On the Narrow Gauge
Today the words Narrow Gauge bring to mind those little railways in North Wales which have been rescued from oblivion by enthusiasts to give pleasure to themselves and many thousands of holiday-makers every year. Yet how many of those who throng the streets and beaches of Towyn or Portmadoc recall or even know that it was Madoc's Port and its railway that influenced communications throughout the world? But this is true, for a hundred years ago the impossible was done, and steam engines worked for the first time on so narrow a gauge.
In this book Mr Whitehouse has told the story of the rise and fall of the narrow-gauge rail-ways of these Islands in a series of interesting and exciting vignettes from 1863 to 1963. He begins with the arrival of steam on the Festiniog and follows through to the peak period of sixty years ago, when the valleys and hills echoed to the voices of diminutive steam locomotives and their railways which were to play a vital part in the development of the countryside. Then came the decline, due largely to the intervention of the motor car and the motor bus-one by one the little lines died and became derelict, until today the steam engine tends to be reviled as dirty and uneconomic.
The last survivors here were the Irish lines and the section devoted to them tells of their birth, life and in particular of their final years. Even in the 1950s their railways were unique and independently minded-they did not die with-out a fight. There was the Cavan & Leitrim which was kept alive by carrying coal from the only commercial mine in Eire. The West Clare of Are ye Right there Michael' fame. The Tralee & Dingle with its one monthly train. The County Donegal which fought on until 1960. All are now gone, for the age of modernisation is here.
In spite of this, or may be because of it, there has been an upsurge of interest in railways as a hobby, where the narrow-gauge railway has its own share of devotees. The English have an affinity for lost causes and it seems that as an institution declines their interest in it develops in an inverse ratio; so it has been with the narrow-gauge railway, which in any case had about it an aura with a peculiar fascination of its own. It was this which led to the Talyllyn Railway, in North Wales, arising Phoenix-like in 1951, supported by enthusiasts who had determination if they had little else. Mr Whitehouse (who has been the Secretary of the Talyllyn Railway since that date, and who is a Vice-President of the Festiniog Railway) tells of the joys and problems of operating these lines today, when trains run for one reason only-that a sufficient number of people want them to.
But whilst the narrow-gauge (bar the enthusiast lines and the British Railways-owned Vale of Rheidol) has died here, it is still just alive on the Continent of Europe, where its character is altogether different. Mr Whitehouse takes us with him to France, Switzerland and Austria for glimpses of what can be seen there-powerful Mallet tanks, the snow fiend in winter, the Glacier Express, and the little railways that run through the hills and woods. He also takes his readers on an exciting visit to Yugoslavia and describes the experiences of the B.B.C. team which visited Sarajevo and Dubrovnik to get material for the Railway Roundabout programme.
This book is a worthy successor to Mr White-house's other works on the same subject, and it is excellently illustrated with many unique and original photographs.
Hardback with dust jacket, 16x23cm, 148 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good/Very Good with a little age-related discolouration to EP
ISBN: 9780999010525
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Updated: 15 September 2025