Narrow gauge railways in Canada
Encyclopedia
Although most railways of central and eastern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 were initially built to a 5 in 6 in (1,676.4 mm) broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

, there were several, especially on Canada's Atlantic coast, which were built as individual narrow gauge lines.

The largest systems in the country were the 3 in 6 in (1,066.8 mm) (Cape or Colonial Gauge) lines such as: the Newfoundland Railway
Newfoundland Railway
The Newfoundland Railway was a railway which operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow gauge railway system in North America.-Early construction:...

 and others on the island of Newfoundland (969 mi (1,559.5 km)); Ontario's Toronto and Nipissing Railway
Toronto and Nipissing Railway
The Toronto and Nipissing Railway was chartered in 1868 to build a narrow gauge railway in Ontario, Canada from Toronto to Lake Nipissing, via York, Ontario, and Victoria Counties. It opened in 1871, with service between Scarborough and Uxbridge. By December 1872 it was extended to Coboconk...

 and Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway (304 mi (489.2 km)); the Prince Edward Island Railway
Prince Edward Island Railway
The Prince Edward Island Railway was a historic Canadian railway.-Construction:Located wholly within the province of Prince Edward Island, construction of the PEIR started in 1871, financed by the United Kingdom...

 (280 mi (450.6 km)); and the New Brunswick Railway
New Brunswick Railway
The New Brunswick Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in western New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.The original NBR lines were built to the narrow gauge of...

 (189 mi (304.2 km)) in the Saint John River valley of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

.

Various mining and industrial operations in Canada have also operated narrow gauge railways.

Newfoundland

Construction on the 3 in 6 in (1,066.8 mm) Newfoundland Railway
Newfoundland Railway
The Newfoundland Railway was a railway which operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow gauge railway system in North America.-Early construction:...

 began in 1881 and continued on amid recrimination and lawsuits until the line crossed the island to the ferry port at Port aux Basques in 1898. Since no roads existed, it was an economic life-line for the island to the rest of North America, but it chronically lost money. The Newfoundland government took it over in 1923, and the Canadian government transferred it to Canadian National Railways (CNR) when Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949.

After the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...

 was completed across Newfoundland in 1965, trucks took most of its freight service in the same year as CN instituted the first railcar ferry service to the island. Standard-gauge cars had their trucks
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...

 switched to narrow gauge for movement on the island. Interchange with the North American system did not improve the traffic levels and even the CNR started to move its own freight increasingly by truck. The death knell came for both the Newfoundland and P.E.I. Railways in 1987 when Canada deregulated its railway industry and allowed railways to abandon money-losing lines.

The Newfoundland Railway was the longest narrow gauge system in North America at the time of its abandonment in September 1988. It was also the last commercial common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...

 narrow gauge railway in Canada, since the White Pass & Yukon had closed earlier in the decade.

Prince Edward Island

When the Prince Edward Island Railway
Prince Edward Island Railway
The Prince Edward Island Railway was a historic Canadian railway.-Construction:Located wholly within the province of Prince Edward Island, construction of the PEIR started in 1871, financed by the United Kingdom...

 was built starting in 1871, the contractors were promised a fixed price per mile but the colonial government failed to specify how many miles were to be built. As a result, the railway wandered all over the landscape. By 1872, construction debts threatened to bankrupt the colony. When Prince Edward Island joined Canada in 1873, it did so under the condition that the Canadian government take over the railway. It did so, and completed the conversion
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

 to during the 1920s and early 1930s after the island's rail system was linked to North America by a standard gauge railcar ferry
Train ferry
A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...

 beginning in 1917. The entire standard gauge system was abandoned by CN in 1989.

Nova Scotia

The first narrow gauge railway in Canada was not a common carrier, but the 3 in 6 in (1,066.8 mm) Lingan Colliery Tramway built in 1861 on Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

 north of Sydney
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....

. Cars were pulled by horses until a 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive arrived in 1866 for the final year of operation. The Glasgow and Cape Breton Coal and Railway Company operated the first Canadian 3 foot (0.9144 m) gauge railway from 1871 to 1893 with 41 miles (70 kilometers) of branch lines linking several mines to Sydney.

