(61)Is it true that trains were still running right after the atomic bombing?

Trains evacuated the wounded

There are many stories about trains in the atomic bombing, such as those involving narrow escapes by boarding a train or carrying away survivors on stretchers after their arrival at a station. Still, I imagine the railway system suffered extensive damage, including Hiroshima train station which was located about 2 kilometers east of the hypocenter. Was it possible to keep the trains running in the aftermath of the atomic bombing?

Trains from Hiroshima running on the Geibi line were packed with survivors. When the trains arrived at a station, the local people offered water in bamboo tubes through the windows. (Drawing made by a student of Miyoshi High School based on a story he heard from his parents. It comes from the historical records of Miyoshi City.)

The following comments are from a statement made by a train engineer, Noboru Kato. They are found in a document about the reconstruction from A-bomb damage which was compiled by the National Railway Workers Union.

"I was driving the 408 train on the Ujina line and just before I reached Hiroshima station, there was a dazzling flash of light and I instinctively hit the brakes. The next moment I was knocked down by the blast. I wasn't able to find the assistant engineer who had been there beside me. A thick cloud of dust was rising in the air. I turned to the platform and saw that the roof had collapsed and the steel posts were twisted. The wounded were running through the rubble."

A freight train, which left Hiroshima station at 8:03, just before the blast, was on a steel bridge near the station when the bomb exploded. The train ran off the tracks and rolled over. It then caught fire from burning railroad ties and nearby houses.

Stations around Hiroshima City had shuttle train service

The trains in the station yard managed to survive the blast and were evacuated from the area. In fact, they were put into service to carry casualties to outlying towns via the military railway.

The first relief train left Hiroshima station past noon with some 200 casualties and went to Saijo station. It returned to Hiroshima station around 3:00 in the afternoon and made another trip to Saijo.

That wasn't the only relief train. The Ujina line was kept running, too, and it carried survivors to Ninoshima. Other train stations outside the city center suffered more minor damage and were able to maintain shuttle service.

The testimony of one engineer who was called into duty in the Bingotokaichi area (present-day Miyoshi City), on the Geibi line, said:

"I was summoned around 9:00 in the morning and I was ordered to drive a relief train to Hiroshima. I departed Bingotokaichi (Miyoshi) station at about 10:00. As I approached Hiroshima, I saw many survivors of the bombing who were walking along the railway with a dazed look. I arrived at Yaga station before noon, one stop before Hiroshima station. I then had to return to Bingotokaichi. A crowd surged toward the train and people climbed on, even in precarious places. I tried to stop them. "It's dangerous, please get off," I told them, but it couldn't be helped. I gave up and left Hiroshima in the afternoon, after 4:00. The train arrived back at Bingotokaichi station after 9:00 at night."

Some description in historical records of cities and towns

Many survivors appeared to get on trains on the Geibi line. Reading the historical records of each city or town along the Geibi line, I found some references to people being evacuated from Hiroshima. At the same time, I discovered differences in the timing of the evacuations.

For example, the records of Shiraki Town note that "From about 10:30 in the morning of August 6, people were evacuated along the Geibi line to every station"; the records of Mukaibara Town state that "From around noon, we heard about the devastation from atomic bomb survivors who got off the train at Mukaibara station"; and the records of Miyoshi City indicate that "The first train from Hiroshima arrived at Bingotokaichi station at around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. It was the second train that had left Bingotokaichi that morning."

In 1977, some students in a history class at Miyoshi High School made a booklet of stories from the local people. In this booklet, a man who was the assistant stationmaster at Bingotokaichi station at the time of the bombing recalled, "I think the first group of atomic bomb survivors arrived here after 1:00 in the afternoon."

I imagine the situation was so confusing back then that they were unable to remember the exact times. However, it is indeed true that trains were running on the day the atomic bomb was dropped, helping evacuate atomic bomb survivors. (Kenji Nanba, Staff Writer)