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Standard gauge was favored for railway construction in the United States, although a fairly large narrow-gauge system developed in theRocky Mountains ofColorado andUtah. Isolated narrow-gauge lines were built in many areas to minimize construction costs for industrial transport or resort access, and some of these lines offered common carrier service. Outside Colorado, these isolated lines evolved into regional narrow-gauge systems inMaine,New York,Pennsylvania,Ohio,Iowa,Hawaii, andAlaska. There was over 10,000 miles of narrow-gauge trackage built in the United States. By 1890, it was beginning to go out of favor, and by 1941, there were only about a dozen narrow-gauge railroads still operating.[1]
In New England, the first narrow-gauge common-carrier railroad was theBillerica and Bedford Railroad, which ran fromNorth Billerica toBedford in Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1877 to 1878. There were extensive2 ft (610 mm) gauge lines in theMaine forests early in the 20th century. In addition to hauling timber, agricultural products and slate, the Maine lines also offered passenger services. TheBoston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad was a narrow-gauge commuter railroad that operated in Massachusetts, much of whose right-of-way is used forrapid transit today. Narrow gauges also operated in the mountains of New Hampshire, on the islands ofNantucket andMartha's Vineyard and in a variety of other locations. The still-operatingEdaville Railroad touristheritage railroad in southeastern Massachusetts is a two-foot narrow-gauge system.
The last remaining3 ft (914 mm) gauge common carrier east of theRocky Mountains was theEast Broad Top Railroad in centralPennsylvania. Running from 1873 until 1956, it supplied coal to brick kilns and general freight to the towns it passed through, connecting to thePennsylvania Railroad atMount Union, Pennsylvania. Purchased for scrap by the Kovalchick Corporation when it ended common carrier service in 1956, it reopened as a tourist railroad in 1960. This line is the oldest surviving stretch of narrow-gauge track in the United States. Financial troubles would force the Kovalchick family to close the railroad following the 2011 season. The railroad sat dormant until 2020 when it was purchased and reopened by the EBT Foundation.[2]
It was the last remnant of an extensive narrow-gauge network in New York and Pennsylvania that included many interconnecting lines. The largest concentration was in the Big Level region aroundBradford, Pennsylvania, from which lines radiated towards Pittsburgh and into New York state. This group also included the Tonawanda Valley & Cuba Railroad. Though the TV&C's narrow-gauge tracks are long gone, the standard-gaugeArcade and Attica Railroad continues to run over a portion of the TV&C's route. TheWaynesburg and Washington Railroad, a subsidiary of thePennsylvania Railroad, operated in the southwestern part of the state until 1933.
ThePhiladelphia and Atlantic City Railway and thePleasantville & Ocean City Railroad were originally built to3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge.
The Southeast helped initiate the narrow-gauge era. The first in Georgia was the Kingsboro & Cataula Railway, chartered in 1870.[3] In Tennessee, theDuck River Valley Narrow Gauge Railway was also chartered in 1870, opening seven years later; it was converted to standard gauge in 1888. The first narrow-gauge railway in Alabama was theTuskegee Railroad in 1871.
Longest lived of its narrow gauges was theEast Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad. Originally built as a broad gauge[which?][citation needed] in 1866, the line was laterconverted to a narrow-gauge railroad betweenJohnson City, Tennessee;Cranberry, North Carolina; and ultimatelyBoone, North Carolina. It continued in service until 1950.
Another long-lived southern narrow gauge was theLawndale Railway and Industrial Co.
One of the first three narrow gauges in the U.S. – the Painesville & Youngstown – opened in Ohio in 1871, and the narrow-gauge movement reached its greatest length in the Midwest. For a brief time in the 1880s it was possible to travel by narrow gauge fromLake Erie across the Mississippi River and into Texas. The hub of this system,Delphos, Ohio, shared withDurango, Colorado the distinction of being the only towns in the United States from which it was possible to travel by narrow gauge in all four compass directions.
TheChicago Tunnel Company operated a 60-mile (97 km) long underground2 ft (610 mm) gauge freight railroad under the streets of theChicago Loop. Thiscommon carrier railroad usedelectric traction, interchanged freight with all of the railroads serving Chicago, and offered direct connections to many loop businesses from 1906 to 1959.
