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Narrow-gauge railroads in the United States

See also: Three foot six inch gauge railways in the United States, 3 ft gauge railroads in the United States, 2 ft 6 in gauge railroads in the United States, and 2 ft gauge railroads in the United States

Standard gauge was favored for railway construction in the United States, although a fairly large narrow-gauge system developed in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Utah. Isolated narrow-gauge lines were built in many areas to minimize construction costs for industrial transport or resort access, and some of these lines offered common carrier service. Outside Colorado, these isolated lines evolved into regional narrow-gauge systems in Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Hawaii, and Alaska.

New England

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The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad in Portland, Maine

In New England, the first narrow-gauge common-carrier railroad was the Billerica and Bedford Railroad, which ran from North Billerica to Bedford in Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1877 to 1878. There were extensive 2 ft (610 mm) gauge lines in the Maine forests early in the 20th century. In addition to hauling timber, agricultural products and slate, the Maine lines also offered passenger services. The Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad was a narrow-gauge commuter railroad that operated in Massachusetts, much of whose right-of-way is used for rapid transit today. Narrow gauges also operated in the mountains of New Hampshire, on the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and in a variety of other locations. The still-operating Edaville Railroad tourist heritage railroad in southeastern Massachusetts is a two-foot narrow-gauge system.

Mid-Atlantic

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East Broad Top's rare gas-electric railcar M-1

The last remaining 3 ft (914 mm) gauge common carrier east of the Rocky Mountains was the East Broad Top Railroad in central Pennsylvania. Running from 1873 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 ended common carrier service in 1956, it reopened as a tourist railroad in 1960. Still owned by the Kovalchick family, trains operate over 5 miles (8.0 km) of the original 33-mile (53 km) mainline. This line is the oldest surviving stretch of narrow-gauge track in the United States.

It was the last remnant of an extensive narrow-gauge network in New York and Pennsylvania that included many interconnecting lines. The largest concentration was in the Big Level region around Bradford, Pennsylvania, from which lines radiated towards Pittsburgh and into New York state. This group also included the Tonawanda Valley & Cuba Railroad. Though the TV&C's narrow-gauge tracks are long gone, the standard-gauge Arcade and Attica Railroad continues to run over a portion of the TV&C's route. The Waynesburg and Washington Railroad, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, operated in the southwestern part of the state until 1933.

The Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway and the Pleasantville & Ocean City Railroad were originally built to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge.

Southeast

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The Southeast helped initiate the narrow-gauge era. The first in Georgia was the Kingsboro & Cataula Railway, chartered in 1870.[1] In Tennessee, the Duck River Valley Narrow Gauge Railway was also chartered in 1870, opening seven years later; it was converted to standard gauge in 1888. The first narrow-gauge railway in Alabama was the Tuskegee Railroad in 1871.

Longest lived of its narrow gauges was the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad. Originally built as a broad gauge [which?] [citation needed] in 1866, the line was later converted to a narrow-gauge railroad between Johnson City, Tennessee; Cranberry, North Carolina; and ultimately Boone, North Carolina. It continued in service until 1950.

Another long-lived southern narrow gauge was the Lawndale Railway and Industrial Co.

Midwest

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One of the first three narrow gauges in the U.S. – the Painesville & Youngstown – opened in Ohio in 1871, and the narrow-gauge movement reached its greatest length in the Midwest. For a brief time in the 1880s it was possible to travel by narrow gauge from Lake Erie across the Mississippi River and into Texas. The hub of this system, Delphos, Ohio, shared with Durango, Colorado the distinction of being the only towns in the United States from which it was possible to travel by narrow gauge in all four compass directions.

The Chicago Tunnel Company operated a 60-mile (97 km) long underground 2 ft (610 mm) gauge freight railroad under the streets of the Chicago Loop. This common carrier railroad used electric traction, interchanged freight with all of the railroads serving Chicago, and offered direct connections to many loop businesses from 1906 to 1959.

