Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways

Railway track gauge From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways
Remove ads

Two foot and 600 mm gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauges of 2 ft (610 mm) and 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in), respectively. Railways with similar, less common track gauges, such as 1 ft 11+34 in (603 mm) and 1 ft 11+12 in (597 mm), are grouped with 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways.

Thumb
A BL 9.2-inch howitzer with shells lined up on the ground recently delivered from the trench railway in the foreground during World War I
Remove ads

Overview

Summarize
Perspective
Thumb
The Chemins de fer du Calvados' Caen station in France
Thumb
A steam outline Schöma diesel locomotive on the Pelion railway in Greece
Thumb
The Groudle Glen Railway Sea Lion locomotive c. 1910 on the Isle of Man
Thumb
The Tateyama Sabō Erosion Control Works Service Train in Japan
Thumb
Beira Railroad Corporation Class F4 No. 38 in Mozambique
Thumb
The gasoline engine Crown Prince of the Otavi Mining and Railway Company in South West Africa (now Namibia). This railcar was able to reach a speed of 137 kilometres (85 mi) per hour.
Thumb
The Efteling Steam Train Company, located in Efteling in the Netherlands, runs some locomotives that are more than a century old.
Thumb
Lyd2 locomotive built by 23 August Locomotive Works (FAUR) in Romania
Thumb
A Spoornet Class 91-000 on the Avontuur Railway in South Africa
Thumb
A locomotive and turntable on the Östra Södermanlands Järnväg in Sweden

Most of these lines are tourist lines, which are often heritage railways or industrial lines, such as the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales and the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado.

World War I trench railways produced the greatest concentration of 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) gauge railways to date. In preparation for World War II, the French Maginot Line and Alpine Line also used 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) gauge railways for supply routes to the fixed border defenses.

Australia has over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of 2 ft (610 mm) gauge sugar cane railway networks in the coastal areas of Queensland, which carry more than 30 million tonnes of sugar cane a year.

Many 2 ft (610 mm) gauge and 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) gauge railways are used in amusement parks and theme parks worldwide.

Remove ads

Exchange of rolling stock

The interchange of rolling stock between these similar track gauges occasionally occurred; for example, the South African Class NG15 2-8-2 locomotives started their career on the 600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in) gauge. The Otavi Mining and Railway Company in South West Africa (now Namibia) were transferred to the 2 ft gauge railways in South Africa and currently some surviving locomotives reside in Wales on the 1 ft 11+12 in (597 mm) gauge Welsh Highland Railway and the 1 ft 11+34 in (603 mm) gauge Brecon Mountain Railway.

Remove ads

Railways

More information Country/territory, Railway ...
Remove ads

See also

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads