Narrow Gauge Tourist Railroads

Over the years I have enjoyed traveling on many scenic tourist railroads such as the Napa Valley and Algoma (Agawa Canyon) Railroads. However a most enjoyable recent trip on the scenic and historic White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&WR) narrow gauge railroad, led me to try and find out if there were any more narrow gauge railroads currently in operation in North America.

Narrow gauge railroads are built to a track gauge that is significantly less than the standard gauge, which was 4 ft 8.5 inches or 1435 mm between the inner sides of the rails. Currently 60% of the world’s railways are built to the standard gauge to allow interoperability

 

and connectivity. Narrow gauge railroads were usually 3 ft 6inches or less with 3 ft being common in North America. Narrow gauge railroads were cheaper to build and operate than standard gauge because they used smaller rolling stock and lighter rails. However the main reason that they became so popular was that they have a much lower radius of curvature that allows routes to be built in mountainous regions that hugged the mountain sides without need for tunnels and bridges. This significantly lowered construction costs for building mining and logging railroads. However with the possible exception of the WP&YR the extra cost of running an incompatible railroad system wiped out the initial savings. I couldn’t find any surviving commercial operations with the exception of the US Gypsum Company’s Plaster City narrow gauge railroad. The remaining live narrow gauge railroads appear to be mainly tourist trains. In my limited research I found only 7 narrow gauge tourist railroads that appeared to be still operating in North America in 2006.

The most northern scenic railroad is the aforementioned White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&YR) railroad that was completed in 1900 to connect the port of Skagway to Whitehorse, Yukon and the Klondike goldfields. The 110 mile narrow gauge railroad survived as a commercial entity until 1982 when the depressed price of metal commodities shut down the last mines in the area. The WP&YR was revived as a tourist railroad in 1988 with the ever increasing cruise ship traffic calling at Skagway, Alaska. See my article on the “White Pass and Yukon Route to the Klondike Gold Rush” and visit www.whitepassrailroad.com/ if you want to learn more about the WP&YR.

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic (C&TS) Railroad is a 64 mile fully operational steam railroad operated by the states of Colorado and New Mexico. This railroad was built in 1880 and has been preserved so that little has changed over the past 126 years when it hauled precious metals as a commercial operation. Now tourists can ride the scenic route into the Conejos high country, seven days a week from May until October. The train is powered by 75-year old and 97-year old steam locomotives and travels 64 scenic miles between Antonito Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. Schedules and fares for the CT&S can be found at www.cumbrestoltec.com/ . I also think that there is a connecting standard gauge scenic railroad that takes tourists from Alamosa, Colorado to Antonito where they can board the C&TS Railroad.

The other Colorado railroad still in operation is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad which was completed in 1882 and used to haul silver and gold ore from mines in the San Juan Mountains. The railroad is located in Durango Colorado in the beautiful Four Corners region and has been hauling passengers and tourists continuously for almost 125 years. Today the railroad operates a year round service and uses rolling stock indigenous to the line. The coal-fired steam-operated locomotives are 1923-25 vintage and are maintained in original condition. Schedules and fares can be found at www.durangotrain.com/ .

Further west in Felton, near Santa Cruz, California the Roaring Camp Railroads operates two lines. The standard gauge railroad carries passengers through the Henry Cowell Redwood State Park to the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk and is a 3 hour round trip. The narrow gauge railroad was built in the 1880’s and used to haul giant redwoods out of the mountains. The steam engines date from 1890 and are among the oldest narrow-gauge steam engines in service today. The steam route travels over trestles, through redwood groves and up a winding route to the summit of Bear Mountain. Round trip time is about 1 hour. Schedules and fares for the Roaring Camp Railroads can be found at www.roaringcamprr.com/ .

The Sierra National Forest south of Yosemite National Park is home to the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. The Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company operated an extensive narrow gauge railroad which was used to harvest and haul logs from 1899 to 1931. A section of the original railroad has been reconstructed to carry tourists. Two large vintage Shay steam locomotives, one built in 1913 and weighing 60 tons and one built in 1928 and weighing 83 tons, have been restored. Additional information can be found at www.ymsprr.com/ .

The East Broad Top Railroad was built from 1872 to 1874 and ran from Mount Union, Pennsylvania to Robertsdale. It was later extended to Woodvale and Alvan. The primary purpose of the narrow gauge railroad was to haul coal from the mines on the Broad Top plateau to the Pennsylvania Railroad in Mount Union. The railroad was shut down in 1956 when coal prices plummeted. Five miles of the narrow gauge line was reopened as a tourist railroad in 1960. It is located in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania and operates as a heritage railway with steam powered 2-8-2 locomotives. Additional information can be found at www.ebtrr.com .

While not on the North American mainland, there is a narrow gauge tourist railroad operating on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. The railroad was originally built to haul sugar cane to the Pioneer Mill in Lahaina. The Lahainan Kaanapali Railroad was created to haul tourists from Lahaina six miles to Puukoli, just north of Kaanapali. The steam train ride has been very popular with tourists and more information can be found at www.sugarcanetrain.com/ .

There are short narrow gauge railroads operating in a large number of theme parks that I haven’t bothered to research. However the 6 described above were all the live narrow gauge railroads that I was able to find. I am sure that there are many more and I would appreciate receiving any information that you could send me at mikemathews@model-train-world.com .



 

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