Fifteen-inch gauge railway

[de]

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

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.

Installations[]

Name	Gauge	Country	Location	Notes
Bush Mill Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Australia	Port Arthur	Closed
[de]	15 in (381 mm)	Austria	Vienna	^[2]
Prater Liliputbahn	15 in (381 mm)	Austria	Vienna
Bear Creek Park Train	15 in (381 mm)	Canada	Surrey, British Columbia	^[3]
Pindal Electric Tramway	15 in (381 mm)	Canada	London, Ontario	Formerly in Montreal
Springbank Express	15 in (381 mm)	Canada	London, Ontario	^[4]
Chemin de fer Touristique d'Anse	15 in (381 mm)	France	Anse, Rhône
Dresden Park Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Germany	Dresden
Killesberg Park Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Germany	Stuttgart
Leipziger Parkeisenbahn	15 in (381 mm)	Germany	Leipzig
Cygnus wood-land Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Japan	Osaka	^[5]
Sakuradani Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Japan	Toyono District of Osaka Prefecture
Difflin Lake Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Ireland
Shuzenji Romney Railway	15 in (381 mm)	Japan	Niji-no-Sato (Rainbow Park) in Izu, Shizuoka
Driving Creek Railway	15 in (381 mm)	New Zealand
	15 in (381 mm)	New Zealand		Closed^[6]^[7]
Adventure Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Alton Towers	(defunct, 1982–1992 - park still operating)
Bellevue Park Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Belfast, Northern Ireland	(defunct)
Blackpool Zoo miniature railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Lancashire
Blenheim Park Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Oxfordshire
Brocklands Adventure Park	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Cornwall	Closed
Bure Valley Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Lincolnshire
Conwy Valley Railway Museum	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Betws-y-Coed, North Wales	(short tramway)
Craigtoun Miniature Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	, St. Andrews
Duffield Bank Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Eaton Hall Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Evesham Vale Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	, Twyford, Worcestershire	^[8]
Fairbourne Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Wales	(now converted to 12+1⁄4 in or 311 mm gauge)
Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Gulliver's Land	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Milton Keynes
Gulliver's World	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Warrington, Cheshire
Haigh Hall Miniature Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Greater Manchester
Heatherslaw Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Northumberland
International Garden Festival Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Kirklees Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Clayton West, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire	^[9]
Knowsley Safari Park (The Lakeside Railway)	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Prescot, Merseyside
Lakeside Miniature Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Southport, Merseyside
Lappa Valley Steam Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Cornwall
Lightwater Express Rio Grande	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Ripon, North Yorkshire	Theme Park
Longleat Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Markeaton Park Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Derby	Closed September 2016^[10]
Marwell Zoo	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Colden Common, Hampshire
Oakwood Theme Park	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Narberth, Pembrokeshire
Paradise Park	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Hayle, Cornwall
Paultons Park	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Ower, Romsey, Hampshire
Perrygrove Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK
Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Cumbria
Rhiw Valley Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Manafon, Powys, Wales
Rhyl Miniature Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Clwyd, Wales
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Kent
Saltburn Miniature Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Cat Nab, Cleveland
Sand Hutton Miniature Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Yorkshire	Closed
Sherwood Forest Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Nottinghamshire
Waveney Valley Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Bressingham Steam and Gardens Norfolk
West Midlands Safari Park	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Worcestershire
Windmill Farm Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Burscough, Lancashire
Wildlife Park Cricket St Thomas	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Chard, Somerset
Wotton Light Railway	15 in (381 mm)	UK	Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire
American Heritage Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Illinois	^[11]
Amusement Rides	15 in (381 mm)	USA	, Iowa City	^[12]^[13]
B.A.D. Great Northern Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	California	^{[citation needed]}
Eden Springs Park Railroad)	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Benton Harbor, Michigan	^[14]
Gage Park Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Gage Park, Topeka, Kansas
Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	California	^[15]
Hillcrest & Wahtoke Steam Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Reedley, California	^[16]
Joshua Tree & Southern GSD	15 in (381 mm)	USA	California	^[17]
Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Kansas City, Missouri	^[18]
Laurel Run Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Pennsylvania	^[19]
Little Toot Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association, Pennsylvania
Look Park	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Northampton, Massachusetts
Miniature Railway at Silver Lake, Ohio	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Silver Lake, Ohio	Defunct
Miniature Train at Monarch Park	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Oil City, Pennsylvania	Defunct
Nickel Plate Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	California
Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Ohio	^{[citation needed]}
Orland, Newville and Pacific Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	California	(operating)
Paradise & Pacific Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, Scottsdale, Arizona	^[20] (separate 7+1⁄2 in or 190.5 mm railway named also present) (operating)
Phoenix & Holly Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Oregon	^[21]
Pint-Sized Pufferbelly	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Strasburg Rail Road, Strasburg Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania	^[22] (operating)
Redwood Valley Railway	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Tilden Regional Park, California	^[23] (operating)
Riverside and Great Northern Railway	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Wisconsin
Riverview & Twin Lakes Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Wyoming
Safari Train	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, Wisconsin	(operating)
Sonoma TrainTown Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	California	^[24] {(operating)
Tiny Town Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Colorado
Waterman & Western Railroad	15 in (381 mm)	USA	Illinois	^[25]

