate Saze Station -1944 16.4 Kazusa-Ushiku 18.5 Kazusa-Kawama 20.0 Kazusa-Tsurumai 22.0 Kazusa-Kubo 23.8 Takataki 25.7 Satomi 27.5 Itabu 29.8 Tsukizaki 32.3 Kazusa-Ōkubo 34.9 Yorokeikoku 39.1 Kazusa-Nakano Isumi Railway

Stations

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Transfers	Location
Goi	五井	0.0	Uchibō Line	Ichihara	Chiba Prefecture
Kazusa-Murakami	上総村上	2.5
Amaariki	海士有木	5.4
Kazusa-Mitsumata	上総三又	7.2
Kazusa-Yamada	上総山田	8.6
Kōfūdai	光風台	10.6
Umatate	馬立	12.4
Kazusa-Ushiku	上総牛久	16.4
Kazusa-Kawama	上総川間	18.5
Kazusa-Tsurumai	上総鶴舞	20.0
Kazusa-Kubo	上総久保	22.0
Takataki	高滝	23.8
Satomi	里見	25.7
Itabu	飯給	27.5
Tsukizaki	月崎	29.8
Kazusa-Ōkubo	上総大久保	32.3
Yōrōkeikoku	養老渓谷	34.9
Kazusa-Nakano	上総中野	39.1	Isumi Line	Ōtaki

• All trains stop at every station.

Rolling stock

KiHa 200 DMU car 214 in June 2011

As of 1 April 2016, the railway owns and operates a fleet of 14 KiHa 200 series diesel cars, built by Nippon Sharyo between 1961 and 1977, and numbered 201 to 214.[1] All except cars 209 and 210 are air-conditioned.[1]

Diesel locomotive DB4 on the Satoyama Torokko in April 2017

200 series build histories[2]

Number	Manufacturer	Build date	Length (mm)	Weight (t)
201	Nippon Sharyo	1961	20,000	30.0
202
203		1963
204
205
206
207		1970
208
209
210
211		1975
212
213		1977
214

From 15 November 2015, a Satoyama Torokko (里山トロッコ) open-sided tourist train hauled by a replica steam locomotive powered by a diesel engine entered service on the line, operating generally at weekends only.[3] The train consists of four coaches, two of which have open sides, with a total capacity of 144 passengers. It is hauled by diesel locomotive number DB4, a replica of a German Orenstein & Koppel-built steam locomotive formerly operated on the line from 1924 until the 1940s, powered by a Volvo diesel engine.[4]

History

Plans for a railroad bisecting the Bōsō Peninsula were drafted by the Railway Ministry in the Meiji period, with the aim of connecting the town of Kominato (now part of Kamogawa City), a town facing the Pacific and famous as the birthplace of Nichiren, for economic and military reasons. However, due to lack of profitability of other lines in the area, the idea was shelved.

The project was revived in 1917 by noted entrepreneur Yasuda Zenjirō, who used the financial resources of the Yasuda zaibatsu to fund over half of the construction costs, and who imported two steam locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to run on the new line.

The Kominato Railway was founded on 31 May 1917, opening the initial section of the line from Goi to Satomi on 7 May 1925.[2] The line was extended to Tsukizaki on 1 September 1926, and reached its present eastern terminus at Kazusa-Nakano on 16 May 1928.[2] Diesel railcars were introduced on the line from this date.[2] At Kazusa-Nakano, the line connected with the Japanese Government Railways Kihara Line, which provided a route to the eastern shore of the Bōsō Peninsula and so plans to extend the line further to Kominato Town were subsequently abandoned.

In 1942, the line was forced to merge with the Keisei Electric Railway, and remained a subsidiary of that company after the end of World War II. On 21 March 1962, the remaining steam locomotives were retired (and are currently on display at Goi Station).[2] Freight operations were phased out by 1 October 1969.[2] A new ATS was installed in early 1995. On 12 April 2006, heavy rains washed away a portion of the tracks between Kazusa-Nakano and Yōrōkeikoku, leading to a two-month disruption in services.

References

1. 私鉄車両編成表 2016 [Private Railway Rolling Stock Formations - 2016] (in Japanese). Japan: Kotsu Shimbunsha. 25 July 2016. p. 22. ISBN 978-4-330-70116-5.
2. Terada, Hirokazu (October 1999). ローカル私鉄探訪 [Exploring Rural Private Railways] (in Japanese). Japan: Shin-Jinbutsuoraisha Co., Ltd. pp. 32–34. ISBN 4-404-02732-X.
3. 小湊鐵道「里山トロッコ」デビュー! 煙を上げ、汽笛鳴らして上総牛久駅発車 [Kominato Railway "Satoyama Torokko" debut!]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). Japan: Mynavi Corporation. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
4. Kanemori, Takayuki (5 September 2015). 小湊鉄道：里山に再生ＳＬ ディーゼル化トロッコがけん引 [Kominato Railway to run diesel-hauled open-sided train]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)