General:
Oigawa Railway is a small regional railway in Shizuoka prefecture about 250km southwest of Tokyo. It starts from Kanaya, a small town on the JR Tokaido main line, and runs entirely along the great Oi river (Oi-gawa; gawa is river in Japanese) through the Kawane district up to Ikawa, a village situated in a sheer mountain area. There are no big cities nor heavy industries along the line. It only serves small towns and villages sparsely located on the narrow flat lands that lie along the river. However, the railway is special to railfans with regularly operated steam trains and a mountain railway segment that partly includes an Abt system (rack-rail system). This is why I am introducing this regional railway here.

The Oi river, well known as one of the greatest rivers in Japan, flows about 180km down to the sea from a mountain range in Japanese Southern Alps, where several 3000m-range mountains peak in a string. However, it is not necessarily very long and its entire basin area is rather small in contrast to its fame. The distinctive nature of the river is its isolation and wildness. Being surrounded with precipitous mountains, the river and its valley areas are almost isolated. To access the river from the east or west, there was no means other than crossing over sheer mountains by overcoming rugged passes. Also the river used to be pretty wild with rapid streams running down along the steep river bed over rather short distances gathering water from the deep rainy mountains. Before the modern era, this isolation and wildness was taken advantage of by the Shognate to protect Edo (the old name of Tokyo). No bridge was intentionally built over the river those days from a strategic point of view. It could be a natural fortress along with the Hakone Mountain range, which runs down from the Mt. Fuji area trough Izu Peninsula to the sea. Travelers had to put up with hardships such as wading the river and were often prevented from going through when the water level rose with raging mudstreams, especially during rainy seasons. A famous song sang among the horse men on the old Tokaido road was “32km long Hakone mountain path could be overcome by a horse ride, but no way to cross the wild Oi.”

The Oigawa railway line looks like one line on a map. However, it is actually split into two different lines at Senzu terminal, a lower segment and an upper segment. The lower segment is the Oigawa main line, between Kanaya and Senzu, while the upper segment is the Ikawa line, between Senzu and Ikawa, with both having equal 39.5km trackage. Both are all single track with 1,067mm (3’6”) narrow gauge. The Oigawa main line is 1500VDC electrified, while the Ikawa line is non-electrified except on the rack rail section which is powered with 1500VDC. Although both lines use the same gauge, rolling stock on the Oigawa line cannot enter the upper segment because of the smaller-sized allowable clearance of the Ikawa line.

History of the Oigawa railway:
The Oigawa Railway Company originated in 1925. The role of the railway was to transport logs and to develop hydroelectric power plants along the river. It was around the era just after World War I and the Great Kanto Quake when the economy boomed, bringing about a sharp growth of the prefecture’s logging industry, and electricity companies were targeting the river’s secluded area for hydroelectric power sources because of the ample rainfall in the Oi river area.

The Oigawa line’s first segment opened in 1923, followed by the inauguration of full service over the entire trackage in 1926. Due to the commencement of rail service, the life of the people in the deep Oi area drastically changed. Before that, horse riding across sheer passes, rafts and ships, were the only transport means for the people.

The rail service started with steam hauled mixed trains. Later, diesel rail cars were introduced. In 1949 after World War II, the line was entirely electrified on 1500VDC. In 1951, passenger trains were replaced with EMUs.

The upper segment of the Ikawa line is the successor of an old logging railway, which also was dedicated to freight transportation for dam construction. More detailed information of the Ikawa line history will be described in the next page.

Both line’s freight transportation roles finished when the construction of the Ikawa Dam, the greatest dam in the Oi river water system, had been completed, and the logging industry shifted its transportation mode to trucks. Now, the railway serves as a sightseeing railway for tourists who visit scenic canyons, hot spring spas and artificial lakes in the deep Oigaw region. Also the Oigawa railway is one of the most common railfan destinations with steam operations and the mini trains on the Ikawa line along with the attractive scenery on all the way to Ikawa.

Steam Operation:
The Oigawa Railway revived steam trains in 1976, the year after all steam locomotives were displaced on the national railway lines. Since then, it has been operating steam trains on the Oigawa main line between Kanaya and Senzu with a fleet of four steam engines, all of which were restored by the Oigwa Railway. Another attraction of the railway’s steam operations is its old coaches. Their dark maroon livery is as when they used to be in old steam days when they were dominant all over Japan.