Ohio was a center of the narrow-gauge movement. In addition to serving as the northern end of the Little Giant "transcontinental", it had several other notable lines, including the long-lived Ohio River & Western Railroad, the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company (the world's largest operator of Shay locomotives, virtually all of them narrow gauge) and the Connotton Valley Railroad, a successful coal hauler still in operation today as the standard-gauge Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. Narrow gauge railroad mileage in Ohio reached its peak in 1883 and declined rapidly after 1884.[2]

Numerous 3 ft (914 mm) gauge common-carrier narrow-gauge lines were built in Iowa in the 19th century. The largest cluster of lines radiated from Des Moines, with the Des Moines, Osceola and Southern extending south to Cainsville, Missouri, the Des Moines North-Western extending northwest to Fonda and smaller lines extending north to Boone and Ames. These lines were all abandoned or regauged by 1900. The Burlington and Western and the Burlington and Northwestern system extended from Burlington to Washington, Iowa and the coal fields around Oskaloosa. This system was widened to standard gauge on June 29, 1902 and merged with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad a year later. The Bellevue and Cascade, from Bellevue on the Mississippi to Cascade inland remained in service until abandonment in 1936. A caboose from the Bellevue and Cascade is the only surviving piece of Iowa narrow-gauge equipment. It currently operates on the Midwest Central Railroad in Mount Pleasant, a heritage railroad.

In 1882, thirty-two narrow-gauge logging railroads were constructed in Michigan, and by 1889 there were eighty-nine such logging railroads in operation, totaling almost 450 miles (720 km) of track.[3]

Mountain West

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Steam locomotives of the C&TS RR

At it's peak, the mountain west region had a narrow gauge system which stretched from Montana to New Mexico; with the majority of routes operating out of central hubs in Colorado and Utah.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, opened in 1871, was one of the earliest narrow gauge railroads in the United States and by far the longest and one of the most significant. The railroad's founder William Jackson Palmer during the early planning stages of the railroad in 1871 visited the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales while on his honeymoon, and while in the United Kingdom consulted with Scottish engineer Robert Francis Fairlie who convinced Palmer of the advantages of building the Rio Grande using narrow gauge.[4] The Rio Grande effectively circled the state of Colorado, and feeder lines were run to the mining communities of Leadville, Aspen, Cripple Creek, Telluride and Silverton. Through affiliated companies, its lines extended west to Ogden, Utah and south to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

 
Train at Espanola, New Mexico on the Rio Grande's extension to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Rio Grande mainline was gradually re-gauged after it and the Colorado Midland Railway built a new standard gauge joint line to Grand Junction in 1890, but the southern portions remained steam-hauled and narrow gauge until the 1960s.[5] Preserved segments of the final Rio Grande narrow gauge lines, the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad; operate to the present day.

Other major narrow-gauge railroads in Colorado included the Rio Grande Southern, the Denver, South Park and Pacific, the Colorado Central, and the Florence and Cripple Creek. The Uintah Railway operated in Utah and Colorado, and boasted the tightest curve (Moro Castle curve) on a US common carrier at Baxter Pass.[6] Some short segments of narrow gauge railroads have been rebuilt in Colorado as heritage railroads with the Georgetown Loop Railroad opening in 1973 and the Como Roundhouse having been initially restored and expanded since 1984.[7][8] The Colorado Railroad Museum established in 1959, operates a demonstration loop of narrow gauge track in Golden, Colorado.[9]

 
Stereograph of Utah's American Fork Railroad in the 1880's

In Utah, three foot gauge narrow-gauge railroads sprang up immediately after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. An 1870 article published by the church owned Deseret News reported on the international success of the Ffestiniog and promoted narrow gauge as viable for the Utah territory.[10] The Utah and Northern Railway connected the fertile Mormon Corridor with the mining camps near Butte, Montana with an extensive three-foot gauge system that lasted from 1871 until 1887.[11] John Willard Young was a primary investor and owner of many of the territory's narrow gauge lines including the early Utah Northern; and competed with the established standard gauge Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad routes in the region.[12] Robber baron Jay Gould would take control of the Utah and Northern by 1877 bringing it under the control of Union Pacific as the line was extended from Idaho to Montana.[13] The American Fork Railroad was the first railroad to use a Mason Bogie locomotive an articulated design derived from the British Single Fairlie locomotive. Other narrow-gauge lines in Utah included the Wasatch & Jordan Valley (which hauled granite for the construction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's Salt Lake City temple) and the Utah & Pleasant Valley which tapped into the Pleasant Valley coal fields in north-central Utah. Both of these later railroads eventually formed part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western System a Utah based extension of the Rio Grande network, which connected the Utah narrow gauge to Colorado.[14] Other narrow gauge routes in Utah were later absorbed by the Union Pacific and its subsidiaries. Union Pacific made use of Ramsey car transfers through-out Utah and Idaho to account for gauge changes in the region.[15][16]

 
Utah and Northern Railway historical marker in Idaho.

