Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway

One of the Chemin de fer Touristique d'Anse's X131 when passing through the hills

Track gauge

By transport mode
Tram Rapid transit Miniature Scale model
By size (list)
Minimum   Minimum   Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in) Narrow   600 mm Two foot Two foot three inch 600 mm 610 mm 686 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) (2 ft) (2 ft 3 in)   750 mm Bosnian gauge Two foot six inch 750 mm 760 mm 762 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in) (2 ft 6 in)   Swedish three foot 900 mm Three foot Italian metre 891 mm 900 mm 914 mm 950 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in) (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) (3 ft) (3 ft1+13⁄32 in)   Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)   Three foot six inch 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)   Four foot 1,219 mm (4 ft 0 in)   Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)   1432 mm 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)   Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) Broad   Italian broad gauge Dresden gauge 1,445 mm 1,450 mm (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in) (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in)   Leipzig gauge 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)   Toronto gauge 1,495 mm (4 ft 10+7⁄8 in)   1520 mm Five foot 1,520 mm 1,524 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) (5 ft)   Pennsylvania gauge Pennsylvania gauge Five foot three inch 1,581 mm 1,588 mm 1,600 mm (5 ft 2+1⁄4 in) (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in) (5 ft 3 in)   Baltimore gauge 1,638 mm (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)   Iberian gauge Five foot six inch 1,668 mm 1,676 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) (5 ft 6 in)   Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)   Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
Change of gauge
Break-of-gauge Dual gauge Conversion list Bogie exchange Variable gauge
By location
North America South America Europe Australia

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 9 in (229 mm) gauge, he settled on 15 in (381 mm) gauge as the minimum that he felt was practical.