The railway’s current steam train operations are one daily round trip (except January 1st) and one or two additional round trips during weekends and busy tourist seasons. The daily train starts Kanaya at 11:50 and arrives in Senzu at 13:07. The return trip leaves Senzu at 14:50 and arriving in Kanaya at 16:09.

In Working Order

In static exhibition

Two small locomotives are in static exhibition in a railway archive in front of Shin-Kanaya station. They are 1275, built in Germany in 1922, and SL Izumo, built in Germany in 1921.

Train Ride on Oigawa Main Line:
On a fine day in early May, I drove to Shin-Kanaya station, the next station from Kanaya, where the railway’s headquarters and depot are located. Although I felt a little bit guilty as a railfan through going to the railway by car, but I had a special intention of photographing the station, the most strategic point of the Oigawa main line. Inside the station on the sidings are old coaches, and some old-looking electric locomotives in use for switching work. In the depot were two steam engines under preparation for today’s operations and some parked EMUs. With these features and an island platform with its wooden roof supported by wooden columns, the station looked reminiscent of the best old days of Japanese railways.

The steam train pulled in with the leading engine of C11312, a 2-6-4 tank. The formation was four old coaches. Thank goodness, no head mark was decorated on the front of the engine, and no special car was added. The coaches were Type Oha 35s sandwiched between Type Ohafu 33s, both of which are pre-war types. The tapered ends of these cars with end vestibules are a typical feature of coaches from those days. The train really appeared to be an authentic old steam-hauled passenger train.

Inside, the coach retained its old wooden interior with cross seats and the wooden floor. I got a window side seat on the right facing the engine end. Loading a considerable number of passengers, the train started rolling with a poignant steam blown whistle. I pulled up the window so that I could easily observe the progress of my train. Pillaring smoke, sounds of steam and working steel, old coaches trailing the steam engine … with all the effects I was back into yesteryear – backward in time to the steam operated era

. The train proceeded through the town of Kanaya for a while, but soon entered a rural area. A rice field was stretching along the track, as far as the foothill of the mountain which actually looked close. Reaching the foothill, outside the view transformed in a moment into that of a rugged mountain area. Then, the train began taking a narrow path cut into the bank that steeply falls down to the river. As the train rolled along the path ascending the grade, the great Oi river came in view through woods below the track.

The wide river bed seen was almost all sand and rocks, with some narrow streams flowing separately. The Oi river used to be so wild enough with ample water flow and sometimes flooded the fields stretching down to the Shimada area, which is across the river from Kanaya. From around 1900, the river improvement work started and later a number of dams were consecutively built at the middle and upstream reaches, so it became calm. Now, the water flow on the river is under human control, so people have all forgotten the fear of flooding that had afflicted them for a long time.

The train sometimes entered tunnels when it hit the flanks of the mountain that reached down to the river. The passengers were busy pulling up and down the windows to prevent smoke from coming in as the train entered and emerged from tunnels. As the mountain slope went away a little, the train rolled into the Ieyama area, the center of the Kawane district, finishing its course along this section of the river. On the left-hand side were green tea fields on a gentle slope ascending as far as the mountain. The scenery was nice, full of the lush green of new buds. It was the harvest time of green tea, so farmers picking tea leaves were seen here and there in the fields. Kawane is well known for its production of green tea. Around this time of the year, Japanese people, especially in this prefecture, enjoy fresh green tea using newly picked tea. Actually, green tea is served free of charge at stations and shops in tourist spots in the vicinity. At Ieyama we crossed another train. It was a 2-car EMU, which was purchased second-hand from the Seibu Railway in Tokyo.

Leaving Ieyama, the train crossed a bridge over the Oi river and began rolling along the track on the eastern bank. From around here, the river suddenly started twisting, making some sharp S curves. Nevertheless, my train went straight on passing through some tunnels, but sometimes gasping as it encountered 2% gradients. Soon, again the river bed of the great Oi could be seen just downward of the windows. The scenery on the left was quite spectacular. Beyond the river was the start of a densely forested mountain range that looked as if it overlapped endlessly. On the right was a prefecture road closely paralleling the track. Beyond the road was a mountain slope that rose sharply with many tall trees on it. The train passed by a low dam which takes water that is supplied to the industries, farmlands and houses in the areas around the downstream reach of the Oi river. This dam is the most downstream facility along the river. A suspension bridge was in view casting a beautiful shape on the artificial lake upstream of the dam. A hydroelectric power station with some long water pipes was seen far away beyond the river.

