Pits, Coal, and Coal Cars in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) Eras
May 1966
Yama to Sekitan to Kasha: Meiji, Taisho
[Pits, Coal, and Coal Cars in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) Eras]
38.1 x 54.2 cm Painting in Watercolors and Ink
(Around the time when Iizuka Station was built in 1895, the railway line from Yukuhashi also reached Ita in Tagawa City.)
Though there might be no need to elaborate in particular on the history of Japan National Railways, I will describe how railway lines in the Chikuho region were built because they were laid for pits in this region.
In 1889, railway service between Wakamatsu and Nogata was started by the Chikuho Kogyo Tetsudo Railway Company, which was merged with the Kyushu Tetsudo Railway Company in 1897.
In 1895, before the merger, the railway line from Iizuka reached Usui. This railway line reached Okuma in 1898 and Kamiyamada in 1901. Another railway line [from Iizuka] reached Nagao (Keisen) via Tento in the same year. The branch line from the Yamano Junction reached Yamano in 1902. One of the railway lines in Tagawa [from Gotoji to Nishi-Soeda via Ita] was completed in 1903. The descriptions of other lines were omitted.
The original coal car had a capacity of 8 tons. It was modified to have a capacity of 15 tons by putting wooden panels on their top edges in the latter half of the Meiji era. After World War II, they were modified again and again without using wood to have the present capacity of 17 tons.
In the Meiji and Taisho eras, each of the coupling chains of two cars was hooked onto the other's draw bar. The chain of one car, which was lifted up beforehand, was quickly hitched on the hook of the other car's draw bar at the moment when the mushroom-shaped buffers of both cars contacted.
(At the Kokura Factory of the Kyushu Railway Bureau)
Coupling chains for the 8-ton and 15-ton coal cars were made of round steel bars 32 millimeters and 35 or 38 millimeters in diameter respectively. These steel bars were made of very soft steel called Yorkshire steel which was quality wrought iron. Smiths needed to have great skill to treat this material. All of these chains were composed of two links and one of the longer sides of each link was welded. Inspection on the completed chains was strictly done. (The size of these chains was measured by inch at that time.) The shown mushroom-shaped buffers more than 25 centimeters in diameter were also shaped from wrought iron with a large steam hammer. Both operations were very troublesome for smiths. The drawbars, each with a hook for hitching a coupling chain, were also made of wrought iron. Each of these drawbars had a spring made of flat steel inside in the same way as the buffer, and all of them were screwed. Smiths called the steam hammer a hamuro.
Words in the Inset at the Top Left
dorobah: drawbar
chin: chain
shako: shackle
bah: buffer
25 senchi ijo: more than 25 centimeters in diameter
Text on the Left of the Inset at the Top Left
A hand bell had been rung loudly at each main station 5 minutes before each train started until around 1901.
Text at the Bottom Center
On July 20, 1925, all of the above coupling furniture of railcars and locomotives used in Kyushu including the Chikuho region were replaced at once with automatic couplings. (This replacement of couplings was done on July 17th on the main island of Japan.) As a result, no couplers were injured or died by being caught by buffers after that.
Text in the Inset at the Bottom Left
The installation of automatic couplings on railcars made couplers' work safer and quicker. Additionally, making the new couplings became easier than making old coupling furniture because the new ones were made of cast steel.
Text at the Bottom Left
Three or four passenger cars were coupled together with and behind coal cars on railway lines in the Chikuho region in the Meiji era. These passenger cars were small and each had 5 doors on both sides. Straw mats were laid on their benches.
Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro
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