45-611: The Nantlle Railway (or Nantlle Tramway) was a Welsh narrow gauge railway . It was built to carry slate from several slate quarries across the Nantlle Valley to the harbour at Caernarfon for export by sea. The line provided a passenger service between Caernarfon and Talysarn from 1856 to 1865. It was the first public railway to be operated in North Wales. A tramway linking the Nantlle slate quarries to Caernarfon
90-698: A 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge, whereas Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have metre-gauge railways . Narrow-gauge trams, particularly metre-gauge, are common in Europe. Non-industrial, narrow-gauge mountain railways are (or were) common in the Rocky Mountains of the United States and the Pacific Cordillera of Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia , Greece, and Costa Rica. A narrow-gauge railway
135-417: A 400 feet (120 m) long embankment and culvert to the west of Bontnewydd, two tunnels , and a bridge. The short Coed Helen Tunnel carried the line underneath a road on a gentle gradient, rising from north to south. Its walls and roof were built of coursed blocks up to 4 feet (1.2 m) long. The line crossed under the driveway of Plas Dinas house in the 150 feet (46 m) long Plas Dinas Tunnel. It
180-541: A branch built from Bangor in 1852. In December 1871, the standard gauge tracks were extended onto the quayside, removing the need for transhipment and the isolated Caernarfon section of the Nantlle was abandoned. That same year, the LNWR built a short branch from Penygroes to a new station at Talysarn, named Nantlle . This was built partly on a new alignment and partly over the narrow gauge tracks. Extensive transshipment yards were laid out at 'Nantlle' where slate arriving on
225-425: A curve with standard-gauge rail ( 1435 mm ) can allow speed up to 145 km/h (90 mph), the same curve with narrow-gauge rail ( 1067mm ) can only allow speed up to 130 km/h (81 mph). In Japan and Queensland, recent permanent-way improvements have allowed trains on 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge tracks to exceed 160 km/h (99 mph). Queensland Rail 's Electric Tilt Train ,
270-455: A design speed of 137 km/h (85 mph). Curve radius is also important for high speeds: narrow-gauge railways allow sharper curves, but these limit a vehicle's safe speed. Many narrow gauges, from 15 in ( 381 mm ) gauge to 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) gauge, are in present or former use. They fall into several broad categories: 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ) track gauge (also known as Scotch gauge)
315-478: A gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) and equipped with four wheeled wagons fitted with double-flanged wheels, which were loose on fixed axles. For many of their later years many wagons had extended axles which protruded beyond the wheels. Some wagons had eyes bolted to the tops of their sides to enable them to be lifted bodily by the Blondins used in some of the quarries. The wagons were owned by the tramway, rather than
360-474: A heavy-duty narrow-gauge line is Brazil's EFVM . 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) gauge, it has over-100-pound rail (100 lb/yd or 49.6 kg/m) and a loading gauge almost as large as US non-excess-height lines. The line has a number of 4,000-horsepower (3,000 kW) locomotives and 200-plus-car trains. Narrow gauge's reduced stability means that its trains cannot run at speeds as high as on broader gauges. For example, if
405-503: A mine in Bohemia with a railway of about 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge. During the 16th century, railways were primarily restricted to hand-pushed, narrow-gauge lines in mines throughout Europe. In 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
450-825: A number of large 3 ft ( 914 mm ) railroad systems in North America; notable examples include the Denver & Rio Grande and Rio Grande Southern in Colorado; the Texas and St. Louis Railway in Texas, Arkansas and Missouri; and, the South Pacific Coast , White Pass and Yukon Route and West Side Lumber Co of California. 3 ft was also a common track gauge in South America, Ireland and on
495-586: A range of industrial railways running on 500 mm ( 19 + 3 ⁄ 4 in ) and 400 mm ( 15 + 3 ⁄ 4 in ) tracks, most commonly in restricted environments such as underground mine railways, parks and farms, in France. Several 18 in ( 457 mm ) gauge railways were built in Britain to serve ammunition depots and other military facilities, particularly during World War I . Embankment (transportation) An embankment
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#1732772850381540-492: A single horse travelling at walking pace of around 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h). The Nantlle Railway was acquired by the Carnarvonshire Railway . On 25 July 1867, the line from Pant on the southern edge of Caernarfon at Coed Helen, to Tyddyn Bengam, north of Penygroes, was replaced by a single-track standard-gauge line. The Carnarvonshire Railway ran trains from Caernarfon to Afon Wen . In July 1870,
