(Redirected from Narrow gauge railways)
Comparison of
standard gauge (blue) and one common narrow gauge (red) width.
A steam locomotive of the D&SNG
A 'narrow gauge railway' (or 'narrow gauge railroad') is a
railway that has a
track gauge narrower than the of
standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of or less.
Overview
Since narrow gauge railways can accommodate smaller radius curves, they can be substantially cheaper to build, equip, and operate than standard gauge railways, particularly in mountainous terrain. The lower costs of narrow gauge railways mean they are often built to serve industries and communities where the traffic potential would not justify the costs of building a standard gauge line. Narrow gauge railways also have specialized use in mines and other environments where their smaller
loading gauge is an advantage. On the other hand, standard gauge railways generally have a greater haulage capacity and allow greater 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 narrow gauge networks were constructed in many parts of the world for these purposes. Significant
sugarcane railways still operate in
Cuba,
Fiji,
Java, the Philippines and in
Queensland in
Australia. 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
Indonesia,
Japan and
New Zealand are primarily or solely narrow gauge. Non-industrial narrow gauge mountain railways are or were common in the
Rocky Mountains of the
USA and the
Pacific Cordillera of
Canada, in
Mexico,
Switzerland, the former
Yugoslavia,
Greece,
India, and
Costa Rica. Another country with a notable national railway built to narrow gauge is
South Africa where the "Cape gauge" of is the most common gauge.
gauge tracks
History of narrow gauge railways
The earliest recorded railway is shown in the
De re metallica of 1556, which shows a mine in the
Czech Republic with a railway of approximately gauge. During the 16th century railways were mainly restricted to hand-pushed narrow gauge lines in mines throughout Europe. During the 17th century mine railways were extended to provide transportation above ground. These lines were
industrial, connecting mines with nearby transportation points, usually canals or other waterways. These railways were usually built to the same narrow gauge as the mine railways they developed from.
[1]
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. It is also used in very sparsely populated areas where the potential demand is too low for the building of broader gauge railways to be economically viable. This is the case in most of Australia and Southern Africa, where extremely old soils can support only population densities too low for standard gauge to be viable.
There are many narrow gauge
street tramways, particularly in
Europe where metre-gauge tramways are common. Narrow gauge allows tighter turning in restricted city streets. The tighter turning circle also allows
balloon loops at the end of routes, which in turn allows the use of unidirectional trams with a driver's cab at one end only, and doors on one side, and thus more space for passengers.
Extensive narrow gauge railway systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in
World War I. After the end of the war the surplus equipment from these railways created a small boom in the building of narrow gauge railways in Europe.
For temporary railroads that will be removed after a short-term need, such as for construction, the
logging industry and the
mining industry, a narrow gauge railroad is substantially cheaper and easier to install and remove. However, this use of railroads is almost extinct thanks to the capabilities of modern
trucks.
In many countries narrow gauge railroads were built as "feeder" or "branch" lines to feed traffic to more important standard gauge railroads, due to their lower construction costs. The choice was often not between a narrow gauge railroad and a standard gauge one, but between a narrow gauge railroad and none at all.
Disadvantages of narrow gauge
Narrow gauge railroads cannot interchange equipment like freight and passenger cars freely with the
standard gauge railroads they link with, unless they use
variable gauge axles. That means that narrow gauge lines have a built-in cost of transshipping people and freight to the mainline railway system. The cost of transshipment can be a substantial drain on the finances of a railroad because it involves expensive and time consuming manual labour or substantial capital expenditure. Some bulk commodities, such as
coal,
ore and
gravel, can be mechanically transshipped, but this still incurs time penalties and these mechanical devices are often complex to maintain.
Solutions to the problem of transshipment include
variable gauge axles and
bogie exchange between cars. Another solution to this problem is the
roll-block system. Although successfully deployed in countries such as
Germany, this technique came too late for the majority of narrow gauge lines.
The problem of interchangeability is less serious for countries that have a large system of narrow gauge lines, such as northern
Spain, and does not exist in those countries in which the narrow gauge is the "standard", such as
New Zealand,
South Africa and the Australian island state of
Tasmania.
The problem of interchangeability is more serious in North America because a continent-wide system of freight car interchange developed. All the standard gauge railways in North America use the same standard couplings and air brakes, which means that freight cars can be freely interchanged between railways from Northern Canada to Southern Mexico. Railways who need more freight cars can simply borrow them from other railways during peak periods, while the railways who own the cars receive payments for them at rates set by common agreement. Peak demand, particularly for grain shipment, occurs in different parts of North America at different times, so freight cars are shuffled back and forth across the continent to wherever they are needed. Motive power can also be interchanged, which sometimes results in Mexican locomotives pulling Canadian freight cars and vice versa.
