Narrow gauge

Narrow-gauge railways are railways or railroads where the distance between the two parallel rails constituting the railway track (the track gauge) is less than the of standard gauge railways. In practice, most presently existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of or less. The rationale for the use of a narrower gauge is that a railway using such a gauge can be substantially cheaper to build, equip, and operate than one employing standard gauge. This allows railways to be built in mountainous regions, and other places where heavy rail trains would need tunnels or bridges. Narrow gauge railways also have specialized use in mines and other environments where their smaller size is an advantage. On the other hand, standard gauge railways have a greater haulage capacity and allow greater train speeds than narrow gauge systems.

Historically, many narrow gauge railways were built as part of specific industrial enterprises and were primarily industrial railways rather than general carriers. Some common uses for these industrial narrow gauge railways were mining, logging, construction, tunnelling, quarrying, and the conveying of agricultural products. Extensive networks were constructed in many parts of the world for logging or for transporting agricultural products. Significant sugarcane railways still operate in places such as Cuba, Fiji, Java, and Queensland in Australia, while narrow gauge railway equipment remains in common use for the construction of tunnels. The other significant reason for narrow gauge railways to be constructed was to take advantage of reduced construction costs in mountainous or difficult terrain, hence the national railway systems of countries such as Japan and New Zealand are primarily or solely narrow gauge. Non-industrial narrow gauge mountain railways are or were also common in the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the USA, in Mexico, in Switzerland, in the former Yugoslavia, in Greece, in India, and in Costa Rica. Another country with a notable national railway built to narrow gauge is South Africa.

Advantages of narrow gauge

Narrow gauge railways cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels and tighter curves. Narrow gauge is thus often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in heavy civil engineering work can be substantial.

There were and are also many narrow gauge street tramways, particularly in Europe, where the need for a narrow body width meant that a track gauge of a metre was necessary (trams are usually wider than the tracks they run over). A notable example of this is the tramway system of Linz, Austria.

Extensive narrow gauge railway systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in World War I.

For temporary railroads which will be removed after a short-term need, such as for construction, the logging industry and to a lesser degree the mining industry, a narrow gauge railroad is substantially cheaper. However, this use of railroads is almost extinct thanks to the capabilities of modern trucks.

In many countries, due to their lower construction costs, narrow gauge railroads were built as "feeder" or "Branch" lines to feed traffic to more important standard gauge railroads. The choice was often seen as not between a narrow gauge railroad and a standard, but rather between some kind of railroad and none at all.

In some countries, especially countries with a lot of hilly or mountainous terrain, extensive systems of narrow gauge railroads were built, especially in remote areas of limited economic development, where there would not be enough traffic to justify the cost of building full standard gauge railroads.

Disadvantages of the narrow gauge

The disadvantage of narrow gauge railroads is that the initial savings, while possibly large, are often outweighed by ongoing costs.

The most fundamental problem is that most narrow gauge railroads are 'islands' - they cannot interchange equipment with the standard gauge railroads they link with. Therefore, a narrow gauge common carrier in such a situation has a built-in and inevitable cost when it comes to receiving traffic, whether people or more importantly freight, from outside of its own system, and sending to destinations outside its own system. The cost of transshipment is a substantial drain on the finances of a small railroad, and transshipment is almost always a task involving much expensive and time-consuming manual labor. For certain bulk commodities transshipment can be mechanised, such as for coal, ore, gravel and the like.

The problem of interchangeability is less serious when a large system of narrow-gauge lines exist which carry considerable amounts of internally self-contained traffic, such as in northern Spain, South Africa and Tasmania. But most narrow-gauge lines were constructed as stand alone "feeders" entirely dependent upon transshipment to a larger main-line network.

When there was no competitor to the narrow gauge railroad this was less of a problem, but it made narrow gauge lines very vulnerable to truck competition. The railroads' trump card has always been economy of scale and distance, and the transshipment requirement removed that. Trucks had no worse a transshipment problem and were more flexible in operation.

Other problems with narrow gauge railroads came down to that they lacked room to grow - their cheap construction was bought at the price of only being engineered for their initial traffic demands. While a standard-gauge railroad could much more easily be upgraded to handle heavier, faster traffic, most narrow-gauge railroads were impossible to improve. Speeds could not increase, loads could not increase, and traffic density could not increase very much.

One can build a narrow-gauge railroad to be able to handle such increased speed and loading, but at the price of removing most of the narrow gauge's cost advantage over standard gauge.

Because of the reduced stabillity of narrower tracks, narrow gauge trains are not able to run at the same high speeds as those networks with broader gauges. However in Japan and Queensland, Australia, recent permanent way improvements have allowed trains on metre-gauge or 1067 mm gauge tracks to run at a reasonable speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) and higher. Queensland Rail's tilt train is presently the fastest train in Australia, despite the gauge it runs on. Standard gauge trains, however, can run at speeds of up to 320 km/h (200 mph); this is most evident in the case of the Japanese Shinkansen, a network of standard gauge lines built solely for high speed rail in a country where narrow gauge is the predominant standard.