Ohio was a center of the narrow-gauge movement. In addition to serving as the northern end of the Little Giant "transcontinental", it had several other notable lines, including the long-livedOhio River & Western Railroad, theKelley Island Lime & Transport Company (the world's largest operator of Shay locomotives, virtually all of them narrow gauge) and theConnotton Valley Railroad, a successful coal hauler still in operation today as thestandard-gaugeWheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. Narrow gauge railroad mileage in Ohio reached its peak in 1883 and declined rapidly after 1884.[4]
Numerous3 ft (914 mm) gauge common-carrier narrow-gauge lines were built inIowa in the 19th century. The largest cluster of lines radiated fromDes Moines, with theDes Moines, Osceola and Southern extending south toCainsville, Missouri, theDes Moines North-Western extending northwest toFonda and smaller lines extending north toBoone andAmes. These lines were all abandoned or regauged by 1900. TheBurlington and Western and theBurlington and Northwestern system extended fromBurlington toWashington, Iowa and the coal fields aroundOskaloosa. This system waswidened tostandard gauge on June 29, 1902, and merged with theChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad a year later. TheBellevue and Cascade, fromBellevue on theMississippi toCascade inland remained in service until abandonment in 1936. Acaboose from the Bellevue and Cascade is the only surviving piece of Iowa narrow-gauge equipment. It currently operates on theMidwest Central Railroad inMount Pleasant, aheritage railroad.
In 1882, thirty-two narrow-gauge logging railroads were constructed in Michigan, and by 1889 there were eighty-nine such logging railroads in operation, totaling almost 450 miles (720 km) of track.[5]
At its peak, the mountain west region had a narrow gauge system which stretched from Montana to New Mexico; with the majority of routes operating out of central hubs in Colorado and Utah.
TheDenver and Rio Grande Railroad, opened in 1871, was one of the earliest narrow gauge railroads in the United States and by far the longest and one of the most significant. The railroad's founderWilliam Jackson Palmer during the early planning stages of the railroad in 1871 visited theFfestiniog Railway in Wales while on his honeymoon, and while in the United Kingdom consulted with Scottish engineerRobert Francis Fairlie who convinced Palmer of the advantages of building the Rio Grande using narrow gauge.[6]
The Rio Grande effectively circled the state of Colorado, and feeder lines were run to the mining communities ofLeadville,Aspen,Cripple Creek,Telluride and Silverton. The Rio Grande would find itself in arailroad war with theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1878 from 1880 for control over theRoyal Gorge canyon.[7] The conflict would be settled by "The Treaty of Boston" in 1880, allowing the Rio Grande to continue building east towards Leadville and towardsGrand Junction through theBlack Canyon of the Gunnison. Through affiliated companies, the Rio Grande's lines would extended west to Ogden, Utah and south to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Rio Grande mainline was gradually re-gauged after it and theColorado Midland Railway built a new standard gauge joint line to Grand Junction in 1890, but the southern portions remained steam-hauled and narrow gauge into the mid 20th century.[8] This southern segment would be advertised as the "Narrow Gauge Circle" which via a connection with theRio Grande Southern (which was among various narrow gauge railroads connecting with the larger Denver & Rio Grande which had been built byOtto Mears) allowed travelers to make a continuous journey through the southwestern corner of Colorado onboard narrow gauge trains.[9] The cash strapped Rio Grande Southern would build a fleet ofGalloping Goose cars to preserve the mail contract along their route from the 1930s until the lines abandonment in 1952.[10]
As remaining segments of the Denver & Rio Grande Western's narrow gauge system were abandoned throughout Colorado in the mid-20th century, theSan Juan Extension experienced a reprieve with the petroleum industry booming from the 1950s into the 1960s aroundFarmington, New Mexico.[11] As traffic from the oil boom subsided, the Denver & Rio Grande Western abandoned the narrow gauge fromDurango, Colorado toChama, New Mexico; and the Chama toAntonito, Colorado portion of the line was jointly purchased by the states of Colorado and New Mexico to form theCumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad in 1970.
