Narrow gauge railways in China
Encyclopedia
The gauge for the most of the China national railway network is standard gauge
. Currently, in the national railway network, only Kunming-Hekou Railway uses narrow gauge, and it is expected to be converted
into standard gauge soon. In addition, there are some industrial lines still using narrow gauge.
and China. It is now inoperative for passengers due to landslides but does have freight services. This railway, opened in 1910, had a gauge branch line from Jijie to Gejiu which operated 0-10-0 tender locos built by Baldwin Locomotive Works
. The metre gauge section was originally administered in more or less the same way as the Indochinese networks, and it was physically possible for through trains to be run from Kunming
to Singapore
, as metre gauge was used in both these countries. During the Japanese occupation Japanese National Railways
Class 9600 2-8-0 locomotives were shipped to aid their invasion, and after the completion of the "death railway
" it was possible for a time for through traffic to Burma. This is now impossible as sections of this railway have been destroyed during the conflicts since World War II
.
, lumber industries built narrow gauge railways into the forests. These used Russian and Japanese locomotives, copied from Soviet or Eastern European designs. Now most of them have disappeared. These railways mostly use a gauge of . In many provinces gauge light railways were used for mines and prominently in Henan and Sichuan they were used for rural transportation, ironically most of them were built in an era when most European light railways had started to dwindle in favour of roads. One light railway in Sichuan is being preserved as China's first heritage steam railway
.
to Taiyuan
was opened at the turn of the century. It was French and Belgian controlled, since it was a feeder of the Belgian controlled Peking-Hankow Railway
. To minimise costs, it was built to the same gauge of the Kunming Hekou Railway, with the hope that the latter could be extended to Shanxi
province and so join the two railways, forming a new sphere of influence for the French. Although this did not materialise, as a result, the Railway from Datong
to Pukou, opened in 1933, which was funded by the Japanese and controlled by the Shanxi warlord, Yan Xishan
, and which connected the Shijiazhuang
- Taiyuan
Railway at Taiyuan
, had to be built to metre gauge as well. While the Shijiazhung - Taiyuan Railway (sometimes known as Zheng Tai Railway) was built to the nature of a light railway
and used rolling stock built in France and Belgium, the Datong - Pukou Railway (Tong Pu Railway) used rolling stock built by Japanese companies, even withdrawn old "Japanese National Railways" or "Imperial Taiwan Railway" stock (which is based on the cape gauge
Liu Mingchuan
's railway' in Qing dynasty
). When the Japanese invaded the Shanxi
and Hebei
provinces during the Sino-Japanese War
, these two railways were converted to standard gauge. The one meter gauge Yunnan Burma line was built from 1941 but had to be aborted due to Japanese advances, and has never been completed.
In many rural or suburban areas, metre gauge railways were built to transport agricultural produce. Such was the case of two light railways east of Pudong, Shanghai. They were isolated systems using small tank engine
s, like 4-4-2Ts. Later, experiments were made with gasoline railcar and trailer sets having Ford engines. They were closed in the 1950s and 1970s respectively and replaced by bus services.
There were several gauge military railways in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War
. These Japanese military railways - which includes a section converted from the broad gauge
Chinese Eastern Railway
- used Japanese National Railways
stock and were quickly converted back to standard gauge after the war to facilitate through traffic with the British controlled Peking Mukden Railway, which was standard gauge. As a result the South Manchurian Railway, a creation of the Japanese Kwantung Army, was standard gauge.
. It was built in the winter of 1902 to allow the Empress Dowager
Cixi
to travel from Beijing
to the Western Qing Tombs
. Although the railway had no economic benefit, it was the first railway to be financed and built by the Chinese alone.
The empress dowager and the Guangxu Emperor
fled to Xi'an
in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion
. After the Boxer Protocol
was signed in September 1901, Cixi and the royal family made their way back from Xi'an to Beijing in December, taking a special train along the Lo-Han Railway (now also part of the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway) from Shijiazhuang
to Beijing
. To atone for the occupation of Beijing by the Eight-Nation Alliance
, the Empress first visited the Eastern Qing Tombs
in April. Afterward she intended to go to Western Qing Tombs
. Because of the distance, she thought of traveling by train. The Empress then ordered Governor Yuan Shikai
to construct a railway from Gaobeidian to Yi County, Hebei
, within six months at a cost of tls
. 600,000.
The Xinyi Railway headed west from Gaobeidian across two rivers. Yuan Shikai
originally chose British engineer Claude W. Kinder
to carry out the construction. Claude was the Kaiping Tramway's chief engineer, as well as the chief engineer of its extensions. Unexpectedly, this led to a French
protest, so Yuan Shikai decided that the Chinese would carry out the construction themselves, appointing Jeme Tien Yow chief engineer on 19 October.