Contradictions of gauge

The very heavy duty narrow gauge railways in South Africa and Queensland, Australia show that if the track is built to a heavy duty standard, a performance almost as good as a conventional standard gauge line is possible. Conversely, cheap and low cost standard gauge lines can be built with light rails and no fencing, so long as you accept that your low cost light weight standard gauge train travels at very low speeds.

Heavy duty narrow gauge lines and light duty standard gauge lines show that gauge is not the pivotal factor affecting the cost of construction. Thus a single gauge of about the Stephenson gauge could have done the job for all tasks done by 3 to 7 foot (1 to 2 m) gauges, albeit with a mini-gauge such as 2 feet (610 mm) for a range of very light weight tasks from cane tramways to mountain lines to military lines to construction to mining railways.

The real parameters that affect the capacity of a line are things like axle loads and loading gauge. Axle loads can be increased incrementally by increasing the weight of the rails, etc, while loading gauge can be difficult to increase if there are awkward bridges and tunnels to widen or deepen. If carriages and engines are made smaller, then tunnels can also be made smaller, saving money, but restricting loads.

Gauges used

The larger narrow gauges are the more common; in those parts of the world where the railroads were built to British standards, this meant, most commonly, a gauge of 3 ft 6in (1067 mm), while those built to American standards were normally of 3 ft gauge (914 mm). Railways built to European metric standards were most commonly of 1 m (3 ft 3.4 in) gauge. These larger narrow gauges are capable of hauling most traffic with little difficulty and are thus suitable for large-scale "common carrier" applications, although their ultimate speed and load limits are lower than for standard gauge.

The next natural "grouping" of narrow-gauge railroads covers the spread from just below 2 ft gauge (610 mm) to about 760 mm (2 ft 6 inches). These lightweight lines can be built at a substantial cost saving over even the larger narrow gauge lines, but are very restricted in carrying capacity. The vast majority of these have been built in heavily mountainous areas and most were to carry mineral traffic from mines to ports or standard-gauge railroads. Most were industrial lines rather than common carriers, with the exception of the extensive 760 mm lines built in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Gauges below that are rarely used, most commonly in such restricted environments as underground mine railways. The other use of such lines is for the tourist industry; these are called miniature railways if they attempt to reproduce full-size railway equipment in miniature.

Narrow gauge worldwide

Europe

Austria

The first railway in Austria was the narrow gauge line from Gmunden in the Salzkammergut to Budweis, now in the Czech Republic, this was 1106 mm (43.5" or 3' - 7.5") gauge. Some two dozen lines were built in 760 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge, a few in meter gauge. The first was the Steyrtalbahn. Others were built by provincial governments, some lines are still in common carrier use and a number of others are preservation projects. The tramway network in Innsbruck is also metre gauge, in Linz the rather unusual gauge of 900 mm is in use.

Belgium

The Vicinal or Buurtspoor were a system of narrow gauge local railways or tramways covering the whole country and having a greater routage than the mainline railway system. They were 1 m (3 ft 3.375 in) gauge and the system included electrified city lines as well as rural lines using steam locomotives and railcars; half of the system was electrified. Many lines carried freight. Only the coastal line and two routes near Charleroi are still in commercial use, four museums hold significant collections of former SNCV/NMBS rolling stock, one of which is the ASVi museum in Thuin. The tramway networks in Antwerp and Gent are also metre gauge.

Czech Republic

Several lines were built in the nineteenth century. The most notable lines are Obrataň-Jindřichův Hradec-Nová Bystřice and Třemešná ve Slezsku-Osoblaha, that are still in operation.

France

The French National Railways used to run a considerable number of lines, a few of which still operate mostly in tourist areas, such as the St Gervais-Vallorcine (Alps) and the "Train Jaune" (yellow train) in the Pyrenees. The original French scheme was that every sous-prefecture should be rail connected. Extensive near gauge lines were also built for the sugar-beet industry in the north often using ex-military equipment after the First World War. Decauville was a famous French manufacturer of industrial narrow-gauge railway equipment and equipped one of the most extensive regional narrow gauge railway, the Chemins de Fer du Calvados.

Germany

A number of narrow-gauge lines survive, largely as a consequence of German reunification, in the former East Germany where some of them form part of the public transport system as active commercial carriers. Most extensive of those still employing steam traction is the Harz mountain group of metre-gauge lines, the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen. Other notable lines are the Zittau-Oybin-Jonsdorf line in Saxony, the Mollibahn and the Rügensche Kleinbahn on the Isle of Rügen on the Baltic coast and the Radebeul-Radeburg line in the suburbs of Dresden. Although most rely on the tourist trade, in some areas they provide significant employment as steam traction is particularly labour intensive.

