Geezer wrote:
> Bob,
>
> Here are some tidbits that may be of use.
<snipped>
> Some very small gauges were used during WWI in the trenches in
> Europe. You may want to search for information on the trench railways
> / WWI military RRs and their locomotives for ideas. I believe that a
> small gauge military RR was also used during the earlier Second Boer
> War. If you are including 1920 in your modeling period, having a
> returned war surplus loco on the line would be a good story.
A nice idea, Geezer, but the WW1 trench railways in Europe were 60cm
gauge - or 1'11.5" if you prefer imperial measurements! The French
originated the concept using equipment built by Decauville, and all the
other major combatants followed suit, to allow "interchange", for the
want of a better word.
But as I said, the idea is a good one, and prototypical as well, as a
number of surplus US Army 2-footers saw civilian service in the US after
the war.
As for the Boer War, most narrow gauge in "Serth Effrika" in those days
was 610mm/2'. (Yeah, I know, the SAR was narrow gauge too, but they
regarded the 3'6' as "standard"...
In the UK, Woolwich Arsenal had an extensive 18" gauge internal railway,
but I doubt that this would be of interest to Bob, as the locos and
stock were very English in appearance.
All the best,
Mark.