References[]

^ Heywood, A.P. (1974) [1881, Derby: Bemrose]. Minimum Gauge Railways. Turntable Enterprises. ISBN 0-902844-26-1.
^ Donaupark
^ Bear Creek Park
^ "CEC: Closed Canadian Parks - Springbank Park". Cec.chebucto.org. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "シグナス森林鉄道". Nose Electric Railway. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ Tripadvisor
^ End of the line
^ "Home". Evlr.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Home". Kirklesslightrailway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Sadness as last remnants of Markeaton Park Railway to be demolished". Derbytelegraph. Derbyshire Live. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
^ "American Heritage Railroad". Americanfarmheritagemuseum.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "City Park". City of Iowa City. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
^ "City Park (Iowa City)" (PDF). Uni.edu. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Eden Springs Park Benton Harbor Michigan Formerly The House of David". Edenspringspark.org. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
^ "Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad". Traill.us. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Hillcrest". Hillcrestreedley.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Joshua Tree & Southern GSD". Home.easrthlink.net. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad". kcparks.org/places/kansas-city-northern-railroad.
^ "Reading Society of Model Engineers". Rsme.org. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ Sayre, Dave. "McCormick - Stillman Railroad Park". Arizonaandpacificrr.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad - Welcome to the Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad". Flowerfamrer.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ Pint-Sized Pufferbelly
^ "Redwood Valley Railway". Redwoodvalleyrailway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "TrainTown Website". Traintown.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
^ "waterman & western railroad - Home". Petestrain.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[Heywood,_Minimum_Gauge_Railways-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] "シグナス森林鉄道". Nose Electric Railway. Retrieved 10 June 2017.

[6] Tripadvisor

[7] End of the line

[8] "Home". Evlr.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[9] "Home". Kirklesslightrailway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[DL2175280-10] "Sadness as last remnants of Markeaton Park Railway to be demolished". Derbytelegraph. Derbyshire Live. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

[11] "American Heritage Railroad". Americanfarmheritagemuseum.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[12] "City Park". City of Iowa City. Retrieved 7 June 2017.

[13] "City Park (Iowa City)" (PDF). Uni.edu. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[14] "Eden Springs Park Benton Harbor Michigan Formerly The House of David". Edenspringspark.org. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

[15] "Glenwood, South Park & Pacific Railroad". Traill.us. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[16] "Hillcrest". Hillcrestreedley.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[17] "Joshua Tree & Southern GSD". Home.easrthlink.net. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[18] "Kansas City Northern Miniature Railroad". kcparks.org/places/kansas-city-northern-railroad.

[19] "Reading Society of Model Engineers". Rsme.org. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[20] Sayre, Dave. "McCormick - Stillman Railroad Park". Arizonaandpacificrr.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[21] "Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad - Welcome to the Flower Farmer and Phoenix & Holly Railroad". Flowerfamrer.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[22] Pint-Sized Pufferbelly

[23] "Redwood Valley Railway". Redwoodvalleyrailway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[24] "TrainTown Website". Traintown.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

[25] "waterman & western railroad - Home". Petestrain.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.

