Imaguan Government Railways

Imaguan Government Railways

File:IGRlogo.png
Reporting mark	IGR
Locale	Imagua
Dates of operation	1867–1981
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Headquarters	Cuanstad, Imagua and the Assimas

Imaguan Government Railways (Vespasian: Ferrovie del governo imaguano) was the sole railway operator on the island of Imagua, operation from 1867 until its closure in 1981.

Established to operate Imagua's first rail line by the colonial government in 1859, its first line opened in December 1867. Over the next few decades, ridership and freight transport increased, necessitating the expansion of the rail network, with new primary lines opening in 1877 and in 1896, while extensions to both primary lines and the opening of branch lines helped connect much of the island. However, the expansion projects ceased with the outbreak of the Great War.

After the end of the Great War, and the Solarian War, investment in the railways dried up, while investment increased on the nation's road transport, while the narrow gauge system hampered the efficiency of the railway network, which led to the closure of first passenger services beginning in the 1950s, and then freight services in the 1960s. The rail network was ultimately shut down in 1981.

History

Establishment

First train to Lundholm, 1877

Since the first factories opened in Cuanstad in the early nineteenth century, there were calls from owners of sugar plantations in the Glen Valley to build a rail line from Cuanstad to go up the valley in order to help deliver their crops to market faster. However, the fact that there were no natural resources like coal hampered efforts to establish a rail line, while the geography of the island meant that it would be too expensive to have a standard gauge line.

In 1859, Governor (TBD) ordered the construction of a rail line down the Glen Valley to connect Cuanstad with Altaithe. As a way to save costs, he ordered that the line be built with a gauge of two feet, as it was judged to be the narrowest "efficient" gauge that can handle exports of sugarcane and nutmeg while at the same time accommodating the Imaguan geography. The loading gauge was to be set with a width of the train being 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 metres), a height of 5 feet 7.5 inches (1.72 metres), and the length of the carriages to be exactly thirty-six feet (10.98 metres).

Over the next eight years, labourers built the rail line and its associated infrastructure: this would require the construction of bridges across the rivers, levelling natural features that stood in the way of the rail line while going around those that could not easily be levelled.

On 21 December, 1867, the Glen Valley Line was opened, with six railway stations, connecting Altaithe with Cuanstad. This meant that for the first time, there was a railway line on the island of Imagua.

In its first year, the rail line helped increase production of sugarcane and nutmeg in the Glen Valley, with yields increasing by sixty percent, while rich people started moving to Altaithe and other settlements along the line, with around 100,000 passengers using the line.

This success spurred the colonial government to build a second line along the southern coast of the island to connect Bellmare to Bronstad in 1872. However, this meant that the railyards at Cuanstad had to be redesigned in order to ensure that trains can easily go along both routes. Construction took less time than for the Glen Valley line, and the Southern Line was opened in 1877.

Golden age

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Imaguan Government Railway route map, 1925

With the opening of the Southern Line, branch lines began to open, with the Gormsey Spur opening in 1879, and the Sanlow Spur opening in 1882.

As the spurs were opening, the colonial government decided in 1886 to split the Southern Line in two, with the section from Cuanstad to Bellmare to maintain that moniker, while the section from Bronstad to Cuanstad would be given the moniker of the Western Line, with plans to expand the Western Line to Nua Taois. Construction on this extension began in 1887.

In 1889, as construction was proceeding on the Western Line extension to Nua Taois, the colonial authorities approved a request to extend the Glen Valley Line to New Burdale, as sugar producers and other farmers in the upper Glen Valley wanted similar benefits to those living in the lower Glen Valley.

By June 1893, the Glen Valley line was completed up to New Burdale, while in January 1896, the Western Line extension was completed to Nua Taois, allowing passengers and freight to more easily access northern Imagua from the south, and vice-versa. In 1902, the Wensley Spur was opened to the public.

In 1919, Imaguan Government Railways began a major expansion to the Glen Valley Line, with the intention to extend the line from New Burdale to Saint-André in Saint Hubert's, which was meant to provide Imagua with a true "coast-to-coast" line. By 1924, the first phase of the extension was opened, connecting it to Westgate, as well as a branch line to Wuburuku.

