Abraham Fitzgibbon


Abraham 'Abram' Fitzgibbon was an Irish-born railroad engineer and a pioneer for narrow-gauge railways.

Biography

He became the first chief engineer of Queensland Railways after a rise through the ranks in the early stages of the railway department development.
Despite opposition from contemporaries, he successfully advocated for the use of narrow gauge or track in Australia.
In the early 1860s, Fitzgibbon was working at Dun Mountain Railway in New Zealand, a horse-drawn line upon which he worked from 1860
Fitzgibbon arrived in the colony of Queensland in June 1863. He was appointed chief engineer of the railways and the first operations of the Queensland Railways opened in 1865.

Narrow gauge railway

There was debate regarding the choice of gauge, versus.
Pony railway will last 25 or 30 years", though in practice the pony gauge of has never been changed.
By 1867, the controversies included the termination of Fitzgibbon's contract –
Involvement in the promotion of the track gauge of the Toronto and Nipissing Railway and the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway in Canada, together with the Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl.
The Fitzgibbon suburb of Brisbane is named after Abraham Fitzgibbon.

Other narrow gauge pioneers

In order of influence: