My local rail operation

[David Benton]

Goldfields Vintage railway, 27 k.m from my Paeroa, New Zealand, home.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinat ... i#comments

What's your nearest line , working , or vintage?
(We don't normally discuss American railroads in the WW forum , but obviously can for this thread).

[Benny]

I've no many choices....
The nearest (and sole) rails are those of Ferrocarril Central Andino, approximately 3 km from my home.

Ciao

[David Benton]

Thanks Benny. I'm wondering if the next closest for you would be Southern Ecuador , or the Cusco- Maccu Picchu

[johnthefireman]

I suppose the closest railway line of any sort to me is the Kenyan Standard Gauge Phase 2A line westwards from Nairobi. Any time I drive into Nairobi I pass under it about 30 kms from my home.

The closest "vintage" line would probably be the old metre-gauge line. I say "vintage" because we still have three steam locos in (more or less) working condition. 5918 Mount Gelai is a Class 59 Garratt and is currently stopped due to leaking superheater elements, but is repairable. Smaller locos 3020 and 2409 are both operable with minor repairs and maintenance, although we are worried about stuff being nicked off them while they are standing in the main Kenya Railways workshops in Nairobi. They beling to the railway museum, where I am a volunteer. We haven't run steam for a few years now for various reasons, but I'm part of the steam team and am involved whenever they do run. My driver and fireman certification from South Africa is not automatically valid in Kenya, but at least I'm on the footplate helping out whenever I get the chance.

[Benny]

Thanks Benny. I'm wondering if the next closest for you would be Southern Ecuador , or the Cusco- Maccu Picchu

Neither the first nor the second.
The other closest railroad is a steam operated 2ft (I think) railroad that runs inside a park in the Surco district of Lima.
This little known jem is operated by stock coming from closed agricultural systems and, when I will have a little of time, will better relate about it.
In the meantime you can enjoy with it watching various videos on YouTube. The key word for searching is Surcanito, that is the name of one of the locos (the other is Micaela).

Ciao

[Benny]

Thanks Benny. I'm wondering if the next closest for you would be Southern Ecuador , or the Cusco- Maccu Picchu

Neither the first one nor the other.
The second nearest railroad is a 2ft (I think) steam operation inside a park in the Surco district.
This little known jem uses stock from closed agricultural systems and, when will have a little time, I will relate about it.
In the meantime you can enjoy watching the videos on YouTube; the keyword is Surcanito, that is the name of one of the locos (the other is Micaela).

Ciao

[kato]

Closest railway line to me should be the Rheintalbahn at about 500 meters. Definitely not vintage - it gets around 100 passenger trains and 50+ freight trains per day.

Closest vintage operation - steam vintage - is probably the Kuckucksbähnel about 50 km away, which runs steam trains twice a day on sundays for 8 months per year, coming from a railway museum. They mostly use a 1904 built Humboldt C.102 steam engine originally designed for freight shunting in ports and mines and rebuilt with a coaling tender thirty years ago, as well as a 1910 built Prussian T3 steam engine.

[Motorman]

My nearest railway is this, just 10 Minutes walk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Rhi ... ay_Company
Just read the extensive description.
And... that's where I work, too. As a "Motorman".

[David Benton]

thanks Motorman.Do you know the reason for it been narrow gauge, are there lots of sharp curves?

[Motorman]

thanks Motorman.Do you know the reason for it been narrow gauge, are there lots of sharp curves?

Hi David, the system was built in narrow gauge because 1)the costs, and 2) to make an easy connection with the Streetcar systems in Heidelberg and Mannheim possible. Today the narrowgauge doesn't matter anymore.
But to be more precisely, the first line (Mannheim-Weinheim) was built by a firm that was already owner of some local railways, mostly narrow gauge. So the exchange of rolling stock was easier, although the other railways weren't connected with the Mannheim-Weinheim line.
The Firm still exists today, but just a part of the name remains, here is a list of the railway lines that were owned by Herrmann Bachstein: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verkehrsb ... _Bachstein (in German)