Abraham Fitzgibbon
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Abraham Fitzgibbon
OR:
Abraham Fitzgibbon on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Abraham 'Abram' Fitzgibbon (23 January 1823 – 4 April 1887) was an Irish-born railroad engineer and a pioneer for narrow-gauge railways.


Career

In the early 1860s, Fitzgibbon was working at
Dun Mountain Railway The Dun Mountain Railway was a privately owned and operated narrow gauge, long horse-drawn tramway from chromite mines in the vicinity of Duppa Lode on the eastern slopes of Wooded Peak to Nelson port in the Tasman District of New Zealand's ...
in Nelson, New Zealand, a horse-drawn line upon which he worked from 1860 ( gauge) Fitzgibbon arrived in the colony of
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
in June 1863. He was appointed first chief engineer of
Queensland Railways Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
after a rise through the ranks in the early stages of the railway department development. The first operations of the Queensland Railways opened in 1865. There was debate regarding the choice of gauge, versus . It is claimed that Fitzgibbon said that the narrow gauge would be sufficient to last 25 or 30 years and was cheaper. Despite opposition from contemporaries, he successfully advocated for the use of
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 structu ...
or track in Australia. By 1867, the controversies included the termination of Fitzgibbon's contract.


Death and legacy

Fitzgibbon died on 4 April 1887 at Moorside, Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, England. The Fitzgibbon suburb of
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
is named after Abraham Fitzgibbon. Queensland railways continue to be gauge to the present day.


See also

*
Three foot six inch gauge railways 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 190 ...
Other narrow gauge pioneers in order of influence: *
Carl Abraham Pihl Carl Abraham Pihl (16 January 1825 – 14 September 1897) was a Norwegian civil engineer and director of the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) from 1865 until his death. Pihl was one of the main architects of the use of narrow-gauge railways in No ...
(1825–1897) known for the Norwegian Railways opened 1863 ; *
Robert Fairlie Robert Francis Fairlie (either March 1831 or 5 April 1830, in Glasgow – 31 July 1885, in London) was a Scottish-born railway engineer. Early life Fairlie was born in Glasgow, the son of T. Archibald Fairlie (an engineer) and Margaret Fairlie ...
(1831-1885) known for the
Fairlie locomotive A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended (a double Fairlie) or single ended (a single Fairlie). Fairlies are most famously associated with the Ffestiniog Rai ...
on
Festiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a heritage railway based on narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park. The railway is roughly long an ...
introduced about 1865. gauge. * Thomas Hall (1823-1889) known for the
Namaqualand Railway The Namaqualand Railway was a narrow gauge railway operating between Port Nolloth and O'okiep in the Namaqualand region of the former Cape Colony in South Africa. It was originally a mule-drawn railway built to provide an outlet for the copper ...
built 1868 ; gauge *
Paul Decauville Paul Decauville (1846–1922) was a French engineer and businessman. He was also mayor of Evry-Petit Bourg and senator from Seine-et-Oise. He is the founder of a manufacturing company that bears his name (Decauville, established in 1875), pro ...
(1846–1922) known for the
Decauville Decauville () was a manufacturing company which was founded by Paul Decauville (1846–1922), a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow gauge track fastened to stee ...
system introduced 1875 *
Everard Calthrop Everard Richard Calthrop (3 March 1857 – 30 March 1927) was a British railway engineer and inventor. Calthrop was a notable promoter and builder of narrow-gauge railways, especially of narrow gauge, and was especially prominent in India. His ...
(1857–1927) known for the
Barsi Light Railway Barsi Light Railway (BLR) was a long, narrow-gauge railway between Miraj and Latur in the state of Maharashtra in India. It was the brainchild of British engineer Everard Calthrop, and regarded as having revolutionised narrow-gauge ...
opened 1897 ; gauge.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgibbon, Abraham 1823 births 1887 deaths Australian engineers Australian people in rail transport Rail transport in Queensland Railway commissioners of Queensland