Fifteen-inch gauge railway

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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

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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+14 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   USA Illinois [13]
Amusement Rides   USA City Park, Iowa City [14][15]
B.A.D. Great Northern Railroad   USA California [citation needed]
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 [citation needed]
Orland, Newville and Pacific Railroad   USA California (operating)
Paradise & Pacific Railroad   USA McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, Scottsdale, Arizona [22] (separate 7+12 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

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References

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  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.