Landing or Turnout in the Mid-Meiji Era (1868-1912)
January 1965

Meiji Chuki Makitate
[Landing or Turnout in the Mid-Meiji Era (1868-1912)]
38.0 x 54.3 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink

Text at the Top Right
The makitate was an entry way from a main slope to one of the levels branching to both sides of the slope. Mine cars were sent into the level from here. There were two branched tracks; the upper one was for empty cars and the lower one was for loaded cars. If the connecting pin was pulled out, empty mine cars moved slightly downward spontaneously. Miners connected loaded mine cars with each other by pushing them from the rear.
Ceilings of double-track makitates were not durable, and small coal mines used only single track turnouts to avoid the expense. In this case, a mine car connected to the winch rope (mukaebako) was used to pull up other loaded cars, and it was never released from the rope.

Text in the Inset
Middle and large-scale coal mines employed underground transport men called konai saodoris. They distributed empty mine cars to the miners waiting at each level, and they signaled winding machine operators to which landings the empty cars should be sent next time. The shown concave railway tracks at the entry way of a makitate where loaded mine cars are going were called funazokos (ship bottoms). Building funazokos required great skill from the underground carpenters.
Many coal mines used 1 and 3/4-inch-thick square iron as ipponkens (switches or shunts) to change the mine car lines from main slopes to levels. Normal rails used for the same purpose could cause horrible derailment accidents because their tips were easily broken.

Words in the Inset
ipponken: an iron bar like a sword used as a finger switch or a shunt
makitate: a landing or an entry way to a level
kara(bako): empty (tub or mine car)
mi(bako): loaded (tub or mine car)
hon-oroshi: main slope

Text at the Top Center
Mine car drivers (norimawashi) working at coal mines which had no underground transport men were busy. They had to check the regular number of loaded mine cars to be winched up, and had to jump on running mine cars after kicking and switching ipponkens by themselves. That is why they could not ride on metal fittings called kosumotos which connected wire rope with mine cars.
Some large-scale coal mines like those run by the Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd. [Yahata Ironworks in the Meiji era] had crossings with ipponkens.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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