Connections from the Utah narrow gauge railroads to those in Colorado was severed in 1890 when the then independent Rio Grande Western regauged their mainline from Ogden, Utah to Grande Junction.[17] The Oregon Short Line Railroad regauged the former Utah and Northern in 1890 as well, isolating a few surviving narrow gauge lines to the immediate area around the Wasatch Front.[18] The surviving pockets of narrow gauge in the Wasatch Front continued until the Oregon Short Line Railroad built a standard gauge route through Bauer, Utah in 1903; and the Little Cottonwood Transportation Co. (which operated leased track from the Rio Grande on the former Wasatch & Jordan Valley) ended service in 1925.[19][20] Narrow gauge in the state continued with isolated lines serving mining regions such as the Eureka Hill Railway which served the Tintic mining district until 1937, and along the Utah-Colorado border on the Uintah Railway which operated until 1939.[21] A two foot gauge railroad in Utah, the Bingham Central Railway; which was mostly underground through the Mascote Tunnnel, operated as a common carrier railroad when founded in 1908 before becoming a private operation which would close in the 1950's when replaced by a new tunnel.[22]

Narrow gauge railroads served mining districts through central and eastern Nevada, such as the Eureka and Palisade Railroad and the Nevada Central Railroad. Some projects would have connected the Nevada narrow gauge network to the lines in Utah & Colorado, such as early projections for the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley & Pioche Railroad which would have connected with other narrow gauge lines at Pioche, Nevada; however none of these railroads were successful in reaching their initial goals.[23] Locomotives from these central Nevada lines such as Eureka and Nevada Central #2 (renamed to the "Emma Nevada" by former owner and Disney animator Ward Kimball) survive to the present.

West Coast

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Shay geared locomotive at the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad

The Southern Pacific operated several 3 ft (914 mm) gauge railroads, including the Carson and Colorado Railway and the Nevada–California–Oregon Railway, running from Reno into southern Oregon. California's independent 3 ft (914 mm) lines included the Pacific Coast Railway serving the Santa Maria Valley, the North Pacific Coast Railroad and South Pacific Coast Railroads extending northward and southward from San Francisco Bay, and the surviving Disneyland Railroad.

The defunct Arcata and Mad River Railroad was 3 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1,156 mm) gauge

Two small regional railways in the Pacific Northwest were the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Co near Astoria, and the Sumpter Valley Railway near Baker City, Oregon. The latter still operates in the summer.

The San Francisco cable car system is 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge as was the now defunct Los Angeles Railway and the San Diego Electric Railway.

Alaska

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Alaska is home to two surviving narrow gauge railroads. 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. It ended common carrier service in 1982, but has since been partially reopened as a tourist railway.

The Second is in the interior of Alaska, in Fairbanks. A narrow gauge railroad known as the Tanana Valley Railroad, was bought by the Alaska Railroad in 1930, when the transition of narrow gauge to standard gauge happened. Today, the Tanana Valley Railroad steam locomotive Engine No. 1 is still operated by the Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad and housed in the Tanana Valley Railroad Museum which is open year-round. The steam locomotive is taken out and fired up during the summer on a scheduled basis.

Hawaii

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See also: List of Hawaii railroads

Hawaii boasted an extensive network of not only narrow-gauge sugar-cane railways, but common carriers such as the Hawaii Consolidated Railway (which was standard gauge), Ahukini Terminal & Railway Company, Koolau Railway company, Kahului Railroad, and the Oahu Railway and Land Company. The Oahu Railway and Land Company was the largest narrow-gauge class-one common-carrier railway in the US (at the time of its dissolution in 1947), and the only US narrow-gauge railroad to use signals. The OR&L used Automatic Block Signals, or ABS on their double track mainline between Honolulu and Waipahu, a total of 12.9 miles (20.8 km), and had signals on a branch line for another nine miles (14 km). The section of track from Honolulu to Waipahu saw upwards of eighty trains a day, making it not only one of the busiest narrow-gauge main lines in the U.S, but one of the busiest mainlines in the world.

