Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 31 (pp.24–27)
Feature: Heritage Railways (part 2)
Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum and Steam Operations on the Yamaguchi Line Fumio Tanaka |
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Two well-known railway preservation activities in Japan are the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum (USLM) and the Yamaguchi-go steam locomotive (SL) operation. Although both the museum and steam operation date from days of Japanese National Railways (JNR), they are now run by JR West and typify some of the company's cultural activities. |
Introduction |
Japan today has a number of railway heritage preservation projects but the USLM was one of the earliest to be established (in 1972) when JNR decided to preserve examples of SLs that had been rapidly replaced by electric or diesel locomotives. A unique feature of the USLM—and one that was very helpful in restarting steam operations later on the Yamaguchi Line—is the large number (17) of locomotives preserved in working order in a roundhouse. This article describes the ULSM and Yamaguchi-go SL as well as some other topics in the preservation of Japan's railway culture. |
Photo:
Turntable and roundhouse at Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum (JR West) |
Circumstances Surrounding of Steam Locomotives Preservation |
Government-owned railways started operations in 1872 with 10 steam locomotives imported from Britain and the number increased rapidly year-by-year as the railway network expanded. The rapid growth of domestic industry after the turn of the century also saw a rapid increase in the number of SLs with the number peaking at 5958 in 1946. Railway electrification started in the 1910s and diesel railcars appeared soon after WWII. In the late 1940s, JNR planned to proceed with modernization of the network by electrifying 5000 km in 15 years and replacing all SLs with electric or diesel locos.
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Solving Preservation Difficulties by Revenue Operation of Yamaguchi-go |
Two of the preserved 17 locomotives proved very difficult to keep in working order but the other 15 were kept ready for operations by daily inspections at Umekoji and periodic overhauls at the former JNR's Nagano Works. However, the Nagano depot stopped inspection of steam locomotives in 1976 leaving no workshop able to perform periodic overhaul. The resultant overdue inspections and serious financial condition of JNR at that time made it even more difficult to keep the SLs in working order and the situation darkened further when a child was killed by an SL hauling a heritage train as a crowd of people rushed on to the tracks to watch the train. The bleak future of JNR's heritage SLs was in stark contrast to that at Oigawa Railway where SLs had re-entered operations in the same year. But a speech by JNR President Fumio Takagi in 1978 changed the situation when he said, ‘We should operate steam locomotives somewhere on commercial lines as a symbol of great scientific heritage.’ Many local authorities looking to promote regional development saw this as an opportunity and stepped forward to offer lines in their areas. A section of the Yamaguchi Line running from Ogori on the San'yo Shinkansen to Tsuwano was finally selected because it still had facilities and staff to operate SLs; had little impact on the timetables of other lines; was well connected to a shinkansen line that could bring visitors; had a cooperative and enthusiastic local authority; and would benefit from an increase in fare revenues from sightseers.
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JNR Privatization and Preservation of Railway Culture |
Although JNR's financial difficulties did not abate, commercial operation of the Yamaguchi-go on the Yamaguchi Line progressed well along with continued preservation work at the USLM. Finally, JNR was privatized and divided into six passenger companies and one freight company in April 1987 with JR West inheriting the USLM and steam workings on the Yamaguchi Line. JR West is a commercial railway company in pursuit of profits for its shareholders, but it is also a corporate citizen with interests in preserving social and cultural activities, such as preservation of steam locomotives in working order. Consequently, the future of the USLM and the Yamaguchi-go look even brighter than in the JNR days. |
Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum |
USLM and its 25 staff including curators, drivers and engineers are located near Kyoto Station on the site of a historic depot dating back to 1877.
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Figure:
Architectural Plan of Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum Table: Steam Locomotives Preserved at Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum Photo: The fomer Nijo Station and now part of USLM (JR West) |
Yamaguchi-go Steam Workings |
When JNR was first considering restarting steam workings, it looked at lines near the USLM, such as the Nara Line, Kusatsu Line and San'in main line, but urbanization along these lines made steam operations difficult (and unpopular). Consequently, most operations like the Yamaguchi-go have been on more rural lines like the Yamaguchi Line and sometimes the Hokuriku main line. Another reason for choosing the Yamaguchi Line was the presence of turntables at both terminus of Ogori and Tsuwano.
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Photo:
Yamaguchi-go Class C57-1 running on Yamaguchi Line (JR West) Map: Yamaguchi-go Operation Section (Ogori–Tsuwano) |
Problems and Future Prospects |
There is no doubt that most people in Japan would agree on preserving historic railways in the same way that historic buildings and works of art are preserved. However, there is a difference between a heritage railway and a building or artwork. Simply exhibiting a heritage railway does not fully explain the cultural significance of the railway—it is in operation that the railway demonstrates its real significance. But keeping a SL in operating condition requires huge resources in terms of money, space, spare parts, skills, and labour. At the same time, operation without sympathetic maintenance runs the risk of destroying the artifact to be preserved.
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This article was first presented at the international conference ‘Slow Train Coming: Heritage Railways in the 21st Century,’ held in York in September 2001. |
Further Reading
E. Aoki, M. Imashiro, S. Kato, and Y. Wakuda, A History of Japanese Railways 1872-1999, EJRCF, 2000. N. Tanemura, Footsteps of C57-1, Soryusha, 1988. |
Fumio Tanaka
Mr Tanaka is Deputy General Manager in the Corporate Communications Department of JR West. He joined JNR in 1980 after graduating from the Faculty of Precision Engineering of Kyoto University. He has worked in the Rolling Stock Department, the Technology Planning Department, and the Takatori and Hamamatsu works. |