Tourism increased along the Silverton branch following World War II, and the area was popularized throughWestern films which frequently filmed along the San Juan Extension and the railroad became a popularroad trip destination.[12] Unable to abandon the Silverton branch, the D&RGW operated it as an isolated narrow gauge and steam powered route until 1981 when the line was sold and rebranded as theDurango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Operations of the Durango & Silverton and the Cumbres & Toltec have both been impacted by the ongoingSouthwestern North American megadrought and fuel availability. The Durango & Silverton was closed by the Missionary Ridge Fire in 2002 marking the first time the railroad would be closed by fire danger in its history.[13] In 2018 the railroad would close again due to the416 Fire which was attributed to having been caused by the railroad, leading to a lawsuit against the railroad from the Federal Government to recoup fire fighting costs which would be settled with a $20 million fine against the Durango & Silverton.[14] The Durango & Silverton would phase out coal fired steam locomotives, converting their steam locomotive fleet toburn oil to reduce embers, running their final coal fired train in early 2024.[15] Both the Durango & Silverton and Cumbres & Toltec would purchase diesel locomotives from theWhite Pass and Yukon Route to provide alternative power to steam locomotives during high fire risk seasons and as emergency backups to traditional steam locomotives.[16][17]
Other major narrow-gauge railroads in Colorado included theDenver, South Park and Pacific, theColorado Central, and theFlorence and Cripple Creek. TheUintah Railway operated in Utah and Colorado, and boasted the tightest curve (Moro Castle curve) on a US common carrier at Baxter Pass.[18] Some short segments of narrow gauge railroads have been rebuilt in Colorado asheritage railroads with theGeorgetown Loop Railroad opening in 1973 and theComo Roundhouse having been initially restored and expanded since 1984.[19][20] TheColorado Railroad Museum established in 1959, operates a demonstration loop of narrow gauge track inGolden, Colorado.[21]
In Utah, three foot gauge narrow-gauge railroads sprang up immediately after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. An 1870 article published by theDeseret News reported on the international success of the Ffestiniog and promoted narrow gauge as viable for the Utah territory.[22] TheUtah and Northern Railway connected the fertileMormon Corridor with the mining camps nearButte, Montana with an extensive three-foot gauge system that lasted from 1871 until 1887.[23]John Willard Young was a primary investor and owner of many of the territory's narrow gauge lines including the early Utah Northern; and competed with the established standard gaugeUnion Pacific Railroad andCentral Pacific Railroad routes in the region.[24] Robber baronJay Gould would take control of the Utah and Northern by 1877 bringing it under the control of Union Pacific as the line was extended from Idaho to Montana.[25] TheAmerican Fork Railroad was the first railroad to use aMason Bogie locomotive an articulated design derived from the BritishSingle Fairlie locomotive. Other narrow-gauge lines in Utah included the Wasatch & Jordan Valley (which hauled granite for the construction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's Salt Lake City temple) and the Utah & Pleasant Valley which tapped into the Pleasant Valley coal fields in north-central Utah. Both of these later railroads eventually formed part of theDenver & Rio Grande Western Railway a Utah-based extension of the Rio Grande network, which connected the Utah narrow gauge to Colorado.[26] Other narrow gauge routes in Utah were later absorbed by the Union Pacific and its subsidiaries. Union Pacific made use ofRamsey car transfers throughout Utah and Idaho to account for gauge changes in the region.[27][28]
Connections from the Utah narrow gauge railroads to those in Colorado was severed in 1890 when the then independent Rio Grande Westernregauged their mainline from Ogden, Utah to Grande Junction.[29] TheOregon Short Line Railroad regauged the former Utah and Northern in 1890 as well, isolating a few surviving narrow gauge lines to the immediate area around theWasatch Front.[30] The surviving pockets of narrow gauge in the Wasatch Front continued until the Oregon Short Line Railroad built a standard gauge route through Bauer, Utah in 1903; and the Little Cottonwood Transportation Co. (which operated leased track from the Rio Grande on the former Wasatch & Jordan Valley) ended service in 1925.[31][32] Narrow gauge in the state continued with isolated lines serving mining regions such as the Eureka Hill Railway which served the Tintic mining district until 1937, and along the Utah-Colorado border on the Uintah Railway which operated until 1939.[33] A two-foot gauge railroad in Utah, theBingham Central Railway; which was mostly underground through the Mascote Tunnel, operated as a common carrier railroad when founded in 1908 before becoming a private operation which would close in the 1950s when replaced by a new tunnel.[34]
Narrow gauge railroads served mining districts through central and eastern Nevada, such as theEureka and Palisade Railroad and theNevada Central Railroad. Some projects would have connected the Nevada narrow gauge network to the lines in Utah & Colorado, such as early projections for the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley & Pioche Railroad which would have connected with other narrow gauge lines atPioche, Nevada; however none of these railroads were successful in reaching their initial goals.[35] Locomotives from these central Nevada lines such asEureka and Nevada Central #2 (renamed to the "Emma Nevada" by former owner and Disney animatorWard Kimball) survive to the present.
TheSouthern Pacific operatedseveral3 ft (914 mm) gauge railroads, including the formerCarson and Colorado Railway and the formerNevada–California–Oregon Railway, running fromReno into southern Oregon. The Carson and Colorado had been built in 1880 by theVirginia and Truckee Railroad who as traffic was waning from theComstock Lode, sought to tap into mining claims in California.[36] Carson & Colorado would become part of the Southern Pacific in 1900, and narrow gauge would be operated as the Keeler Branch by the company until being fully abandoned in 1960.[37]
California's independent3 ft (914 mm) lines included thePacific Coast Railway serving the Santa Maria Valley, theNorth Pacific Coast Railroad andSouth Pacific Coast Railroads extending northward and southward fromSan Francisco Bay. Narrow gauge railroads built at amusement parks in the state include theDisneyland Railroad andGhost Town & Calico Railroad.
The defunctArcata and Mad River Railroad was3 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1,156 mm) gauge
Two small regional railways in the Pacific Northwest were theIlwaco Railway and Navigation Co near Astoria, and theSumpter Valley Railway near Baker City, Oregon. After abandonment, reconstruction of a portion of the Sumpter Valley as a heritage railway began in 1971 in McEwan; with rails returning to Sumpter in 1991; with the restored railroad operating 5.2 miles of track between the two communities.[38]
TheSan Francisco cable car system is3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge as was the now defunctLos Angeles Railway and theSan Diego Electric Railway.
Alaska is home to two surviving narrow gauge railroads. The last surviving commercialcommon carrier narrow-gauge railroad in theUnited States was theWhite Pass and Yukon Route connectingSkagway, Alaska andWhitehorse,Yukon Territory. It ended common carrier service in 1982, but has since been partially reopened as atourist railway.
The Second is in the interior ofAlaska, inFairbanks. Anarrow gauge railroad known as theTanana Valley Railroad, was bought by theAlaska Railroad in 1930, when the transition of narrow gauge to standard gauge happened. Today, theTanana Valley Railroadsteam locomotive Engine No. 1 is still operated by the Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad and housed in theTanana Valley Railroad Museum which is open year-round. Thesteam locomotive is taken out and fired up during the summer on a scheduled basis.
Hawaii boasted an extensive network of not only narrow-gauge sugar-cane railways, but common carriers such as the Hawaii Consolidated Railway (which was standard gauge),Ahukini Terminal & Railway Company,Koolau Railway company,Kahului Railroad, and theOahu Railway and Land Company. TheOahu Railway and Land Company was the largest narrow-gauge class-one common-carrier railway in the US (at the time of its dissolution in 1947), and the only US narrow-gauge railroad to use signals. The OR&L used Automatic Block Signals, or ABS on their double track mainline between Honolulu and Waipahu, a total of 12.9 miles (20.8 km), and had signals on a branch line for another nine miles (14 km). The section of track from Honolulu to Waipahu saw upwards of eighty trains a day, making it not only one of the busiest narrow-gauge main lines in the U.S., but one of the busiest mainlines in the world.
There were also numerous narrow-gaugelogging railroads in Pennsylvania and West Virginia who operated mostly with geared locomotives such asShays,Climaxes, andHeislers.
Many narrow-gauge lines were private carriers serving particular industries. One major industry that made extensive use of3 ft (914 mm) gauge railroads was the logging industry, especially in the West. Although most of these lines closed by the 1950s, one notable later survivor wasWest Side Lumber Company railway which continued using3 ft (914 mm) gaugegeared steam locomotives until 1968.
There is one narrow-gaugeindustrial railroad still in commercial operation in the United States, theUS Gypsum operation inPlaster City,California, which uses a number ofMontreal Locomotive Works locomotives obtained from theWhite Pass after its 1982 closure. Temporary narrow-gauge railways are commonly built to support large tunneling and mining operations.