Greece

The Peloponnese narrow gauge network length is about 914 km. Of this, 1000 mm gauge is used for 892 km. This is the network that connects major cities in the Peloponnese. The remaining 22 km form the Diakofton-Kalavryta rack railway, which uses 750 mm gauge. The Peloponnese network has suffered various setbacks, ranging from the abandonment of entire lines (such as the Pyrgos-Katakolon railway) to inefficient management on part of the public Greek railway operator, OSE, which resulted in poor quality of services and rolling stock). Currently major restoration works are carried out, which have resulted in parts of the line having been closed. Additionally, the reactivation of certain lines that were closed down during the latter half of the 20th century is planned, mainly the Pyrgos-Katakolon line and in parts of western Greece (around Agrinion and Messologgi). Another small railway that uses narrow gauge (600 mm) is the Mt. Pelion railway, originally from Volos to Milies. Currently parts of the line are operational during the summer, mainly for excursions. There was also a narrow gauge network in Thessaly. This has now been abandoned, and trains use standard gauge tracks. However, the old narrow gauge tracks remain largely in place, so that it is theoretically possible for special excursion trains to use them.

Ireland

Several 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge systems once existed in Ireland. In County Donegal an extensive network existed, with two companies operating from Derry – the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR) and County Donegal Railways (CDR). Well known was the West Clare Railway – in County Clare, which saw diesel locomotion before closure. The Cavan & Leitrim Railway (C&LR) operated in what is now the border area of County Cavan and County Leitrim. Some smaller narrow gauge routes also existed in County Antrim and also County Cork – notably the Cork Blackrock & Passage Railway.

Apart from small heritage venues, the Irish narrow gauge today only survives in the bogs of the Midlands as part of Bord na Móna's extensive industrial network for transporting harvested peat to distribution centres or power plants.

Italy

In Sardinia, a network of narrow-gauge lines (950 mm) was built, to complement the standard-gauge main network which covered the main cities and ports. The lines were Siliqua-San Giovanni Suergiu-Calasetta (dismantled), Iglesias-Monteponi-San Giovanni Suergiu (dismantled), Monteponi-Portovesme (dismantled), Cagliari-Mandas-Isili-Sorgono, Mandas-Gairo-Arbatax, Gairo-Jerzu (dismantled), Isili-Villamar-Villacidro (dismantled), Villamar-Ales (dismantled), Macomer-Bosa (dismantled between Bosa Marina and Bosa), Macomer-Tirso-Nuoro, Tirso-Ozieri (dismantled), Sassari-Alghero, Sassari-Sorso, Sassari-Luras-Palau, Luras-Monti (dismantled). Of the lines which are still present, only Cagliari-Mandas-Isili, Sassari-Alghero, Sassari-Sorso and Macomer-Nuoro still carry regular passenger services, operated by Ferrovie della Sardegna (Railways of Sardinia). The others only operate a scenic tourist service known as Trenino verde (small green train).

In Sicily, too, some narrow-gauge lines (950 mm) operated, the most important of which was the Castelvetrano-Porto Empedocle. All those lines are closed.

Between Naples and Sorrento, around the base of Mt. Vesuvius, the narrow-gauge (950 mm) Circumvesuviana railway operates frequent services on narrow gauge tracks.

Lithuania

158.8 km of 750 mm narrow-gauge lines remain, although only 68.4 km of them (serving five stations) are regularly used, employing 12 locomotives. They are included in the Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage Sites of Lithuania.

Poland

There are hundreds of kilometres of 600 mm, 750 mm, 785 mm, and 1 m narrow-gauge lines in Poland. The one-metre lines are mostly found in the northwest part of the country, in Pomerania, while 785 mm lines are found only in the Upper Silesia region. 750 mm is the most commonly used narrow gauge; it is used, for example, in the Rogow Narrow Gauge Railway (Rogowska Kolej Wąskotorowa). Some narrow-gauge lines in Poland still operate as common carriers (such as the lines operated by SKPL, the Association of Local Railway Transport)while others survive as tourist attractions. One of the finest of the latter is the 600 mm narrow-gauge railway (Żnińska Kolej Powiatowa) running from Żnin via Wenecja (Polish Venice) and famous Biskupin to Gąsawa in the Pałuki region. The Pałuki's traditions date back to July 1894 when the first two lines were opened. In the past, there have also been 760 mm, 800 mm, and 900 mm lines. A 900 mm recreational line, 4.2 km long, still operates in the Amusement-Recreation Park in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. Some of Polands narrow-gauge railways are maintained by fan-volunteers; one organization dedicated to saving narrow-gauge railways is the FPKW, the Polish Narrow Gauge Railways Foundation [http://www.fpkw.pl.

Russia

In Russia, narrow gauge is most often 750 or 1000 mm. 1067 mm gauge is found only in the southern part of Sakhalin, where railroads were built by the Japanese. A complete list of Russian and other ex-Soviet Narrow Gauge railways.

Slovakia

Many cities in Slovakia use 1000 mm gauge for Trams. Railways, however use standard 1435 mm system making Tram and Railways networks incompatible with each other. There is a discussion regarding transforming Bratislava's Tram gauge to 1435 mm system allowing Trams to use Railways tracks to increase transportation capabilities of Bratislava's public transportation system.

