I know that the island of St. Kitts has a railroad and so does the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Trains has done short articles on the last two.
Lone Geep
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Mention was made of Long Island as having a railroad. But not just the Long Island Rail Road. It also has:
Amtrak, two of the fourf tracks under the E. River and on through to over the Hell Gate Bridge to the Bonx.
New Yersey Tranist, a tenant on Amtrak, using Amtrak's sunnyside yard.
New York and Atlantic, freight hauler, tenant of Long Island Railroad
CXS, owner of one track over the Hell Gate Bridge and connectding with LIRR at Fresh Pond Jc.
Canadian Pacific and Providence and Worcester, tenants with trackage rights on CXS's line.
Cross Harbor Raliroad, car floats that connect NY&A an South Brooklyn at Bay Ridge with CSX and NS at Greenville, NJ.
South Brooklyn, a common carrier whose only customer is its owner, the New York City Transit Authority, once had a thriving friegjt business over streetcar, elelvated, and subway tracks, but now exists to redeuce shipping costs by being the terminating carrier for new car shipments.
The Subway system.
Excerpt from The Railway Age, April 26, 1901
THE RUTLAND'S RECENT EXPANSION.
New railroad track aggregating 41 miles In length was laid in New England in 1900. Of this total, the Rutland road put down almost three-fourths. Including a branch jutting over into Canada, the new Rutland-Canadian division of the Rutland, which was recently finished, measures 47 miles of main line, the distance from Burlington, Vt., to Rouse's Point, N. Y., being 40.80 miles, and from Alburg Junction, Vt., to Noyan Junction, P.Q., 5.80 miles. This additional mileage brings the Rutland into a more important position in the field of traffic between the West and New England and New York than ever before.
The Rutland, formerly leased to the Central Vermont, became independent on May 7, 1896. Some two years and a half later the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain, extending from Ogdensburg to Rouse's Point, N.Y., 118 miles, was bought outright, and subsequently the steamboats of the Ogdensburg Transit Company, which had previously been operated in connection with the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain, were acquired. To operate these steamers a new corporation, called the Rutland Transit Company, was organized, and this company has now a fleet of eight ships plying between Ogdensburg and Chicago, touching at intermediate points.
The acquisition of these properties, as well as the diversion from the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain to the Grand Trunk of traffic formerly routed over the Central Vermont, made advisable the construction of a new line from Burlington, then the northern terminus of the Rutland, to a connection with its Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain division at Rouse's Point. More recently yet the Quebec Southern, extending from Noyan Junction to Sorel on the Saint Lawrence, 88 miles, has come under the control of the Rutland. This road, connected with the Rutland by means of the branch from Alburg Junction to Noyan Junction, will give the Rutland access to Montreal by way of either the Canadian Pacific or the Grand Trunk from Iberville, but for the present through service between Burlington and Montreal is carried on as of old, via the Central Vermont and the Grand Trunk through Essex Junction, Saint Albans, Iberville and Saint Johns.
Construction of the line from Burlington to Rouse's Point, with the branch to Noyan, was effected through the auxiliary Rutland-Canadian Company. Before the building of the Rutland-Canadian the interchange of freight between the main line of the Rutland and the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain was secured via the Central Vermont on the east side of Lake Champlain, or via the Delaware & Hudson on the West. The managers are abundantly satisfied with the economy resulting from the the building of the connecting road of their own. The road traverses the islands of Lake Champlain, and represents the highest standard of railway construction, the lake fills being all rock, the rails of 80-pound section, and the ballast of stone. About one-eighth of the line runs through the lake, and this has necessitated the building of three drawbridges. The crossing from the mainland at Colchester Point to Allen's Point, on South Hero Island, embankment and bridge, is 3 3/4 miles long. The maximum grade going north is 37 feet to the mile, and going south, or in the direction of the heaviest traffic, only 30 feet, and the maximum curvature is 1 degree 30 minutes. The estimated cost of the 40 miles of the Rutland-Canadian is $1,900,000.
henry6 I ponderd the idea of how the name Rock Island came about...then dismissed it and threw the name in to see how many were paying attention anyway. But your attention give me crediblity.