Narrow gauge railways could not participate in this system, which meant that they usually had to own several times as much rolling stock as standard gauge railways, and they did not receive any cash flow for surplus equipment during periods of low demand. Since most narrow gauge railways were short of money to begin with, this eventually resulted in nearly all North American narrow gauge railways either going bankrupt or being bought up by profitable standard gauge railways.
Narrow gauge lines were very vulnerable to competition from
trucks. The railroads' advantage has always been economy of scale and distance, and the transshipment requirement removed that. Trucks have no such transshipment problem and are more flexible in operation.
Another problem with narrow gauge railroads is that they lacked room to grow - their cheap construction was bought at the price of being engineered only for their initial traffic demands. While a standard or broad gauge railroad could more easily be upgraded to handle heavier, faster traffic, many narrow gauge railroads were impractical to improve. Speeds and loads hauled could not increase, so traffic density was significantly limited.
Narrow gauge railroads can be built to handle increased speed and loading, but at the price of removing most of the narrow gauge's cost advantage over standard or broad gauge.
Because of the reduced stability of narrower gauge, narrow gauge trains are not able to run at nearly the same high speeds as those networks with broader gauges unless the tracks are aligned with greater precision. However in
Japan and
Queensland,
Australia, recent permanent way improvements have allowed trains on 1067 mm gauge tracks to run at 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 or
broad gauge trains can run at 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.
Exceptions to the rule
The 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 standard gauge line is possible. 200-car trains operate on the Sishen-Saldanha railroad in South Africa, and high-speed tilt-trains in Queensland (see below). Another example of a heavy-duty narrow gauge line is EFVM in Brazil. Metre gauge, it has over-100-pound rail and a loading gauge almost as large as US non-excess-height lines. It sees 4000 hp locomotives and 200+ car trains. Narrow gauge lines are more limited in the capacity and stability of their trains. Similarly, standard and broad gauge lines can be built cheaply to
light railway standards, with trains operating at lower speeds and with lower capacities, and these lines were often built instead of narrow gauge railways.
Gauges used
There are many narrow gauges in use or formerly used between gauge and 4 ft 8 in (1422 mm) gauge. They fall into three broad categories
Medium gauge railways
The wider 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 , while those built to American standards were normally . Railways built to European metric standards were most commonly of and 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.
Railways built on gauges between and are sometimes referred to as "medium-gauge" railways
Two-foot gauge railways
The next natural "grouping" of narrow gauge railroads covers the spread from just below to just below , although the majority are between and (the conversions are usually loosely expressed in the U.K. as 2ft = 60 cm and 760 mm = 2ft 6 in). These lightweight lines can be built at a substantial cost saving over medium or standard gauge railways, but are very restricted in their carrying capacity. The majority of these were built in mountainous areas and most were to carry mineral traffic from mines to ports or standard gauge railroads. Many were industrial lines rather than common carriers, though there were exceptions such as the extensive lines built in the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the "Maine two footer" lines in
New England. The most common metric gauges in this group are and .
Minimum gauge railways
Gauges below 600 mm were rare, but did exist. In Britain,
Sir Arthur Heywood developed gauge
estate railways, while in France
Decauville produced a range of industrial railways running on and tracks, most commonly in such restricted environments such as
underground mine railways. A number of gauge railways were built in Britain to serve ammunition depots and other military facilities, particularly during the
First World War.
Narrow gauge railways under gauge are known as
minimum gauge railways.
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 (43½ in or 3 ft 7½ in) gauge. Some two dozen lines were built 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 is in use.
Bulgaria
From the 19th into the early 20th there were many narrow gauge (760mm) railways in Bulgaria, but today, only 245 km remain.
Belarus
1 children narrow gauge railways and 36 peat railways. Children railways is located in Minsk, gauge 750 mm. Locos - TU2.
Occasionally, narrow gauge railways can still be found in some places of Belarus, for example for transportation of peat.
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 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
Main articles: Narrow gauge railways in the 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.
Estonia
Egsist 4 museums lines and some peat lines. Very famous is museum in Lavassaare, with big collection of steam and dysel locos. Gauge 750 mm, lines long - 2 km. More about this museum : http://www.museumrailway.ee . Next 750 mm gauge museum with 500 m line egsist in Avinurme. In this museum are 1 locos and some vagons. In Kivioli located underground museum with short electric line. In island Naissaar is former military railway with 750 mm gauge line
Finland
Lovisa-Wesijärvi Railway (LWR) 2-8-0 steam locomotive number 6 (built in 1909) in running order on
Jokioinen Museum Railway, Finland.
