Forest Railway - Shinrin Tetsudo

A railway for transporting logs from forests, a method of transportation advantageous for areas where timber is mass-produced. The track gauge was 762 mm, and the locomotives were diesel locomotives of about 5 to 10 tons, steam locomotives of a dozen tons on main lines, and steel or wooden bogie trolleys were widely used for timber transport freight cars. Forest railways were once widely laid in Japan's forests in areas where timber was mass-produced, because their narrow widths allowed roadbeds to be built even in steep valleys. However, with the rise of the automobile industry, they were replaced by forest roads, mainly truck roads, because they could not be built on steep slopes and did not allow other vehicles to pass. Many of the former large forest railway areas have preserved parts of the lines, steam locomotives, timber transport freight cars, and passenger cars as forest railway museums. In Japan, forest railways still exist in national forests on Yakushima, which places importance on nature conservation. In overseas forestry areas, it can be found in Alishan, Taiwan, and parts of the West Coast of the United States.

[Sanpei Yamawaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

原木を森林から搬出するための鉄道で、木材の大量生産地帯に有利な運材法。軌間は762ミリメートル、機関車は5～10トン程度のディーゼル機関車、幹線では十数トンの蒸気機関車、木材運搬用貨車には鋼製および木製のボギー式トロが広く用いられた。森林鉄道は幅員が狭いので急峻(きゅうしゅん)な地形の渓谷などでも路床を開設できるため、かつて広く日本の森林の木材大量生産地帯に敷設された。しかし、急勾配(こうばい)の敷設ができないことと、ほかの車両の通行を許さないなどの理由から、自動車工業の台頭に伴い、トラック道を主とする林道にその地位を譲るに至った。かつての大森林鉄道地帯には、一部の路線と蒸気機関車および木材運搬用貨車、客車類を、森林鉄道博物館として保存している所が多い。国内では、自然保護を重視した屋久島(やくしま)の国有林などで森林鉄道が現存している。海外林業圏では、台湾の阿里山(ありさん)やアメリカ西海岸の一部などにみられる。

［山脇三平］

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