Fifteen-inch gauge railway explained

Fifteen-inch gauge railways were pioneered by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood who was interested in what he termed a minimum gauge railway for use as estate railways or to be easy to lay on, for instance, a battlefield.[1] In 1874, he described the principle behind it as used for his Duffield Bank Railway, distinguishing it from a "narrow-gauge" railway. Having previously built a small railway of gauge, he settled on gauge as the minimum that he felt was practical.

Railways

Country! width="180"
LocationNotes
Bush Mill Railway AustraliaPort ArthurClosed
AustriaVienna[2]
Prater Liliputbahn AustriaVienna
Bear Creek Park Train CanadaSurrey, British Columbia[3]
Pindal Electric Tramway CanadaFormerly in Montreal
Springbank Express CanadaLondon, Ontario[4] [5]
Chemin de fer Touristique d'Anse FranceAnse, Rhône
Dresden Park Railway GermanyDresden
Killesberg Park Railway GermanyStuttgart
Leipziger Parkeisenbahn GermanyLeipzig
Difflin Lake Railway Ireland
Cygnus wood-land Railway JapanOsaka[6]
Sakuradani Light Railway JapanToyono District of Osaka Prefecture
Shuzenji Romney Railway JapanNiji-no-Sato (Rainbow Park) in Izu, Shizuoka
Driving Creek Railway New Zealand
Whangaparaoa Narrow Gauge Railway New ZealandClosed[7] [8]
Adventure Railway UK(defunct, 1982–1992 - park still operating)
Bellevue Park Railway UKBelfast, Northern IrelandClosed 1950
Blackpool Zoo miniature railway UKLancashire
Blakesley Miniature RailwayBlakesley Hall, NorthamptonshireOpened 1903, closed c.1944.[9]
Blenheim Park Railway UKOxfordshire
Brocklands Adventure Park UKCornwallClosed 2007
Bure Valley Railway UKNorfolkStandard gauge line closed 1982. 15-inch gauge line opened 1990.
Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway UKLincolnshire
Conwy Valley Railway Museum UKBetws-y-Coed, North Wales(short tramway)
Craigtoun Miniature Railway UKCraigtoun Park, St. Andrews
Duffield Bank Railway UKClosed 1916
Eaton Hall Railway UKClosed 1946
Evesham Vale Light Railway UKEvesham Country Park, Twyford, Worcestershire[10]
Fairbourne Railway UKWales(now converted to gauge)
Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway UKBattersea Park, LondonClosed 1975
Gulliver's Land UKMilton Keynes
Gulliver's World UKWarrington, Cheshire
Haigh Hall Miniature Railway UKGreater Manchester
Heatherslaw Light Railway UKNorthumberland
International Garden Festival Railway UK1984
Whistlestop Valley (Formerly Kirklees Light Railway) UKClayton West, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire[11]
Knowsley Safari Park (The Lakeside Railway) UKPrescot, Merseyside
Lakeside Miniature Railway UKSouthport, Merseyside
Lappa Valley Steam Railway UKCornwall
UKRipon, North YorkshireTheme Park
Longleat Railway UK
Markeaton Park Light Railway UKDerbyClosed September 2016[12]
Marwell Zoo UKColden Common, Hampshire
Oakwood Theme Park UKNarberth, Pembrokeshire
Paradise Park UKHayle, Cornwall
Paultons Park UKOwer, Romsey, Hampshire
Perrygrove Railway UK
Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway UKCumbria
Rhiw Valley Light Railway UKManafon, Powys, WalesClosed 2022
Rhyl Miniature Railway UKClwyd, Wales
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway UKKent
Saltburn Miniature Railway UKCat Nab, Cleveland
Sand Hutton Miniature Railway UKYorkshireClosed 1922
Sherwood Forest Railway UKNottinghamshire
Waveney Valley Railway UKBressingham Steam and Gardens Norfolk
West Midlands Safari Park UKWorcestershireClosed 2014
Windmill Farm Railway UKBurscough, Lancashire
Wildlife Park Cricket St Thomas UKChard, Somerset
Wotton Light Railway UKWotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire
American Heritage Railroad USAIllinois[13]
Amusement Rides USACity Park, Iowa City[14] [15]
B.A.D. Great Northern Railroad USACalifornia
Eden Springs Park Railroad) USABenton Harbor, Michigan[16]
Gage Park Railroad USAGage Park, Topeka, Kansas
Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad USACalifornia[17]
Hillcrest & Wahtoke Steam Railroad USAReedley, California[18]
Joshua Tree & Southern GSD USACalifornia[19]
Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad USAKansas City, Missouri [20]
Laurel Run Railroad USAPennsylvania[21]
