The Decauville Tramway at Exposition Universelle in Gent, 1913 (French Tramway de Decauville Ainé) was a temporary narrow gauge railroad with a gauge of , which was operated during the World Fair held in Ghent from 26 April to 3 November 1913.Davy Depelchin: "The Ghent Universal and International Exhibition of 1913: Reconciling Historicism, Modernity and Exoticism", in Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840-1940, edited by Marta Filipova (Farnham, 2015), p. 185. Partial preview on Google Books.
History After the success of the Decauville railway at Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris, the Belgian subsidiary of the French company Decauville in Corbeil-Essonnes exhibited their products also at the Exposition universelle et internationale (1913).
Route The route passed amongst others the following stations: Palais de Beaux Arts Ville de Paris Delhaize Freres & Cie ‹Le Leon› Modern Village Rue Belvedere Chateau d’eau
The Depot was between the Modernen Village and the sport fields.
Operation Eight Montania locomotives of the Paris branch of Orenstein & Koppel and Arthur Koppel were used on the temporarily laid line. They could be operated with benzene, petrol, alcohol or petroleum. On the side of the engine cover they had a discreet lettering of the company 'Decauville', which was responsible for the distribution of this locomotive in Belgium.Catalogue "Locomotives 'Montania' au Benzol, a la Benzine, a l'Alcool, au Petrole etc, O&K et Arthur Koppel, Paris" with postal stamp of 15 March 1919.
The operation was carried out by a 24-strong team of 10 locomotive drivers, 12 uniformed conductors, a railway attendant dressed in white and the train dispatcher.
References
Claude Faseur: Gent geprent: Bezoekerstreintje. Billen Jos: Tramway Decauville.
External links Photos at www.gent1913.eu/