The vast majority of Finnish narrow gauge railways were owned and operated by private companies. There are only a few instances where narrow gauge railways were in direct connection with each other, and those interchanges did not last for long. The railways never formed a regional rail traffic network, but were only focused on maintaining connections between the national broad gauge railway network and the off-line industries. One of the longest common carriers was the Lovisa-Wesijärvi railway (1900–1960) that operated a 80-kilometre (50-mile) line between
Lahti and
Loviisa. Other notable ones were the Hyvinkää–Karkkila railway that operated a 46-kilometre (28-mile) line, and the Jokioinen railway that operated a 23-kilometre (14-mile) line until 1974, being the last common carrier narrow gauge railway.
Other lines were notably shorter. The common gauges were and , with a few railways built with and gauges.
Narrow gauge tourist and heritage lines of , and gauge still operate.
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.
Corsica has a narrow gauge network of two lines following the coast line, that are connected by one line crossing the island through highly mountaineous terrain.
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.
''see also
Narrow gauge railways in Saxony''
Greece
A bridge on the Pelion Railway,
Greece
The Peloponnese narrow gauge network length is about 914 km. Of this, 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 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 is the Mt. Pelion railway, originally from Volos to Milies. Currently parts of the line are operational during the summer, mainly for excursions.
There is also a metre gauge network in Thessaly. This has now been abandoned, and trains use standard gauge tracks. However, the old narrow gauge tracks remain in place, so that occasional special excursion trains use them.
Generally, the narrow gauges 750mm in Diakofto-Kalavryta line and 600mm in Volos-Milies (the current real line is Lechonia-Milies, since the part Volos-Lechonia was abandoned) are seasonal railroads for excursional purposes. But the 1000m network of Peloponnese is a passenger and commercial line. Thus, a renovation work has started since several months before to construct a modern 1435mm network in Peloponnese and/or rebuild the one-century old 1000mm tracks.
Hungary
The former Kingdom boasted a narrow gauge network thousands of kilometres in length, most of it using gauge and constructed between 1870 and 1920. Landlords, mines, agricultural and forest estates established their own branch lines which, as they united into regional networks, increasingly played a role in regional passenger traffic. Following the
Treaty of Trianon some railways were cut by the new border, many remained on the territory of Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. For a lack of intact roads, following World War II in many places narrow-gauge railway was the only reasonable way to get around. In 1968 the Communist government started to implement a policy to dismantle the narrow-gauge network in favour of road traffic. Freight haulage on the few remaining lines continued to decline until 1990 from when a patchwork of railways was gradually taken over by associations and forest managements for tourist purposes. State Railways operate narrow-gauge railways at
Nyíregyháza and
Kecskemét that continue to play a role in regional transport. Children aged 10 to 14 provide services at the Budapest
''Children's Railway''.
''See also:
''Narrow gauge railways in today's Hungary''''
Ireland
Guiness brewery locomotive
Several 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 the County Donegal Railways (
CDRJC). 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.
''See also:
History of rail transport in Ireland''
Italy
Railcar on the Rittnerbahn
Narrow gauge railways in Italy are (or were) mainly build with 950 mm gauge, with some gauge lines and with a few other gauges.
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-
Tempio Pausania-
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.
In
Trentino only narrow gauge lines (1000mm) from
Trento to Malè and Marilleva are still operating.
Between
Naples and
Sorrento, around the base of Mt.
Vesuvius, the narrow gauge (950 mm)
Circumvesuviana railway operates frequent services on narrow gauge tracks.
Isle of Man
Both main railways in the
Isle of Man are of 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. The
Snaefell Mountain Railway, climbs the island's main peak and has a gauge of ; it is the sole operating
Fell Incline Railway System in the world.
Latvia
Egsist 1 public, 1 museum and some industrial peat railways. Public narrow gauge railway is 750 mm gauge, are around 30 km long, join Gulbene and Aluksne. More - http://www.banitis.lv . 2 trains per day. Museum railway is located in Ventspils. Gauge 600 mm, long - 2 km circle. Locos - steam locos, former "Brigadelok". Peat comanys at main usin 750 mm, but egsist 700 mm and 600 mm railways
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. More about this line: http://www.siaurukas.eu/ . Also still egsist many peat factories, which have private narrow gauge railways for transportation peat from field to factory.