Spain

In Spain there is an extensive system of metre-gauge railways, in the north of the country, operated by FEVE (Ferrocarriles Españoles de Vía Estrecha, Spanish narrow gauge railways) and EuskoTren (Eusko Trenbideak, Basque Railways). At the centre of this system is a metre-gauge line which runs for 650 km (400 miles) along the entire length of Spain's north coast. Separate metre-gauge railways are operated by the FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Catalan regional government railways) from Barcelona to Manresa and Igualada, the FGV (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana, Valencian regional government railways) around the city of Valencia, and the SFM (Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca) on the island of Majorca. Also on the island of Majorca, the FS (Ferrocarril de Sóller) operates a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge electrified railway and connecting tramway. Also the Euskotran in Bilbao, which is not a "light rail", is unusual in new tramway and light rail systems opened in the last twenty-five years in having adopted metre gauge. Metro Bilbao started on a ET/FV (now EuskoTren) Tren track and has a metre gauge.

Sweden

Sweden once had some fairly extensive narrow gauge networks, but most narrow gauge railways are now closed. Some were converted to standard gauge (the latest one the line between Berga and Kalmar in the 1970s) and some remains as heritage railways. The most common narrow gauge, 891 mm (3 Swedish feet), existed only in Sweden. A smaller 1067 mm gauge network existed, and 600 mm gauge was used mostly by smaller, industrial railroads.

The only commercial narrow gauge railway left is the Roslagsbanan suburban railway in north-eastern Stockholm (891 mm gauge). The longest other remaining narrow gauge railway is the 891 mm line between Åseda, Hultsfred and Västervik. 70 km between Hultsfred and Västervik is served by tourist trains in the summer, including 4 km of dual gauge track).

Switzerland

Switzerland boasts an extensive network of metre gauge railways, many of which interchange traffic (most prominent is the Rhaetian Railway). They are concentrated in the more heavily mountainous areas. The Jungfraubahn has as terminal point a station which is the highest in Europe. Dual gauge (combined metre- and standard gauge trackway) also exists in many areas. Also, nearly all street tramways in Switzerland (especially in the German part) were and are also metre guage.

more Rail transport in Switzerland

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom once had a significant number of narrow gauge railways: the first locomotive-hauled railway in the world was the narrow gauge Penydarren Tramway in south Wales. Most of the lines were originally built to haul minerals or agricultural products over short distances, though many also carried passengers. The longest passenger line was the combined Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog railways at 45 miles.

Only a few of these lines survive as a commercial common carriers. The great majority of the remaining narrow gauge lines operate purely as tourist attractions, and a number of new narrow gauge tourist lines have been built in recent years. The sole passenger-carrying exception is the Glasgow Subway, an underground metro line that operates on a four foot gauge. The Talyllyn Railway holds the distinction of being the first railway in the world of any gauge to be rescued and run entirely by volunteers. In addition a few private industrial narrow gauge railways remain, mainly serving coal and peat extraction.

Amongst the most well-known narrow gauge lines in Britain are the Ffestiniog - now the oldest independent railway company in the world - the Vale of Rheidol, and the Welshpool & Llanfair in Wales, and the Lynton & Barnstaple in England. Unique amongst British railways is the rack-and-pinion Snowdon Mountain Railway which climbs to just below the summit of Wales' highest peak. See also the List of British heritage and private railways.

Both main railways in the Isle of Man (part of the British Isles though not technically in the United Kingdom) are of 3 feet (914 mm) gauge. The Isle of Man Steam Railway to the southwest is operated largely as a tourist attraction but the Manx Electric Railway to the northeast is a commercially operated railway system though its operation is closer to that of a tramway than a railway and includes street running sections at each end. Another railway (operated as part of the Manx Electric Railway), the Snaefell Mountain Railway, climbs the island's main peak and has a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm), the extra width allowing the laying (on its side) of a central double headed rail. This rail, the Fell rail, permits a braking system operating directly on the rail.

North America

Canada

Although many parts of central Canada were initially built to a broad gauge, there were several railways on Canada's Atlantic coast which were built as individual narrow gauge lines. The largest systems in the country were the 3 ft 6 in (Cape Gauge) lines on the islands of Prince Edward Island (Prince Edward Island Railway) and Newfoundland (Newfoundland Railway), as well as a line in the Saint John River valley of New Brunswick (New Brunswick Railway); the Newfoundland Railway being the longest narrow gauge system in North America. Operated by CN since 1949, the Newfoundland system was the last commercial common carrier narrow gauge railway in Canada at the time of its abandonment in September 1988. A very short railway also operated in Ontario for 65 years. The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Transportation Company operated a line 1.8 km long between Peninsula Lake and Lake of Bays in the Muskoka Lakes District. This operated as a portage over a very steep grade where a canal couldn't be justified.

Various mining and industrial operations in eastern, central and western Canada have also operated narrow gauge railways. The only narrow gauge system still in operation in the country is the 3 ft 0 in gauge White Pass and Yukon Route. WPYR was built as a common carrier but closed in 1982 only to reopen in 1988 to haul tourists from cruise ships docking at Skagway, Alaska through White Pass on the International Boundary to Bennett, British Columbia (and return). The remainder of the line is in place but not presently operational to Whitehorse, Yukon.

Mexico

The Yucatán region of Mexico has a network of narrow gauge lines, established before the region was linked by rail to the rest of Mexico in the 1950s. Only the main line connecting Merida to central Mexico has been widened to standard gauge.