Other applications of narrow gauge in the U.S.

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There were also numerous narrow-gauge logging railroads in Pennsylvania and West Virginia who operated mostly with geared locomotives such as Shays, Climaxes, and Heislers.

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 logging industry, especially in the West. Although most of these lines closed by the 1950s, one notable later survivor was West Side Lumber Company railway which continued using 3 ft (914 mm) gauge geared steam locomotives until 1968.

There is one narrow-gauge industrial railroad still in commercial operation in the United States, the US Gypsum operation in Plaster City, California, which uses a number of Montreal Locomotive Works locomotives obtained from the White Pass after its 1982 closure. Temporary narrow-gauge railways are commonly built to support large tunneling and mining operations.

The famous San Francisco cable car system has a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), as did the street cars on the former Los Angeles street railway.

Rail haulage has been very important in the mining industry. By 1922, 80 percent of all new coal mines in the United States were being developed using 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) (42 inch) gauge trackage, and the American Mining Congress recommended this as a standard gauge for coal mines, using a 42-inch (1,067 mm) wheelbase and automatic couplers [which?] centered 10 inches (254 mm) above the rail.[24]

The Washington Metro system in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area has a gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm), which is 1/4" or 6mm closer than standard gauge.

U.S. common-carrier narrow gauges in the twentieth century

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Thousands of narrow-gauge railroads were built or projected in the U.S. The following list includes those common-carrier narrow-gauge railroads which operated into the twentieth century. Note: this list intentionally excludes tourist railroads, amusement parks, loggers, and other non-common carriers.

