41-523: The Padarn Railway was a narrow-gauge railway in North Wales , built to the unusual gauge of 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). It carried slate seven miles (11 km) from Dinorwic Quarry to Port Dinorwic . The line opened on 3 March 1843, replacing the Dinorwic Railway . It initially used horses, but was converted to steam haulage on 23 November 1848. The railway was formally titled
82-698: 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
123-420: A bushel". In 1845, he had a coach house built at Penscoins, and (by implication, as no mention is made in the company accounts) bought a saloon from his own pocket for use when he took guests from the port to the quarries. It was "a smaller version of the saloon [..] which survives today." The "Saloon Shed" was rebuilt in 1888. Around the same time as the order for the workmen's carriages, the company also ordered
164-425: 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 ,
205-455: 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)
246-474: 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
287-503: 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
328-825: 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
369-595: 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 . Half crown (British coin) The British half crown
410-426: A replacement private saloon for the owner and his guests. This had the same running gear and dimensions as the workmen's, but was relatively opulent inside, with, for example, eight padded revolving chairs instead of wooden benches. Up to closure, the saloon was attached to a normal train on pay days and used to carry the workers' wages. The vehicle has survived into preservation at Penrhyn Castle. In 1963, Velinheli
451-491: 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
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#1732782694420492-488: 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
533-1021: 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
574-587: 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
615-872: The Dinorwic Quarries Railway or Dinorwic Quarry Railway , but informally "Padarn Railway" was widely used. The railway officially closed on 3 November 1961. The locomotive Dinorwic performed the last practical services by hauling the track-lifting trains. An unusual feature of the railway was the transporter wagons , also referred to as "Host wagons" and to the workmen by the English names "Big Cars" or "Large Trolleys". These 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) gauge vehicles were flat wagons with two parallel "Quarry Gauge" – 1 ft 10 + 3 ⁄ 4 in ( 578 mm ) – tracks on them. Without loads these vehicles resembled modern day "Container Flats". Loaded Quarry Gauge slate wagons were wheeled onto
656-952: 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
697-847: 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
738-920: 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
779-608: The coins were discontinued in 1970. The half crown was demonetised (ahead of other pre-decimal coins) on 1 January 1970, the year before the United Kingdom adopted decimal currency on Decimal Day . During the English Interregnum of 1649–1660, a republican half crown was issued, bearing the arms of the Commonwealth of England , despite monarchist associations of the coin's name. When Oliver Cromwell
820-544: 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
861-609: The first part of the 19th century, but not sufficiently to keep pace with the opportunities the quarries offered. The first "mass transport" commuting to and from Dinorwic's quarries was by boat across Llyn Peris and, especially, Llyn Padarn , with an estimated 26 boats involved. "Weekly commuting" began and lasted until the Second World War , notably by "The Anglesey Men" who crossed the Menai Strait from Craig-y-Don to Port Dinorwic on Mondays, lodged in "barracks" at
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#1732782694420902-575: 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
943-499: The last shift on a Saturday; expressly at the rider's own risk. These trains consisted of around thirty transporter wagons with a full set of slate wagons on top, on which the men sat back to back, facing outwards. By the 1890s, the number of men, distances travelled, the example of the Penrhyn Railway and rising expectations led the men to ask the quarry management to provide trains to convey them to and from work. The company
984-407: The little over six miles (9.7 km) was 45 minutes. The workmen's service commenced operating on Monday 25 November 1895 and last ran on 8 November 1947, by which time it was down to three carriages – K, Q and U. The charges for using Coach "U" were higher than the other coaches, but the reasons why have been forgotten. Workman's carriage tokens: The owner was "not a man to hide his light under
