However, it was soon decided that the railway was not doing well. In the six years from 1880 to 1885, it produced roughly one-third of the anticipated profit for that period. The construction bureau turned over control of the railroad, and the coal mine, to the Hokkaidō Government Office in January 1886. The following year, the two were split into separate offices, and the railroad began to be administered from Temiya instead of Sapporo, but before the end of the year, the Horonai Railway came to be contracted by the head of the Rails & Coal Mine Office, Murata Tsutsumi, to aid in the completion of the Ikunshunbetsu Line. This operation would not be profitable for the Horonai Railway, but Murata took these risks on himself, and explained to the Hokkaidō Government Office that this work was necessary in order to get the Ikushunbetsu coal mine operational, and that initial expenditures were necessary in such a venture. He hoped the expenses could be compensated for somewhat by the rents and taxes paid by the citizenry. Murata's scheme was approved in 1888, and he formed the Hokuyūsha (Northern Property Company) to manage the railroad contracts. For the next fifteen years, the Hokuyūsha paid the Horonai Railroad 5000 yen every year in return for using their trains and rails, and took on the responsibility of maintenance and all other fees; this revived the railroad's revenues.