Keith Ramsey said:
> The remains of a Feldbahn (maker unknown) can be seen on Steep Holm island
> in the Bristol Channel.
>
> The railway was captured during World War I and was installed on the island
> when it was refortified in 1941. It has a gauge of 60cm; on the level
> sections the trucks were pulled by mules, but there is a steep incline where
There are remnants of another very interesting one, 30 cm gauge, made in, I
believe, Hamburg, in Namibia. Apparently there are to be seen even a couple of
engines that were washed away in a flood in the ?Swakop R. gorge near Rossing
Uranium Mine. I have no pictures (mine didn't come out), but if anyone on the
list does, I'd delighted to receive copies off list.
The rails and sleepers (ties, for the US members) were all made out of steel in
one piece, and shipped out in sections (there is no wood in that part of
Namibia).
This one was not only the narrowest gauge "real" railway I have ever seen, but
was also the longest, running from Swakopmund to Windhoek (250 miles or so), and
was built during the earliest days of German colonization before WWI.
Unfortunately, Bernard, I didn't record the maker's name (but it should be
available in any history book about Namibia, and it might give you a clue), and
I don't know whether, being civilian, it was ever called a "Feldbahn".
John
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