The famousSan Francisco cable car system has a gauge of3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), as did thestreet cars on the formerLos Angelesstreet railway.
Rail haulage has been very important in the mining industry. By 1922, 80 percent of all newcoal mines in the United States were being developed using3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) (42 inch) gauge trackage, and the American Mining Congress recommended this as a standard gauge for coal mines, using a 42-inch (1,067 mm) wheelbase and automatic couplers[which?] centered 10 inches (254 mm) above the rail.[39]
TheWashington Metro system in theWashington, D.C. metropolitan area has a gauge of4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm), which is 1/4" or 6mm closer than standard gauge and not considered narrow gauge in the traditional sense and is within the tolerance of standard gauge.
Thousands of narrow-gauge railroads were built or projected in the U.S. The following list includes those common-carrier narrow-gauge railroads which operated into the twentieth century. Note: this list intentionally excludes tourist railroads, amusement parks, loggers, and other non-common carriers.
Some cars and trains from the Maine two-footers are now on display at theMaine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum inPortland, Maine.
In 1957, theEast Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad was revived as a tourist attraction under the common name,Tweetsie Railroad. It currently runs a three-mile (5 km) route nearBlowing Rock, North Carolina. Similarly, theEast Broad Top Railroad was revived in 1960 and runs on three miles of original 1873 trackage.
Significant remnants of the Colorado system remain as tourist attractions which run in the summer, including theCumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad running betweenAntonito, CO in theSan Luis Valley andChama, NM, and theDurango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad running between its namesake towns ofDurango andSilverton in theSan Juan Mountains. Another line is theGeorgetown Loop Railroad betweenGeorgetown, Colorado andSilver Plume, Colorado in central Colorado. Much equipment from the Colorado narrow gauges is on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado. Many pieces of the D&RGW's narrow-gauge equipment were sold off to various other companies upon its abandonment; theGhost Town & Calico Railroad, aheritage railroad atKnott's Berry Farm in California, operates passenger service daily with twoClass C-19 Consolidation (2–8–0) locomotives hauling preserved coaches along with a famedGalloping Goose RGS #3.D&RGW 223, a C-16 steam locomotive, is undergoing restoration at theUtah State Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah.[55]
Much of the equipment from the Westside Lumber Co. found its way totourist lines, including theRoaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad andYosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in California and theMidwest Central Railroad in Iowa. Additional equipment from the west coast narrow gauges is displayed at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR Museum, in Nevada City, CA, Laws Depot Museum, and at the Grizzly Flats Railroad (donated toSouthern California Railway Museum afterWard Kimball's death) along with a Westside Lumber caboose.
TheHuckleberry Railroad inFlint, Michigan began operating in 1976 using a part of an old Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad branch line. The Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad extended the branch line from Flint to Otter Lake in the late 1800s. It later came to be known as the Otter Lake Branch. Eventually the track was extended by another 4.5 miles from Otter Lake to Fostoria, for a total of 19.5 miles from Flint to Fostoria.The Pere Marquette Railway abandoned the Flint to Fostoria branch line in 1932. The Huckleberry Railroad began operations in 1976 on the remaining section of the Flint to Fostoria line when the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission purchased the line and openedCrossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad as a historical tourist attraction.
Meanwhile, in Hawaii, theHawaiian Railway Society on the island of Oahu operates on 6 miles of remainingOahu Railway and Land Company trackage, from the yard in Ewa to Nanakuli. More tracks remain past a burned down bridge, and past the society in Ewa, totaling to 12 miles of remaining OR&L Right of way. On Maui, theLahaina, Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad operates on 6 miles of tracks through former sugar plantation land. This railroad, also known as the "Sugar Cane Train" is the only 3-foot railroad in Hawaii to operate steam locomotives. On Kauai, two narrow-gauge railroads still operate. The 3-foot railroad, theKauai Plantation Railway operates on a 3-mile loop through the Kilohana Estate and Plantation. The second narrow-gauge railroad on Kauai is a 30-inch railway, theGrove Farm Sugar Plantation Museum. They operate many different locomotives, from steam to diesel, on a mile loop through parts of the former Lihue Plantation.
