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A narrow gauge railroad is technically defined as any line where the distance between the rails is less than 4 feet eight and a half inches, commonly referred to as "standard gauge." Between roughly 1870 and 1885, "narrow gauge fever" swept the nation under the pretenses that the smaller equipment cost less, construction requirements were less stringent, and therefore, were easier to finance and build. By far, the most common of these narrow gauges was 36 inch, or rather, 3-foot gauge. Though there were numerous private railroads and logging companies that operated their own narrow gauge railroads, far fewer actually acted as "common carriers," or in essence, federally-regulated railways that were allowed to serve the public at large. Below is a list of these narrow gauge common carriers that ran in the Carolinas: |
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North Carolina Narrow Gauge Railroads |
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South Carolina Narrow Gauge Railroads |
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