It operated around 1885-1889 near Bala-Ischem [de], 12 km (7.5 mi) southeast of Balkanabat in Turkestan (historical name for a part of today's Turkmenistan and six other states).

During the construction of the 5 ft (1,524 mm) broad-gauge railway from Mikhailovsk to Kysyl-Arwat (now Serdar), the engineers and construction workers used the portable Decauville railway with a length of 100 km (62 mi), which was powered by two small oil-fired Decauville steam locomotives.

As a result of this discovery, the Decauville railway was moved to Naphtha Hill (Neftjanaja Gora).

[1] Kyrgyz Horses were used, which could haul about 800 to 1,000 kg (1,800 to 2,200 lb) per working day over a distance of 40 km (25 mi).

[12] Today, a shorter broad-gauge line runs straight from Balkanabat to Uzboý on Naphtha Hill (also known until 1939 as Neftedag or gora Neftjanaja in Turkmen language, i.e. literally Naphtha or Petrol Hill, and until 2003 as imeni 26 Bakinskich Kommissarow in Russian).

[1] On the first 5 kilometres (3 mi) behind the station, the route led over a flat steppe area consisting of prehistoric clay mixed with sand, in which numerous round-cut stones, mostly less than the size of hazelnuts, are embedded.

From the fifth kilometre (third mile) onwards, the route led through brown hills consisting of clay layers with dense horizontal stratification.

These formations are probably sediments from the nearby old riverbed of the Usboj, to which the section shortly afterwards led down without any noticeable difference in level.

[1] From the 24th kilometre (15th mile) on, dunes and drifting sand began to form, they continued and multiplied the closer one came to Naphtha Hill.

It flowed into a round, boiling swamp with a diameter of 1 m (3.3 ft) and abundant salt deposits all around the walls.

[1] In Turkestan, two oil-fired Decauville steam locomotives were used on the track material of the constructor's railway, which was subsequently reused to build the horse-drawn tramway.