Light railway

"[2] Break of gauge now became an important factor, and there was much concern over whether this would become an additional cost for the transshipment of goods,[3] or whether this was over-emphasised compared to the amount of warehousing and handling needed anyway.

In the United States, "light railway" generally refers to an urban or interurban rail system, which historically would correspond to a streetcar network.

Urban sprawl combined with higher fuel prices has caused an increase in popularity of these light rail systems in recent decades.

[5] That act, though, gives only a vague description; a better one is found from John Charles MacKay in the same year:[5][6] "A light railway is one constructed with lighter rails and structures, running at a slower speed, with poorer accommodation for passengers and less facility for freight.

"[5] These terms are not pejorative, they simply recognise that the standards of main-line heavy railways are not needed in all situations.

[5] The term is also used more generally[dubious – discuss] of any lightly built railway with limited traffic, often controlled locally and running unusual or older rolling stock.

Queensland adopted a narrow gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) in order to make construction of lines lighter and thus cheaper, though this initiated a break-of-gauge with other states.

New South Wales resisted calls to introduce narrow gauge, but did adopt pioneer lines with 30 kg/m (60.5 lb/yd) rails to reduce costs without the need for breaks-of-gauge.

There were a significant number of small and isolated mining and timber railway built to a variety of gauges and improvised standards.

There are still a large number of sugar cane tramways built to a common 610 mm (2 ft) gauge, and sharing research and development into advanced features such as concrete sleepers, tamping machines, remotely controlled brake vans, and the like.