Sha Tau Kok Railway

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Map of alignment of Fan Ling to Sha Tau Kok narrow gauge railway
Sha Tau Kok railway alignment 1915
WG Bagnall built 0-4-4T steam locomotive, used on former Sha Tau Kok Branch Line.

The Sha Tau Kok Railway (Chinese: 沙頭角鐵路) was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, running from Fanling to Sha Tau Kok in the northern New Territories of Hong Kong.[1] It was 11.67 kilometres long and had eight services a day. The time it took to travel from Fanling to Sha Tau Kok was 55 minutes.

History[]

The line began service on 1 April 1912. It was built reusing the narrow gauge works railway tracks and rolling stock previously used to help construct the British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, which had been completed and opened for traffic some 18 months earlier in 1910. For the first four miles from Fanling to a point close to the village of Au Ha the railway was constructed alongside and as part of a new road. From Au Ha to Sha Tau Kok the geography required that the line took its own less easy route, involving gradients as steep as 1:45 and curves of radius down to 150 feet.[2] Some of the old rails and a tunnel can still be traced through the dense foliage of the countryside today.

In 1924 the Hong Kong Government decided to extend the existing motor road from Au Ha to Sha Tau Kok. The line ceased operation on 1 April 1928 as a result of falling patronage and revenues due to competition from motor vehicles using the recently completed Sha Tau Kok Road.

After closure[]

After the line closed in 1928, the two WG Bagnall built locomotives were sold to the North Negros Sugar Company of Iloilo in the Philippines. They were first used to transport cut sugar cane to nearby sugar mills, and later for track maintenance and shunting work. In 1990, they were decommissioned, and in 1995 tere acquired by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and brought back to Hong Kong. One was cosmetically restored and is now on display in the Hong Kong Railway Museum. The second was donated by the Corporation to the Phyllis Rampton Narrow Gauge Railway Trust in 2007. It is now in England for restoration to working condition and may run on the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales.[3]

Stations[]

The short line had the following stations:

When the line closed, Fanling continues to be in service today, and the station building of Hung Leng is preserved.[4]

  • Former Hung Leng Station of the Sha Tau Kok Railway. All other stations of this railway have been demolished.

  • Side view of former Hung Leng Station.

  • Information board at former Hung Leng Station.

References[]

  1. ^ "The Kowloon Canton Railway (British Section) Part 4 – The Early Years (1910 to 1940)". industrialhistoryhk.org. The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  2. ^ Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation: A History, R. J. Phillips, Urban Council Publication
  3. ^ Boyd-Hope, Gary (January 2009). "Rheidol revival". Steam Railway. 358: 91–5.
  4. ^ "專題報道95年歷史沙頭角支線涉保育不力 舊火車站變「垃圾站」". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2019-03-20.

Further reading[]

External links[]

Media related to Sha Tau Kok Railway at Wikimedia Commons

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