List of narrow-gauge railroads in the United States
(all 3 ft / 914 mm gauge unless stated)
Railroad State Start
year		 End
year		 Notes
Arcata and Mad River Railroad California 1854 1983 3 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1,156 mm) gauge, converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Altoona and Beech Creek Railroad Pennsylvania 1891 1916 [25] converted to standard gauge
Anniston and Atlantic Railroad Alabama 1884 1890 [26] converted to standard gauge
Arizona and New Mexico Railway Arizona, New Mexico 1883 1901 [27] converted to standard gauge
Arizona Narrow Gauge Railroad, later Tucson, Globe and Northwestern Railroad Arizona 1886 1894 [28]
Arkansas Central Railway, later Arkansas Midland Railroad Arkansas 1872 1887 [29] 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge until 1883, converted to standard gauge
Batesville and Brinkley Railroad Arkansas 1882 1888 [30] converted to standard gauge
Bellevue and Cascade Railroad Iowa 1880 1936 [31]
Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd Utah 1872 1881 Sold to D&RG in 1881, standard gauged 1883
Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad Massachusetts 1875 1940 [32]
Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua Railroad, later Buffalo, Bradford and Kane Railroad Pennsylvania 1880 1906 [33]
Bridgton and Saco River Railroad, later Bridgton and Harrison Railway Maine 1883 1941 [34] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Carson and Colorado Railroad, later Carson and Colorado Railway, then Nevada and California Railway, then Southern Pacific California, Nevada 1881 1960 [35] part conversion to standard gauge
Catskill and Tannersville Railway New York 1899 1918 [36]
Catskill Mountain Railroad, later Catskill Mountain Railway New York 1882 1918 [36]
Cincinnati, Georgetown and Portsmouth Railroad Ohio 1877 1902 [37] converted to standard gauge, later abandoned. Date of conversion listed.
Colorado Central Railroad, later Colorado and Southern Railway Colorado 1872 1941 [38]
Colorado and Southern Railway Colorado 1898 1943 Formed from Colorado Central Railroad and the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railway
Coronado Railroad Arizona 1879 1932 [39] 20 in (508 mm) gauge, later 3 ft (914 mm) gauge
Cotton Plant Railroad Arkansas 1879 1882 [30] 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge until 1881, to Batesville and Brinkley Railroad
Crescent Tramway Utah 1883 1900 [40] 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway Colorado, Utah, New Mexico 1871 1969 [41] Utah portion standard gauged 1883
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Colorado 1881 Still operating
Eagles Mere Railroad Pennsylvania 1892 1928 [42]
East and West Railroad of Alabama Alabama, Georgia 1871 1890 [43] converted to standard gauge
East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company Pennsylvania 1873 1956 [44]
East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad Tennessee, North Carolina 1881 1950 [45]
Eureka and Palisade Railroad Nevada 1874 1938 [46]
Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, later Tidewater and Western Railroad Virginia 1882 1917 [47]
Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad Colorado 1894 1915 [48]
Franklin and Megantic Railroad, later Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad Maine 1884 1908 [49] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway Illinois 1880 1905 [50] converted to standard gauge
Golovin Bay Railroad Alaska 1902 1906 [51]
Hot Springs Branch Railroad Arkansas 1875 1889 [30] converted to standard gauge
Kane and Elk Railroad Pennsylvania 1896 1911 [52]
Kennebec Central Railroad Maine 1890 1929 [53] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railroad Pennsylvania 1873 1919 [54]
Lawndale Railway and Industrial Company North Carolina 1899 1945 [55]
Lewisburg and Buffalo Valley Railroad Pennsylvania 1897 1906 [56]
Linville River Railway North Carolina 1899 1913 [45] sold to East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad
Little Cottonwood Transportation Company Utah 1910 1925 [40]
Magma Arizona Railroad Arizona 1914 1923 [57] converted to standard gauge
Maryland Central Railroad, later Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad Maryland, Pennsylvania 1882 1900 [58] converted to standard gauge; became Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad
Monson Railroad Maine 1883 1943 [59] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Montgomery Southern Railway Alabama 1882 1889 [60] converted to standard gauge
Montrose Railway Pennsylvania 1872 1903 [56] converted to standard gauge
Morenci Southern Railway Arizona 1899 1932 [61]
Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway Pennsylvania 1889 1915 [62] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Nantucket Railroad Massachusetts 1881 1917 [63]
Nevada and Oregon Railroad, later Nevada and California Railroad, then Nevada-California-Oregon Railway, then Southern Pacific Nevada, California, Oregon 1882 1929 [64] converted to standard gauge
Nevada Central Railway Nevada 1880 1938 [65]
Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad California 1876 1942 [66]
Nevada Short Line Railway Nevada 1913 1918 [67]
New Berlin and Winfield Railroad Pennsylvania 1905 1916 [68]
Newport and Shermans Valley Railroad Pennsylvania 1891 1934 [69]
North Pacific Coast Railroad, later Northwestern Pacific Railroad California 1873 1930 [70]
Oahu Railway and Land Company Hawaii 1889 1947 [71]
Ohio River and Western Railway Ohio 1877 1931 [72]
Oregonian Railway Oregon 1878 1893 [73] to Southern Pacific; converted to standard gauge
Otis Elevating Railway, later Otis Railway New York 1892 1918 [36] Funicular railway
Pacific Coast Railway California 1873 1941 [74][page needed]
Pajaro Valley Consolidated Railroad California 1890 1929 [75]
Phillips and Rangeley Railroad, later Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad Maine 1890 1908 [76] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Pioche Pacific Transportation Company Nevada 1891 1948 [77]
Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad Pennsylvania 1871 1909 [78] 3 ft 4 in (1,016 mm) gauge
Pittsburgh and Western Railroad Pennsylvania 1878 1911 [79]
Potomac, Fredericksburg and Piedmont Railroad Virginia 1876 1926 [80]
Rio Grande Southern Railroad Colorado 1892 1951 [81]
Sandy River Railroad, later Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad Maine 1879 1908 [82] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad Maine 1908 1935 [83] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge, portion operating as a heritage railroad.
Shannon-Arizona Railway Arizona 1910 1932 [84]
South Pacific Coast Railroad California 1878 1940 [85]
Sumpter Valley Railway Oregon 1891 1947 [86]
Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Railroad Pennsylvania 1902 1917 [87]
Talladega and Coosa Valley Railroad Alabama 1884 1889 [60] converted to standard gauge
Tanana Valley Railroad Alaska 1904 1930 [88]
Tionesta Valley Railroad Pennsylvania 1882 1941 [89]
Seaboard Railway of Alabama, later Tombigbee and Northern Railway Alabama 1891 1904 [60] converted to standard gauge
Tonawanda Valley & Cuba Railroad New York 1881 1894 Converted in 1896, Operates as A&A R.R. today
Tonopah Railroad Nevada 1904 1905 [90] converted to standard gauge
Tuscarora Valley Railroad Pennsylvania 1893 1934 [91]
Tuskegee Railroad Alabama 1871 1963 [92]
Uintah Railway Colorado, Utah 1904 1939 [93]
United Verde and Pacific Railway Arizona 1894 1920 [94]
Utah & Pleasant Valley Utah 1875 1881 [40]
Wasatch & Jordan Valley Utah 1872 1879 [40] Merged with Bingham Canyon & Camp Floyd, standard gauged 1883
Waynesburg and Washington Railroad Pennsylvania 1877 1944 [95] converted to standard gauge
White Pass & Yukon Route Alaska 1898 Still operating -

