Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 33 (pp.41–43) Feature: Heritage Railways (part 4) Heritage of Kaya Railway and Japanese Wooden Model Steam Locomotive Ichiro Tsutsumi & Sohei Shiroshita |
Introduction |
This article describes the maintenance of preserved rolling stock at Kaya Railway technology with emphasis on skills transfer. The Railway Preservation Society of Japan was established 11 years ago with Kaya Railway at the core of 24 organized members and eight supporting members. Kaya Railway is famous for owning steam locomotive No. 2 built by Robert Stephenson & Co. in 1873 for the opening of the Osaka–Kobe section of the Japanese government railways in May 1874. Kaya Railway bought this locomotive in 1926 from Hikami Railway in Shimane Prefecture and kept it in use until 1956. |
Outline of Kaya Railway Preserved Rolling Stock |
Kaya Railway is an old private railway in Kyoto Prefecture and is now a famous heritage railway. It was established with funds of about ¥300,000 in 1925 by a group of local silk textile manufacturers. The company started railway operations on a 3'6" gauge line between Tango-yamada and Kaya (5.7 km) in 1926, using a steam locomotive. In 1939, the line was being used to carry nickel ore from a mine to a factory on Miyazu Bay. After WWII, the railway changed to local passenger transport.
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Table 1: Outline History of Kaya Railway Table 2: Rolling Stock Preserved at Kaya Railway Photo: Kaya Railway No. 2 locomotive built by Robert Stephenson & Co. in 1873 (Koya Kosan) Photo: Ha 21 Passenger car under restoration (I. Tsutsumi) |
Maintenance and Repair of Preserved Rolling Stock |
Maintenance and repair of preserved rolling stock requires various high-level skills and this section describes some examples of passenger carriage maintenance and repair as well as transfer of skills to the next generation.
Types of carriage wear
Skills transfer
1890s wooden model steam locomotive
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Photo: Model wooden steam locomotive in Kyoto University Museum (S. Shiroshita) Photo: Chakumi-ningyo tea-serving doll (H. Harumitsu) |
This article was first presented at the international conference ‘Slow Train Coming: Heritage Railways in the 21st Century,’ held in York in September 2001. |
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr Takashi Shinozaki of Kaya Kosan for his cooperation and advice. |
Further Reading
I. Tsutsumi, Technology and Skills Transfer in Maintenance and Repair for Early Railway Rolling Stock (First Report): Example of a Preserved Railway in Japan, Studies of The Japan Institute of Labour, Vol. 20, pp. 7–65, 2000 (in Japanese). I. Tsutsumi, Railways—Symbols of Japan's Modernization, Yamakawa, Tokyo, 2001 (in Japanese). S. Shiroshita, T. Ito, and H. Kumamoto, A Wooden Model of a British Steam Locomotive Fabricated in the Early Japanese Railway Era, The Journal of Industrial History, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 113–122, 2001. T. Shinozaki, Outline History of Kaya Heritage Railway, The Railway Pictorial, Vol. 49, No. 11, pp. 16–22, 1999 (in Japanese). |
Ichiro Tsutsumi
Mr Tsutsumi is Senior Researcher at Institute of Vocational Training, Polytechnic University. After receiving masters degree in engineering from the Chuo University graduate school in 1974, he worked as researcher and instructor at the various institutions. He is the author of Railways—Symbols of Japan's Modernization and History of Industrial Technology. |
Sohei Shiroshita
Dr Shiroshita is Associate Professor at the Kyoto University Museum of the Kyoto University. After receiving masters degree in engineering from the Graduate school of Osaka City University in 1969, he worked as an associate researcher of the Kyoto University. |