585-405: Is a raised wall, bank or mound made of earth or stones, that are used to hold back water or carry a roadway. A road , railway line , or canal is normally raised onto an embankment made of compacted soil (typically clay or rock-based) to avoid a change in level required by the terrain , the alternatives being either to have an unacceptable change in level or detour to follow a contour. A cutting
630-491: Is a track gauge of 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ). It has about 95,000 km (59,000 mi) of track. According to Italian law, track gauges in Italy were defined from the centre of each rail rather than the inside edges of the rails. This gauge, measured 950 mm ( 3 ft 1 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) between the edges of the rails, is known as Italian metre gauge . There were
675-488: Is one where the distance between the inside edges of the rails is less than 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ). Historically, the term was sometimes used to refer to what are now standard-gauge railways , to distinguish them from broad-gauge railways , but this use no longer applies. The earliest recorded railway appears in Georgius Agricola 's 1556 De re metallica , which shows
720-410: Is used for the same purpose where the land is originally higher than required. Embankments are often constructed using material obtained from a cutting. Embankments need to be constructed using non-aerated and waterproofed, compacted (or entirely non-porous) material to provide adequate support to the formation and a long-term level surface with stability. An example material for road embankment building
765-418: The 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) which became the standard gauge . The Nantlle Railway was single track throughout, with 22 passing loops but without any signals . Trains ran from one passing place to the next using line of sight to ensure safe working. This led to disputes when trains met between passing loops. Trains typically consisted of four or five wagons, pulled by
810-1021: The Isle of Man . 900 mm was a common gauge in Europe. Swedish three-foot-gauge railways ( 891 mm or 2 ft 11 + 3 ⁄ 32 in ) are unique to that country and were once common all over the country. Today the only 891 mm line that remains apart from heritage railways is Roslagsbanan , a commuter line that connects Stockholm to its northeastern suburbs. A few railways and tramways were built to 2 ft 9 in ( 838 mm ) gauge, including Nankai Main Line (later converted to 3 ft 6 in or 1,067 mm ), Ocean Pier Railway at Atlantic City , Seaton Tramway ( converted from 2 ft ) and Waiorongomai Tramway . 800 mm ( 2 ft 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge railways are commonly used for rack railways . Imperial 2 ft 6 in ( 762 mm ) gauge railways were generally constructed in
855-587: The 500mm gauge tracks of their mine railway ; these locomotives were made by the Deutz Gas Engine Company ( Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz ), now Deutz AG . Another early use of internal combustion was to power a narrow-gauge locomotive was in 1902. F. C. Blake built a 7 hp petrol locomotive for the Richmond Main Sewerage Board sewage plant at Mortlake . This 2 ft 9 in ( 838 mm ) gauge locomotive
900-622: The Carnarvonshire Railway and the remaining narrow-gauge section of the Nantlle Railway was acquired by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). This left 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge sections at the north and south ends of the line, with 5 miles (8.0 km) of standard gauge in the middle. Slates were loaded onto narrow gauge wagons near the quarries and drawn by horses to Tyddyn Bengam, where
945-952: The Philippines demonstrate that if track is built to a heavy-duty standard, performance almost as good as a standard-gauge line is possible. Two-hundred-car trains operate on the Sishen–Saldanha railway line in South Africa, and high-speed Tilt Trains run in Queensland. In South Africa and New Zealand, the loading gauge is similar to the restricted British loading gauge; in New Zealand, some British Rail Mark 2 carriages have been rebuilt with new bogies for use by Tranz Scenic (Wellington-Palmerston North service), Tranz Metro (Wellington-Masterton service), and Auckland One Rail (Auckland suburban services). Another example of
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#1732772850381990-920: The coal industry. Some sugar cane lines in Cuba were 2 ft 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 699 mm ). 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge railways were generally constructed in the former British colonies. The U.S. had a number of railways of that gauge , including several in the state of Maine such as the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway . 1 ft 11 + 3 ⁄ 4 in ( 603 mm ), 600 mm ( 1 ft 11 + 5 ⁄ 8 in ) and 1 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 597 mm ) were used in Europe. Gauges below 1 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 597 mm ) were rare. Arthur Percival Heywood developed 15 in ( 381 mm ) gauge estate railways in Britain and Decauville produced