However, the golden age of Imaguan Government Railways came to an end in 1926 when the Great War put an end to any expansion of the network, as all effort was put into defending Imagua and the Assimas from foreign attack.

Decline

A train going through Richmond, 1939

Following the end of the Great War, the Imaguan Government Railways initially planned to resume construction on their expansion, but with the outbreak of the Solarian War, these plans were put to a halt. By the conclusion of the Solarian War, the Imaguan government was more interested in investing in the nation's road infrastructure, while the adoption of standardised shipping containers made it difficult for the rail line to accomodate them without changing the loading gauge.

These two factors meant that freight switched rather quickly to lorries: while in 1940, only 15% of freight transport on the island of Imagua was transported by lorry, by 1950, it rose to 75%, and by 1960 was at 95%. As well, with the development of Imagua's road network, passenger volumes declined from a peak of 1.8 million passengers in 1945 to 315,305 passengers in 1955.

Thus, in 1957, the Imaguan government closed all branch lines, leaving only the three primary rail lines in service. In April 1958, due to declining passenger usage, all passenger services on the Western Line were discontinued.

During the 1960s and 1970s, government policy led to the neglect of the Imaguan railway network, as the governments, both Democratic Labour and SDP focused on maintaining the Imaguan Maritime Service, as well as investing in other public goods. This meant that the conditions on the "toy railway" deteriorated, which helped reduce both passenger and freight use.

By 1969, the Western Line was shuttered altogether, as investigations noted that some of the bridges could no longer support trains of "any weight." In 1971, the Southern Line ceased all passenger operations, with freight services on the Southern Line being terminated in 1976, leaving only the Glen Valley line in operation.

Thus, by the late 1970s, it was clear that the days of Imagua's railway network were numbered, as the amount of freight and passengers transported on the Glen Valley line were minuscule: by 1980, the total ridership was only 9,125 passengers, as the railway was seen as slow and not all that useful, with virtually no commuters regularly using the line.

As a result, when Anthony Brockett's government presented its 1981 budget, one of the government agencies cut was the Imaguan Government Railways, as it was seen as a "total loss," as the last time it made a profit was in 1949.

The last freight train departed Cuanstad on 27 March, 1981, with a train carrying sugarcane arriving in Cuanstad for the sugarcane to be processed. The last passenger train departed Cuanstad on 31 March, 1981 for Altaithe at 5:25 pm, arrived in Altaithe at 6:30 pm, and at New Burdale at 7:25 pm, before turning around to return to Cuanstad, with the train returning to Cuanstad at 10:06 pm.

After the final scheduled journeys, the rail network was dismantled in its entirety, with the exception of a small section between Newstead and New Burdale, which today serves as a heritage railway. All locomotives and cars were sold, either to be reused in other countries, to be displayed at museums, or else sold for scrap.

Routes

Imaguan Government Railways operated three primary routes at its peak, which were:

• Glen Valley Line, which ran from New Burdale to Cuanstad, and had twelve stations, excluding:
  • Sanlow Spur, which ran from Sanlow to Conington, serving Sanlow, O'Byrne, and Conington
  • Wuburuku Spur, which ran from Wuburuku to New Burdale, serving Wuburuku, Nearon, and New Burdale
  • Saint-Andre Line, which was only completed from Westgate to New Burdale, serving Westgate, Forsman Forks, Redwater, Sedgewick, and New Burdale
• Western Line, which ran from Nua Taois to Cuanstad, and had twenty-six stations, excluding:
  • Wensley Spur, which ran from Wensley to Port Baldwin, serving Wensley, Saint Richards, Alfsard, Chesterfield, and Port Baldwin
• Southern Line, which ran from Bellmare to Cuanstad, and had twenty stations, excluding:
  • Gormsey Spur, which ran from Gormsey to Malmgren

At its peak in 1924, Imaguan Government Railways operated sixty-nine stations, with ten stations planned to be built in the planned extension to Saint-André by 1930. However, the Great War and the Solarian War put an end to the project, while increased investments in road and boat infrastructure meant that passenger services were no longer viable.