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| Editor | Bruce Belbin |
|---|---|
| Categories | Rail transport |
| Frequency | Bimonthly |
| First issue | June 1960 |
| Company | Light Railway Research Society of Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Based in | Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Victoria [1] |
| Website | www.lrrsa.org.au |
| ISSN | 0727-8101 |
Light Railways is a magazine produced by the Light Railway Research Society of Australia (LRRSA). The subtitle is "Australia's Magazine of Industrial and Narrow Gauge Railways".
The LRRSA started in the 1961 to foster interest in specialty railways such as for industry and tourism. As it originated in Victoria, much of its focus was at first on the timber tramways and other industrial railways of that state. Light Railways is credited as the most comprehensive source for research and history of timber tramways, the sawmilling industry and other light rail-using industries for the period 1850 to 1950, [2] It has been credited with publishing the most thorough research on light railways in not just Australia, but worldwide. [3]
The genesis of Light Railways magazine dates from 1960 when the founder of LRRSA, Frank Stamford, began printing and distributing among a small group of friends a duplicated "Shenley Valley Railway Quarterly Review". It gradually began to specialise in light railways, and became the "VLRRS Quarterly Review" in 1961. In 1963, it became "Light Railways", appearing in magazine format, but still using duplicated printing. Offset printing came in 1968 and from 1973 it appeared as a 6.5-by-9-inch (165 mm × 229 mm) magazine with photographs on the front cover, continuing as a quarterly.
Up until 1977, Light Railways contained brief news items as well as historical articles. In November 1977, a bi-monthly news publication, Light Railway News, was launched, containing research and site notes and news of industrial, heritage and tourist railways. This settled down into a simple folded A4 format and continued for 120 issues as a companion publication to "Light Railways" until 1997. [4]
At this point, LRRSA Council decided upon a bold new departure to reinvigorate the Society. It would involve combining "Light Railways" and "Light Railway News" into a new bi-monthly "Light Railways" magazine, in A4 format and with ample use of colour. This magazine would not only be available on subscription but would also be distributed through newsagencies throughout Australia. A new editorial team of Bruce Belbin, Bob McKillop and John Browning was put together and the new format magazine began with No.139 in February 1998.
Light Railways aims to document the history of Australia's industrial and private railways and also the government lines that were built to a narrower gauge than that adopted as "standard" in each state. Thus the 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge lines of Victoria, the 2 ft (610 mm) gauge Innisfail Tramway in Queensland, and Zeehan & NE Dundas line in Tasmania have all featured. Articles and photographs constitute a comprehensive archive of Australia's industrial and narrow gauge railway history. Production, editorial and research standards are high.
Coverage extends to lines in surrounding countries where Australian economic and political influence prevailed, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the phosphate islands of the Pacific.
A range of well-researched articles remains the core content of the magazine. Industrial Railway News reports cover Australia's still existing industrial railways and feature Queensland sugar cane railways and the Pilbara iron ore railways as well as other remaining lines. Heritage and Tourist reports at the end of each issue constitute a running record of details that are otherwise difficult to locate. Topics include museums, railways and heritage issues. Research assists readers with historical research projects and features site visits and tours. Letters to the Editor are a lively source of information and discussion while Book Reviews aim to cover all significant relevant publications from Australia or overseas.
The LRRSA also has its meetings in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney notified in the magazine, as well as a range of coming events on tourist and heritage railways. It is distributed to LRRSA members by a Society team based in Melbourne and to newsagents by Gordon & Gotch. [5]
A listing of past articles can be found by following the link from "Publications" [6] All past issues can be purchased in either hard copy or as downloadable .pdf files from the web. [7]
A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than 1,435 mmstandard gauge. Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm and 1,067 mm.
A heritage railway or heritage railroad is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period in the history of rail transport.
A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow lower costs of operation, at the price of lower vehicle capacity.
The first railway in colonial South Australia was a line from the port of Goolwa on the River Murray to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot, which first operated in December 1853, before its completion in May 1854.
There were more than a thousand British narrow-gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways. Many notable events in British railway history happened on narrow-gauge railways including the first use of steam locomotives, the first public railway and the first preserved railway.
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.
Rail transport in Australia involves a number of narrow-gauge railways. In some states they formed the core statewide network, but in the others they were either a few government branch lines, or privately owned and operated branch lines, often for mining, logging or industrial use.
The Wee Georgie Wood Railway is a 2 ft narrow gauge tourist tramway running from Tullah, on a 1.9 km (1.2 mi) short track by the edge of Lake Rosebery in the West Coast Municipality of Tasmania.
The National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, South Australia is the largest railway museum in Australia. More than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways and their successor, Australian National, are displayed at its 3.5 hectares site. A very large archival collection of photographs of those railways and records created by them is also managed by the museum. The museum is operated with a large number of volunteers.
The Powelltown tramway was a 3 ft narrow gauge tramway that operated between Powelltown and Yarra Junction, Victoria, Australia, between 1913 and 1945.
The Silverton Tramway was a 58-kilometre-long 1,067 mm railway line running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970, it served the mines in Broken Hill, and formed the link between the 1,435 mmstandard gauge New South Wales Government Railways and the narrow gauge South Australian Railways lines. It was owned and operated by the Silverton Tramway Company (STC).
The Sandfly Colliery Tramway was a 20 km (12 mi), 2 ft narrow gauge tramway linking the Kaoota Mine to Margate, Tasmania. Constructed in 1905–06, the Tramway climbed 457 m (1,499 ft) above sea level and crossed ten bridges. After coal mining ceased the tramway was used to transport logs, fruit and passengers. The line was lifted and abandoned in 1922 after bushfires destroyed several bridges along the line. Currently, 6 km (3.7 mi) of the old track is used as cycling/walking tracks, while the remainder of the old line is on private property.
Europe inherited a diversity of rail gauges. Extensive narrow-gauge railway networks exist in Spain, Central Europe and Southeastern Europe.
Asia has many narrow-gauge railways. The railways of Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines are predominantly 1,067 mm narrow gauge. Those in mainland Southeast Asia, which includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia, are predominantly metre gauge. The proposed ASEAN Railway would be standard or dual gauge, using metre- and standard-gauge regional railway networks and linking Singapore through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to China's standard-gauge rail network. In Western Asia, Jordan uses 1,050 mm narrow gauge.
Numerous narrow-gauge railway lines were built in Oceania, most in 3 ft 6 in, 2 ft 6 in and 2 ft track gauge.
Two foot and 600 mm gauge railways are narrow gauge railways with track gauges of 2 ft and 600 mm, respectively. Railways with similar, less common track gauges, such as 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in and 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in, are grouped with 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways.
Norman Houghton is a historian and archivist in Geelong, Victoria, who has published more than 40 books, many focusing on timber tramways and sawmills of the Otway and Wombat Forests of Western Victoria, Australia. Most of his works have been self-published, while he has provided numerous articles to the newsletter and journal of the Light Railway Research Society of Australia.
The Light Railway Research Society of Australia (LRRSA) is an amateur research society that focuses on narrow gauge railways, tramways, and industrial railways in Australia and places where Australian economic interests were strong, such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the phosphate islands of the Pacific.
This tabulation is for periodicals which do not have their own articles.