The project started in November and was completed by February 1903. The railway used old track and sleepers from the Guanneiwai Railway. On 5 April 1903, the empress and other members of the dynasty rode a special train from the Beijing
Yongdingmen
along the Beijing-Hankou line, then switching to the new track. The whole length was about 120 km, taking a little over two hours. The Empress was very please with the railway and train and gave the engineer a yellow jacket, flowers, feathers, and the title of prefect.
Cixi only used the railway once. The line was destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War
, its track being used to repair other railways. Later, it was repaired and regauged during the Great Leap Forward. In the 1990s, it was renamed the Gaoyi Railway.
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...
. Currently, in the national railway network, only Kunming-Hekou Railway uses narrow gauge, and it is expected to be 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...
into standard gauge soon. In addition, there are some industrial lines still using narrow gauge.
Kunming-Hekou Railway
The gauge Kunming-Hekou Railway (previously known as Sino-Vietnamese Railway) was built by French colonists between VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and China. It is now inoperative for passengers due to landslides but does have freight services. This railway, opened in 1910, had a gauge branch line from Jijie to Gejiu which operated 0-10-0 tender locos built by 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...
. The metre gauge section was originally administered in more or less the same way as the Indochinese networks, and it was physically possible for through trains to be run from Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, as metre gauge was used in both these countries. During the Japanese occupation Japanese National Railways
Japanese National Railways
, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...
Class 9600 2-8-0 locomotives were shipped to aid their invasion, and after the completion of the "death railway
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...
" it was possible for a time for through traffic to Burma. This is now impossible as sections of this railway have been destroyed during the conflicts since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Industrial railways
In ManchuriaManchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, lumber industries built narrow gauge railways into the forests. These used Russian and Japanese locomotives, copied from Soviet or Eastern European designs. Now most of them have disappeared. These railways mostly use a gauge of . In many provinces gauge light railways were used for mines and prominently in Henan and Sichuan they were used for rural transportation, ironically most of them were built in an era when most European light railways had started to dwindle in favour of roads. One light railway in Sichuan is being preserved as China's first heritage steam railway
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
.
Historic narrow gauge railways
Metre gauge railways were popular in China in several regions before the 1949 communist revolution. The railway from ShijiazhuangShijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...
to Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
was opened at the turn of the century. It was French and Belgian controlled, since it was a feeder of the Belgian controlled Peking-Hankow Railway
Jinghan railway
The Beijing–Hankou or Jinghan Railway was a railway line extending from the Chinese capital Beijing to Hankou in Hubei province that was finished in 1905. It was originally known as the Peking–Hankow Railway. Across the Yangtze river in Wuchang was another line, the Canton–Hankow...
. To minimise costs, it was built to the same gauge of the Kunming Hekou Railway, with the hope that the latter could be extended to Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
province and so join the two railways, forming a new sphere of influence for the French. Although this did not materialise, as a result, the Railway from Datong
Datong
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province of North China, located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of...
to Pukou, opened in 1933, which was funded by the Japanese and controlled by the Shanxi warlord, Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan, was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. Yan effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War...
, and which connected the Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...
- Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
Railway at Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
, had to be built to metre gauge as well. While the Shijiazhung - Taiyuan Railway (sometimes known as Zheng Tai Railway) was built to the nature of a light railway
Light railway
Light railway refers to a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail". This usually means the railway uses lighter weight track, and is more steeply graded and tightly curved to avoid civil engineering costs...
and used rolling stock built in France and Belgium, the Datong - Pukou Railway (Tong Pu Railway) used rolling stock built by Japanese companies, even withdrawn old "Japanese National Railways" or "Imperial Taiwan Railway" stock (which is based on the cape gauge
Cape gauge
Cape gauge is a track gauge of between the inside of the rail heads and is classified as narrow gauge. It has installations of around .The gauge was first used by Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl and the first line was opened in 1862.- Nomenclature :...
Liu Mingchuan
Liu Mingchuan
Liu Mingchuan was a Chinese official during the Qing dynasty. He adopted a style name of Xingsan . Liu became involved in the suppression of the Taiping rebellion at an early age, and worked closely with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang as he emerged as an important Huai Army officer...
's railway' in Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
). When the Japanese invaded the Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
and Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
provinces during the Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, these two railways were converted to standard gauge. The one meter gauge Yunnan Burma line was built from 1941 but had to be aborted due to Japanese advances, and has never been completed.
In many rural or suburban areas, metre gauge railways were built to transport agricultural produce. Such was the case of two light railways east of Pudong, Shanghai. They were isolated systems using small tank engine
Tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
s, like 4-4-2Ts. Later, experiments were made with gasoline railcar and trailer sets having Ford engines. They were closed in the 1950s and 1970s respectively and replaced by bus services.
