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.

Track gauge
By transport mode
By size (list)
Minimum
  Minimum
  Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in)
Narrow
 
  • 600 mm
  • 610 mm
  • 686 mm
  • (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
  • (2 ft)
  • (2 ft 3 in)
 
  • 750 mm
  • 760 mm
  • 762 mm
  • (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
  • (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
  • (2 ft 6 in)
 
  • 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)
  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
 
  • 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)
 
  • 1,520 mm
  • 1,524 mm
  • (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft)
 
  • 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)
 
  • 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)
  Breitspurbahn 3,000 mm (9 ft 101⁄8 in)
Change of gauge
By location

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 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
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
  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.
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