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65-462: The Thumer Netz was a narrow gauge railway network in the area around Thum in Saxony , Germany that operated from 1886 until 1975. It had a 750 mm ( 2 ft  5 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge. Total length was about 44 km (27.34 mi). This network had three segments that connected three standard gauge stations: In Wilischthal and Schönfeld-Wiesa were connections to

130-698: 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

195-530: A 2-2-2 wheel arrangement were procured. These classes were deployed on the main lines for a relatively long time; it was not until 1870 that 4-4-0 locomotives ( Saxon K II, later K VIII ) entered service. On branch lines and in shunting services the four-couplers were the main form of motive power for even longer. From the early 1890s locomotives with six coupled wheels were acquired. From that time, locomotives began to be matched more closely to their various tasks (goods, passenger and express train duties). Even

260-610: A cost of 130,109 German gold marks . It featured a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) blast fence, therefore the view from the bridge was rather limited. The bridge was a landmark of the Thumer Netz. After the Schönfeld-Wiesa-Thum railroad was closed on August 15, 1967, the bridge was not used for 10 years, until it was torn down in October 1977. The bridge was cut and pulled down via bulldozer , and cut into smaller pieces on

325-425: 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 ,

390-455: 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)

455-474: 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

520-561: A large number of private railway construction projects. However, in most cases the state had to come to their aid in order to complete the planned routes and to continue to run them. In addition, further building work was carried out in order to expand the network. The construction of railways made it possible to site industry even in the villages of the Ore Mountains and the Lausitz and to foster under-developed regions. On 1 July 1876

585-531: A long time from 1883 were three Thomas steam railbuses. Two diesel-electrics purchased in 1915 proved themselves well in practice, but were sold to Switzerland after the First World War . An overview of the individual locomotive classes is given in the List of Saxon locomotives and railbuses . In addition to their own designs, Saxony also used only slightly modified Prussian goods wagon designs. After

650-503: 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

715-825: 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

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780-614: A private company that had formed with state support. On 31 January 1851 this company was transferred to state ownership. At the same time the running powers of the private Löbau-Zittau Railway Company ( Löbau-Zittauer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) were taken over. By combining the management of the two lines radiating from Dresden savings were supposed to be made. Thus, the 'Royal Division of Saxon-Bohemian and Saxon-Silesian State Railways in Dresden ( Königliche Direction der Sächsisch-Böhmischen und Sächsisch-Schlesischen Staatseisenbahnen in Dresden )

845-576: 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 . Royal Saxon State Railways After

910-564: A total length of 519.88 km. The most important railway structures were the Dresden Hauptbahnhof built from 1891 to 1901 and the Leipzig Hauptbahnhof which was finished in 1915. Both were linked to the cities with extensive modifications to the railway yards . On the abdication of King Friedrich August III in 1918 and the transformation of the kingdom to a free state, the appellation 'Royal' ( Königlich )

975-491: 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

1040-488: 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

1105-705: The Annaberg-Buchholz-Flöha railway , and in Meinersdorf was a connection to the Chemnitz–Adorf railway . The three segments had their hub in Thum . This set of railroads brought much-needed connectivity and transport capacity to the small towns and villages of the central Ore Mountains , which had formed a viable industry in the 19th century due to abundance of water power , wood , ore and other natural resources as well as cheap labour. A landmark

1170-649: The Annaberg-Buchholz–Flöha railway , located in the Zschopau valley , and wound its way along the Wilisch river through Wilischau , Grießbach , Venusberg and Herold into Thum. This segment operated until 1972. The tracks between the paper mill in Wilischthal and Thum were slowly demolished in the following years. The short remaining section operated until 1992 as an industrial siding , connecting

1235-1021: 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

1300-644: The Meinersdorf station. Total track length was 12.5 km (approx. 8 miles). By the early 1970s the tracks were in relative disrepair and had many slow zones . Last passenger operation was in 1974 and the track was dismantled in 1976, which marked the end of the Thumer Netz. When the first narrow gauge locomotives were delivered to the Royal Saxon State Railways by the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik in Chemnitz , there

1365-599: The Saxon III K . This type had sufficient power for the windy and step tracks, but because of their complicated design, starting in 1892 they were replaced by the Saxon IV K , which went on to become the most numerous narrow gauge locomotive in Germany. After reinforcement of the track bed and bridges, in 1925 the first superheated locomotives of type Saxon VI K were tested, by 1928 as many as 13 of this type operated on