New Brunswick

The New Brunswick Railway
New Brunswick Railway
The New Brunswick Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in western New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.The original NBR lines were built to the narrow gauge of...

 was constructed in the 1870s up the Saint John River valley from South Devon (opposite Fredericton) to Edmundston. It was built to 3 in 6 in (1,066.8 mm) Cape gauge but was standard-gauged
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

 several years later. In 1890, the line was absorbed into the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

.

Quebec

The Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence Junction Railway
Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence Junction Railway
The Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence Junction Railway was a historic Canadian narrow gauge railway operating in the Richelieu River valley of Quebec. The 1871 charter of the Philipsburg, Farnham and Yamaska Railway Company was renamed in 1875 and commenced operation between Stanbridge and...

 commenced operation in the Richelieu River
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...

 valley between Stanbridge
Stanbridge Station, Quebec
Stanbridge Station is a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located within the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 309.-Population:Population trend-Language:...

 and Saint-Guillaume
Saint-Guillaume, Quebec
Saint-Guillaume is a municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of southwestern Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 1,578.-Population:Population trend-Language:Mother tongue language -References:...

 in October of 1879. The 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) rail line and locomotives were converted
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

 to (standard gauge) in 1881. The line was leased to the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 in 1887 and survived into the 21st century as part of the CPR Farnham Division.

Ontario

In Ontario, the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway (TG&BR) and the Toronto and Nipissing Railway
Toronto and Nipissing Railway
The Toronto and Nipissing Railway was chartered in 1868 to build a narrow gauge railway in Ontario, Canada from Toronto to Lake Nipissing, via York, Ontario, and Victoria Counties. It opened in 1871, with service between Scarborough and Uxbridge. By December 1872 it was extended to Coboconk...

 (T&NR), were the first public passenger carrying narrow gauge railways on the continent of North America, coming into service in the summer of 1871. The gauge of was chosen on the recommendation of Carl Abraham Pihl
Carl Abraham Pihl
Carl Abraham Pihl was a Norwegian civil engineer and director of the Norwegian State Railways from 1865 until his death...

, Chief Engineer of the Norwegian State Railways, who had adopted this gauge in Norway in the early 1860’s. Sir Charles Fox
Sir Charles Fox
Sir Charles Fox was an English civil engineer and contractor. His work focused on railways, railway stations and bridges.-Biography:...

, engineer and constructor of the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...

 at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London’s Hyde Park, was largely responsible for adoption of the gauge throughout the former British Empire and Colonies, it becoming commonly known as the ‘Colonial’ gauge. The objective of the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway and the Toronto and Nipissing Railway was to open up the bush country north of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 to settlement and commerce. The lines were first surveyed by John Edward Boyd of St. John, New Brunswick who, as Railway Engineer of that colony in the 1860s, had advocated the construction of the New Brunswick Railway
New Brunswick Railway
The New Brunswick Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in western New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.The original NBR lines were built to the narrow gauge of...

 on the gauge of 3 ft 6 in. Boyd later became the Chief Engineer of the narrow gauge Prince Edward Island Railway
Prince Edward Island Railway
The Prince Edward Island Railway was a historic Canadian railway.-Construction:Located wholly within the province of Prince Edward Island, construction of the PEIR started in 1871, financed by the United Kingdom...

. The chief Engineer of both the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway and the Toronto and Nipissing Railway was Edmund Wragge
Edmund Wragge
Edmund Wragge CE was a British-born and trained engineer who constructed the first common-carrier narrow gauge railways in North America...

, a former pupil and associate of Sir Charles Fox
Sir Charles Fox
Sir Charles Fox was an English civil engineer and contractor. His work focused on railways, railway stations and bridges.-Biography:...

. Wragge returned to Britain between 1895 and 1905 and was honoured by the award of the Telford Gold Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...

 for his work on the approach to and construction of the London (Marylebone) terminus of the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...

. The Ontario lines were of substantial length, over 300 miles (482.8 km) in aggregate, and both were built with the objective of connecting with a future Pacific railway, at Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing is the fifth-largest lake in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a...

 in the case of the T&NR
Toronto and Nipissing Railway
The Toronto and Nipissing Railway was chartered in 1868 to build a narrow gauge railway in Ontario, Canada from Toronto to Lake Nipissing, via York, Ontario, and Victoria Counties. It opened in 1871, with service between Scarborough and Uxbridge. By December 1872 it was extended to Coboconk...