The parallel prefectural road was gone, crossing the river to converge with a national road on the western bank. The track kept on running along the river bank except when entering some villages where loops were provided. Another train met at Shimoizumi was a 2-car streamlined Zoom Car, MO 21001 class, purchased from Nankai Electric Railway in Osaka. It was interesting that its light green livery was intact as it used to be. EMUs in use at Oigawa Railway are all second-hand stock and they are kept in their old liveries, which results in the rail system being more attractive for railfans. A further good point is that all train sets are fitted with cross seats through modification received after purchased. Also, except for two modern items of stock, former Nankai 21001 class and Keihan 3000 class, they are vintage enough to feature old nose-suspended motor systems. Their special motor sounds, once familiar to usual EMUs are the effects that disappeared long time ago from urbanized areas. On the other hand, they are not air-conditioned , so daily patrons have to suffer from uncomfortable rides during summer.

After passing Suruga-Tokuyama loop, the river began forming sharp S curves again. The railway ran straight crossing bridges and through tunnels. As soon as it emerged from the last tunnel on the line, the train crossed the final bridge and regained the western bank. The river now became considerably narrower, situated upstream of the sharp S curves. The train arrived in Senzu terminal on time. It was a one hour and seventeen minutes ride.

Senzu station is a 4-track terminus with two island platforms along with a number of sidings. On some sidings were some items of preserved railway heritage. Static exhibits include steam engines, a down quadrant 2-aspect semaphore, a Britain-made turntable, etc. In the steam locomotive archive located adjacent to the station are various collections and items that explicitly tell the history of this railway. The manual block signaling machines which used to be in use a long time ago on the line were fantastic.

The Ikawa Line and Its History:
From Senzu, the Ikawa line starts its route. Although the line uses the same 3’6” gauge as the Oigawa main line’s, the rolling stock in use is much smaller in size than regular 3’6” trains. The line is even called a forest railway by local people and tourists. The reason for this peculiarity is simple. The line was originally built by the electric power company in 1933 as a 2’6” narrow gauge line with the main purpose of transporting construction materials for dams and hydroelectric power plants. The line later was transferred to the Forestry Ministry and was utilized as a logging railway followed by extensions along tributary rivers in the depths of the mountain range. The total trackage once accounted for even 50km at its greatest. In 1936, to increase logging transportation capacity by allowing dangerous rafts to be eliminated, the main line was regauged to 3’6”(1,067mm) enabling direct freight train operations through to the Oigawa Railway line from Kanaya to Ikawa. To allow rapid progress and to reduce the reconstruction costs, only the gauge of the track was widened and the tunnels were not expanded in size. Thus, the line’s allowable clearance remained smaller and resulted in today’s unique feature of the “mini” trains.

After the war, as the projects of developing the Oi river water system restarted, the construction of the Ikawa Dam was begun, and the mini freight trains resumed busy operations. In 1951, the railway was taken over by Chubu Denryoku, the electric power company based in central Japan, which was constructing the Ikawa Dam. In 1958, the next year when the Ikawa Dam was completed, the power company acquired the right to operate the rail service on the line and commenced passenger revenue operations. In 1959, the Oigawa Railway finally took over the entire trackage of the Ikawa line. The construction of two huge dams, Hatanagi #1 and #2, located upstream of the Ikawa Dam, was completed in 1964. The role of transporting construction materials finally ended. Besides, as the improvement of the roads made considerable progress, trucks the most became common mode for log transportation, resulting in a sharp reduction on rail freight demands. Under these circumstances, the railway company moved on to enhancing passenger train service targeting tourists campaigning for a scenic mountain railway going along a breathtaking deep canyon.

Train Ride on Ikawa Line:
I hurried to the Ikawa line track, on which a mini train in its red and cream livery was waiting. Although the passenger facility is separated from the Oigawa main line, the rails are linked to each other through a siding. Almost all the passengers who got off the steam train seemed to change to the mini train. The formation of the mini train was five coaches with motive power provided by a diesel hydraulic engine at the lower end. At the upper end was a car with a driving cab for reverse operations. Push-pull operation using a single engine with a car with driving cab at the opposite end is commonly seen on U.S. and Canadian commuter lines, but this is the only line in Japan that features this mode.