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1430-751: The Voigtländ State Railway (Herlasgrün– Eger ). One crucial event in the history of Saxon railway operations turned out to be the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between Prussia and Austria . Because Saxony was on the Austrian side, it evacuated all the locomotives to Hof, Eger and Budapest when Prussian troops invaded. During the course of the war the Ostrau Viaduct and the bridge over the Elbe at Riesa were destroyed. In

1495-465: The railway to Annaberg-Buchholz joined the network and the line to Weipert followed in 1872. The most important reason was the transportation of brown coal from the north Bohemian basin. In 1869 the gap between Flöha and Freiberg was finally closed and the two networks joined together. As a result, on 1 July 1869, the Leipzig and Dresden divisions were merged into the new "Royal General Division of

1560-587: 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

1625-952: 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

1690-645: The Saxon State Railways" ( Königlichen Generaldirection der sächsischen Staatseisenbahnen ), abbreviated to K. Sächs. Sts. E. B. “, in Dresden. One of the managing directors of the Saxon state railways was the privy councillor, Otto von Tschirschky and Bögendorff, the father-in-law of the later General Paul von der Planitz. The years after the foundation of the Reich in 1871 were also marked, in Saxony, by

1755-596: The Thumer Netz. In the summer of 1933 the first Einheitsdampflokomotive of the DRG Class 99.73–76 showed up around Thum. After World War II, starting in 1953 the network was equipped with the Neubaulokomotive of the DR Class 99.77-79 . This type ran on the Thumer Netz until it was shut down. When the first segment was opened, only relatively short 4-wheel boxcars and passenger cars were used. In 1892

1820-920: 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

1885-452: The completion of the privately financed Leipzig–Dresden railway in 1839, the Saxon parliament also began to get involved in railway construction. Early on it was recognised that railway lines to Bavaria , Bohemia and Silesia were needed and that there ought to be a route running north-to-south through the kingdom. The funding of this plan lay in the hands of privately financed railway committees. The state, however, saw itself arranging for

1950-492: The construction of state railways. The work was not without problems, due to geographical difficulties. The extension of the route between Chemnitz and Riesa as well as the line from Freiberg to Tharandt were technically challenging and correspondingly expensive. On 15 November 1858 the line from Chemnitz to Zwickau was completed. That meant there was now a link from Riesa to the Saxon-Bavarian Railway over

2015-618: The corresponding political and legal hurdles to be cleared. On 14 January 1841 a treaty was agreed with the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Duchy of Saxony-Altenburg for the construction of a railway route between Leipzig and Hof . On 22 June 1841, the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company was founded and on 19 September 1842 railway services between Leipzig and Altenburg station were opened. Because the construction costs exceeded

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2080-499: The different route profiles (flat in the north and northeast, hilly in the south and southwest) led to increasingly different designs. From the turn of the century faster and faster classes were introduced. After the 4-6-0 locomotives followed classes with 4-6-2 ( XVIII H ) and 2-8-2 ( XX HV ) arrangements for express train services; 2-6-2 ( XIV HT ) for local traffic and 2-8-0 ( IX H ) and E ( IX V and XI HT ) for goods train duties. The development of narrow gauge locomotives

2145-873: The east–west links from Plauen via Chemnitz to Dresden, from Leipzig to Dresden and from Dresden to Görlitz. The industrialised Ore Mountains were especially well linked by several stub lines along the river valleys. In places these routes crossed the watershed of the Ore Mountains and joined up with the Bohemian railway network. An overview of the individual routes may be found in the German List of railway lines in Saxony . The first locomotives that were procured were from proven classes built in England. These were four-coupled 0-4-0 steam locomotives and, later, 2-4-0 machines. To begin with even locomotives with

2210-704: The engineer's forum of the Union of German Railway Administrations ( Verein Deutscher Eisenbahnverwaltungen ) set out principles for secondary lines. These were legally implemented in 1878 as part of the 'Railway Regulations for German Railways of Lower Importance' ( Bahnordnung für deutsche Eisenbahnen untergeordneter Bedeutung ). The routes built to these simpler regulations were known in Saxony as 'secondary lines' or Sekundärbahnen (Singular: Sekundärbahn ). Twenty-six routes totalling 453 km were immediately run as Sekundärbahnen and in 1879