I ponderd the idea of how the name Rock Island came about...then dismissed it and threw the name in to see how many were paying attention anyway. But your attention give me crediblity.
Black Hawk (translated by Antoine LeClaire) spoke of the Rock Island he knew of. Rock Island County was established in 1833. The village of Stephenson was founded as the county seat in 1836. Stephenson and another village merged and incorporated as Rock Island City in 1841.
Well, we never had "island railroad" defined. So a subway in Manhatten, the Staten Island Railroad, the old PRR from NJ to Long Island and the island hopping Key West Extension could all be so construed.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
I don't know that I'd call the Key West Extension an "island railroad" in the strictest sense as it was an extension of a mainland 'road. Interestingly when the hurricane of 1935 wrecked the Extension it was only the parts of the road on the islands that were wiped out, the bridges held fast. Man, they built 'em good in those days!
How about the FEC Key West extension? Went from the tip of Florida down to Key West, crossing numerous islends in the process.
henry6 Murphy Siding: henry6: Long Island, Staten Island. Rock Island. New Foundland. Hawaii. Vancouver. Manhatten. Ireland. I am sure there are probably close to a thousand or more! Rock Island? One not asleep at the switch....
Murphy Siding: henry6: Long Island, Staten Island. Rock Island. New Foundland. Hawaii. Vancouver. Manhatten. Ireland. I am sure there are probably close to a thousand or more! Rock Island?
henry6: Long Island, Staten Island. Rock Island. New Foundland. Hawaii. Vancouver. Manhatten. Ireland. I am sure there are probably close to a thousand or more!
Long Island, Staten Island. Rock Island. New Foundland. Hawaii. Vancouver. Manhatten. Ireland. I am sure there are probably close to a thousand or more!
One not asleep at the switch....
There seems to be doubt about the island of Rock Island. Here's an excerpt from Statutes at Large, Treaties and Proclamations of the United States of America (1869)
Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act of Congress "making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and for other purposes," approved March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to authorize and direct the Secretary of War to order the commencement of work on the bridge over the Mississippi River at Rock Island, to connect the said island with the cities of Davenport and Rock Island : Provided, That the ownership of said bridge shall be and remain in the United States, and the Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company shall have the right of way over said bridge for all purposes of transit across the island and river, upon condition that the said railroad company shall pay to the United States, first, half of the cost of the superstructure of the bridge over the main channel and half the cost of keeping the same in repair, and shall also build at its own cost the bridge over that part of the river which is on the east side of the island of Rock Island, and also the railroad on and across said island of Rock Island; and upon a full compliance with these conditions said railroad company shall have the use of said bridge for the purposes of free transit, but without any claim to the ownership thereof; and said railroad company shall, within six months after said new bridge is ready for use, remove their old bridge from the river and their railroad track from its present location on the island of Rock Island...
Rock Island Arsenal history article
http://www.ria.army.mil/sites/about/history.cfm?dsp=GarrisonHist
Boyd My questions don't need to be picked apart hair by hair. How about "islands with railroads". I'm guessing some of the answers would be interesting to read.
My questions don't need to be picked apart hair by hair. How about "islands with railroads". I'm guessing some of the answers would be interesting to read.
In Canada, Vancouver Island had a wide variety of railway operations. It all started with mining and logging in the 1860's, progressed to having both CP (as the E&N) and CN, then RailAmercia (I think, took over the E&N (CP) line?) and now is down to just an active logging railway for Western Forest Products (ex Canfor). The E&N is in need of significant upgrades so now has limited, if any, operations.
Robert Turner did a very nice book on Vancouver Island Railways, updated a few years back: http://www.sononis.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=31&category_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=186&vmcchk=1&Itemid=186
Hopefully this is more on the lines of what your were looking for?