Little Toot Railroad USARough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association, Pennsylvania
Look Park USANorthampton, Massachusetts
Miniature Railway at Silver Lake, Ohio USASilver Lake, OhioDefunct
Miniature Train at Monarch Park USAOil City, PennsylvaniaDefunct
Nickel Plate (Miniature) RailroadNickel Plate Railroad USACalifornia
Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation USAOhio
Orland, Newville and Pacific Railroad USACalifornia(operating)
USAMcCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, Scottsdale, Arizona[22] (separate railway named Scottsdale Live Steamers also present) (operating)
Phoenix & Holly Railroad USAOregon[23]
Pint-Sized Pufferbelly USAStrasburg Rail Road, Strasburg Township, Pennsylvania[24] (operating)
Redwood Valley Railway USATilden Regional Park, California[25] (operating)
Riverside and Great Northern Railway USAWisconsin
Riverview & Twin Lakes Railroad USAWyoming
Safari Train USAMilwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin(operating)
Sonoma TrainTown Railroad USACalifornia[26] (operating)
Sullivan Railroad USAHorseheads, New York[27]
Tiny Town Railroad USAColorado
Waterman & Western Railroad USAIllinois[28]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Heywood, A.P. . Sir Arthur Heywood . Minimum Gauge Railways . 1881, Derby: Bemrose . 1974 . Turntable Enterprises . 0-902844-26-1 . Heywood, Minimum Gauge Railways.
  2. https://www.liliputbahn.com/donaupark.htm Donaupark
  3. https://www.bctrains.com/ Bear Creek Park
  4. Web site: CEC: Closed Canadian Parks - Springbank Park. Cec.chebucto.org. 1 June 2016.
  5. https://londondailyphoto1.blogspot.com/2009/09/springbank-train.html Going again
  6. Web site: シグナス森林鉄道. Nose Electric Railway. 10 June 2017.
  7. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g656924-d9583565-Reviews-Whangaparaoa_Narrow_Gauge_Railway-Whangaparaoa_North_Island.html Tripadvisor
  8. https://www.localmatters.co.nz/news/end-of-the-line-for-whangaparaoa-railway/ End of the line
  9. Web site: The Blakesley Miniature Railway . The SMJ Society . 30 March 2022 .
  10. Web site: Home. Evlr.co.uk. 1 June 2016.
  11. Web site: Home. Kirklesslightrailway.com. 1 June 2016.
  12. News: Sadness as last remnants of Markeaton Park Railway to be demolished . Derbyshire Live . 3 November 2018. Derbytelegraph . 2018-11-02 .
  13. Web site: American Heritage Railroad. Americanfarmheritagemuseum.org. 1 June 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130812085027/http://americanfarmheritagemuseum.org/railroad.html. 12 August 2013.
  14. Web site: City Park. City of Iowa City. 7 June 2017.
  15. Web site: City Park (Iowa City). Uni.edu. 1 June 2016.
  16. Web site: Eden Springs Park Benton Harbor Michigan Formerly The House of David. Edenspringspark.org. 18 November 2017.
  17. Web site: Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad. Traill.us. 1 June 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140521172838/http://www.traill.us/gspp/. 21 May 2014.
  18. Web site: Hillcrest. Hillcrestreedley.com. 1 June 2016.
  19. Web site: Joshua Tree & Southern GSD. Home.easrthlink.net. 1 June 2016.
  20. Web site: Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad. kcparks.org/places/kansas-city-northern-railroad.
  21. Web site: Reading Society of Model Engineers. Rsme.org. 1 June 2016.
  22. Web site: McCormick - Stillman Railroad Park. Dave. Sayre. Arizonaandpacificrr.com. 1 June 2016.
  23. Web site: Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad - Welcome to the Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad. Flowerfamrer.com. 1 June 2016.
  24. Web site: Pint-Sized Pufferbelly . 2020-05-18 . 2019-03-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327102617/https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/ride/fun-extras/pint-sized-pufferbelly/ . dead .
  25. Web site: Redwood Valley Railway. Redwoodvalleyrailway.com. 1 June 2016.
  26. Web site: TrainTown Website. Traintown.com. 1 June 2016.
  27. Web site: Sullivan Railroad in Horseheads NY - Trains Magazine - Trains News Wire, Railroad News, Railroad Industry News, Web Cams, and Forms .
  28. Web site: waterman & western railroad - Home. Petestrain.com. 1 June 2016.