Maine Two-foot Railroads

[Lone Cat]

Meowwwwwwwwwwwwwww~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHd5c5nc_UI

Maine (along with neighbouring states in New England region) is a state in the U.S. that once has a network of 2-foot (or 60 centemetres) narrow gauge railways. The origin actually came from the Old World... In Wales. UK. there were mining railroad called Ffestiniog line.. originally a gravity and horsedrawn mining tramway designed to ship roofing slate from mines to the waterways. This 2-foot gauge line is also the birthplace of Double Fairlie locomotives! (And these engines still running there!), sometimes in 1860s, a New Englander went there to see how efficient this system really is. He took what he hearned from Ffestiniog back to the U.S. and apply the 2-footers track somewhere in Maine. While his railroad doesn't last past 9 months/years, the two footers concept were repeated with a considerable success. though by the Victorian era (especially the 1870s i think), Maine (And its neighbours) had a network of two feet narrow gauge railroads owned by different companies, in the same time however, this lil tramways concept was less poppular outside Maine (or New England in general). Wild west railroads (which usually serves gold rushers and mines .. or even belonged to the mines themselves) limited the use of 2 ft. gauge in mines... the three feet gauge was more preferred for a narrow gauge (DRG and RGS were the big operators) for an obivious reasons (though the standard gauge still do better jobs there in these rought terrains of the wild wests). I don't know why the two-feet gauge system survived and thrive in Maine/New England for at least 30 years. last 'till the Automobile Revolution where trucks do the hauling jobs better (faster and safer, but ... less economical :P ) than these lil trains did. In the footage these two footers were the lifeline of many villages, hamlets, and townships in the state. some even did the job of Song Taew trucks seen in Thailand! look at a footage of a forney hauling one-car commuter train!!!! and these lil trains moved at the speeds of the 30s autos, and the track can even support full-sized cars!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFNJaJyQYQ
^ Actual Ffestiniog fairlie. cars seen in Maine two footers were a bit larger !!!

Also didn't anyon consider creating scenarios for these lil trains? meow~