United States

In the United States a major 3 ft (914 mm) gauge railway system was built in the mountains of Colorado by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Small remnants of that system remain as tourist attractions which run in the summer, including the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad which runs between Antonito, CO in the San Luis Valley and Chama, NM; and the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad [http://www.durangotrain.com/ which runs in the San Juan Mountains between its namesake towns of Durango and Silverton.

In the Catskill Mountains of southern New York, the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railway was constructed in 1882, along with another one, called the Kaaterskill Railway, being chartered in 1884. The SC&CM started at Phoenicia, New York, and went to Hunter, New York, with the KRR starting somewhere outside of Hunter, and going to Kaaterskill, New York. These railroads were taken over by the Ulster and Delaware Railroad in 1892, and converted to standard gauge throughout the years of 1898 and 1899. These new branches were taken over by the New York Central in 1932, along with the rest of the Ulster and Delaware, and sold for scrap in 1940.

The last surviving commercial common carrier narrow-gauge railroad in the United States was the White Pass and Yukon Route connecting Skagway, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; this closed down in 1982 as a result of the construction of a parallelling highway through the White Pass and the collapse of markets for its primary freight, lead and zinc ores. The line has since been partially reopened as a purely tourist railway. There is but one narrow gauge railroad still in commercial operation in the United States, the US Gypsum operation in Plaster City, California which uses a number of Alco locomotives obtained from the White Pass after its 1982 closure.

The famous San Francisco cable car system has a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm).

In 1866, The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad was granted a charter to construct a narrow gauge railroad between Johnson City, Tennessee and Cranberry, North Carolina. By 1919, it had extended service to Boone, North Carolina. It continued in service until 1950. In 1957, the railroad was revived as a tourist attraction under the common name, Tweetsie Railroad. It currently runs a three mile route near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The steam engine is a Baldwin type 10-26D #332 (4-6-0), built in 1917.

The last remaining 3 ft (914 mm) gauge line east of the Mississippi River is the East Broad Top Railroad in Central Pennsylvania. Running from the 1800s until 1956, it supplied coal to brick kilns and general freight to the towns it passed through, connecting to the Pennsylvania Railroad at Mount Union, Pennsylvania. Purchased for scrap by the Kovalchick Corporation when it was shut down, it sat for four years until it was partly resurrected by townspeople of Orbisonia in 1960. Still owned by the Kovalchick family, trains operate over 5 miles of the original 32-mile line. As of the end of 2004, only one of six Mikado-type (2-8-2) locomotives is currently operable: number 14. Locomotive 15 is being rebuilt to comply with current FRA requirements. In addition to various freight and passenger cars, the railroad also has a gas-electric railcar, the M-1. The car operates only on special occasions, such as the Fall Spectacular, held on Columbus Day weekend every year. The rest of the railroad is intact, but overgrown with 48 years worth of plant growth.

There were extensive two foot (610 mm) gauge lines in the Maine forests early in the 20th century. Although essentially for the transport of timber (or in one case, slate - the last line to be closed), the Maine lines did have some passenger services. Some cars and trains from these lines are now on display at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum in Portland, Maine after having spent years on the Edaville Railroad on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Many narrow gauge lines were private carriers serving particular industries. One major industry that made extensive use of 3 ft (914 mm) gauge railroads was the timber extraction industries, especially in the West. Although most of these lines closed by the 1950s, one notable later survivor was West Side Lumber Company which continued using 3 ft (914 mm) gauge geared steam locomotives until 1968. Much of the equipment from the Westside found its ways to tourist lines, including the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad and Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in California and the Midwest Central Railroad in Iowa.

The Houston East and West Texas Railway built the last narrow gauge main line connecting major mainland U.S. cities that is still in operation today, albeit in standard gauge form. On January 26, 1886, the HE&WT completed a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge line from Houston, Texas by way of Lufkin and Nacogdoches to the Louisiana state line near the Sabine River. It connected to the affiliated Shreveport and Houston Railway Company, completing a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge main line from Houston to Shreveport, Louisiana. Unfortunately, all other railroads in the vicinity used standard gauge by the time the HE&WT was completed, hampering the efficient transshipment of cargo, and on July 29, 1894, the entire line was converted to standard gauge. The Southern Pacific Railroad gained control of the HE&WT in 1899. As of 2006, the former HE&WT main line was still in operation by the Union Pacific Railroad, the Southern Pacific's successor, and the line is still known as the "Rabbit Line" in honor of the popular nickname of the HE&WT.

Central America

Guatemala

Ferrovías Guatemala, 3 ft (914 mm) gauge, Ferrovías Guatemala

South America

Metre and 3 ft (914 mm) gauge lines are found in South America. Some of the metre-gauge lines cross international borders, though not as efficiently as they might.

Argentina

Meter gauge railways are found in the northeren half of the country.

Bolivia

All railways in Bolivia are meter gauge.

Brazil

In Brazil, almost all the lines are narrow gauge (1 m), with the exception of a few lines in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Mato Grosso. A network of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge lines once operated in Minas Gerais, centered around the city of São João do Rei. This network at one time had over 250 km of railway in operation, but only about 13 km remain in operation as a steam powered tourist railway. Other small narrow gauge lines include the Rio de Janeiro streetcar (Bonde Santa Tereza), with approximately 13 km of 1100 mm gauge, and a very short industial railway near Bertioga built to 800 mm gauge.

