The Tarheel Press           
     A narrow gauge railroad is technically defined as any line where the distance between the rails is less than 4 feet eight and a half inches, commonly referred to as "standard gauge." Between roughly 1870 and 1885, "narrow gauge fever" swept the nation under the pretenses that the smaller equipment cost less, construction requirements were less stringent, and therefore, were easier to finance and build. By far, the most common of these narrow gauges was 36 inch, or rather, 3-foot gauge. Though there were numerous private railroads and logging companies that operated their own narrow gauge railroads, far fewer actually acted as "common carriers," or in essence, federally-regulated railways that were allowed to serve the public at large. Below is a list of these narrow gauge common carriers that ran in the Carolinas:
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North Carolina Narrow Gauge Railroads

-Carolina & North-Western Railway
     Chester & Lenoir Narrow Gauge Railroad 
     Caldwell & Northern
          Lower Creek & Linville Transportation Company

-Danville & Western
     Danville & New River

-Dismal Swamp Railroad 

-East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad   
     Linville River Railway

-Laurel River & Hot Springs

-Lawndale Railway & Industrial Company

-Marietta & North Georgia

-Milton & Sutherlin

-Mt. Airy & Eastern

-Suffolk & Carolina

-Washington & Plymouth

-Wellington & Powellsville uble click to edit
South Carolina Narrow Gauge Railroads 

-Branchville & Bowman Railroad

-Lancaster & Chester
     Cheraw & Chester

-Carolina & North-Western Railway
     Chester & Lenoir Narrow Gauge Railroad

-Summerville & St. Johns Railroad
     D.W. Taylor Lumber Company
Carolina Narrow Gauge Railroads           
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