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Spalding Railway
The Spalding railway was a German narrow gauge railway system invented, patented and developed by Heinrich Andreas Spalding in 1884 for forestry and agriculture applications. It was similar to the Decauville railway, which had been invented and patented in France eight years earlier. History The entrepreneur Heinrich Spalding from Glewitz in Western Pomerania was the first German industrialist, who produced in 1884 a narrow-gauge tramway at his own risk for the transport of logs and firewood in the royal Prussian forest Grimnitzsee, Grimnitz in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The implementation this tramway between two felling sites and the nearest navigable water at Werbellinsee, Lake Werbellin, resulted in cost savings of 11,387 marks during the transport of 8,536 m³ of pine and firewood over an average distance of . The costs for providing the tramway amounted to 47,000 Marks, so that the railway system should have paid off in four years. The German Emperor William I, Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narrow Gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . 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 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 Aust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |