Railways with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. The first intercity passenger railway to use 3 ft 6 in was constructed in Norway by Carl Abraham Pihl. From the mid-nineteenth century, the 3 ft 6 in gauge became widespread in the British Empire. In Africa it became known as the Cape gauge as it was adopted as the standard gauge for the Cape Government Railways in 1873, although it had already been established in Australia and New Zealand before that. It was adopted as a standard in New Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Queensland (which has the second largest narrow gauge network in the world) in Australia.

There are approximately 112,000 kilometres (70,000 mi) of 1,067 mm gauge track in the world, which are classified as narrow gauge railways.

1795

One of the first railways to use 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge was the Little Eaton Gangway in England, constructed as a horse-drawn wagonway in 1795. Other 3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways in England and Wales were also built in the early nineteenth century.

1809

The Silkstone Waggonway was opened, connecting the Barnsley Canal to collieries including the Huskar Pit.

1860

The Severn and Wye Railway introduces a steam locomotive on its 3 ft 6 in gauge plateway.^[1]

1862

The Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl constructed the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Norway, the Røros Line.

1865

The Queensland Railways were constructed. Its 3 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by the Irish engineer Abraham Fitzgibbon and consulting engineer Charles Fox.

1867

The construction of the railroad from the Castillo de Buitrón mine to the pier of San Juan del Puerto, Huelva, Spain, began. The width was 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).

1868

In 1868 Charles Fox asked civil engineer Edmund Wragge to survey a 3 ft 6 in railway in Costa Rica.

1870

The 3 ft 6 in gauge was adopted by New Zealand to expedite the development of transport under Julius Vogel's Great Public Works Policy; see The Vogel Era.

1871

The Canadian Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway and the Toronto and Nipissing Railway were opened, promoted by Pihl and Fitzgibbon and surveyed by Wragge as an engineer of Fox. The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island began building its 3-foot 6 network.

1872

In January Robert Fairlie advocated the use of 3 ft 6 in gauge in his book Railways Or No Railways: Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance.^[2]

The first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway opened in Japan. It had been proposed by the British civil engineer Edmund Morel based on his experience building railways in New Zealand.^[3]

1873

On 1 January, the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway was opened in New Zealand, constructed by the British firm John Brogden and Sons. Earlier built 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) and broad gauge railways were soon converted to the narrower gauge.

The Cape Colony adopted the 3 ft 6 in gauge.^[4][5] After conducting several studies in southern Europe, the Molteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges.^[6] Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger,^[7] the Cape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa.^[8][9]

1876

Natal also converted its short 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) long Durban network from 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the entire colony in 1876.^[10] Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, the Rhodesias, Nyasaland and Angola, were also constructed in 3 ft 6 in gauge during that time.

After 1876

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous 3 ft 6 in gauge tram systems were built in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Newfoundland began its Cape gauge network in 1881.

This gauge is sometimes referred to as Cape gauge, named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, which adopted it in 1873.^[4] "Cape gauge" was used in several English-speaking countries.^[11] The equivalent of Cape gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutch kaapspoor, German Kapspur, Norwegian kappspor and French voie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as 1,065 mm (3 ft 5+15⁄16 in) instead of 1067 mm.^[12]

In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge.^[13]

Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand.^[14][15]

In Australia, this gauge is typically referred to as narrow gauge in comparison to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge or 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge. In some instances, simply 3 foot 6 inch — or in rarer cases medium gauge — is used to distinguish it from other narrow gauges.^[16]

In Japan the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge, along with other narrow gauges, is referred to as kyōki (狭軌), which directly translates as narrow gauge, to differentiate it from the Shinkansen lines. It is defined in metric units. It is commonly referred to as 三六軌間 (36 gauge), which derives from the 3 ft 6 in.

Similar, but incompatible without wheelset adjustment, rail gauges in respect of aspects such as cost of construction, practical minimum radius curves and the maximum physical dimensions of rolling stock are:

• 1,100 mm (3 ft 7+5⁄16 in),
• 1,093 mm (3 ft 7 in),
• 1,055 mm (3 ft 5+1⁄2 in),
• 1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in), and
• 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge.

Dual gauge between 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge and another similar gauge can make these bonus gauges.

• 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge,
• 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in), (4 ft 6 in gauge railway) and
• 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
• 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (The maximum bonus gauge from 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) meter gauge gauntlet tracks).

• Cape Government Railways
• Heritage railway
• List of track gauges
• Speed records