, and via steamers to the Lakehead
Lakehead
-Geographic:* The head of Lake Superior , a region known as the "lakehead" - typically referring to the Thunder Bay, Ontario-Duluth, Minnesota region* Lakehead, California, a census-designated place...

 in the case of the TG&BR. Only the latter was achieved. Although independent of each other financially, they were promoted and engineered by the same men and were in fact connected by a short length of third rail
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...

 in the Toronto waterfront trackage of the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...

. These Ontario railways attempted several innovations in addition to the adoption of the narrow gauge: the use of Clark’s six wheel radial axle
Radial axle
A radial axle is an axle on a railway locomotive or carriage which has been designed to move laterally when entering a curve in order to reduce the flange and rail wear....

s for longer stock – a complete failure and never used; the use of four wheel boxcar
Boxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...

s for economy and flexibility – not entirely successful; the use of large Fairlie
Fairlie
A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended or single ended...

 articulated 0-6-6-0
0-6-6-0
In Whyte notation, a 0-6-6-0 is a railroad steam locomotive that has two articulated sections, each with six coupled driving wheels, without any leading wheels or trailing wheels.-Equivalent classifications:Other equivalent classifications are:...

 freight locomotives (see illustration) – found very powerful and useful initially, but heavy on maintenance and not pursued further; and the early use of powerful Avonside Engine Company
Avonside Engine Company
The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.-Origins:...

 4-6-0
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...

 and Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

 2-8-0
2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...

 locomotives for freight haulage – very successful engines which remained in service with the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 after gauge standardization
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

. Initially very successful in stimulating trade, the two railways had difficulty carrying all the traffic offered in the early 1870s. Then, after they had bought large numbers of additional freight locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s and boxcar
Boxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...

s, the traffic fell off due to the economic depression of the mid 1870s and was insufficient to support the heavy financial burden of the capital invested. A case of ‘too much, too late’. Like all smaller railways in central Canada in the early 1880s their financial difficulties made them vulnerable in the battle for feeder routes and traffic between the Grand Trunk Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 (CPR). The Toronto and Nipissing Railway was amalgamated into the Midland Railway of Canada
Midland Railway of Canada
The Midland Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway which ran from Port Hope, Ontario to Midland on Georgian Bay.-Early days:This railway was originally conceived as a rail link between Port Hope and Peterborough and the company was originally named The Peterborough and Port Hope...

 in 1881 and made standard gauge as part of the Midland's plan to obtain direct access to Toronto; later the whole enterprise was absorbed by the Grand Trunk Railway. The Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway was first acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway which converted
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

 it to standard gauge in 1881, but following its own financial embarrassment it was forced to cede control to the Ontario and Quebec Railway
Ontario and Quebec Railway
The Ontario and Quebec Railway is a historic Canadian railway located in eastern Ontario.The railway had received a charter in 1881 and the Canadian Pacific Railway gained control, building the O&Q line between Perth and Toronto...

 a proxy for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Much of the trackage has been abandoned and lifted but some remains in service. 20 miles (32.2 km) of the T&NR from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 to Stouffville carries GO Transit
GO Transit
GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

 commuter trains and a further 12 miles (19.3 km) from Stouffville to Uxbridge, Ontario
Uxbridge, Ontario
Uxbridge is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Durham, in the Greater Toronto Area.The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge...

, is operated as a tourist line by the York Durham Heritage Railway
York Durham Heritage Railway
The York–Durham Heritage Railway is a heritage railway in Uxbridge, Ontario, just north of Toronto.The railway operates excursion trains over a route between the historic towns of Stouffville, Goodwood and Uxbridge...

. 26 miles (41.8 km) of the TG&BR from Toronto to Bolton, Ontario
Bolton, Ontario
Bolton is the most populated community in the town of Caledon, located in the Region of Peel, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. In regional documents, it is referred to as a 'Rural Service Centre'. It has 26,478 residents in 8,721 households...

