The bill proposing the construction of the railway was passed in July 1846. The railway was designed, surveyed and built by the British-American architect and artist Frederick Catherwood. All the railway stations, bridges, stores and other facilities were constructed by John Bradshaw Sharples. Financing was provided by the Demerera Sugar Company who wished to transport their product to the dock of Georgetown. Construction was in sections with the first, from Georgetown to Plaisance, opening on 3 November 1848. The opening day's festivities featured the death of one of the railway's directors by being run over by the locomotive. An extension to Belfield was completed in 1854, to Mahaica in 1864 and finally to Rosignol during 1897–1900. In 1948 the railway system in Bermuda was dismantled and sold 'lock, stock & barrel' to the government of British Guyana to rejuvenate the former system. The locomotives and coaches were fully restored, the latter being painted dark green. In 1953 the public lines in the colony carried 1,772,954 passengers and 92,769 tonnes of freight. A bold plan to extend the railway south to Brazil was never proceeded with. The public railway system was dismantled in stages in the early 1970s by then President Forbes Burnham. The Lamaha Street terminus of the Demerara-Berbice Railway was converted into a bus terminal subsequent to the closing of the railway.
Service
Following the opening in 1848, there were two return trains per day between Georgetown and Plaisance. In 1922 there was one train each week day, departing Georgetown at 08:00 and returning in the evening. The Georgetown-Rosignol railway service ended in 1972.
Locomotives
Acquired
Disposed
Name
Cost
Use
Notes
1847
Mosquito
1847
Sandfly
1847
Firefly
1863
Alexandra
£1,593
Relief engine
1863
1921
Victoria
£1,593
Infrastructure
There were three major bridges on the line, all constructed of iron, across the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary Rivers. Stations included:
A number of minor stops, called platforms, were located between the stations, e.g., at Crane, Den Amstel, Stewartville, De Willem. There was one railway bridge of iron construction across the Boeraserie River.
Industrial railways
The industrial railway systems continued to operate following the closure of the public system and included several at bauxite mining sites and another linking Port Kaituma and Matthew's Ridge in the Northwest District. In 1922, one of these was described as a railway running from Wismar to Rockstone across the watershed between the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers.