Chile

Meter gauge railways are found in the northeren half of the country. The Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia was origionally built to 2'6" gauge, as were a number of mining and nitrate railways.

Colombia

Most all railways in Colombia are 3 ft (914 mm) gauge.

Ecuador

The railways in Ecuador are 3 ft (914 mm) gauge.

Peru

Some railways in Peru are 3 ft (914 mm) gauge, but in 2006 are to be converted to standard gauge.

Asia

Hong Kong

The Kowloon-Canton Railway (now East Rail) was built with narrow gauge, but later converted into standard gauge. The now-defunct Sha Tau Kok Railway was also narrow gauge. The Hong Kong Tramways uses 1067 mm narrow gauge. The MTR uses a gauge of 1432 mm, 3 mm narrower than the standard gauge.

India

Having the biggest rail network of the world, India has a substantial narrow-gauge network, most of which uses the metre gauge (3 ft 3 3/8in). There are some lines that use a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, and a few that use 2 ft (610 mm) gauge. These are what are known in India as "narrow gauge" (as opposed to "metre gauge") lines. About 17,000 km of route are metre-gauge in India.

In the 1990s, India concluded that cities on the metre-gauge network have a second-rate train service, and is now converting most of the metre-gauge network to broad gauge as Project Unigauge. In other words, the advantages of uniformity and interoperability were judged to outweigh any other possible benefits arising from the use of diverse gauges.

In 1999 the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (sometimes called the Darjeeling "Toy Train") was officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge narrow-gauge railway that runs from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal in India.

The railway was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 km long. It rises from the plains of Siliguri at about 100 m elevation to over 2200 m at Ghum in the foothills of the Himalayas; this is the second highest railway station that can be reached by steam train in the world. The line then descends again to Darjeeling. The railway travels through spectacular mountain scenery and uses several unusual civil engineering techniques to gain the necessary height including several switchbacks, and spirals including the famous double loop at Agony Point. The line was inspired by the earlier success of the 2 ft. gauge Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales.

Until recently all trains on the railway were powered by steam locomotives; however in 2001 two modern diesel engines were built for the line and now most trains are diesel hauled.

Indonesia

Indonesia had large numbers of narrow-gauge railways supporting industry, mainly sugar cane plantations. In recent years, sugar cane production has been declining and the railways are now largely closed.

Japan

Except for the high-speed Shinkansen lines, all of Japan Railway group's network is narrow-gauge, built at 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm). Some companies, such as Keisei Electric Railway, Keihin Electric Express Railway, Tokyo Metro's Ginza Line and Marunouchi line, use standard gauge. Keio Electric Railway, Toei Shinjuku Line and Tokyo and Hakodate tramways use 4 ft 6 in (1372 mm) gauge. There are some dual gauge lines which allow Shinkansen trains to travel on narrow-gauge branches.

Malaysia

Keretapi Tanah Melayu the main railway operator in Malaysia, uses metre gauge for the main west and east coast lines. However, standard gauge is used by the newer light rail operators in Kuala Lumpur city (Putra LRT, Star LRT, KL Monorail and KLIA Ekspres).

In Sabah, the North Borneo Railway ("Keretapi Negeri Sabah") runs a metre-gauge line from Kota Kinabalu up to Tenom in the Crocker Ranges, via Beaufort.

Philippines

Except for the Light Railway Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) systems in Metro Manila, which have both been constructed to the international standard gauge, the Philippine National Railways uses the "Cape Gauge" of 1067 mm (3 feet 6 inches).

Taiwan

Except for the high speed railway and the metro systems in Taipei and Kaohsiung, all of Taiwan's railway network is narrow-gauge, built at 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm). The isolated east coast railways that used 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge were converted to 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) when the lines were linked to the west coast system.

A 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge mountain railway stretches 72 km and connects the city of Chiayi to the mountain resort of Alishan. The line serves mainly as a tourist attraction and offers breathtaking mountain views.

Middle East

Till 1932 a gauge train ran from Cairo through Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Persia (later Iran) and Iraq. The tracks and stations are mostly tourist sites, with some sections refurbished and run as a tourist attraction. The train was notorious for being slow, and failing to uphill. An old joke told about Ahmed, riding on his donkey alongside the train, who meets his cousin Abdulla, sitting in the train. After a while Ahmed on the donkey says: Sorry, but I must hurry on.

Thailand

While the Northern Line was originally build as standard gauge, the line was regauged after 1919 and the State Railway of Thailand now operates entirely on meter gauge, including international through services to Malaysia. However, standard gauge is used by the Bangkok Skytrain and the Bangkok Metro.

Africa

Narrow-gauge railways are common in Africa, where great distances, challenging terrain and low funding have made the narrow gauges attractive. Many nations, particularly in southern Africa, including the extensive South African Railway network (Spoornet), use a 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) gauge. Metre gauge is also common, as in the case of the Uganda Railway. There used to be extensive 2 ft (610 mm) and 600 mm gauge networks in countries such as Morocco, Congo, Angola, Namibia and South Africa, but these have mostly been dismantled.

