Kurihara Den'en Railway Line

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Kurihara Den'en Railway Line

Near Hosokura Mine Park Mae in 2006

Technical

Line length 25.7 km (16.0 mi)

Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

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Route map
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Legend

JR East: Tōhoku Main Line

0.0 Ishikoshi

1.6 Aramachi

3.1 Wakayanagi
 4.6 Yachihata

5.7 Ōokashōmae

7.2 Ōoka

9.3 Sawabe

12.8 Tsukumo

14.4 Sugihashi

15.4 Toyasaki

17.1 Kurikoma

17.9 Kurihara Tamachi

19.1 Omatsu

21.6 Uguisuzawa

23.8 Uguisuzawa Kōgyōkōkō Mae

25.7 Hosokura Mine Park Mae

The Kurihara Den'en Railway Line (くりはら田園鉄道線, Kurihara Den'en Tetsudō

sen) was a rural rail line in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, abandoned on March 31, 2007.
Running from Ishikoshi Station in Tome, Miyagi with a connection to the Tōhoku Main
Line, extending westward to inland Hosokura Mine Park Mae Station in Kurihara, along
central Kurihara. This line used to be called Kuriden (栗電 or くりでん) for short
because the preceding name of the operator was the Kurihara Electric Railway (栗原電
鉄, Kurihara Dentetsu).
The line was initially constructed to transport ore from Uguisuzawa's Hosokura Mine (細
倉鉱山, Hosokura Kōzan) which was closed in 1988.

Contents

 1Description
 2Infrastructure
 3Operation and service
 4History
 5Timeline
 6Stations
 7Rolling stock
  8In Popular Culture

Description[edit]
As of 2007

 Distance: 25.7 km (16.0 mi)

 Rail gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
 Stations: 16
 Track: Single
 Power: Internal combustion (Diesel)
 Block System:
o Staff Block (Ishikoshi - Wakayanagi,
Kurikoma - Hosokura Mine Park Mae)
o Tablet Block (Wakayanagi - Kurikoma)

Infrastructure[edit]
The operator introduced diesel multiple units (DMU) during the reorganization in 1995,
but the old 750 V DC electric installation remained for economic reasons. It was one of
few railways then in Japan that operated with an obsolete semaphore signal system and
non-automatic blocking system.

Operation and service[edit]

All trains consisted of a single car without a conductor. The fare was twice as high as
comparable distances on Japan Railways lines. Only three of the sixteen stations,
namely Wakayanagi, Sawabe, Kurikoma were regularly staffed.

History[edit]
Originally the line was 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauged, constructed by Kurihara Tramway (栗
原軌道, Kurihara Kidō) and opened in 1921, later renamed to Kurihara Railway (栗原鉄
道, Kurihara Tetsudō) in 1941 and again to Kurihara Dentetsu in 1955.
The closure of Hosokura Mine in 1988 reduced freight traffic. The company had hoped
for tourists to the Hosokura Mine Park, an amusement park built at the mine site. But
this effort failed to stop the decrease of passengers. Municipalities decided to retain the
operator as a third sector (in Japanese sense) in 1993, renamed on April 1, 1995 to
Kurihara Den'en Railway.
The company has curtailed investment and maintenance measures and made some
efforts to increase passengers. But the rapid shift to car traffic has overwhelmed
railways everywhere in Japan since the 1990s. Miyagi Prefecture had subsidized the
deficit for several years, but in 2001 gave notice to the municipalities of a future
suspension of the subsidy. In December 2003 they decided to close the railway in
March 2007.
Timeline[edit]

On the last day in 2007

 December 15, 1918: Kurihara Tramway (栗原軌

道, Kurihara Kidō) established
 December 20, 1921: Ishikoshi - Sawabe (8.85 km or
5.50 mi)
 December 17, 1922: Sawabe - Iwasasaki (later
Kurikoma) (7.73 km or 4.80 mi)
 December 3, 1941: Classification from tramway to
railway, renamed to Kurihara Railway (栗原鉄
道, Kurihara Tetsudō)
 December 1, 1942: Iwasasaki - Hosokura Mine (ca.
9.62 km or 5.98 mi), 26.2 km (16.3 mi) stretch
completed
 September 21, 1952: Electrified DC 750 V
 September 26, 1955: Regauged
from 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) for
through operation to the then Japanese National
Railways
 November 29, 1955: Renamed to Kurihara Electric
Railway (栗原電鉄, Kurihara Dentetsu)
 June 1, 1964: Bus and train services in the area
combined to a single company, Miyagi Chūō
Kōtsū (宮城中央交通)
 August 31, 1968: Bus service separated to Miyagi
Central Bus (宮城中央バス, Miyagi Chūō Bus)
 February 25, 1969: Renamed back again to Kurihara
Electric Railway
 March 29, 1987: Hosokuura - Hosokuura Mine
freight service closed
 November 1, 1988: Hosokura - Hosokura Mine
(0.8 km or 0.50 mi) abandoned (in some source on
October 27)
  June 16, 1990: Hosokura - Hosokura Mine Park Mae
(0.2 km or 0.12 mi) opened. Hosokura Station
abandoned
 December 15, 1993: Mitsubishi Material transferred
ownership of the Kurihara Electric Railway to the
then five towns (in 2007, 2 cities) along the line
 May 1, 1995: Renamed to Kurihara Den'en Railway.
Electric operation terminated. Conductorless
operation introduced
 April 1, 2007: Railway service terminated

Stations[edit]

Typical unmanned station, Aramachi

As of 2007. All stations were in Miyagi Prefecture.

Ishikoshi (石越)
In Tome
Aramachi (荒町)
Wakayanagi (若柳)
Yachihata (谷地畑)
Ōokashōmae (大岡小前)
Ōoka (大岡)
Sawabe (沢辺)
Tsukumo (津久毛)
Sugihashi (杉橋)
Toyasaki (鳥矢崎)
Kurikoma (栗駒)
Kurihara Tamachi (栗原田町)
 Omatsu (尾松)
Uguisuzawa (鶯沢)
Uguisuzawa Kōgyōkōkō Mae (鶯沢工業高校前)
Hosokura Mine Park Mae (細倉マインパーク前)
In Kurihara

Rolling stock[edit]

KD 95 type

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Kurihara
Denen Railway.

 For service
KD 95 type
Railcar (DMU) built in 1995. Nos. KD 951 to KD 953
KD 10 type
Railcar (DMU) for busy hours, used with conductor.
Nos. KD 11, KD 12, previously Nagoya Railroad "Kiha
10" type, nos. "Kiha 15", "Kiha 16"
 For maintenance
DB 10 type
Diesel locomotive, 4-wheel. No. DB 101

ED202 type

MC 100 type
 Motor car
No. "To 102", "To 103"
Wooden truck (gondola)
No. "Wafu 74"
Wooden wagon
 Preserved from electrified period, at Kurihara
Mine Park Mae
ED202
Electric locomotive, 2-truck, 8-wheel. Regauged
survivour of 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) era
No. "Wa 71"
Wooden wagon
 Left intact in Wakayanagi depot
EMUs used until 1995
M15 type, newly built on regaugement, etc.

In Popular Culture[edit]
The Kurihara Den'en Railway line was featured in the
non-fiction manga and anime series Tetsuko no Tabi
Categories: 
 Kurihara Den'en Railway Line
 Rail transport in Miyagi Prefecture
 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan
 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Japan
 Kurihara, Miyagi
 Tome, Miyagi
 Railway lines opened in 1921
 Railway lines closed in 2007
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 This page was last edited on 14 May 2021, at 16:51 (UTC).
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