Portage railway
Encyclopedia
A portage
railway is a short and possibly isolated section of railway used to bypass a section of unnavigable
river or between two water bodies which are not directly connected. A portage railway is the opposite of a train ferry
.
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...
railway is a short and possibly isolated section of railway used to bypass a section of unnavigable
Navigability
A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and slow enough for a vessel to pass. Preferably there are few obstructions such as rocks or trees to avoid. Bridges must have sufficient clearance. High water speed may make a channel unnavigable. Waters may be...
river or between two water bodies which are not directly connected. A portage railway is the opposite of a train 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...
.
Australia
- Victor Harbor to Goolwa - originally horse drawn - mouth of Murray RiverMurray RiverThe Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
often silted up or was useless due to low water levels. - the first railway in QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
started at the inland river port of IpswichIpswich, QueenslandIpswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
rather than the capital of BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
to save money. Twenty years later, the line was extended to Brisbane. - several rail lines terminated at river ports, such as RobertsonRobertson-People:* Robertson * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan* Robertson Davies , Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist and professor...
, Echuca, BourkeBourkeBourke may refer to:* Bourke, New South Wales* Bourke engine* Bourke Street, Melbourne, a street in Melbourne, Australia-People with the surname:* Jamie Bourke, Australian ice hockey player...
, MorganMorgan-Places:Australia*Morgan, South AustraliaCanada*Morgan, OntarioUnited States*Morgan, California*Morgan, Georgia*Morgan, Minnesota*Morgan, Texas*Morgan, Utah*Morgan, Vermont*Morgan, Wisconsin, a town...
, Brewarrina
Brazil
- Madeira-Mamoré RailroadMadeira-Mamoré RailroadThe Madira-Mamoré Railroad is a railroad built in the Brazilian state of Rondonia between 1907 and 1912. The railroad links the Brazilian cities of Porto Velho and Guajará-Mirim. It became known as the "Devil's Rail-road" because thousands of construction workers died from tropical diseases and...
(365 km; 227 mi) along the huge rapids of upper MadeiraMadeira RiverThe Madeira River is a major waterway in South America, approximately 3,250 km miles long The Madeira is the biggest tributary of the Amazon...
Canada
- Huntsville and Lake of Bays Transportation CompanyHuntsville and Lake of Bays Transportation CompanyThe Huntsville and Lake of Bays Transportation Company was a company chartered in 1895 to operate steamboats on the Lake of Bays, and a series of lakes connecting to Huntsville in the northern section of the Muskoka Lakes District of Ontario, Canada....
- Nosbonsing & Nipissing Railway
- White Pass and Yukon RouteWhite Pass and Yukon RouteThe 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...
- Champlain and St. Lawrence RailroadChamplain and St. Lawrence RailroadThe Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad was a historic railway in Lower Canada, the first Canadian public railway and one of the first railways built in British North America.-Origin:...
Congo
- on Congo riverCongo RiverThe Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
:- Matadi–Kinshasa Railway
- Congo-Ocean RailwayCongo-Ocean RailwayThe Congo–Ocean Railway links the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire with Brazzaville, a distance of 502 kilometres...
- UbunduUbunduUbundu, formerly known as Ponthierville or Ponthierstad, is a city located in Tshopo District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is on the Congo River, just above the Boyoma Falls...
to KisanganiKisanganiKisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
, see Great lakes line first sectionRail transport in the Democratic Republic of the CongoRail transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congois provided by the Congo Railroad Company and the Office National des Transports and the Office of the Uele Railways .The national system is mostly operated by the Société Nationale des...
England
- Cromford and High Peak RailwayCromford and High Peak RailwayThe Cromford and High Peak Railway in Derbyshire, England, was completed in 1831, to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge -Origins:...
connected Cromford CanalCromford CanalThe Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks....
to the Peak Forest CanalPeak Forest CanalThe Peak Forest Canal, is a narrow locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.-General description:...
Russia
- Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric damKrasnoyarsk hydroelectric damThe Krasnoyarsk Dam is a high concrete gravity dam located on the Yenisey River about upstream from Krasnoyarsk in Divnogorsk, Russia. It was constructed from 1956 to 1972 and supplies 6,000 MW of power, mostly used to supply the KrAZ...
ship elevatorCanal inclined planeAn inclined plane is a system used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels. Boats may be conveyed afloat, in caissons, or may be carried in cradles or slings. It can be considered as a specialised type of cable railway.... - Krasnoyarskaya Ship elevator
United States
- Allegheny Portage RailroadAllegheny Portage RailroadThe Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania, United States. It was a series of 10 inclines, approximately long, and operated from 1834 to 1854...
- Morris CanalMorris CanalThe Morris Canal was an anthracite-carrying canal that incorporated a series of water-driven inclined planes in its course across northern New Jersey in the United States. It was in use for about a century — from the late 1820s to the 1920s....
- New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail RoadNew Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike and Rail RoadWhen New Castle's prosperity was threatened by the building of a canal connecting the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay, merchants and other businessmen constructed a railroad to cover the route from New Castle to the Chesapeake. Known as the New Castle-Frenchtown Railroad, it opened in 1828,...