Fifteen-inch–gauge railway

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.

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway

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

Railways

15-inch–gauge railway installations

Name	Country	Location	Notes
Bush Mill Railway	Australia	Port Arthur	Closed
Donauparkbahn [de]	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[broken anchor]	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 Midlands Safari Park	UK	Worcestershire	Closed 2014
Windmill Farm Railway	UK	Burscough, Lancashire
Wildlife Park Cricket St Thomas	UK	Chard, Somerset
Wotton Light Railway	UK	Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire
American Heritage Railroad	US	Illinois	[13]
Amusement Rides	US	City Park, Iowa City	[14][15]
B.A.D. Great Northern Railroad	US	California	[citation needed]
Eden Springs Park Railroad)	US	Benton Harbor, Michigan	[16]
Gage Park Railroad	US	Gage Park, Topeka, Kansas
Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad	US	California	[17]
Hillcrest & Wahtoke Steam Railroad	US	Reedley, California	[18]
Joshua Tree & Southern GSD	US	California	[19]
Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad	US	Kansas City, Missouri	[20]
Laurel Run Railroad	US	Pennsylvania	[21]
Little Toot Railroad	US	Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association, Pennsylvania
Look Park	US	Northampton, Massachusetts
Miniature Railway at Silver Lake, Ohio	US	Silver Lake, Ohio	Defunct
Miniature Train at Monarch Park	US	Oil City, Pennsylvania	Defunct
Nickel Plate Railroad	US	California
Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation	US	Ohio	[citation needed]
Orland, Newville and Pacific Railroad	US	California	Operating
Paradise & Pacific Railroad	US	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	US	Oregon	[23]
Pint-Sized Pufferbelly	US	Strasburg Rail Road, Strasburg Township, Pennsylvania	[24] Operating
Redwood Valley Railway	US	Tilden Regional Park, California	[25] Operating
Riverside and Great Northern Railway	US	Wisconsin
Riverview & Twin Lakes Railroad	US	Wyoming
Safari Train	US	Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Operating
Sonoma TrainTown Railroad	US	California	[26] Operating
Sullivan Railroad	US	Horseheads, New York	[27]
Tiny Town Railroad	US	Colorado
Waterman & Western Railroad	US	Illinois	[28]

See also

• Trains portal

• Bassett-Lowke
• British narrow-gauge railways
• Heritage railway
• List of British heritage and private railways
• List of track gauges
• Minimum-gauge railway

References

1. Heywood, A.P. (1974) [1881, Derby: Bemrose]. Minimum Gauge Railways. Turntable Enterprises. ISBN 0-902844-26-1.
2. Donaupark
3. Bear Creek Park
4. "CEC: Closed Canadian Parks – Springbank Park". Cec.chebucto.org. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
5. Going again
6. "シグナス森林鉄道". Nose Electric Railway. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
7. Tripadvisor
8. End of the line
9. "The Blakesley Miniature Railway". The SMJ Society. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
10. "Home". Evlr.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
11. "Home". Kirklesslightrailway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
12. "Sadness as last remnants of Markeaton Park Railway to be demolished". Derbytelegraph. Derbyshire Live. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
13. "American Heritage Railroad". Americanfarmheritagemuseum.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
14. "City Park". City of Iowa City. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
15. "City Park (Iowa City)" (PDF). Uni.edu. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
16. "Eden Springs Park Benton Harbor Michigan Formerly The House of David". Edenspringspark.org. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
17. "Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad". Traill.us. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
18. "Hillcrest". Hillcrestreedley.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
19. "Joshua Tree & Southern GSD". Home.easrthlink.net. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
20. "Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad". kcparks.org/places/kansas-city-northern-railroad.
21. "Reading Society of Model Engineers". Rsme.org. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
22. Sayre, Dave. "McCormick – Stillman Railroad Park". Arizonaandpacificrr.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
23. "Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad – Welcome to the Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad". Flowerfamrer.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
24. "Pint-Sized Pufferbelly". Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
25. "Redwood Valley Railway". Redwoodvalleyrailway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
26. "TrainTown Website". Traintown.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
27. "Sullivan Railroad in Horseheads NY – Trains Magazine – Trains News Wire, Railroad News, Railroad Industry News, Web Cams, and Forms".
28. "waterman & western railroad – Home". Petestrain.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.