Sone Causeway Construction Railway

Sone Causeway Construction Railway

The Sone Causeway was built as part of the Grand Trunk Road in the Rohtas District, which had been constructed over the River Sone (see Spelling Note) between 1860 and 1863 (resuming the work that had been suspended since 1857).

The Public Works Department Engineer of the project constructed a 'rough and temporary tramway' based on the non-standard 4 ft 0in gauge (see Gauge Note). The rails were made from spare angle iron, the sleepers from common jungle wood and the trucks, with solid hard wood wheels, were wood framed with a few rough planks. The trucks were drawn by a pair of bullocks with a rough yoke 8 feet long, which allowed the animals to walk outside the sleepers .

The 1862 report stated the line had been working for three months across the loose sand of the Sone riverbed and was a 'decided success'. It is assumed that the system was lifted when the project was finished. However it is interesting to note that this unusal 4ft gauge was adopted on the Sone Canal Construction Railway/Tramway some five years later .

Spelling Note - River Sone

The spelling used is as given in the various contemporary reports. However there are variants:-

• “History of the East Indian Railway", Huddlestone, 1906", states ‘River Soane’
• "Grace’s Guide", quoting a 1856 report, uses the spelling ‘River Soane’
• "Imperial Gazetteer of India" names the river as The ‘River Son’ as a tributary of the River Ganges . We normally take the Imperial Gazetteer of India as the definitive spelling but, in this instance, it is clear that other contemporary sources are more representative.
• ”Wikipedia” uses the spelling ‘Son River’ with alternative ‘Sone River’ .

Gauge Note

The 4ft 0in Gauge specified is most unusual and we have classfied this as a Unique Rail Gauge. The only other example of this gauge is the Nalhati-Azimganj Railway, the original name for the Indian Branch Railway.