The train started rolling almost fully loaded with sightseeing passengers. Fortunately, I could get a railfan seat just behind the cab so that I was easily able to see the way ahead. Shortly after leaving Senzu station, the scenic Oi river came in view right down the track. On the siding just before arriving at the next station, where the line’s engine depot was located, were some smaller-sized freight cars. Soon after leaving the loop there, a suspended bridge over the river bed and track came into view on the right. The bridge was in a quite scenic setting connecting to woods on the opposite bank. Soon, the rugged mountain route began with a fairly long tunnel. The train slowly wound up along a path along the densely forested slope of the ravine, faithfully tracing sweeping curves on the slope and passing through small tunnels frequently. The walls inside the tunnels were all bare rocks.

Crossing a viaduct over a fairly deep valley and going through a tunnel, the train suddenly emerged into an open space on the riverside. Looking at an electric locomotive on the left standing by for banking duties, the train arrived in a modern looking loop, Abt Ichishiro, with overhead catenaries fully strung. The 1.5km segment from here to the Sessokyo Onsen (Sesso Canyon Hot Spring Spa) is a newly built segment including a rack rail section that gains 90m in elevation between here and the next loop at Nagashima Dam. In 1973, as the construction of the Nagashima Dam started in the valley upstream of the area, certain sections of the original line became likely to sink into the new artificial lake. The Oigawa Railway’s solution to maintain the line was to construct a detour partly featuring rack rails with a Abt system. The construction was completed in 1990, and a new rack rail route entered revenue service with newly purchased Abt system electric locomotives to provide assistance. The fleet of is three Type ED90s, which are equipped with two sets of 175kw motors on each. They also use 53kw motors for runs on the flat track.

As soon as the train arrived in the home track, an ED90 quietly came in from the siding. Following a hand signal instructed by the conductor, the engine was attached to the lower end of the train. Since the ED90 is regular 3’6” railway size in height, it looked very tall in contrast to short Ikawa line stock. That unbalanced combination was quite impressive.

With the assistance of the ED90, the train started to roll. The engineer was a young man who seemed to be dedicated to operation of such duties. I realized that the driving cab car was fitted with two sets of control for both a regular diesel engine and an electric locomotive. The train slowly rolled along the steeply grading rack rail track, at its steepest at 9%. With 50kg rails on the heavily laid ballast, riding comfort was very good. After about ten minutes running, the train finished climbing up the incline and completed the rack rail section by reaching the next loop at Nagashima Dam. Like Abt-Ichishiro, this location looked modern with some powered switches and position-light dwarf signals protecting switching operations in the vicinity. Soon the helper was released and went backwards down to a siding.

Soon after leaving Nagashima-Dam, the construction site of the huge Nagashima Dam came into view down at the right. The train was still rolling along the newly constructed track that continued further beyond the construction complex. The train crossed a fairly long viaduct, the Rainbow Bridge, having an intermediate station in the middle. On an elevated terrain beside the station was a rest house, which looked like a log house, looking down at the track on the viaduct. After the lake is filled in, the area is supposed to be scenic with water reflecting the green of the forest on the surface, but under the viaduct was a still just a deep canyon.

The modern looking segment finally finished. The train began rolling again along the old rugged mountain path on the steep slope of the sharply V shaped canyon. The scenery outside the window resumed dense forest, and the Oi river, which now turned out to be a narrow stream, was seen far down the track at the bottom of the canyon. The train kept on proceeding sometimes stopping at loops where other trains were crossed. The train crossed the highest viaduct on the line, 100m from the river bed. Winding up a lengthy 2.5% grade, the huge concrete wall of the Ikawa Dam came into view on the right and the train reached Ikawa. The 2-hour and 45-minute trip by the mountain railway from Senzu was finally accomplished.

Upstream of the Ikwa Dam is Ikwa Lake, about 10km long from the north to the south. The central area of Ikawa village (actually part of Shizuoka city) is located on the western coast of the lake a further 4km north from the station. At the northern end of the lake is another huge dam, Hatanagi #1 Dam. A bus service is available connecting Hatanagi #1 Dam and Shizuoka city via Ikawa village and Ikawa station, but operations are limited.