Railways

15 inch gauge railway installations

Name	Country	Location	Notes
Bush Mill Railway	Australia	Port Arthur	Closed
Donauparkbahn	Austria	Vienna	[2]
Prater Liliputbahn	Austria	Vienna
Bear Creek Park Train	Canada	Surrey, British Columbia	[3]
Pindal Electric Tramway	Canada	London, Ontario	Formerly in Montreal
Springbank Express	Canada	London, Ontario	[4][5]
Chemin de fer Touristique d'Anse	France	Anse, Rhône
Dresden Park Railway	Germany	Dresden
Killesberg Park Railway	Germany	Stuttgart
Leipziger Parkeisenbahn	Germany	Leipzig
Difflin Lake Railway	Ireland
Cygnus wood-land Railway	Japan	Osaka	[6]
Sakuradani Light Railway	Japan	Toyono District of Osaka Prefecture
Shuzenji Romney Railway	Japan	Niji-no-Sato (Rainbow Park) in Izu, Shizuoka
Driving Creek Railway	New Zealand
Whangaparaoa Narrow Gauge Railway	New Zealand		Closed[7][8]
Adventure Railway	UK	Alton Towers	(defunct, 1982–1992 - park still operating)
Bellevue Park Railway	UK	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Closed 1950
Blackpool Zoo miniature railway	UK	Lancashire
Blakesley Miniature Railway	UK	Blakesley Hall, Northamptonshire	Opened 1903, closed c.1944.[9]
Blenheim Park Railway	UK	Oxfordshire
Brocklands Adventure Park	UK	Cornwall	Closed 2007
Bure Valley Railway	UK	Norfolk	Standard gauge line closed 1982. 15-inch gauge line opened 1990.
Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	UK	Lincolnshire
Conwy Valley Railway Museum	UK	Betws-y-Coed, North Wales	(short tramway)
Craigtoun Miniature Railway	UK	Craigtoun Park, St. Andrews
Duffield Bank Railway	UK		Closed 1916
Eaton Hall Railway	UK		Closed 1946
Evesham Vale Light Railway	UK	Evesham Country Park, Twyford, Worcestershire	[10]
Fairbourne Railway	UK	Wales	(now converted to 12+1⁄4 in or 311 mm gauge)
Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway	UK	Battersea Park, London	Closed 1975
Gulliver's Land	UK	Milton Keynes
Gulliver's World	UK	Warrington, Cheshire
Haigh Hall Miniature Railway	UK	Greater Manchester
Heatherslaw Light Railway	UK	Northumberland
International Garden Festival Railway	UK		1984
Whistlestop Valley (Formerly Kirklees Light Railway)	UK	Clayton West, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire	[11]
Knowsley Safari Park (The Lakeside Railway)	UK	Prescot, Merseyside
Lakeside Miniature Railway	UK	Southport, Merseyside
Lappa Valley Steam Railway	UK	Cornwall
Lightwater Express Rio Grande	UK	Ripon, North Yorkshire	Theme Park
Longleat Railway	UK
Markeaton Park Light Railway	UK	Derby	Closed September 2016[12]
Marwell Zoo	UK	Colden Common, Hampshire
Oakwood Theme Park	UK	Narberth, Pembrokeshire
Paradise Park	UK	Hayle, Cornwall
Paultons Park	UK	Ower, Romsey, Hampshire
Perrygrove Railway	UK
Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway	UK	Cumbria
Rhiw Valley Light Railway	UK	Manafon, Powys, Wales	Closed 2022
Rhyl Miniature Railway	UK	Clwyd, Wales
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway	UK	Kent
Saltburn Miniature Railway	UK	Cat Nab, Cleveland
Sand Hutton Miniature Railway	UK	Yorkshire	Closed 1922
Sherwood Forest Railway	UK	Nottinghamshire
Waveney Valley Railway	UK	Bressingham Steam and Gardens Norfolk
West Midland Safari Park	UK	Worcestershire
Windmill Farm Railway	UK	Burscough, Lancashire
Wildlife Park Cricket St Thomas	UK	Chard, Somerset
Wotton Light Railway	UK	Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire
American Heritage Railroad	USA	Illinois	[13]
Amusement Rides	USA	City Park, Iowa City	[14][15]
B.A.D. Great Northern Railroad	USA	California
Eden Springs Park Railroad)	USA	Benton Harbor, Michigan	[16]
Gage Park Railroad	USA	Gage Park, Topeka, Kansas
Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad	USA	California	[17]
Hillcrest & Wahtoke Steam Railroad	USA	Reedley, California	[18]
Joshua Tree & Southern GSD	USA	California	[19]
Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad	USA	Kansas City, Missouri	[20]
Laurel Run Railroad	USA	Pennsylvania	[21]
Little Toot Railroad	USA	Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association, Pennsylvania
Look Park	USA	Northampton, Massachusetts
Miniature Railway at Silver Lake, Ohio	USA	Silver Lake, Ohio	Defunct
Miniature Train at Monarch Park	USA	Oil City, Pennsylvania	Defunct
Nickel Plate Railroad	USA	California
Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation	USA	Ohio
Orland, Newville and Pacific Railroad	USA	California	(operating)
Paradise & Pacific Railroad	USA	McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, Scottsdale, Arizona	[22] (separate 7+1⁄2 in or 190.5 mm railway named Scottsdale Live Steamers also present) (operating)
Phoenix & Holly Railroad	USA	Oregon	[23]
Pint-Sized Pufferbelly	USA	Strasburg Rail Road, Strasburg Township, Pennsylvania	[24] (operating)
Redwood Valley Railway	USA	Tilden Regional Park, California	[25] (operating)
Riverside and Great Northern Railway	USA	Wisconsin
Riverview & Twin Lakes Railroad	USA	Wyoming
Safari Train	USA	Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	(operating)
Sonoma TrainTown Railroad	USA	California	[26] (operating)
Sullivan Railroad	USA	Horseheads, New York	[27]
Tiny Town Railroad	USA	Colorado
Waterman & Western Railroad	USA	Illinois	[28]

See also

References