Because Africa is fragmented politically, railways built by governments tend not to link up with each other, each country's lines connecting its outlands with its own port. Incompatible gauges are therefore not obvious. For example, a link from Nigeria to Cameroon would join 1067 mm to 1000 mm.

Eritrea

Further north, Eritrea is in the midst of resurrecting its 950 mm narrow gauge railway, a relic of its former Italian colonial days that was abandoned and heavily damaged during Eritrea's war of independence. Neighbouring railways (should they ever connect) are 1067 mm in Sudan and 1000 mm in Ethiopia.

South Africa

Originally standard gauge, the railways of the then Cape Colony changed to narrow gauge 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) for cost-cutting reasons. However, with the development of a strong economy, with heavy export coal and iron ore traffic, South Africa, like Queensland, operates several narrow-gauge trains that outdo most standard gauge and all broad gauge trains. The proposed Gautrain railway between Johannesburg and Pretoria, however, will operate on standard gauge, and will thus not be capable of using any of the country's existing rail network.

Australia

Prior to Australia's becoming an independent unified country in 1901, each of the six British colonies in Australia were responsible for rail transport infrastructure. Of the six colonies, only three (Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania) opted for narrow-gauge railways. The other colonies (later states) opted for either standard-gauge or broad-gauge railways, maintaining only limited narrow-gauge rail lines, except for South Australia, which wavered between narrow and broad. As a result of this legacy, Australian railways are a confusing mix of all three gauges. Over time most of the mainland lines of whatever gauge linked up with inconvenient break-of-gauge stations where they met, including the infamous Albury railway station on the Albury-Wodonga line from Melbourne to Sydney where the old cry of "Albury, all change!" has sunk into the national psyche. Some lines remained isolated because they were cut off by long stretches of desert.

Much work has been done to rectify the gauge chaos, but there is still much to do. By and large any uniform gauge would have done the job satisfactorily.

Queensland

The massive narrow-gauge (3 ft 6 in, 1067 mm) coal trains of the Queensland Railway with 100 wagons and 2 midtrain electric locomotives show what is possible with narrow gauge if you strengthen the track enough - "World's Best Practice". South Africa has similar heavy trains.

In the beginning, in 1865, the brief given to Queensland Railways was to build a semi-mountainous line in very sparsely populated territory, and it chose light rails, sharp curves, a small loading-gauge, light engines and rolling stock, 32 km/h speeds to make a limited budget go a long way. A clever salesman convinced the Queensland government that a narrow gauge would save money, and do the job for a hundred years. Queensland Railways was the first mainline narrow-gauge railway in the world. Its tracks would eventually extend to around 9000 km.

In the intervening century, the rails have been replaced with heavier rails, there are now concrete sleepers and colour light signals, sharp curves have been straightened, tunnels have been opened out. The one thing that hasn't changed is the narrow gauge, even though the rest of the country is converting its main lines to the standard gauge of 1435 mm.

Queensland Rail also operates the iconic QR Tilt Train, with a maximum speed of 165 km/h.

Dual gauge has been added to give access from the interstate standard gauge line to the Port of Brisbane.

Dual gauge is also proposed to convert the standard gauge interstate line for use by narrow gauge commuter trains.

Queensland Cane Trams

Queensland also has extensive sugar cane tramways of 2 ft (610 mm) gauge. These lines haul only sugar cane, so there is no break of gauge problem. These cane tramways sometimes use second hand standard-gauge shunting locomotives suitably regauged, and the trams can be up to 500 tonnes, and because there are no continuous brakes, they may have a radio-controlled brake van coupled to the rear. By comparison, an early mainline QR train on the steep Toowoomba section had a 32-tonne steam locomotive hauling a mere 70 tonnes.

To avoid speed restriction where some cane trams cross the main line, several of these crossings have been converted to drawbridges.

Tasmania

The first railway in the island state of Tasmania was broad gauge 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm), but following the success of the narrow gauge in Queensland, a third rail was fitted, to allow conversion to narrow gauge. The state's rail network is now entirely narrow gauge.

South Australia

The first railways in this state were broad gauge (5 ft 3 in, 1600 mm) including some light-weight horse-drawn lines. But following the success of the narrow gauge in Queensland, several narrow-gauge lines where started. Because of the geography of the state with deep gulfs of the ocean, the various narrow-gauge lines where isolated from each other to begin with, and indeed isolated from even broad-gauge lines for some time.

In the 1920s several narrow-gauge lines were converted to broad gauge.

The South Eastern narrow-gauge lines were converted to broad gauge in the 1950s, with steel sleepers able to be converted to standard gauge at a later date if required.

Three gauge yards (broad, standard and narrow) have existed at three stations at various times — Port Pirie (1938), Gladstone (1970) and Peterborough (1970) — though none survive today.

During the conversion of the original narrow-gauge Port Augusta to Marree line, whole narrow-gauge trains were loaded onto rails mounted on standard-gauge trains, to avoid transhipment and the steep gradients on the old narrow-gauge route.