1035-490: The crown and 18 feet (5.5 m) above water level. It is built from rusticated stone blocks. In September 1999, the Afon Gwyrfai Bridge was listed as a Grade II structure . The track was laid with lightweight wrought iron fish-bellied rails to 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ), significantly wider than the 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge found on contemporary quarry railways, and narrower than
1080-544: The fastest train in Australia and the fastest 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge train in the world, set a record of 210 km/h (130 mph). The speed record for 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow-gauge rail is 245 km/h (152 mph), set in South Africa in 1978. A special 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge railcar was built for the Otavi Mining and Railway Company with
1125-545: The fees it could charge until all debts were paid. On 23 May 1828, in response to slower than expected progress, a third act, the Nantlle Railway Act 1828 ( 9 Geo. 4 . c. lxii) was passed extending by five years the time available for construction. Robert Williams of Bangor was appointed the resident engineer and William Owen of Gwaenfynydd , Anglesey was contracted to construct the railway. The railway required significant civil engineering work, including
1170-575: The former British colonies . 760 mm Bosnian gauge and 750 mm railways are predominantly found in Russia and Eastern Europe. Gauges such as 2 ft 3 in ( 686 mm ), 2 ft 4 in ( 711 mm ) and 2 ft 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 724 mm ) were used in parts of the UK, particularly for railways in Wales and the borders, with some industrial use in
1215-472: The line attracted enthusiasts' railtours . When the Ffestiniog Railway celebrated its Centenary of Steam on 22 May 1963, a Nantlle horse and handler hauled a demonstration train at Porthmadog. The railway was closed in 1963, when the branch to which it was connected was shut. The last recorded use of horses by BR was on the Nantlle railway. The narrow gauge line was a wagonway constructed to
1260-488: The line in the late 1860s. The Nantlle Railway was closed in 1963 by British Railways (BR), when it was the last line to be operated by BR using horse traction. Much of the route has been overlaid with roads or obliterated by other developments, but several railway structures remain. Two miles of the northern section of the original Nantlle Railway trackbed, between Dinas and the Coed Helen Lane tunnel, are part of
1305-429: The narrow gauge wagons and their contents were loaded onto standard-gauge transporter wagons , three at a time. North of Pant, the narrow gauge wagons were unloaded onto the narrow-gauge tracks and hauled by horses along the last 50 chains (1.0 km) to the quayside at Caernarfon Harbour. This process was slow, costly. In 1870, the LNWR extended the standard gauge line north from Pant to Caernarfon Station where it met
1350-507: The narrow-gauge was loaded into standard-gauge wagons. The remaining approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge horse-drawn tramway linked Nantlle with the quarries to the west and north. It was operated by the LNWR until 1923 when it was absorbed into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). From 1948, the line was owned and operated by British Railways (BR). In its final years,
1395-480: The quarries and the many that survived into BR ownership had narrow steel plate bodies, which were mounted between the wheels and bolted to the axles. Their shape and structure appears to have changed little from the railway's earliest years. Two miles of the northern section of the original Nantlle Railway trackbed, between Dinas and the Afon Seiont, now is part of the reopened Welsh Highland Railway . Much of
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1440-454: The quarries to compete with Dinorwic and Penrhyn . A 9 miles (14 km) route for the line was surveyed, running westwards from tramways linked to the quarries, towards Talysarn and Penygroes . The line then turned northwards, passing through Groeslon , Llanwnda , Dinas and Bontnewydd . The line was also carried copper from the mine at Drws-y-coed , to the east of Nantlle. The Nantlle Railway Act 1825 ( 6 Geo. 4 . c. lxiii)
1485-470: The reopened Welsh Highland Railway , although much is off line as was the Carnarvonshire Railway route on which the restored WHR was constructed. The first proposals for a railway in the Nantlle Valley were made during 1813. Slate quarries had developed to north and west of Nantlle, and the slate was transported to wharves at Caernarfon by pack horse . A more efficient system was required to enable
1530-1058: The route has been built over, but in 2016 the remains of three significant Nantlle Railway structures could still be found: Narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway ( narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge . Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm ( 1 ft 11 + 5 ⁄ 8 in ) and 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves , smaller structure gauges , and lighter rails ; they can be less costly to build, equip, and operate than standard- or broad-gauge railways (particularly in mountainous or difficult terrain). Lower-cost narrow-gauge railways are often used in mountainous terrain, where engineering savings can be substantial. Lower-cost narrow-gauge railways are often built to serve industries as well as sparsely populated communities where