There were several gauge military railways in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. These Japanese military railways - which includes a section converted from the broad gauge
Russian gauge
In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
Chinese Eastern Railway
Chinese Eastern Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or was a railway in northeastern China . It connected Chita and the Russian Far East. English-speakers have sometimes referred to this line as the Manchurian Railway...
- used Japanese National Railways
Japanese National Railways
, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...
stock and were quickly converted back to standard gauge after the war to facilitate through traffic with the British controlled Peking Mukden Railway, which was standard gauge. As a result the South Manchurian Railway, a creation of the Japanese Kwantung Army, was standard gauge.
Arxan Forrest Railway
It ran during 1950s and 1990s, carried wood, goods and passengers. Its highest speed is 60 km/h.Xinyi Railway
Xinyi Railway was a 42.5 km–long branch line of the Beijing-Hankou Railway (now the Beijing–Guangzhou railway) located in HebeiHebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
. It was built in the winter of 1902 to allow the Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
Cixi
Cixi
Cixi may refer to:*Empress Dowager Cixi , empress of the Qing Dynasty*Cixi City, in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China...
to travel from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to the Western Qing Tombs
Western Qing Tombs
The Western Qing Tombs are located some southwest of Beijing in Hebei province near the town of Yixian. The Western Qing Tombs is a necropolis that incorporate four royal mausoleums where seventy-eight royal members in all are buried...
. Although the railway had no economic benefit, it was the first railway to be financed and built by the Chinese alone.
The empress dowager and the Guangxu Emperor
Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor , born Zaitian of the Aisin-Gioro clan, was the eleventh emperor of the Manchurian Qing Dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, under Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898...
fled to Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
. After the Boxer Protocol
Boxer Protocol
The Boxer Protocol was signed on September 7, 1901 between the Qing Empire of China and the Eight-Nation Alliance that had provided military forces plus Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands after China's defeat in the intervention to put down the Boxer Rebellion at the hands of the...
was signed in September 1901, Cixi and the royal family made their way back from Xi'an to Beijing in December, taking a special train along the Lo-Han Railway (now also part of the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway) from Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...
to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. To atone for the occupation of Beijing by the Eight-Nation Alliance
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was an alliance of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States whose military forces intervened in China to suppress the anti-foreign Boxers and relieve the siege of the diplomatic legations in Beijing .- Events :The...
, the Empress first visited the Eastern Qing Tombs
Eastern Qing Tombs
The Eastern Qing Tombs are an imperial mausoleum complex of the Qing Dynasty located in Zunhua, 125 kilometers northeast of Beijing. They are the largest, most complete, and best preserved extant mausoleum complex in China...
in April. Afterward she intended to go to Western Qing Tombs
Western Qing Tombs
The Western Qing Tombs are located some southwest of Beijing in Hebei province near the town of Yixian. The Western Qing Tombs is a necropolis that incorporate four royal mausoleums where seventy-eight royal members in all are buried...
. Because of the distance, she thought of traveling by train. The Empress then ordered Governor Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...
to construct a railway from Gaobeidian to Yi County, Hebei
Yi County, Hebei
Yi County is a county in Hebei province of China, administratively under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Baoding. It has an area of ??? km².-Administrative divisions:Towns:...
, within six months at a cost of tls
Tael
Tael can refer to any one of several weight measures of the Far East. Most commonly, it refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency....
. 600,000.
The Xinyi Railway headed west from Gaobeidian across two rivers. Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...
originally chose British engineer Claude W. Kinder
Claude W. Kinder
Claude William Kinder C.M.G., was an English engineer. For over thirty years he was engineer-in-chief of the Kaiping Tramway and Imperial Railways of North China....
to carry out the construction. Claude was the Kaiping Tramway's chief engineer, as well as the chief engineer of its extensions. Unexpectedly, this led to a French
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
protest, so Yuan Shikai decided that the Chinese would carry out the construction themselves, appointing Jeme Tien Yow chief engineer on 19 October.
The project started in November and was completed by February 1903. The railway used old track and sleepers from the Guanneiwai Railway. On 5 April 1903, the empress and other members of the dynasty rode a special train from the Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
Yongdingmen
Yongdingmen
Yongdingmen was the former front gate of the outer section of Beijing's old city wall. Originally built in 1553, it was torn down in the 1950s to make way for the new road system in Beijing. In 2005, the Yongdingmen was reconstructed at the site of the old city gate...
along the Beijing-Hankou line, then switching to the new track. The whole length was about 120 km, taking a little over two hours. The Empress was very please with the railway and train and gave the engineer a yellow jacket, flowers, feathers, and the title of prefect.
Cixi only used the railway once. The line was destroyed during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, its track being used to repair other railways. Later, it was repaired and regauged during the Great Leap Forward. In the 1990s, it was renamed the Gaoyi Railway.