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v t Track gauge (list)
Minimum-gauge Minimum-gauge railways	15 in (381 mm) 400 mm (15+3⁄4 in) 16 in (406 mm) 18 in (457 mm) 19 in (483 mm) 500 mm (19+3⁄4 in) 20 in (508 mm) 21 in (533 mm) 1 ft 10 in (559 mm)
Narrow gauge	2 foot and 600 mm 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) 760 mm (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in) 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) 891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in) Swedish three foot 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) 3 ft (914 mm) 950 mm (3 ft 1+3⁄8 in) Italian metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge 1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in), 1,055 mm (3 ft 5+1⁄2 in), 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) 1,093 mm (3 ft 7 in), 1,100 mm (3 ft 7+5⁄16 in), 1,200 mm (3 ft 11+1⁄4 in) 4 ft (1,219 mm) 4 ft 1 in (1,245 mm), Middleton Railway 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm), Scotch gauge 4 ft 6+1⁄2 in (1,384 mm), Scotch gauge 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in (1,416 mm) 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm), almost standard gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm) 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
Standard gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in / 1,435 mm, Stephenson gauge
Broad gauge	1,440 mm (4 ft 8+11⁄16 in) 1,445 mm (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in) 1,450 mm (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in) 4 ft 9+3⁄8 in (1,457 mm) 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in) 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1,495 mm), Toronto gauge 5 ft / 1,524 mm and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in), Russian gauge. 5 ft 2+1⁄4 in / 1,581 mm and 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in / 1,588 mm, Pennsylvania gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), Irish gauge 5 ft 4+1⁄2 in (1,638 mm), Baltimore gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in), Iberian gauge 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm), Indian gauge 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm), Brunel gauge 3,000 mm (9 ft 10+1⁄8 in), Breitspurbahn 8,200 mm (26 ft 10+27⁄32 in), Lärchwandschrägaufzug 9,000 mm (29 ft 6+5⁄16 in), Krasnoyarsk ship lift
List of track gauge articles	List of track gauges List of tram track gauges Miniature railways Minimum-gauge railways Large amusement railways
Gauge differences	Bogie exchange Break of gauge Dual gauge Gauge conversion list Variable gauge
Transport mode	Tram and light rail Rapid transit Miniature Scale model
Categories	by country by imperial units by metric units by name lists of track gauges

v t Railways and tramways of 15-inch (381 mm) gauge
United Kingdom	Alton Adventure Railway (defunct) Bellevue Park Railway Blackpool Zoo Railway Blenheim Park Railway Bure Valley Railway Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway Conwy Valley Tramway Craigtoun Miniature Railway Duffield Bank Railway Eaton Hall Railway Evesham Vale Light Railway Gulliver's Land Gulliver's World Haigh Country Park Railway Heatherslaw Light Railway Lakeside Railway (Knowsley Safari Park) Lakeside Miniature Railway (Southport) Lappa Valley Steam Railway Lightwater Valley Liverpool Garden Festival Railway Longleat Railway Markeaton Park Light Railway (defunct) Marwell Zoo Railway Oakwood Park Railway Paradise Park, Cornwall Paultons Park Rio Grande Train Perrygrove Railway Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Rhiw Valley Light Railway Rhyl Miniature Railway Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway Saltburn Miniature Railway Sand Hutton Miniature Railway Sherwood Forest Railway Waveney Valley Railway (Bressingham) West Midland Safari Park Whistlestop Valley Windmill Farm Railway Wotton Light Railway
United States	Look Park Milwaukee County Zoo Safari Railroad Orland, Newville and Pacific Railroad Paradise and Pacific Railroad Redwood Valley Railway Riverside and Great Northern Railway Sonoma TrainTown Railroad Tiny Town Railroad
Rest of the World	Bush Mill Railway (Tasmania) Dresdner Parkeisenbahn (Germany) Driving Creek Railway (New Zealand) Killesberg Park Railway (Germany) Parkeisenbahn Auensee (Germany) Prater Liliputbahn (Austria) Pindal Electric Tramway (Canada) Sakuradani Light Railway (Japan) Shuzenji Romney Railway (Japan)
Associated topics	Arlesdale Railway (fictional) Fairbourne Railway (now re-gauged) Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway (temporary exhibition line)

v t Rail infrastructure
Tracks (history)	Axe ties Ballast Baulk road Breather switch Cant Clip and scotch Date nail Fastening system Fishplate Ladder track Minimum radius Profile Tie/Sleeper Transition curve
Trackwork	Balloon loop Classification yard Headshunt Pocket track Junction Gauntlet track Guide bar Passing loop Track gauge dual gauge Rail track tramway track Rail yard Railway electrification system overhead lines third rail ground-level power supply Railway turntable Roll way Siding refuge siding Switch Track geometry Water crane Water trough Wye
Signalling and safety	Block post Buffer stop Catch points Defect detector Derailer Interlocking Level crossing Loading gauge Railway signal Signalling control Structure gauge Signal bridge Tell-tale Train stop Wayside horn
Structures	Coaling tower Motive power depot/Railway workshop Platform Roundhouse Shed for trains for goods Station building clock Water stop

Fifteen-inch gauge railway

Installations[]

See also[]

References[]