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50-627: The company was first organized in 1867 under the name of Goodall, Nelson and Perkins, Agents. The company's chief rival was the Pacific Mail Steamship Company . The competition was settled in January 1875, with Goodall, Nelson and Perkins buying six side-wheel steamships from Pacific Mail, as well as certain wharves. Goodall Nelson and Perkins would form a new company to handle the traffic between San Diego and San Francisco, while Pacific Mail would (at least initially) control

100-698: 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

150-608: A controlling interest in P.C.S.S.C. (as well as in Goodall and Perkins's San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria Valley Railroad ), retaining Goodall, Perkins & Co. as general agents. This tied the steamship line in with the Oregon Improvement Company's Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad . Oregon Improvement Company's financial collapse in the Panic of 1893 led to receivership and ultimately, in 1897, reorganization as

200-425: 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 ,

250-455: 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)

300-474: 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

350-503: 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

400-825: 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

450-561: A wagon road at Avila Beach. In 1876, the steamship company replaced the tram with the 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge steam-powered San Luis Obispo & Santa Maria Valley Railroad to San Luis Obispo. This railway became the first segment of the Pacific Coast Railway in 1882. The company effectively ceased business in 1916 when its vessels were purchased by the Admiral Line . The Admiral Line however also adopted

500-491: 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

550-488: 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

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600-596: The American Civil War the ships of the Pacific Mail, that carried the gold and silver of the western mines to the eastern states were under threat from the Confederate Navy in the form of commerce raiders, and several plots to seize one of their steamships for its precious cargo or to convert it into a raider to capture one of its other ships with such cargo. After one of these plots, that of

650-1021: 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

700-606: The Klondike Gold Rush . The City of Topeka did a 22-day round trip between Seattle and Skagway, stopping in Port Townsend, Victoria, Mary Island, Wrangell, and Juneau. In 1906, Pacific Coast's SS Valencia was lost after running aground on the rocky shore of Vancouver Island . Over 100 people, including all women and children on board, lost their lives. Beginning in 1907, the company largely stopped doing short-distance travel and focused on longer runs, with

750-480: The Salvador Pirates came to light, to prevent any further attempts to seize Pacific coast shipping, General McDowell ordered each passenger on board American merchant steamers to surrender all weapons when boarding the ship and every passenger and his baggage was searched. All officers were armed for the protection of their ships. Detachments of Union soldiers sailed with Pacific Mail steamers. In 1867,

800-510: The Secretary of the US Navy . His dual mandate was letting federal mail contracts and overseeing the construction of the steamers to ensure that they would be suitable for conversion to warships. In accordance to Polk’s aggressive program for developing Oregon, Congress passed more specific laws in for mail subsidies early in 1847. The new laws approved funding for four naval steamers, directed

850-710: The Sierra Nevada , and business boomed almost from the start. During the California Gold Rush in 1849, the company was a key mover of goods and people and played a key role in the growth of San Francisco , California. In addition to their maritime activities Pacific Mail also ran some of the earliest steamboats on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers , between San Francisco , Sacramento , and Stockton . Domingo Marcucci came from Philadelphia in

900-587: 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

950-918: The American flag and raised the Guatemalan flag in its place. The affair led to the recall of the U.S. Minister to Central America, Lansing Bond Mizner, by President Benjamin Harrison . The company was a charter member of the Dow Jones Transportation Average . In 1925, the company was purchased by Robert Dollar , of the Dollar Steamship Company . With the government bail-out of the Dollar Line in 1938, ownership passed to American President Lines , but by this time, PMSS essentially existed only on paper. It

1000-614: The Pacific Coast Steamship Company (P.C.S.S.C.), providing service to twenty ports in California. For about a year, the reorganized company attempted to compete with Pacific Mail on the northern run to Victoria, British Columbia, but rate wars meant losses for both companies, and P.C.S.S.C. gave up the fight. A similar competition with the California, Oregon & Mexican Steamship Company in 1877 for

1050-715: The Pacific Mail Steamship Company on April 12, 1848 with a capital stock of $ 500,000. The first three steamships constructed for Pacific Mail were the SS ; California , of 1050 tons, the SS Oregon , of 1250 tons, and the SS Panama , of 1058 tons. The company initially believed it would be transporting agricultural goods from the West Coast, but just as operations began, gold was found in

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1100-499: The Pacific Mail on the run from Panama to San Francisco ended. Many of its ships were sold or put on other routes. While docked at San José de Guatemala , the Pacific Mail steamship SS Acapulco was involved in the Barrundia Affair of 1890. General Juan Martín Barrundia , a Guatemalan rebel general wanted by the Guatemalan government, was killed aboard ship after an attempted arrest by Guatemalan police, who hauled down

1150-635: The Pacific Mail steamship SS Oregon with a knocked-down steamboat in its hold. He started a shipyard in San Francisco on September 18, 1849, on the beach at Happy Valley , at the foot of Folsom Street, east of Beale Street. Marcucci's company assembled the Captain Sutter in six weeks. Built for the Aspinwall Steam Transportation Line , owned by George W. Aspinwall, brother of William Henry Aspinwall, it

1200-736: The Pacific leg of a transcontinental route via Panama. The federal government discussed the possibility of creating subsidies for a private shipping company, similar to the model already established in Britain for the Cunard Line and the British Mail Steam Packet Company. Such a policy served the larger objective of annexing and developing Oregon. President James K. Polk brought the Oregon Territory into

