Rarawai – Kavanagasau Light Railway

Rarawai – Kavanagasau Light Railway
Passenger train at the Rarawai Mill, 1947
Course of the main line
Route length:	142 miles = 229 km km
Gauge :	610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Legend miles 60 Nabuna 51 Tavua 45 Tagi Tagi 40 Lousa 31 Ba 30th Rarawai Yalalevu Nailaga Tawararau 0 Lautoka Natabua Tovilavila 4th Saweni Esivo Sabeto 14th Natova 24 Navakai Meigunyah Nadi Navo Momi Military Camp 41 Savu Savu Lomawai 51 Natadola Beach , Coral Coast Railway 64 Fijian Resort, Cuvu , Coral Coast Railway 72 Sigatoka 82 Kavanagasau Other train stations: Malolo (Navakai-Kavanagasau) Vatamai Lomaloma Nabuyagiyagi Namaka Military Camp Martins Crossing (near Nadi) Natuatuathoko (near Sigatoka)

The Rarawai – Kavanagasau Light Railway was a 229 kilometers (142 miles) long, narrow gauge railway with a gauge of 2 feet (610 mm) along the northwest and southwest coasts of Viti Levu Island in Fiji .

business

Hudswell-Clarke steam locomotive

The railroad was operated by the Colonial Sugar Refinery Company .

Operations began in December 1914 with two free passenger trains and one freight train per week, which transported pipes for the manganese plants as well as agricultural goods such as potatoes, onions, rice and corn as well as other foodstuffs. Livestock transport began in the early 1950s.

The section from Kavanagasau to Baitiri near Navisabasaba was closed in 2009 due to the significantly lower traffic volume, as sugar cane was increasingly being transported to Lautoka Mill by truck.

Rail vehicles

Rail vehicles

The Fiji steam locomotive (Colonial Sugar Refining Company No. 11) and a two-axle Hudswell-Clarke locomotive with works number 1056 from 1914 (Colonial Sugar Refining Company No. 19) have been preserved on the Statfold Barn Railway .

Sugar factory	No.	Manufacturer	Wheel alignment	drive	Factory no.	Construction year	Status
	1-7	John Fowler	0-6-0T T	steam		1903-1906
Rarawai Mill	First 8, later 10	John Fowler	0-6-2T T	steam	11458	1908	Exhibited on a plinth in front of the factory in 2011 and 2016
	9	John Fowler	0-6-2T T	steam		1910
	10-17	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0	steam		1912-1914
	18th	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0	steam		1915
	19th	Hudswell Clarke	0-4-0ST	steam		1914
	20 & 21	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0	steam		1936
	22nd	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0	steam		1938
	23 & 24	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0	steam		1950
	25th	Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0	steam		1914
	1 & 2	Clyde Engineering	0-6-0	diesel		1957
Lautoka Mill	11		6wDH	diesel			2008 in operation in Lautoka
	21st		6wDH	diesel			2008 in operation on the Nadi Backroad
	22nd		6wDH	diesel			In 2008 in operation on the Sigatoka Bridge
Rarawai Mill	22nd	Hunslet	6wDH	diesel	9274	1987	Operational in 2016 and 2017
Rarawai Mill	24	Baguley-Drewry	0-6-0DH	diesel	3773	1983	Operational as a shunting locomotive in 2017
Rarawai Mill, 2007 at the Penang Mill		Hudswell Clarke	0-6-0DM	diesel	D753	1950	Neglected in 2007 in Penang Mill. Remnants scrapped in 2011.
Rarawai Sugar Mill		Clyde, refurbished by Ontrak Engineering from Sydney	0-6-0DH	diesel			Ready for operation in 2012
Lautoka Mill		Clyde	DHI-71	diesel			2008 ready for operation
Lautoka Mill		Clyde	DHI-71	diesel			2008 ready for operation
Coral Coast Railway	24	simplex		diesel			The Puffing Boto
Coral Coast Railway	38	simplex		diesel			2008 ready for operation

dare

2nd class car and brake car No. 4 with temporarily attached frames for crane transport

Two 2nd class cars and a brake car were built in 1914 by Clyde Engineering in Granville near Sydney in Australia for the Rarawai – Kavanagasau Light Railway. One of the cars is now ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾ partially dismantled on the Ferrymead Two Foot Railway in New Zealand .

Web links

• The Railways of Fiji. The Development of Railways in the South Pacific. In: Railway Wonders of the World.
• Railways of Fiji, Rarawai-Kavanagasau Light Railway, as seen in October 2007
• Peter Hodge: Narrow Gauge In Fiji In: The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. No. 103, October 1960, pp. 21-40. Ed .: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R & LHS).

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Jim Fergusson: Fiji & Pacific Islands Railways, Passenger Stations & Stops. In: railwaystationlists.co.uk. January 20, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2018 (pdf, 298 kB).
2. ^ Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences: Photograph of a brake van, No.4, built for Rarawai-Kavanagasau Light Railway in Fiji . Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
3. ^ Fijian Government: Portion of Kavanagasau / Rarawai tramline closed. 8/7/2009.
4. ↑ Andrew Naylor: Colonial Sugar Refining Co No. 19, Statfold Barn Railway, Sat 8 August 2015. Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST 1056/1914, 2ft gauge. Repatriated from Fiji.
5. ↑ Chris Allen: Statfold Barn Railway - green, red and yellow. The Geographer, No. 382236.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Peter Hodge: Narrow Gauge In Fiji In: The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. No. 103, October 1960, pp. 21-40. Ed .: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R & LHS).
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Photos of the Narrow Gauge Enthusiasts Group on Facebook

Coordinates: 18 ° 8 ′ 27 ″  S , 177 ° 25 ′ 49.5 ″  E