Changing gauges T
he economics of narrow gauge railroading–smaller, less-expensive equipment and lower con- struction costs–held some appeal to railroad builders in the late nineteenth century. The lack of ability to interchange rolling stock with standard gauge lines, however, proved to be too big of a hurdle to overcome for most lines, and they either went out of business or were rebuilt to standard gauge.
By the second half of the twentieth century, there were very few narrow gauge common carriers
of any size still in existence in the U.S. and Canada. Of those that come quickly to mind, the coal- hauling East Broad Top Railroad in central Pennsylvania shut down in 1956. (It was reborn four years later as a tourist railroad.) The Southern Pacific’s three-foot gauge line in California’s Owens Valley was abandoned in 1960, and freight operations on the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s nar- row gauge empire in Colorado came to a halt in 1968, leaving only excursion trains to operate on the isolated mountain line between Durango and Silverton. There were, however, two narrow gauge operations–both with over 100 miles of track–that con- tinued to operate in the U.S. and Canada. While the two railroads were located on opposite ends of the continent, they both shared one important trait that probably accounted for their longevity: they were isolated from the main North American railroad system. On the west coast was the 36″ gauge White Pass & Yukon Railway, which extended 110 miles from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to the port of Skagway, Alaska. Relying almost exclusively on ore shipments, the WP&Y served as a conveyor between the mines in the Yukon and the ships in Skagway harbor into the 1980’s. (When that business dried up the WP&Y, with its spectacular scenery, was reinvented as a world- class tourist railroad.) One-hundred miles off the east coast of Canada was North America’s largest narrow gauge railway, operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Canadian National’s Newfoundland Territory was inherited by the railway following the is- landers’ vote to join the Canadian Federation in 1948. The following year Newfoundland became Canada’s tenth province and the assets of the government-controlled Newfoundland Railway were transferred to the Canadian National Railway. For economic reasons, the Newfoundland Railway had been built as a 42″ gauge line. The rail-
way’s mainline stretched over 500 miles, linking the east and west sides of the sparsely-populated island. Additional branchlines reached up into some of the island’s larger peninsulas to served oth- er small communities. The railway opened up the interior of the island to development and linked together costal towns that had been only accessible by sea. As a self-contained operation, the gauge of the island railway wasn’t that critical in the begin-
ning. Shipments to or from the island ports were transloaded between ship and rail and the rail- road’s equipment was not required to interchange with the outside world. That all changed follow- ing confederation. The CNR upgraded the railway infrastructure and purchased new equipment. The Port-aux-Basques port facilities were upgraded and, to allow newer and larger capacity cars to serve the railway’s customers and cut out the need to transload shipments, the CNR brought in fer- ries to transfer railcars across the water from North Sydney, Nova Scotia. When freight cars arrived from the mainland, they were brought to the truck-to-truck transfer shed where the car’s standard gauge trucks were swapped out for a pair of narrow gauge ones. A Trackmobile was used to move the freight cars into and out of the cavernous shed on tracks that had the 42″ gauge rails centered between standard gauge rails. Once in position, two hydraulic jacks were placed on each side of the car near the ends. The car was lifted off of its trucks and they were rolled out from beneath the car. A forklift was used to pick up the trucks and move them to a storage area. A pair of narrow gauge trucks, placed on the inside rails by a forklift, were then rolled under the car. After the car was carefully lowered onto the new trucks, it was ready to begin its trip across the island. When it was time for the cars to leave the island on the ferry, the process was re- peated with the narrow gauge trucks being exchanged for standard gauge ones. Perhaps operating the newer and larger standard gauge cars on the island helped keep the railway running a few years longer, but in the end it was not enough. Like the 36″ gauge East Broad Top Rail- road, which also tried running standard gauge cars on narrow gauge trucks, the economics of running a nineteenth century narrow gauge railway in the late twentieth century just didn’t work. In 1988, the railway was shut down and highway trucks took over the job of moving freight on the island. While Newfoundland’s 42″ gauge railway has been lost to history, I’m forever greatful for having had the opportunity to witness it in operation. CHRISTOPHER D’AMATO
40
photography/CHRISTOPHER D’AMATO JUNE 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100