1575-550: The same narrow gauge as the mine railways from which they developed. The world's first steam locomotive , built in 1802 by Richard Trevithick for the Coalbrookdale Company, ran on a 3 ft ( 914 mm ) plateway . The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's Salamanca built in 1812 for the 4 ft 1 in ( 1,245 mm ) Middleton Railway in Leeds . Salamanca
1620-475: The traffic potential would not justify the cost of a standard- or broad-gauge line. Narrow-gauge railways have specialised use in mines and other environments where a small structure gauge necessitates a small loading gauge . In some countries, narrow gauge is the standard: Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Australian states of Queensland , Western Australia and Tasmania have
1665-565: The world; 19th-century mountain logging operations often used narrow-gauge railways to transport logs from mill to market. Significant sugarcane railways still operate in Cuba, Fiji, Java, the Philippines, and Queensland, and narrow-gauge railway equipment remains in common use for building tunnels. In 1897, a manganese mine in the Lahn valley in Germany was using two benzine -fueled locomotives with single cylinder internal combustion engines on
1710-515: Was 8 feet (2.4 m) wide and had a semi-circular arched roof, 6 feet (1.8 m) high, made of three rings of brick, supported on walls of stone rubble. The Plas Dinas Tunnel is approached by a pair of 35 feet (11 m) deep cuttings . The Afon Gwyrfai Bridge is 50 feet (15 m) long with a single arch that carried the railway over the Afon Gwyrfai to the west of Bontnewydd. It is 20 feet (6.1 m) wide at its base, narrowing towards
1755-525: Was adopted by early 19th-century railways, primarily in the Lanarkshire area of Scotland. 4 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,384 mm ) lines were also constructed, and both were eventually converted to standard gauge. 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) between the inside of the rail heads, its name and classification vary worldwide and it has about 112,000 kilometres (70,000 mi) of track. As its name implies, metre gauge
1800-563: Was also the first rack-and-pinion locomotive. During the 1820s and 1830s, a number of industrial narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom used steam locomotives. In 1842, the first narrow-gauge steam locomotive outside the UK was built for the 1,100 mm ( 3 ft 7 + 5 ⁄ 16 in )-gauge Antwerp-Ghent Railway in Belgium. The first use of steam locomotives on a public, passenger-carrying narrow-gauge railway
1845-492: Was in 1865, when the Ffestiniog Railway introduced passenger service after receiving its first locomotives two years earlier. Many narrow-gauge railways were part of industrial enterprises and served primarily as industrial railways , rather than general carriers. Common uses for these industrial narrow-gauge railways included mining, logging, construction, tunnelling, quarrying, and conveying agricultural products. Extensive narrow-gauge networks were constructed in many parts of
Nantlle Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1890-441: Was overseen by his son Robert, who was assisted by John Gillespie. The line was run as a toll road with customers charged a fee for their goods to be hauled to their destination. On 21 March 1827, a second act of Parliament, the Nantlle Railway Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4 . c. iii), was passed, authorising an additional £70,000 of shares to finance construction. The act mortgaged the railway's infrastructure, and restricted
1935-535: Was passed on 20 May 1825. The Nantlle Railway Company was incorporated in June 1825 to construct and operate the railway, and in August 1825 it advertised for a sub-contractor to build the line. The company raised a working capital of £20,000 by issuing shares at £100 each. Most of the shareholders were owners of the quarries served by the line. The chief engineer was the railway pioneer George Stephenson , and construction
1980-592: Was probably the third petrol-engined locomotive built. Extensive narrow-gauge rail systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in World War I . They were a short-lived military application, and after the war the surplus equipment created a small boom in European narrow-gauge railway building. The heavy-duty 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow-gauge railways in Australia (Queensland), New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and
2025-503: Was proposed in the 1810s. The Nantlle Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament in May 1825, and the company began construction of the railway. The line was designed and constructed by George Stephenson and his brother, Robert . The line opened in 1828 and was operated using horses. During the 1860s and 1870s, a portion of the line was replaced by the standard gauge branch of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) which acquired
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