Rail workers of the South Manchuria Railway changing the Russian 5ft.- gauge track to ‘standard gauge’ between Hsinking ( Changchun) and Harbin on 31 st August 1935.
The former southern branch line of the Chinese Eastern Railway had 5ft. ( "Russian") width track between Changchun and Harbin. After the takeover of the line by the South Manchuria Railway the track was lifted and replaced with ‘standard gauge’ ( 4ft 8½in.) in an amazing feat of engineering on 31st August 1935, when the entire 240 kms of track was swapped for the new narrower gauge and the railway up and running again within only three hours. This permitted the running of the SMR’s rolling stock all the way through to Harbin. By this time Changchun had been renamed as Manchoukuo’s capital “Hsinking”.
Comments
Rail gauges by selected locations
1,435 mm (Standard Gauge) - China, UK, USA
Hong Kong
1,524 mm (5 ft Gauge): Used on the Funicular Peak Tram.
1,435 mm (Standard Gauge): Used on all former KCR lines (East Rail, Tuen Ma lines), the South Island line, and the West Island line.
1,435 mm (Standard Gauge): Used on the MTR Light Rail network in the northwestern New Territories.
1,432 mm (Almost-Standard): Used on legacy MTR heavy rail lines.
This 3 mm difference is fully compatible with standard track tolerances and generally transparent to rolling stock
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in Narrow Gauge): Used exclusively across the Hong Kong Tramways system on Hong Kong Island.
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Japan: Mostly 1,067 mm (Cape Gauge),
but standard 1,435 mm on Shinkansen lines.
Russia: 1,520 mm (Russian Gauge).