RIDABLE MINIATURE RAILWAY

A 'ridable miniature railway' (USA: 'riding railroad' or 'grand scale railroad') is a ground-level, large scale model railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol engines, live steam engines or electric motors).

Contents

Overview

UK Miniature Railways

20 in gauge

gauge

gauge

12.25" (310mm) gauge

12" in (305 mm) gauge

gauge

9½" in (241 mm) gauge

9" in (229 mm) gauge

8¼" in (210 mm) gauge

7¼" (184 mm) gauge

5" gauge

3½" gauge

Miniature railways - rest of the world

gauge

gauge

12" in (305 mm) gauge

7¼" and 7½" in (184 and 191 mm) gauge

Others

See also

External links

Overview

Typically they have a track gauge between 5 and 18 inches (127 to 458mm), though both larger and smaller gauges are used.
These large model railroads are most often seen in urban parks or in commercial settings, such as amusement park rides.
The major distinction between a miniature railway and a narrow gauge railway is that miniature lines use models of full-sized prototypes. There are miniature railways that run on gauges as wide as , for example the Wicksteed Park railway. There are also narrow gauge railways running on extremely narrow track as small as 15 inch gauge or less, for example the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, Perrygrove Railway and the Eaton Hall Railway: these are known as minimum gauge railways.
Typically in the UK miniature lines are operated as public heritage railways, though many private lines also exist, especially in the USA.

UK Miniature Railways

20 in gauge

★ North Bay Railway, Scarborough, North Yorkshire

gauge

★ Heath Park Tramway, Cardiff

★ Sundown Pets Corner, Retford, Nottinghamshire

★ Terrific Train, New Metroland, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear

gauge

★ Blackpool Zoo, Lancashire

★ Blenheim Park Railway, Oxfordshire

★ Bressingham Gardens, Norfolk

★ Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, Lincolnshire

★ Conwy Valley Railway Museum, Betws-y-Coed, in North Wales [

★ Coombe Martin Wildlife Park, Devon website

★ Craigtoun Miniature Railway, Craigtoun Park, St. Andrews

★ Eaton Hall Railway, Cheshire website

★ Evesham Vale Light Railway, Evesham Country Park, Twyford, Evesham, Worcestershire website

★ Gulliver's Land, Milton Keynes website

★ Gulliver's World, Warrington, Cheshire website

★ Haigh Country Park Railway, Greater Manchester

★ Heatherslaw Light Railway, Northumberland

★ Knowsley Safari Park, Prescot, Merseyside

★ Lakeside Miniature Railway, Southport, Merseyside

★ Lappa Valley Steam Railway

★ Lightwater Valley Themepark, Ripon, North Yorkshire

★ Longleat House Railway website

★ Markeaton Park, Derby website

★ Marwell Zoo, Colden Common, Hampshire

★ Oakwood Adventure Park, Narberth, Pembrokeshire

★ Paradise Park, Hayle, Cornwall

★ Paultons Park, Ower, Romney, Hampshire

★ Rhiw Valley Light Railway, Manafon, Powys

★ Rhyl Miniature Railway, Clwyd

★ Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, Kent

★ Saltburn Miniature Railway, Cat Nab, Cleveland

★ Sherwood Forest Steam Railway, Nottinghamshire website

★ West Midlands Safari Park, Worcestershire

★ Windmill Farm Railway, Burscough, Lancashire

★ Wildlife Park, Cricket St Thomas, Chard, Somerset

12.25" (310mm) gauge

★ Exbury Gardens Steam Railway, Beaulieu, Hampshire

★ Fairbourne and Barmouth Railway, Gwynedd

★ Newchapel Railway, Horne, Horley, Surrey

12" in (305 mm) gauge

★ Anglesey Model Village, Newborough

★ Ruislip Lido Railway, Greater London website

gauge

★ Audley End Railway, Audley End, Saffron Walden, Essex website

★ Beale Park, Pangbourne, Berkshire website

★ Berkeley Light Railway, Gloucestershire website

★ Bickington Steam Railway, Trago Mills, Liverton, Newton Abbot, Devon website

★ Birchley Miniature Railway website

★ Brechin Castle Centre Railway, Haughmuir, Brechin

★ Brooklands Pleasure Park, Worthing, Sussex

★ Chichester & District Society of Model Engineers, Chichester, Sussex

★ Drayton Manor Park and Zoo, Staffordshire

★ Eastleigh Lakeside Railway, Hampshire website

★ Egerton Park Sportsground, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

★ Exmouth Express, Exmouth, Devon

★ Ferry Meadows Miniature Railway, Nene Valley Park, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

★ Happy Mount Park, Bare, Morecombe, Lancashire

★ Hastings Miniature Railway, Hastings, Sussex

★ Kerr's Miniature Railway, West Links Park, Arbroath

★ Kirkby Green Light Railway, Sleaford, Lincolnshire (private with open days)