1025-824: The quarry and returned home on Saturday afternoons. It was common across North Wales for quarry owners to tolerate the widespread practice among quarry workers to devise rail vehicles to get to, from and around work. Such vehicles were known generally as " ceir gwyllt " or "wild cars". Dinorwic was no exception. From 1850 at the latest men were permitted to travel to and from work along the Padarn Railway using "velocipedes" – large, four-wheeled trucks propelled by foot (" car cicio " in Welsh, "kicking car" in English) or hand power (" car troi " - "turning car"). Similar contraptions later became famous in early comic silent movies. Each
1066-567: The remaining parts cannot be confirmed as belonging to Velinheli due to the swapping of locomotive parts, a common practice on the quarries' various railway systems. On 28 May 1971, the southern part of the route was reopened as the 1 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 597 mm ) narrow-gauge Llanberis Lake Railway . Download coordinates as: 53°08′44″N 4°10′14″W / 53.1455°N 4.1706°W / 53.1455; -4.1706 Narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway ( narrow-gauge railroad in
1107-550: 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
1148-475: 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
1189-648: The transporter wagons and carried four per transporter wagon down to their destination at Penscoins, above Port Dinorwic, where they were wheeled off again onto a Quarry Gauge rope-hauled (until May 1924 chain-hauled) incline which led down, partly through a tunnel, to the quayside. As with many other aspects of the Industrial Revolution , the rapid growth of slate quarrying required a lot of labour concentrated in small areas where, typically, little had been needed before. This required new or expanded towns, commuting, or both. Llanberis grew considerably through
1230-565: 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
1271-425: Was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1 ⁄ 8 of one pound , or two shillings and six pence (abbreviated " 2/6 ", familiarly " two and six "), or 30 pre-decimal pence . The half crown was first issued in 1549, in the reign of Edward VI . No half crowns were issued in the reign of Mary , but from the reign of Elizabeth I half crowns were issued in every reign except that of Edward VIII , until
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1312-525: 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
1353-563: 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
1394-560: 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
1435-509: Was in pieces in the railway's workshops at Gilfach Ddu , having been out of traffic since 1953 for major overhaul that was never completed. Whilst the majority of this locomotive was scrapped, certain items survive and are now on display within the National Slate Museum at Gilfach Ddu. Preserved part include the side tanks (complete with nameplate Velinheli on one side only), chimney, sand boxes and ash-pan. The identity of all
1476-484: Was made Lord Protector of England, half crowns were issued bearing his portrait depicting him wearing a laurel wreath in the manner of a Roman Emperor . The half crown did not display its value on the reverse until 1893. In the 20th century a slang term for the coin was "half-a-dollar". From 1816, in the reign of George III, half crown coins had a diameter of 32 mm and a weight of 14.14 grams (defined as 5 ⁄ 11 troy ounce ), dimensions which remained
1517-431: Was owned by a syndicate of men, though an "outsider" might fill a vacant seat for 6d a week. Men were known to race (akin to Bumps in boat races) at speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h) and accidents happened. It is highly likely that men also travelled the line unofficially, riding on wagons. In February 1892 this practice became formalised – quarrybound before the first shift on a Monday morning and homebound after
1558-592: 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
1599-616: Was reluctant to entertain the idea, seeming to fear burdensome liabilities in case of accident more than the cost and effort of providing such a service. Nevertheless, after three years of discussion the company decided to run "proper" trains and set about the task professionally. They originally placed an order with the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company for four four-wheeled brake carriages each capable of seating 58 passengers and 15 matching carriages each capable of seating 60 passengers. The order for carriages
1640-447: Was set for a weekly "season ticket" for daily travel, ranging downwards from half a crown (2s. 6d.) for travel over the full length of the line. On the homeward (northbound) run specific carriages were dropped off at specific stations, such as Pen-Llyn, where the men in them hand shunted them into a purpose-built carriage shed before walking to their homes. The process was reversed the following working morning. The overall journey time for
1681-501: Was subsequently raised to nineteen, each bearing a single letter. The company built stations at all stopping places except Cefn Gwyn Crossing Halt and Crawia Halts (also known as Pont-Rhythallt Mill West Halt and Pont-Rhythallt Mill East Halt). A timetable was devised with an elaborate allocation of numbers of men set to travel from each stop. Notices and a rule book were issued with severe penalties for, among other things, allowing non-employees to travel or using offensive language. A rate