Burma Mines Railway
The Burma Mines Railway is a 2ft/610mm narrow gauge(NG) railway in Burma (now Myanmar) for the transportation of locally mined silver and lead ore to a smelter at Namtu.
Originally privately owned by the Burma Mines, Railway and Smelting Co Ltd.
The line runs from Namyao, on the Mandalay-Lashio Branch Railway of Burma Railway (now Myanmar Railways), via Namtu to Bawdwin and is 80 kilometres (50 miles) long.
History
The Burma Mines, Railway and Smelting Co Ltd was founded in March 1906 and the construction of the railway started in 1907, to reach the Tiger Camp mining area in 1908, with a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) extension to the Bawdwin mines and included a Z-reverse at Wallah Gorge, just before Tiger Camp, which was later replaced by a spiral. [1]
The railway's headquarters and workshops were built in Namtu. In 1914 the connection with the metre gauge Burma Railways was moved from Manpwe to Namyao, a short distance to the east.
After the First World War, the local Burma Corporation Ltd took over operations and built an electrified underground railway at Tiger Camp and 100 hopper cars were ordered from the American Pressed Steel Car Company.
In the 1930s the line experienced its peak traffic. Steam was largely replaced in the 1970s and 1980s but today two steam locos remain in working order.
External Links
- "Burma Mines Railway" Wikipedia