tourism only

[96][97]
Wild Goose Railroad, later Nome Arctic Railroad, then Seward Peninsula Railroad Alaska 1900 1955 [98]
Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad, later Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Maine 1895 1933 [99] 2 ft (610 mm) gauge, portion operating as a heritage railroad

Narrow-gauge railroad displays

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Some cars and trains from the Maine two-footers are now on display at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland, Maine.

In 1957, the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad was revived as a tourist attraction under the common name, Tweetsie Railroad. It currently runs a three-mile (5 km) route near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Similarly, the East Broad Top Railroad was revived in 1960 and runs on three miles of original 1873 trackage.

Significant remnants of the Colorado system remain as tourist attractions which run in the summer, including the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad running between Antonito, CO in the San Luis Valley and Chama, NM, and the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad running between its namesake towns of Durango and Silverton in the San Juan Mountains. Another line is the Georgetown Loop Railroad between Georgetown, Colorado and Silver Plume, Colorado in central Colorado. Much equipment from the Colorado narrow gauges is on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado. Many pieces of the D&RGW's narrow-gauge equipment were sold off to various other companies upon its abandonment; the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad, a heritage railroad at Knott's Berry Farm in California, operates passenger service daily with two Class C-19 Consolidation (2-8-0) locomotives hauling preserved coaches along with a famed Galloping Goose RGS #3. D&RGW 223, a C-16 steam locomotive, is undergoing restoration at the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah.[40]

Much of the equipment from the Westside Lumber Co. found its way to tourist lines, including the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad and Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in California and the Midwest Central Railroad in Iowa. Additional equipment from the west coast narrow gauges is displayed at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR Museum, in Nevada City, CA, Laws Depot Museum, and at the Grizzly Flats Railroad (donated to Southern California Railway Museum after Ward Kimball's death) along with a Westside Lumber caboose.