The privately owned iron ore mines at Iron Knob and Iron Baron are connected to the steel works at Whyalla by an isolated narrow gauge 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) line through desert country. Legally, it is a tramway, not a railway. These 2000-tonne "trams" must be the heaviest "trams" ever.

Western Australia

Inspired by the success of the narrow gauge in Queensland, Western Australia adopted the same gauge. There were however differences that would have created problems had the WA and QR systems ever met (unlikely, as they are separated by 2000 km of desert).

WA and QR use different couplings.
WA and QR use different train brakes.
WA and QR use different loading gauges, the WA loading gauge being bigger.
WA and QR use the same electification system, 25 kV AC.

In the capital of Perth, there was the only narrow gauge tramway network (of any considerable extent) on mainland Australia. The final portion was closed in 1958.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory adopted narrow gauge when it was still part of South Australia, and a North-South transcontinental line was planned from Adelaide to Darwin in the 1870s. In the event this line was never completed, and due to flood damage and lack of traffic, the narrow-gauge line was closed. A 3000 km standard-gauge line from Adelaide to Darwin, referred to as the Ghan, opened in 2004.

Because there are no tunnels or narrow bridges on the old-narrow gauge line, the line received a lot of second-hand standard-gauge rolling stock, this rolling stock being noticeably larger than the original narrow gauge waggons and carriages.

New South Wales

The large silver-lead mine at Broken Hill is only 30 km from the South Australian border, but separated by hundreds of kilometres of desert from the main NSW standard-gauge railway system. These mines were therefore connected by a narrow-gauge "tram".

The long serving Engineer of the NSW railways John Whitton resisted all attempts to introduce other gauges, based on experience of the break-of-gauge problem in England. He also resisted horse-drawn operation. Later engineers introduced "Pioneer" construction, whereby money was saved by lighter weight construction, and absence of fencing.

Meanwhile, on the main lines radiating from the state capital Sydney, ever increasing traffic required heavier engines, and therefore heavier track and stronger bridges. Fortunately, track can be upgraded one length of rail at a time, unlike gauge conversion which is generally a daunting all-or-nothing task.

In NSW in 2004, there are now about 10 classes of track from 1 to 5. All engines and rolling stock can operate on the heaviest class 1 track, while only certain light locomotives and rolling stock can operate at low speeds on class 5 track. The track classes are a kind of break-of-gauge that permits through running with careful attention to detail.

Victoria

Most railway lines in Victoria were built to the 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) broad gauge. However four common carrier lines (Wangaratta-Whitfield; Upper Ferntree Gully-Gembrook; Colac-Beech Forest, and then extended to Crowes, which at 70 km (43 miles) made it the longest of Victoria's NG lines; and Moe-Walhalla) were built to the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge standard, to serve local farming and forestry communities. There was also widespread usage of narrow-gauge forestry railways and tramways. Sections of two lines (Belgrave to Gembrook and Thomson to Walhalla) have been restored as tourist railways.

The narrow-gauge line now in use as the Puffing Billy Tourist Railway originally ran from Upper Ferntree Gully station in the Melbourne suburbs to Gembrook station in the Dandenong Ranges to the east of Melbourne. The first section of this line, as far as Belgrave station, has been converted to become part of Melbourne's broad-gauge electrified suburban network. The remainder of the line is now better known as the Puffing Billy Railway, which is maintained and operated by volunteers as a steam-hauled preserved railway and tourist attraction.

The last of the four narrow-gauge railways to open, the Moe to Walhalla line in Gippsland which was opened in 1910 and then closed in 1954, has been partially reopened from Thomson Station into Walhalla in recent years as the Walhalla Goldfields Railway. Because the Puffing Billy Railway has nearly all of the remaining locomotives and rolling stock known to exist from the four NG lines, this line has had to modify rolling stock from elsewhere or build new, but non-original style, rolling stock.

Commonwealth Railways

The Railways in Australia were originally organised at a colonial and then at state level after federation. The Commonwealth has some role in railways, especially a 2000 km long interstate railway through desert connecting Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Port Augusta in South Australia.

Kalgoorlie and Port Augusta are both narrow-gauge railheads, albeit with different coupling and braking systems. A narrow-gauge Transcontinental line might therefore have been the obvious choice, but an earlier conference of railway commissioners had decided that interstate lines were to use the Stephenson gauge of 1435 mm. So the Transcontinental line was built as an isolated standard-gauge line, its isolation lasting from 1917 to 1970. During wartime, when traffic was very heavy, the breaks of gauge at either end of the Transcontinental line meant that it could not easily draw on the resources of the systems at either end.

New Zealand

Much like Australia, there was initially no uniformity in track gauges in New Zealand. This was because the construction of railways was undertaken by the various provinces of New Zealand rather than the central government. Eventually, under the schemes of Premier Julius Vogel, the railways of New Zealand were made to adhere to a 1067 mm gauge.

External links

Railroad Gauge Width
Polish Narrow Gauge Railways
Narrow Gauge Heaven - this site has a large photo gallery of narrow gauge railways
Parovoz - Russian narrow gauge railways
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum - based at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales.
Cy Crumley ET&WNC Narrow Gauge Photo Collection
The East Broad Top Railroad Homepage
Narrow Gauge in Austria

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