Rail tracks in the former British Naval Dockyard, Singapore


I did much research regarding the railways of the Naval Base about twelve years ago, at the National Archives of the UK and the British Library, and produced the attached plans. There were two gauges of railway in the Naval Base: a metre gauge system that linked to the Federated Malay States Railway at Woodlands and a 'standard gauge' system (4ft 8.5 inches) within the Dockyard itself. Studying the track plans I came to the conclusion that the metre gauge system was intended primarily for incoming supplies (including shipments from UK by commercial vessels discharged at the Singapore docks), and the standard gauge system with its wider wagons primarily to move heavy and awkward pieces of equipment between the workshops and ships alongside under refit etc. The system in the Armament and Torpedo Depots were also metre gauge, initially connected to the rest of the system during construction but probably not subsequently. I have been unable to discover exactly when the two systems ceased operation, but it seems that the metre gauge system probably lasted until about 1960.  A small section of the standard gauge system survived until about the late 1960s to move steel plate to the workshops, operated by elderly self-propelled steam cranes. I remember seeing one of these in derelict condition at the Plate Stacking Ground in Sembawang Shipyard in about January 1972. I hope this helps. Best wishes to all.

Shared by: Bernard Mennell (UK).








(The copyright belongs to Bernard Mennell (UK); published with his kind permission)

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