Isla Grande de Tierra Del Fuego (southernmost railway in the world)
Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Nouvelle Caledonie, Fiji, Samoa,
Rugen (Germany) , Corsica, Sardinia
Most of the Hawaiian Islands had railroads at one time, Maui still does. Cuba, Corsica, Sardinia, Jamaica, Ireland, Sicily, Isle of Wight, Japan, Long Island, Zealand (Denmark), Funen, Falster, Rügen, Usedom. Give me enough time and I could come up with more. Of course Great Britain is also an island.
Whoops! Watch out Henry 6! The wife was looking over my shoulder and wants me to remind everyone it's "Newfoundland", not "New Foundland"! Her mother (who I dearly love) is from Newfoundland, the SENIOR British colony as she puts it. I've been there twice, great place with great people, and the seafood, WOW!
How about Japan? Four (main) islands, many railroads all consolidated into one system, then fragmented again - except that there are now two systems, separated by a 14.5 inch gauge difference.
Okinawa had a railroad, destroyed in 1945 and never rebuilt.
Oahu, and probably other Hawaiian islands.
Sri Lanka
Chuck
henry6 Boyd: My questions don't need to be picked apart hair by hair. How about "islands with railroads". I'm guessing some of the answers would be interesting to read. No, maybe not. But with no defining statement you have left yourself wide open to all kinds of answers, some right on, some speculative, some silly. Are you referring to islands with railroads with no physical connections to "mainland" rails or to islands where there are railroads with no connections. Do you mean common carriers? Rapid transit? Any specific guage or guages? Industrial shortlines? Private industrial or agricultural lines within a private area? Or...?
Boyd: My questions don't need to be picked apart hair by hair. How about "islands with railroads". I'm guessing some of the answers would be interesting to read.
No, maybe not. But with no defining statement you have left yourself wide open to all kinds of answers, some right on, some speculative, some silly. Are you referring to islands with railroads with no physical connections to "mainland" rails or to islands where there are railroads with no connections. Do you mean common carriers? Rapid transit? Any specific guage or guages? Industrial shortlines? Private industrial or agricultural lines within a private area? Or...?
Sigh.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Murphy Siding henry6: Long Island, Staten Island. Rock Island. New Foundland. Hawaii. Vancouver. Manhatten. Ireland. I am sure there are probably close to a thousand or more! Rock Island?
henry6 Long Island, Staten Island. Rock Island. New Foundland. Hawaii. Vancouver. Manhatten. Ireland. I am sure there are probably close to a thousand or more!
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
What about the obvious? Sodor
And then there are the 'island' railroads on the continents that can be reached only by ferry. Long Island, Washington, was an example. The cars had to be ferryied across the river from Astoria to Megler.
Atlantic Terminal in New York City is served by ferry only. But then Long Island is an island, so maybe it doesn't count.
Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts (both 3 ft. gauge); also, Mount Desert Isle (Cadillac Mountain/ Bar Harbor area), Maine.
- Paul North.
Iceland! No, I don't think there is a railroad on Iceland. But how about Madagascar? Not sure of that one either. Austrailia, by the way, is too big to be an island thus we call it a contenent.
Ulrich "...England...".
"...England...".
New Zealand (both North and South Islands) Australia, Tasmania?
Does the advent of the "CHUNNEL" change Great Britain as an Island?
Then there is also Ireland....
How about Iceland????
England..
cacole Your question has too many possible answers, and needs to be narrowed down to a more specific type of railroad. Privately owned? Government owned? Military? Industrial? Gauge? Time frame? .
Your question has too many possible answers, and needs to be narrowed down to a more specific type of railroad. Privately owned? Government owned? Military? Industrial? Gauge? Time frame?
.
Most definitely. Define "island" then define "railroad". Wholly and only on a given island, stand alone railroad, part or branch of a railroad, private or common carrier, It is so broad and so vague that there are millions of answers...even Rock Island could fit!
Your original question brings up several other questions. During World War II many small Pacific islands had temporary military railroads built by both the Japanese and U.S. military, so do these count? If they do, then practically every small island or coral atoll that was ever occupied by Japanese and Allied forces throughout the Pacific could be listed as having a railroad.
Okinawa had a railroad until the end of WWII.
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