2275-544: 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

2340-446: The first newly built Sekundärbahn , the suburban route from Leipzig to Gaschwitz via Plagwitz. Because even Sekundärbahnen did not produce the desired savings in every case, in 1881 the construction of the first 750 mm ( 2 ft  5 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) narrow gauge railways began. On 17 October 1881 the section of line between Wilkau and Kirchberg (Sachsen) was opened. By 1920 Saxon narrow gauge railways had

2405-424: The first passenger cars with bogies were employed, which replaced the 4-wheel cars over the following years. For freight cars this transition did not happen until the early 20th century, when freight cars with bogies for wood and gravel were put into service. The first transporter wagons started service around 1912, and by 1945 completely replaced any of the narrow gauge freight cars. The Greifenbachtal bridge

2470-496: The following years. After 1972, only the short distance from Schönfeld-Wiesa to the paper mill was still being used as an industrial siding. In 1985, this short section was upgraded to regular gauge tracks. This segment of the Thumer Netz was finished in 1911 and connected the existing two segments with the Chemnitz–Adorf railway . Starting from Thum, the track went uphill via the neighboring Jahnsbach into Hormersdorf and from there downhill again via Auerbach and Gornsdorf into

2535-575: 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

2600-1054: The ground. 50°40′08″N 12°57′08″E  /  50.6688°N 12.9521°E  / 50.6688; 12.9521 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

2665-729: The line from Zwickau that had been built in 1845. As a result, the Chemnitz Division was disbanded and the management of its routes transferred to the Leipzig Division, which was given the title of "Royal Division of the State's Western Railways" ( Königliche Direktion der westlichen Staatseisenbahn ). At the same time the Dresden Division was renamed the "Royal Division of the State's Eastern Railways" ( Königliche Direktion der östlichen Staatseisenbahnen ). In 1862

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2730-502: The line subsequently. This had been necessary, after the private firm, the Chemnitz-Riesa Railway Company, had gone bankrupt due to the cost of structures needed between Waldheim und Döbeln . Unlike Prussia, Saxony never issued a railway law. This meant that every railway proposal had to be agreed in the state parliament. In spite of the negative experiences of the past, the next ten years saw an increase in

2795-706: The line to Hof (Saale) was completed. Because no suitable private company had been found to build the Saxony-Bohemian Railway from Dresden to Bodenbach , the state took over this task itself. On the opening of the section from Dresden to Pirna on 1 August 1848, Saxony had its second state railway line, for which the 'Royal Division for the Construction and Operation of the Saxony-Bohemia Railway' ( Königliche Direction für Bau und Betrieb der Sächsisch-Böhmischen Staatseisenbahn )

2860-599: The paper mill with the regular gauge tracks in Zschopau. This short section of tracks still exists today, but is in unusable condition. This segment was opened in 1888 and featured the Greifenbachtal bridge , at the time one of the largest narrow gauge bridges in Germany. The initial segment started in Schönfeld-Wiesa and ran via Tannenberg to Geyer , parallel to the roadway between the towns. In Geyer

2925-563: The planned limits, the state had to jump in and honour its previously made promise to complete the construction at the national expense. On 1 April 1847 the railway line, which was finished as far as Reichenbach im Vogtland was transferred to state ownership. At the same time the Royal Saxon-Bavarian State Railway Division ( Königlichen Direction der Sächsisch-Bayerischen Staatseisenbahn ) in Leipzig began work. Specific regulations were laid down by

2990-550: 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

3055-512: The state locomotives were almost exclusively developed and supplied by the Chemnitz -based Sächsischen Maschinenfabrik locomotive factory. Railcars were only used in limited numbers on Saxon railways. The only regular and long-lasting use of railcars were the electric units on the Klingenthal –Sachsenberg- Georgenthal narrow gauge line. There were trials with steam railcars, accumulator cars and combustion-engined railbuses. Employed for

3120-561: The state parliament. The board of directors was accordingly given the appropriate powers and was assigned directly to a state ministry. The payroll of the officials was to be approved by the state parliament and railway fares by the provincial legislature. In addition to funding for the construction of the line, in particular the Göltzsch Viaduct and Elster Viaduct , agreements had to be reached with Saxony-Altenburg and Bavaria over owning and operating relationships. On 15 July 1851,

