North Borneo Railway
Construction of the North Borneo Railway began in 1896 under the command of engineer Arthur Joseph West with his assistant Gounon, a member of the Murut people from Keningau.
It was originally intended primarily for the transport of tobacco from the interior to the coast for export.
The first line built was a 32 kilometres track from Bukau River, north to Beaufort, and south to the port of Weston. This was then extended with a further 48 kilometres route in 1903 to Tenom, the works for which was completed in 1905.
The line was extended again in 1906 with a further 16 kilometres from Tenom to Melalap with workers brought from China. At the same time as this, work began on another line from Beaufort to Jesselton (now known as Kota Kinabalu), which was completed in 1903, running mostly near or beside the coast. With the completion of these works the network routes covered some 193 kilometres.