Norway
In Norway, a number of main lines were in the 19th century built with narrow gauge, , to save cost in a sparsely populated mountainous country. This included Norway's first own long-distance line,
Rørosbanen, connecting Oslo and Trondheim, 1877. Some secondary railways also had this gauge. These railways have been rebuilt to standard gauge or closed down. Some private railways had and one had . A few railways partly still are operated as museum railways, specifically
Thamshavnbanen,
Urskog-Hølandsbanen and
Setesdalsbanen. The tramway in
Trondheim,
Gråkallbanen is also narrow gauge.
Poland
The Narrow Gauge Railway in
Żnin - the steam locomotive Px38-805 called "Leon"
There are hundreds of kilometres of , , 785 mm, and narrow gauge lines in
Poland. The metre gauge 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. is the most commonly used narrow gauge; it is used, for example, in the
Rogów Narrow Gauge Railway (Rogowska Kolej Wąskotorowa). Some narrow gauge lines in Poland still operate as common carriers (for example the lines operated by SKPL, the Association of Local Railway Haulage)
[1], while others survive as tourist attractions. One of the finest of the latter is the narrow gauge railway (''Żnińska Kolej Powiatowa'') running from
Żnin via
Wenecja (Polish ''Venice'') and famous
Biskupin to
Gąsawa in the
Pałuki region. Railway tradtions of Pałuki date back to July
1894 when the first two lines were opened.
In the past, there have also been , and lines. A recreational line 4.2 km long still operates in the Amusement-Recreation Park in
Chorzów,
Upper Silesia. A similar line,
Kolejka Parkowa Maltanka, operates in
Poznań. Some of Poland's narrow gauge railways are maintained by volunteers; one organization dedicated to preserving narrow gauge railways is the FPKW, the Polish Narrow Gauge Railways Foundation
[2].
There are many 750mm railways operating regular tourist trains in the 2007 season. These railways are:
Jedrzejów-Pinczów (runs Sundays August 5th to September 9th; leaves Jedrzejow 10.00, returns 18.00; frequently hauled by a Px48 steam locomotive);
Przeworsk-Dynów (runs Saturdays and Sundays in August, Sundays only in September; leaves Przeworsk 9.00, returns 17.00; an immensely picturesque line in the foothills of the Carpathians, passing through Poland's only narrow-gauge tunnel);
Krosniewice narrow gauge railway (regular passenger trains run on weekdays from September 3rd from Krosniewice to Dabrowice Kujawskie, Krzewie and Ostrowy; moreover, all year round on Thursday mornings there is a special train to Wielka Wies Kujawska, operated by a historical railcar type Mbxd1);
Sroda Wielkopolska-Zaniemysl (runs August 5th, 12th and 19th; leaves Sroda 10.00, returns 17.00; all trains are hauled by a Px48 steam locomotive, and there are many attractions for tourists during the excursion);
Stare Bojanowo-Wielichowo (regular passenger trains run on weekdays from Stare Bojanowo to Smigiel, frequently hauled by a Px48 steam locomotive; on weekdays during the school year there are also railbus services from Smigiel to Wielichowo);
Elk-Sypitki (runs Wednesdays and Saturdays August 1st-29th; leaves Elk 10.00, returns 14.30; frequently hauled by a Px48 steam locomotive);
Naleczów-Karczmiska (runs August 12th, 26th, September 2nd, 9th, 23rd, October 7th, 21st; leaves Naleczów 10.15, returns 15.15; at Karczmiska there is a bonfire and entertainment for passengers);
Rogów-Gluchów (runs Sundays August 5th to September 29th; leaves Rogów 13.00, returns 16.00; trains are operated by a unique diesel locomotive type Lyd1)
Portugal
Railcar of Linha do Tâmega sits in
Amarante station.
had hundreds of km of gauge railways, including: Linha do Porto à Póvoa e Famalicão - Closed. Some of the old trackbed is now used by the Oporto's Metropolitan railcars. Linha de Guimarães - Closed between Guimarães and Fafe, converted into a bike way. The rest is now broad gauge. Linha do Tâmega. Linha do Corgo. Linha do Tua. Linha do Sabor. Linhas do Vale do Vouga. Linha do Dão.
At least one passenger service known as the
Linha do Tâmega is still in operation. It runs between
Livração and
Amarante in the
District of
Porto and runs near the
River Tâmega.