1250-507: The Pacific mail contract: a steamer would be required to sail from Panama to Astoria, Oregon in thirty days or less. He awarded the first contract to Arnold Harris, a straw buyer from Arkansas. The contract paid $ 199,000 annually and was in effect for ten years. Just days later, Harris assigned the mail contract to William H. Aspinwall, who brought in three partners: Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, and Gardiner Greene Howland. They incorporated

1300-723: The Pacific, running from Panama to San Francisco . In April 1851, the rivalry was ended when the U.S. Mail Steamship Company purchased Pacific Mail steamers on the Atlantic side, and George Law sold his new company and its ships to the Pacific Mail. One of the company's steamships, the SS Winfield Scott , acquired when the New York and California Steamship Company went out of business, ran aground on Anacapa Island in 1853. In 1854, Marshall Owen Roberts purchased Law's interest and became president of Pacific Mail. During

1350-952: 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

1400-763: The Sacramento run. That April Georgiana pioneered the shortcut route between Sacramento and Stockton through a slough in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta that was between the Sacramento River and Mokelumne River , which afterward became known as Georgiana Slough . In 1850, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company established a steamship line competing with the U.S. Mail Steamship Company between New York City and Chagres . George Law placed an opposition line of steamers (SS Antelope , SS Columbus , SS Isthumus , SS Republic ) in

1450-760: The San Francisco-Portland route led to a joint agreement and a pooling of ships for several years. In 1879, P.C.S.S.C. again challenged Pacific Mail (with a ship that the latter had once owned, the Dakota ) on the San-Francisco-Victoria run. This time they won, and in 1880, Pacific Mail decided to focus on Central America and (later) trans-Pacific routes. Beginning in 1881, they also took on the Seattle-Alaska route. This led to Henry Villard 's Oregon Improvement Company purchasing

1500-572: The US Department of the Navy to supervise the construction of these ships, and directed the Secretary of the Navy to contract with private carriers to carry US Mail to Oregon via Panama. Initially they planned for monthly mail service. One set of ships was to serve the Atlantic leg between the eastern US and Panama; the other set was to serve the Pacific leg. Secretary Mason set the terms for

1550-509: The Union in 1846. Developing and maintaining the new land required the development of faster transportation and communications between the eastern seaboard and the remote northwest. At first the federal mail subsidy program served a second objective: the establishment of civilian steamships which could be easily converted to warships or privateers during times of war. Thus the 1845 federal enabling legislation vested authority of mail contracts with

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1600-920: 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

1650-515: The company launched the first regularly scheduled trans-Pacific steamship service with a route between San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Yokohama , and extended service to Shanghai . This route led to an influx of Japanese and Chinese immigrants, bringing additional cultural diversity to California. As the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met in Utah in 1869, the profitability of

1700-480: The fast steamers Governor and President (joined in 1914 by Congress ) doing a Seattle-Victoria-San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego run. They weren't necessarily the fastest ships on some of these runs, but they were close, and a lot steadier and more comfortable than their slightly speedier competitors. Beginning around 1873, a horse-powered, 2 ft 6 in ( 762 mm ) narrow gauge tramway transported passengers and freight between Port Harford and

1750-544: 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

1800-575: 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

1850-703: The name "The Pacific Steamship Company ", which it used until 1936 when operations ceased, victims of the Great Depression in general and especially of the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike . Separately from that, the "Pacific Coast Steamship Company" name lived on until 1938 for two freighters, used in the Alaska gypsum trade: the Diamond Cement and the Eastern Guide . Pacific Mail Steamship Company The Pacific Mail Steamship Company

1900-536: The new Pacific Coast Company, headed by J.D. Farrell. The new company prospered greatly in the Klondike Gold Rush . During the Spanish–American War the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department chartered two vessels from the company to transport troops to and from the Philippines . SS Senator was chartered June 8, 1898 for $ 1000 per day. Senator displaced 2409 tons and carried 1000 troops. SS City of Puebla

1950-492: The routes from Central America and those north of San Francisco. The new company, Goodall, Nelson & Perkins Steamship Company was formed in February 1875. On November 4 of that same year, their paddle steamer SS Pacific was lost in a collision off Cape Flattery, Washington with the deaths of over 200 people. Less than a year later Christopher Nelson retired and the remaining partners reorganized, on October 17, 1876, as

2000-550: 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

2050-475: 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

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2100-565: 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

2150-466: 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

2200-444: 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

2250-440: Was chartered June 23, 1898, at a rate of $ 900 per day. City of Puebla displaced 2623 tons, made 12 knots and carried 635 troops. Goodall, Perkins pulled out in 1902, and the company's center of gravity shifted decisively to Seattle. P.C.S.S.C. operations in Puget Sound , running two steamers on the hazardous route from Seattle to Bellingham, Washington . Its steamships regularly sailed from Seattle to SE Alaska before and after

2300-962: Was formally closed down in 1949, after just over a century of existence. 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

2350-417: Was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall , Edwin Bartlett (American consul at Lima, Peru and also involved with the Panama Railroad Company ), Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland . The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was established to carry US mail on

2400-492: 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

2450-483: Was one of the first steamboats that ran between San Francisco and Stockton , in 1849. Also for the Pacific Mail, Marcucci next converted the 153 ton side-wheel steamboat El Dorado that had been rigged as a 3 masted schooner for the trip around Cape Horn , to be used for the Sacramento run. Subsequently in March 1850, for the same company, he assembled the Georgiana , a small 30 ton side-wheel steamboat made in Philadelphia, knocked down and sent by sea also for

2500-480: 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

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