The first railway on the island of Mauritius opened in 1864 between Port Louis and Grand River South East, a distance of some 50km. By the early decades of the 20th century a network of approaching 200km of standard gauge line had been established, fed by many more km of narrow gauge plantation railways.
The predominant traffic of the railways was sugar cane, but they were also very important to communications on the island, enabling wasy movement of passengers and general freight.
One of the locomotives (lower right corner) is a large Garratt locomotive built for Mauritius Railways in 1927 by Beyer Peacock in the United Kingdom. Garatt locomotive is a type of steam locomotive that is articulated in three parts. Its boiler is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might restrict large rigid-framed locomotives. Many Garratt designs aimed to double the power of the largest conventional locomotives operating on their railways, thus reducing the need for multiple locomotives and crews.You can see some pictures here.
Following the Second World War traffic declined in the face of road competition and passenger services ceased in 1956. Further competition and decline in sugar cane production led to complete closure in 1964. Lines were closed and lifted and although routes may still be traced, few tangible artefacts remain today. Narrow gauge railways fared rather better in this respect, and although most of them closed about the same time, a number of locomotives and other items are now on static display in various locations.
Date of Issue: 1979
Country: Mauritius
Denominations: 20c, R1, R1,50, R2
Source: http://www.mauritiuspost.mu
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