Russia
In
Russia, narrow gauge is most often or . 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
Bratislava municipal transport system uses gauge for trams, while
Košice transport system uses standard gauge . Railways, however use standard gauge making Bratislava tram and railways networks incompatible with each other. There is a discussion regarding transforming
Bratislava's tram gauge to standard gauge to allow trams to use the railways tracks to increase transportation capabilities of Bratislava's
public transportation system. The most notable tourist lines in operation are the gauge
Čiernohronská železnica and
Oravsko-kysucká lesná železnica - Vychylovka.
Another notable narrow gauge tracks include: the
Štrbské Pleso - Štrba rack railway and the
Tatra Electric Railway (both gauge) in the
Tatra mountains and the gauge railway from
Trenčianska Teplá to
Trenčianske Teplice.
Serbia
The narrow gauge railway line in
Mokra Gora on the northern slopes of mountain
Zlatibor in
Serbia climbs a 300 metre ascent using an unusual loop in the form of the figure
8 – the popular "
Šargan Eight".
Spain
Electric unit 3500, operated by FEVE, arriving to the Muros de Nalón station, on the way to Oviedo
In
Spain there is an extensive system of 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. FEVE and EuskoTren form the longest narrow gauge network in Europe.
Also near Madrid, on the mountain range of Guadarrama runs a mountain train through a short but extremely sinuous track, operated by
Renfe. 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 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 gauge network existed, and 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). (Trivia-fact: A part of it was once a normal gauge tramway, later rebuilt into narrow gauge, a very rare action). 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.
Sweden also had the unique 1093 mm gauge
Köping-Uttersberg-Riddarhyttan Railway.
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 terminates at the highest station in Europe.
Dual gauge (combined metre- and
standard gauge trackway) also exists in many areas. Also, nearly all street
tramways in Switzerland were and still are also metre gauge.
''more''
Rail transport in Switzerland
United Kingdom
Main articles: British narrow gauge railways
The
United Kingdom once had a large 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 36 miles.
Only a few of these lines survive as 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 gauge. The
Talyllyn Railway holds the distinction of being the first railway in the world of any gauge to be run entirely by volunteers. In addition a few private
industrial narrow gauge railways remain, mainly serving the coal and peat extraction industries.
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.
North America
Canada
Main articles: Canadian narrow gauge railways
Although many railways 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. Several early railways in
Ontario were also built to a narrow gauge in the 1860s and 1870s; most were quickly converted to standard gauge. The
Prince Edward Island Railway was built
1871 but converted to standard gauge when Prince Edward Island joined Canada in
1873.
Construction on the
Newfoundland Railway took place between
1881 and
1898. It became part of the
Canadian National Railways (CNR) when Newfoundland became part of Canada in
1949. In
1987 Canada
deregulated its railway industry and allowed railways to abandon money-losing lines. The Newfoundland Railway was abandoned in
1988 and the P.E.I. Railway in
1989.
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 gauge
White Pass and Yukon Route that reopened in 1988 to haul tourists from
cruise ships
docking at
Skagway,
Alaska through
White Pass on the
International Boundary to
Bennett,
British Columbia.
Mexico
Various narrow gauge lines operated around Mexico City. A famous one operated in Morelos State. There were also
dozens of private narrow gauge lines built to service the mining district.
The
Yucatán Peninsula 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
Mérida to central Mexico has been widened to standard gauge.
A steam locomotive of the D&SNG
United States
Main articles: American narrow gauge railroads
Shay logging locomotive in California
Many narrow gauge railways were built in the United States. The most extensive and well known systems were the gauge lines through the
Rocky Mountain states of
Colorado and
New Mexico. For a while the majority of the railway mileage in these states was narrow gauge.
In the
New England state of
Maine a network of gauge lines served the rural economy between the 1870s and 1940s.
Across the US, industrial narrow gauge railways were used, perhaps the best known being the gauge logging lines of the western states of
Oregon and
California.
Today a few lines survive as
heritage railways and tourist attractions.
USG Corporation operates a 3' gauge line at
Plaster City, California.
Central America
Guatemala
★
Ferrovías Guatemala, 3 ft (914 mm) gauge,
Ferrovías Guatemala
El Salvador
El Salvador ran gauge steam trains into the 1970s. How much of this survived a civil war, earthquake
and hurricane is unknown.
Panama
Mule Locos haul ships through the locks in the
Panama Canal
South America
Metre and 3 ft (914 mm) gauge lines are found in South America. Some of the -gauge lines cross international borders, though not as efficiently as they might.
Argentina
Meter gauge railways are found in the northern half of the country. The ''
Old Patagonian Express'' (''La Trochita'') is a 402 km-long 0.75 m narrow gauge railway in the
Andean foothills of
Patagonia, now running as two portions of its original length. However, all the track is preserved. The
Southern Fuegian Railway (''End of the World Train'') on a 0.50 m track is considered the southernmost operating railway in the world.
There is also a coal railway, Red de Ferrocarril Industrial de Rio Turbio, that operates between Rio Turbio and Rio Gallegos. Track gauge is 0.75 m.
Bolivia
All railways in Bolivia are meter gauge.
Brazil
Anhumas station of the Campinas-SP
In Brazil, almost all the lines are gauge, with the exception of a few lines in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Mato Grosso. A network of gauge lines once operated in Minas Gerais, centered around the city of São João del Rey. 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. A number of industrial (a two foot gauge Portland Cement line near São Paulo, for example) and agricultural (rubber plantations, sugar plantations, logging) railways also existed in Brazil in a number of narrow gauges, but few of those survive today.
Chile
Meter gauge railways are found in the northern half of the country. The
Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia was originally built to gauge, as were a number of mining and nitrate railways.
Colombia
Most of the railways in Colombia are 3 ft (914 mm) gauge.
Costa Rica
Costa Rican railways are gauge
Ecuador
The railways in Ecuador are 3 ft (914 mm) gauge. This is a famous route, the one that zig zags past
the chilling canyon of the Devil's Nose. Floods, landslides and government neglect have put
this operation in doubt, but they are working to restore the railway. Two Baldwin locomotives are ready to work, depending on track and traffic. There are also a number of diesel railbuses and some Alsthom diesel locomotives available.
Peru
The Cusco-Machu Picchu railway
The Cuzco-Quillibama line in Peru is gauge. The other narrow gauge line (Huancayo-Huancavelica) will be converted to standard gauge.
Uruguay
There were four big narrow gauge lines in Uruguay: Puerto del Sauce (now Juan Lacaze)-Terminal (0.914m, 1901-1959), Piriapolis-Pan de Azucar (0.75 m, 1903-1958), Km 393-Arrozal 33 (0.60 m) and Km 110-Cantera Burgueño (0.60 m). All were dismantled. There were also several quarry lines of 0.60 m gauge, among them the famous INDARE sand line. Around 300 m of that sand line is preserved and also a lot of steam locomotives. One of those is in working order. Also, a new narrow gauge line, of around 1 km, with two diesel locomotives from the former Km 110-Cantera Burgueño line, was constructed in a park on the town of Santiago Vazquez, in the West of Montevideo.
Asia
China
Main articles: Chinese narrow gauge railways
Preserved Kowloon-Canton Railway locomotive
Many narrow gauge railways existed in China. Metre gauge railways were popular in China in several regions before 1949. The gauge
Kunming-Hekou Railway (previously known as
Sino-Vietnamese Railway) was built by French colonists between
Vietnam and China. In
Manchuria, lumber industries built narrow gauge railways into the forests, mostly of gauge.
In
Hong Kong the
Kowloon-Canton Railway was partially laid to and gauge during its construction and the
Sha Tau Kok Railway was gauge for much of its existence. The famous
Hong Kong Tramways are gauge.
India
The Darjeeling Himalyan Railway
India has a substantial narrow gauge network, most of which uses gauge. There are some lines that use a gauge, and a few that use 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 - 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 gauge railway that runs from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal. The railway travels climbs the foothills of the
Himalayas 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. 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.
The
Matheran Hill Railway is another surviving gauge hill railway. The route was destroyed by landslides caused by heavy rains in the 2005 monsoons, but has been rebuilt.
The
Kalka-Shimla Railway is a narrow gauge railway in North-West India travelling along a mostly mountainous route from
Kalka to
Shimla.
The Kalka Shimla Railway
Another narrow gauge railway line in India runs in
Kangra Valley,
Himachal Pradesh. The trains on this route run from Pathankot to Joginder Nagar through Kangra Valley.
Parlakimidi Light Railway, the
Naupada-
Gunupur railway line in India is laid between the east coast and
Eastern Ghats in North Eastern
Andhra Pradesh and Southern
Orissa. It was built by Maharajah of
Paralakhemundi in 1889.