3185-582: The state railways had an overall length of 525 km. In addition to the Leipzig-Dresden Railway , there were now private coal railways in the Saxon coal regions of Zwickau and Döhlen , as well as the Zittau-Reichenberg Railway . The state however had an 11/12 stake in the latter. By 1865 links from Leipzig to Corbetha and Bitterfeld , and hence connexions to Magdeburg and Berlin , were established as well as

3250-499: The state took over the Leipzig-Dresden railway and thereby increased the network length by 337.5 km. Subsequently, almost all remaining private railway companies in Saxony were taken over in order to be ready for a planned Reich railway project under Prussian leadership. Because the construction and operations of lines was not always covered by the profits, ways to simplify things began to be investigated. As early as 1865

3315-411: The subsequent peace treaty, Prussia was given ownership of those sections of the Silesian Railway that ran through its territory as well as Görlitz station. A Prussian route from Leipzig to Zeitz also had to be permitted. In the following years the railway network was further expanded. Lines in the upper Ore Mountains appeared after Schwarzenberg/Erzgeb. was given a railway connexion in 1858. In 1866,

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3380-441: The tracks made a wide 180 degree turn through the middle of town to arrive at the station in Geyer. In 1906 the track was extended to Ehrenfriedersdorf and Thum , which obsoleted the short connection between Herold and Ehrenfriedersdorf on the Wilischthal-Thum segment. In Thum, a new station was built to connect the new railway to the already existing segment. Passenger service operated until 1968. Sections were dismantled over

3445-416: 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

3510-460: 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

3575-404: Was a large train bridge on the Schönfeld-Wiesa - Thum segment of the Thumer Netz. It was one of the largest narrow gauge train bridges in Germany and crossed the Greifenbach valley approximately 1.5 km (0.93 mi) north east of Geyer . The 180.60-metre-long (592.5 ft) bridge was manufactured by Kelle & Hildebrandt in Dresden . Construction took place from 1904 until 1905 at

3640-466: 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

3705-444: 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

3770-424: Was dropped and the railway administration in Saxony called itself the 'Saxon State Railways' ( Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen or Sächs. Sts. E.B. ). The Saxon State Railways brought 3370 km of track into the Deutsche Reichsbahn network in 1920. The railway network included, for one, the north–south links from Leipzig via Plauen to Hof, from Riesa to Chemnitz and from Elsterwerda to Dresden and Schöna as well as

3835-451: Was established, with a head office in Dresden. On 24 July 1843 a treaty was concluded with the Kingdom of Prussia for the construction of a railway route from Dresden via Bautzen to the Prussia towns of Görlitz and Bunzlau . That made it possible to put in the important link to Breslau . On 1 September 1847, the 102 km long route from Dresden to Görlitz was opened by the Saxon-Silesian Railway ( Sächsisch-Schlesische Eisenbahn ),

3900-422: Was formed, which on 14 December 1852 was thankfully renamed to the rather more succinct 'Royal Dresden State Railway Division' ( Königliche Staatseisenbahn-Direction zu Dresden ). On 1 October 1853 the 'Royal Chemnitz-Riesa State Railway Division' ( Königliche Direktion der Chemnitzer-Riesaer Staatseisenbahn ) was established. It had the task of completing the construction of the Riesa–Chemnitz railway and running

3965-492: 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

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4030-405: Was no official type system yet. The letter K (for German klein - small) was appended to existing types to indicate them as narrow gauge locomotives. The first segment between Wilischthal and Thum was opened in 1886 with three Saxon I K , serial 25, 26 and 27. Some more locomotives of this type were used between Schonfeld-Wiesa and Geyer, but due to the lack of power they were soon replaced by

4095-486: Was not so focussed. After the six-coupler Saxon I K , followed two designs that were unconvincing. Not until 1892 with the introduction of the 0-4-4-0 Meyer locomotive, the Saxon IV K was a design produced that was to form the backbone of the Saxon narrow gauge fleet for decades. With the appearance of the Saxon VI K in 1918 the final successful design was submitted. Whislst the private Leipzig-Dresden Railway bought its engines from several German locomotive manufacturers,

4160-480: 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

4225-408: Was the 180 m (590.6 ft) long and 35 m (114.8 ft) tall Greifenbach viaduct between Ehrenfriedersdorf and Geyer . This was the first segment to be finished for the Thumer Netz. Construction started in September 1885, and operations started on December 15, 1886. Length of this segment was 13.54 km (8.41 mi). The track started at the Wilischthal station in Zschopau on

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