Other rack lines?

[Nick_Burman]

Hi all,

 

We know that Japan has/had two rack lines, Usui Pass (converted to adhesion-only, then abandoned) and the upper end of the Oigawa Railway (operational). Were there other projects for other rack lines in Japan...or was one line enough for the Japanese not to try it again?

 

 

Cheers NB

[bikkuri bahn]

Good question.  A preliminary check of Japanese sources turns up just the two you mentioned, so perhaps they are the only two ever constructed.  But it's always dangerous to say "that's all, period" with regards to Japanese railways, there is much that can be uncovered.  Anyway, I will venture to say that rather than build these Abt System (as they are called in Japan) lines, the favored method initially was to to build switchbacks, and later, tunnels.

[Kitayama]

Japanese Wikipedia mentions also, if I understand the text correctly:

Ashio Copper Mine, Tochigi, closed 1953

Shigunasu Shinrin Railway, Hyogo (still open,  tourist railway, 340 meters, 381 mm track)

Ringo, Tochigi. Some sort of family park.