The Huckleberry Railroad in Flint, Michigan began operating in 1976 using a part of an old Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad branch line. The Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad extended the branch line from Flint to Otter Lake in the late 1800s. It later came to be known as the Otter Lake Branch. Eventually the track was extended by another 4.5 miles from Otter Lake to Fostoria, for a total of 19.5 miles from Flint to Fostoria. The Pere Marquette Railway abandoned the Flint to Fostoria branch line in 1932. The Huckleberry Railroad began operations in 1976 on the remaining section of the Flint to Fostoria line when the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission purchased the line and opened Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad as a historical tourist attraction.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii, the Hawaiian Railway Society on the island of Oahu operates on 6 miles of remaining Oahu Railway and Land Company trackage, from the yard in Ewa to Nanakuli. More tracks remain past a burned down bridge, and past the society in Ewa, totaling to 12 miles of remaining OR&L Right of way. On Maui, the Lahaina, Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad operates on 6 miles of tracks through former sugar plantation land. This railroad, also known as the "Sugar Cane Train" is the only 3 foot railroad in Hawaii to operate steam locomotives. On Kauai, two narrow-gauge railroads still operate. The 3 foot railroad, the Kauai Plantation Railway operates on a 3-mile loop through the Kilohana Estate and Plantation. The second narrow-gauge railroad on Kauai is a 30-inch railway, the Grove Farm Sugar Plantation Museum. They operate many different locomotives, from steam to diesel, on a mile loop through parts of the former Lihue Plantation.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Seibert, David. "Kingsboro & Cataula". GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  2. ^ Various editions of the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads and TeIegraphs to the Governor of the State of Ohio. State of Ohio.
  3. ^ Maybee 1976, p. 41
  4. ^ Jones, Chris; Lewin, Paul; Dobson, John (March 2012). "WELSH PONY CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN" (PDF). festrail.co.uk. Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  5. ^ Holmes, Nathahn (January 12, 2008). "Rio Grande Junction Railway". drgw.net. DRGW.net. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Walker 1995, p. 9
  7. ^ "Our History". georgetownlooprr.com. Georgetown Loop Railroad. 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  8. ^ Kazel, Bill; Kazel, Greg; Brantigan, Chuck. "Como Roundhouse History". 2023. South Park Rail Society. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "History & TIMELINE". coloradorailroadmuseum.org. Colorado Railroad Museum. 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "Deseret News | 1870-05-25 | Page 1 | Narrow Guage for Railroads". newspapers.lib.utah.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  11. ^ Carr, Stephen L. (1989). Utah Ghost Rails. Salt Lake City Utah: Western Epics. pp. 19–20. ISBN 0-914740-34-2.
  12. ^ Nicholas, David (December 9, 2020). "Salvation – J.W. Young Brings the Rail". parkcityhistory.org. Park City Museum. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  13. ^ Strack, Don (November 21, 2024). "Utah & Northern Railway (1878-1889)". utahrails.net. Utah Rails. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  14. ^ Strack, Don (January 27, 2024). "Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway (1881-1889)". utahrails.net. Utah Rails. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  15. ^ Waite, Thornton (2012). The Railroad at Pocatello. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7385-7617-6.
  16. ^ Franzen, John (January 1981). Southeastern Idaho, Cultural Resources Overview Burley and Idaho Falls Districts (Report). Department of the Interior. p. 156. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  17. ^ "Rio Grande Western, Standard Gauged (1890)". utahrails.net. The Railroad Gazette. 1890. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  18. ^ Strack, Don (September 26, 2024). "Oregon Short Line History, 1981". utahrails.net. Utah Rails. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  19. ^ Strack, Don (June 18, 2022). "Leamington Cutoff". utahrails.net. Utah Rails. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  20. ^ Strack, Don (April 23, 2019). "Little Cottonwood Transportation Company (1916-1922) Alta Scenic Railway (1925)". utahrails.net. Utah Rails. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  21. ^ Strack, Don (February 4, 2021). "Eureka Hill Railway (1907-1937)". utahrails.net. Utah Rails. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  22. ^ Strack, Don (August 13, 2024). "Mascotte Tunnel / Bingham Central Railway". Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  23. ^ Strack, Don (July 22, 2020). "Utah Western Railway (1874-1881)".
  24. ^ Stoek, Fleming & Hoskin 1922, pp. 103–103
  25. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 484
  26. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 302
  27. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 309–310
  28. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 310
  29. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 313–314
  30. ^ a b c Hilton p. 314
  31. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 394
  32. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 416–418
  33. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 507–508
  34. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 407
  35. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 438–440
  36. ^ a b c Hilton 1990, pp. 452–453
  37. ^ Various Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs to the Governor of the State of Ohio, esp. for the Years 1877, 1901 and 1902. Google books, HathiTrust: State of Ohio.
  38. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 340–342
  39. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 311
  40. ^ a b c d e Strack, Don. "Utah Railroads". Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  41. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 344–353
  42. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 486
  43. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 302–304
  44. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 486–488
  45. ^ a b Hilton 1990, pp. 516–519
  46. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 441–442
  47. ^ Hilton 1990, p. 543
  48. ^ Hilton 1990, pp. 358–359
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References

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