Other narrow gauge lines are:
i) Shantipur Jn - Krishnagar City Jn - Nabadwip Ghat (28 Km); (ii) Nadiad Jn - Petlad Jn - Bochansan Jn - Bhadran (59 Km); (iii)Dabhoi Jn - Pratapnagar - Vishvamitri Jn - Jambusar Jn (79km); (iv)Dabhoi Jn - Miyagam Karjan Jn (33km); (v)Dabhoi Jn - Chandod (17km); (vi)Dabhoi Jn - Chhuchhapura Jn - Bodeli (25km); (vii)Dabhoi Jn - Chhuchhapura Jn - Tankhala (53km);(viii)Bilimora Jn - Waghai (65Km), (ix)Dhaulpur Jn - Bari - Mohari Jn - Tantpur / Sirmuttra (89km); (x) Gwalior Jn - Sabalgarh - Sheopur Kalan (200Km); (xi)Achalpur - Murtajapur Jn - Yavatmal (113Km), (xii)Pulgaon - Arvi (35Km), (xiii)Miraj Jn - Pandharpur - Kurduvadi Jn - Barsi Town - Latur (300Km) - Some sections of this line have been converted to braud gauge and the total length is reduced to around 200 Km now); (xiv)Nainpur Jn - Jabalpur (71km); (xv)Nainpur Jn - Balaghat Jn - Katangi (156km), (xvi)Nainpur Jn - Mandla Fort (30km), (xvii)Nainpur Jn - Chhindwara - Itwari Jn - Nagpur Jn (290km); (xviii) Nagpur - Naghbir Jn (111 Km); (xix) Raipur Jn - Abhanpur Jn - Dhamtari (27Km); (xx)Barddhaman Jn - Katwa Jn - Ahmadpur Jn (105 Km).
ref: http://www.irfca.org/docs/rinbad-ng.html
Indonesia
Indonesia had large numbers of narrow gauge railways supporting industry, mainly sugar cane plantations in Java.
In recent years, sugar cane production in Java has been declining and the railways are now largely closed or used for tourism.
Most of the current active railways in Indonesia use the Cape gauge .
Japan
Modern Japan Railways freight locomotive
Except for the high-speed
Shinkansen lines, all of
Japan Railway group's network is narrow gauge, built at . Some companies, such as
Keisei Electric Railway,
Keihin Electric Express Railway,
Hankyu Railway,
Tokyo Metro's
Ginza Line and
Marunouchi line, use standard gauge.
Keio Electric Railway,
Toei Shinjuku Line and Tokyo and Hakodate tramways use gauge. There are some dual gauge lines which allow Shinkansen trains to travel on narrow gauge branches. Japan adopted as a standard narrow gauge for minor, forestry and industrial lines.
Malaysia
A KTMB train
's oldest railway systems are solely metre gauge, a standard that has been adopted since the British colonial government laid down the first railway lines in 1885.
Keretapi Tanah Melayu, the main railway operator in
Peninsular Malaysia, uses metre gauge for the main west and east coast intercity lines, as well as railway lines spanning
Singapore, from the
Johor-Singapore Causeway to the
Tanjong Pagar railway station. Existing metre gauge lines are also used for
KTM Komuter, the country's
commuter rail service, which links Kuala Lumpur with neighbouring suburbs. However, standard gauge is used by the newer
light rail operators in
Kuala Lumpur city (
Putra LRT,
Star LRT) as well as the privately operated
Express Rail Link to the airport.
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.
Steam trains are also used in this route.
Philippines
Except for the
Light Rail 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 ("PNR") uses the "
Cape Gauge" of . The PNR currently opertes only one line: from
Manila to the southern Luzon city of
Legaspi. Until the 1980s a more extensive network existed going as far north as San Fernando in La Union province. There are plans to restore the La Union line and to build new lines connecting Manila to
Batangas and the international airport.
There are also a number of industrial narrow gauge steam railways operating in the sugar cane industry. These are concentrated on the islands of
Negros and
Panay. The
Visayas region is the main center for the sugar cane lines; some of the mills, such as
La Carlotta Milling in Negros, run charter trains for tourists.
Abandoned lines exists on the islands of
Cebu, abandoned in the 1950s or 1960s,
Mindanao, and
Panay, closed in the 1990s. There are plans to restore the Panay Rail line which connects
Roxas City with
Iloilo.
Taiwan
Taiwan narrow gauge service
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 . The isolated east coast railways that used gauge were converted to when the lines were linked to the west coast system.
A narrow gauge
Alishan Forest 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.
On
September 7, 2006, Taiwanese government declared a plan to update to the standard gauge system.
[3]
Middle East
Until 1932 a narrow 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 go 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
Thailand Railway metre gauge locomotive
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 gauge. Metre gauge is also common, as in the case of the
Uganda Railway. There used to be extensive and gauge networks in countries such as
Morocco,
Congo,
Angola,
Namibia and
South Africa, but these have mostly been dismantled.