, carries CPR freight trains, and about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Melville Junction to Orangeville
Orangeville
Orangeville is the name of several places:In Australia:* Orangeville, New South WalesIn Canada:* Orangeville, OntarioIn the United States:* Orangeville, Illinois* Orangeville, Indiana, hamlet in DeKalb County* Orangeville, New York...

 is operated by the Orangeville-Brampton Railway
Orangeville-Brampton Railway
The Orangeville-Brampton Railway is a long short line railway between Orangeville and Streetsville Junction in Mississauga Ontario. It passes through the City of Brampton and the Town of Caledon....

.

Yukon

There were numerous narrow gauge lines in the North--these include the Northern Light and Power coal line near Dawson; the mining line in Dawson city
and the Taku tram. Several of the steam engines survive from these ventures: the Duchess at Taku, a Porter in Dawson and another in Tenana.

The only narrow gauge system still in operation in the country is the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge White Pass and Yukon Route
White Pass and Yukon Route
The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the...

. The WPYR was built as a common carrier but closed in 1982 only to reopen in 1988 to haul tourists from cruise ships docking at Skagway
Skagway, Alaska
Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...

, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 through White Pass
White Pass
White Pass is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada...

 on the International Boundary to Bennett
Bennett, British Columbia
Bennett, British Columbia, Canada is an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake. It was built during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897–99 at the end of the White Pass and Chilkoot Trails from nearby ports of Skagway and Dyea in Alaska...

, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

British Columbia

BC has had a long history with narrow gauge railways starting with the horse-drawn and gravity-assisted Seton Lake tramway in 1858, and then to the 3 foot (0.9144 m) gauge coal mine railway
Mine railway
A mine railway is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and spoil. Today most mine railways are electrically powered; in former times pit ponies, such as Shetland ponies, were used to haul the trains...

s at
Nanaimo. Coal was moved to the pier at Departure Bay. Other railways sprang up including the Kaslo and Slocan Railway
Kaslo and Slocan Railway
The Kaslo and Slocan Railway was a narrow gauge gauge railway between Kaslo, Slocan, and the mining community of Sandon in the Kootenay region of British Columbia between 1895 and 1955 totalling about of track...

, the Columbia and Western Railway
Columbia and Western Railway
The Columbia and Western Railway was a historic Canadian narrow gauge railway located in southern British Columbia.Constructed in 1896, its route connected silver and gold mines at Red Mountain and Rossland and a smelter at Trail...

 near Trail,
and the Leonora and Mt. Sicker Railway
Leonora and Mt. Sicker Railway
The Leonora and Mt. Sicker Railway was a mine narrow gauge railway which hauled copper ore from Mount Sicker to tidewater on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It operated from 1903 to 1908....

 on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

. Narrow gauge lines were used extensively in mining and logging. However, by 1910 narrow gauge logging lines were phased out as it was found that they were unsafe for the large BC timber. Other small industrial lines used narrow gauge for a few years--the Kitsault
Kitsault, British Columbia
Kitsault is an unincorporated settlement on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, at the head of Alice Arm, Observatory Inlet and at the mouth of the Kitsault River. The locality of Alice Arm and the Nisga'a community of Gits'oohl are in the immediate vicinity...

 Mine, and the Western Peat operation in Burns Bog
Burns Bog
The Burns Bog is the largest domed peat bog on the west coast of North America. It covers an area of about and occupies a quarter of Delta, British Columbia, about southeast of downtown Vancouver, and is bounded by BC Highway 10 on its south, the Annacis Highway on its east, and River Road, along...

. Narrow gauge worked in the Kootenays too at the coke overs at Fernie
Fernie, British Columbia
Fernie is a city in the Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located on BC Highway 3 on the eastern approaches to the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains...

 and logging sites of Cranbrook. The White Pass and Yukon Route
White Pass and Yukon Route
The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the...

 in the far north west corner of the province, connects Alaska, BC and the Yukon. It is still in operation and seasonally steam hauled. See List of historic BC Narrow Gauge railways.

Alberta

There were several 3 ft (914 mm) mining systems in the Drumheller area. An extensive narrow gauge line was built in the foothills to haul coal about 1890 but was soon re-gauged
Gauge conversion
In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

 to standard
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 and the equipment moved to the Kaslo and Slocan in BC.

See also

  • Canadian narrow gauge
  • List of historic BC Narrow Gauge railways

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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