Railways with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. The first intercity passenger railway to use 3 ft 6 in was constructed in Norway by Carl Abraham Pihl. From the mid-nineteenth century, the 3 ft 6 ingauge became widespread in the British Empire. In Africa it became known as the Cape gauge as it was adopted as the standard gauge for the Cape Government Railways in 1873, although it had already been established in Australia and New Zealand before that. It was adopted as a standard in New Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Queensland (which has the second largest narrow gauge network in the world) in Australia.
There are approximately 112,000 kilometres (70,000 mi) of 1,067 mm gauge track in the world, which are classified as narrow gauge railways.
History
1795
One of the first railways to use 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge was the Little Eaton Gangway in England, constructed as a horse-drawn wagonway in 1795. Other 3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways in England and Wales were also built in the early nineteenth century.
The construction of the railroad from the Castillo de Buitrón mine to the pier of San Juan del Puerto, Huelva, Spain, began. The width was 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).
The 3 ft 6 in gauge was adopted by New Zealand to expedite the development of transport under Julius Vogel's Great Public Works Policy; see The Vogel Era.
1871
The Canadian Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway and the Toronto and Nipissing Railway were opened, promoted by Pihl and Fitzgibbon and surveyed by Wragge as an engineer of Fox. The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island began building its 3-foot 6 network.
1872
In January Robert Fairlie advocated the use of 3 ft 6 in gauge in his book Railways Or No Railways: Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance.[2]
The first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway opened in Japan. It had been proposed by the British civil engineer Edmund Morel based on his experience building railways in New Zealand.[3]
The Cape Colony adopted the 3 ft 6 in gauge.[4][5] After conducting several studies in southern Europe, the Molteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges.[6] Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger,[7] the Cape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa.[8][9]
1876
Natal also converted its short 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) long Durban network from 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the entire colony in 1876.[10] Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, the Rhodesias, Nyasaland and Angola, were also constructed in 3 ft 6 in gauge during that time.
After 1876
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous 3 ft 6 in gauge tram systems were built in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Newfoundland began its Cape gauge network in 1881.
Nomenclature
This gauge is sometimes referred to as Cape gauge, named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, which adopted it in 1873.[4] "Cape gauge" was used in several English-speaking countries.[11] The equivalent of Cape gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutchkaapspoor, GermanKapspur, Norwegiankappspor and Frenchvoie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as 1,065 mm (3 ft 5+15⁄16 in) instead of 1067 mm.[12]
In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge.[13]
In Australia, this gauge is typically referred to as narrow gauge in comparison to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge or 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge. In some instances, simply 3 foot 6 inch — or in rarer cases medium gauge — is used to distinguish it from other narrow gauges.[16]
In Japan the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge, along with other narrow gauges, is referred to as kyōki (狭軌), which directly translates as narrow gauge, to differentiate it from the Shinkansen lines. It is defined in metric units. It is commonly referred to as 三六軌間 (36 gauge), which derives from the 3 ft 6 in.
5,961 km (3,704 mi).[20] Most common gauge for main lines of Sumatra and Java. The first railway was actually built to standard gauge (the Semarang–Solo–Yogyakarta corridor), but later lines were built to cape-gauge size owing to economic feasibility. The remainder of standard gauge lines were regauged by Japanese army during World War II to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, with parts using standard gauge sleepers. The gauge is also used by KRL Commuterline, Jakarta MRT and Palembang LRT.
The gauge was first used by C A Pihl on the Hamar-Grundset Line, opened 23 June 1862.[23] Most lines were 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge lines built in the 19th century were rebuilt to standard gauge between 1904 and 1949. The Setesdal Line, a heritage railway line of about eight km remains 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge.
The Philippine National Railways operates a 72 km (45 mi) Metro Manila–Laguna segment of its old 1,140 km (710 mi) network; Panay Railways had 154 km (96 mi) in Panay and Cebu. PNR will re-gauge its entire network to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.
About 20,500 route-km.[25][26]Gautrain (80 km) is 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge and there were several limited 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge systems.
The line from Cartagena to Los Blancos was originally 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), but was converted to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) in 1976, at the same time as the line was extended to Los Nietos.[27]
^Burman, Jose (1984), Early Railways at the Cape, Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, ISBN0-7981-1760-5
^Davenport, D.E. A Railway Sketch of South Africa. 1882. Cape Town.
^Bulpin, TV (1977) [1966]. Natal and the Zulu Country (3rd ed.). Cape Town: T.V. Bulpin Publications Ltd. pp. 224–227.
^"In German South-West Africa". Westminster Gazette. 1 October 1912. p. 4.
^South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610 mm and 1065 mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
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