Because Africa is divided into many countries, railways built by different 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 to .
Eritrea
Further north, the
Eritrean Railway 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 in
Sudan and in
Ethiopia.
Cameroon
During the
First World War when Cameroon was a German possession, a network of gauge
Feldbahn railways were built. These eventually extended to around 150 km of track serving rubber and palm oil plantations.
[2]
Morocco
A gauge
industrial railway served the lead mines at Monte Afra on the north coast. There was also a network of gauge railways.
2
South Africa
Originally standard gauge, the railways of the then
Cape Colony changed to narrow gauge , sometimes known as ''Cape gauge'', for cost-cutting reasons. However, with the development of a strong economy, with heavy export coal and iron ore traffic, and electrification of most main lines, South Africa, like Queensland, operates several narrow gauge trains that outdo most standard gauge and all broad gauge trains. In fact, in 1989 the Sishen-Saldanha line set a world record by carrying the biggest train in history, 7.2 km long containing 660 wagons pulled by 15 locomotives and weighing 71,232 tonnes.
[3] However, the proposed
Gautrain railway between
Johannesburg and
Pretoria will operate on standard gauge, and will thus not be capable of using any of the country's existing rail network.
Australia
Main articles: Narrow gauge railways of Australia
Before 1901, each of the six British colonies was responsible for rail transport infrastructure.
Queensland,
Western Australia, and
Tasmania constructed for narrow gauge railways. The other colonies built either standard gauge or broad gauge railways, maintaining only limited narrow gauge rail lines, except for
South Australia, which built both narrow and broad gauge. As a result of this legacy, Australian railways are a confusing mix of all three gauges.
In 1865, the
Queensland Railways was the first mainline narrow gauge railway in the world
[4]. Its tracks would eventually extend to around 9000 km. Queensland Rail operates the
QR Tilt Train, with a maximum speed of 165
km/h. This train currently holds the Australian Railway Speed Record of 210.7
km/h. Queensland also has extensive sugar cane tramways of gauge.
Following the success of the narrow gauge in Queensland, several narrow gauge lines were built in South East Australia. From the 1920s onwards several of these were converted to broad gauge.
Inspired by the success of the narrow gauge in Queensland, Western Australia adopted the same gauge. Until closure in 1958
Perth had the only narrow gauge tramway network of any considerable extent in mainland Australia.
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.
Four
common carrier lines in
Victoria were built to the narrow gauge standard, to serve local
farming and
forestry communities. Sections of two lines (Belgrave to Gembrook and Thomson to Walhalla) have been restored as tourist railways.
New Zealand
''See also:
Rail transport in 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. The
Canterbury Provincial Railways opened New Zealand's first railway in 1863 and used a broad gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm), while
Southland built the
Bluff and
Kingston Branches to , and short segments of railway were also constructed in the
Auckland and
Northland Regions. Eventually, under the public works schemes of Premier
Julius Vogel, the railways of New Zealand were made to adhere to a gauge. The first gauge railway in New Zealand was the
Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway, which opened on
1 January 1873. Today, the network connects most major New Zealand cities, and is around 4,000 km in length.
See also
★
Standard gauge
★
Broad gauge
★
Rail gauge
★
Feldbahn
★
Railroad switch (points)
★
List of medium gauges used around the world
★
List of narrow gauges used around the world
★
List of minimum gauges used around the world
★
Minimum gauge railway
★
War Department Light Railways
★
West Lancashire Light Railway
External links
★
Jane's World Railways (hard copy)
★
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
★
Narrow Gauge in Austria
★
Expo Narrow Gauge - model railway exhibition
References
1. Narrow Gauge Railways of the British Isles, Whitehouse, Patrick and Snell, John B., , , , 1984, ISBN 0-7153-0196-9
2. Two feet between the tracks, Rowe, D. Trevor, , , Plateway Press, 1990, ISBN 1-871980-03-8
3. Quality Manual
4.
Potential railway world heritage sites in Asia and the Pacific
★ P.J.G. Ransom. ''Narrow Gauge Steam - Its origins and worldwide development'', Oxford Publishing Co., 1996, ISBN 0-86093-533-7
★ P. Whitehouse, J. Snell. ''Narrow Gauge Railways of the British Isles'',
David & Charles, 1994, ISBN C-7153-0196-9
★
''Railroads of Colorado: Your Guide to Colorado's Historic Trains and Railway Sites'', Claude Wiatrowski, Voyageur Press, 2002, hardcover, 160 pages, ISBN 0-89658-591-3
★ Keith Chester. "East European Narrow Gauge" 1995
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