★ Knebworth Park Miniature Railway, Hertfordshire

★ Lions Mane Line Miniature Railway, Saville Brothers Garden Centre, Selby Road, Garforth, Leeds

★ Manor Railway, Ingfield Manor, Billingshurst, Sussex

★ Mortocombe Railway, Chilton, Oxfordshire website

★ Mull & West Highland Narrow Gauge Railway, Craignure, Isle of Mull website

★ Paignton Environmental Park, Paignton, Devon

★ Paradise Wildlife Park, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire

★ Pettit's Animal Adventure Park, Reedham, Norfolk

★ Poole Park Miniature Railway, Poole, Dorset

★ Queens Park, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

★ Radwell Manor Railway, Radwell, Bedfordshire (closed)

★ Royal Victoria Country Park, Netley, Hampshire website

★ Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, Rudyard, near Leek, Staffordshire

★ Saville Brothers Garden Centre, Garforth, Yorkshire

★ Smokey Oak Railway, Woodland Park, Brokerswood, Westbury, Wiltshire

★ Stapleford Miniature Railway, Stapleford Park, Leicestershire

★ South Downs Light Railway, Pulborough, Sussex

★ St. Anne's Miniature Railway, St. Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire

★ Sutton Hall Railway, Rochford, Essex website

★ Twycross Zoo, Leicestershire

★ Vanstone Park Miniature Railway, Vanstone Park Garden Centre, Codicote, Hertfordshire. website

★ Watford Miniature Railway, Cassiobury Park, Watford, Hertfordshire website

★ Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk website

★ Wells Harbour Railway, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk website

★ Weymouth Bay Miniature Railway, Lodmoor, Weymouth, Dorset

9½" in (241 mm) gauge

★ Clevedon Fields Miniature Railway, Salthouse Fields, Somerset

★ Hall Leys Park, Matlock, Derbyshire

★ Lakeshore Railroad, South Marine Park, South Shields, Tyne & Wear

★ Barking Park Miniature Railway, Barking Park, Dagenham, London

9" in (229 mm) gauge

★ Brogdale Horticultural Trust, Faversham, Kent

8¼" in (210 mm) gauge

★ Brambridge Park Garden Centre, Eastleigh, Hampshire

7¼" (184 mm) gauge

★ Beer Heights Light Railway, Devon

★ Bekonscot Light Railway official website

★ Bentley Miniature Railway website

★ Conwy Valley Railway Museum, Wales

★ Dobwalls, Forest Railroad, Cornwall (closed)

★ Echills Wood Railway website

★ Fancott Miniature Railway, Bedfordshire website

★ Frimley Lodge Miniature Railway website

★ Great Cockcrow Railway

★ Halton Miniature Railway Society, Runcorn, Cheshire

★ Leyland Society of Model Engineers, Lancashire website

★ Malden and District Society of Model Engineers Ltd website

★ Mortocombe Railway, Chilton, Oxfordshire website

★ Moors Valley Country Park website

★ National Railway Museum, York

★ Weston Miniature Railway, Somerset website

★ Weston Park Railway, Shropshire website

5" gauge

★ Hove Park Railway (Website)

★ Leyland Society of Model Engineers, Lancashire website

★ Strawberry Line - part of Avon Valley Country Park

3½" gauge

★ Leyland Society of Model Engineers, Lancashire website

Miniature railways - rest of the world

gauge

★ Aotea Railway, Aotea Lagoon, Porirua, New Zealand

★ Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, USA website

★ Collegeville and Southern Railway, USA website

★ Meadows and Lake Kathleen Railroad, USA website

★ Shady Dell Pacific Railroad, Molalla, OR USA [1]

gauge

★ Dalaas Waldbahn, Austria

★ Wiener Prater Park Vienna, Austria (Prater Liliputbahn)

★ Bear Creek Park Train, British Columbia, Canada

★ Chemin de Fer d'Anse, France

★ Dresdner Park Liliputbahn, Germany

★ Killesberg Park Railway, Stuttgart, Germany

★ Sakuradani Light Railway, Japan

★ Driving Creek, New Zealand

★ Whangaparaoa Narrow Gauge Railway, New Zealand

★ B.A.D. Great Northern Railroad, California, USA

★ Hillcrest & Wahtoke Steam Railroad, California, USA

★ Joshua Tree & Southern GSD, California, USA website

★ Laurel Run, Pennsylvania, USA

★ Little Toot Railroad, Illinois, USA

★ Milwaukee County Zoo, Wisconsin, USA

★ Nickel Plate Railroad, California, USA

★ Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation, Ohio, USA

★ Orland Newville and Pacific Railroad, California, USA

★ Paradise and Pacific Railroad, Arizona, USA

★ Parkeisenbahn Auensee in Leipzig, Germany

★ Phoenix & Holly Railroad, Oregon, USA

★ Redwood Valley Railway, California, USA website

★ Riverside and Great Northern Railway, Wisconsin, USA website

★ Riverview & Twin Lakes Railroad, Wyoming, USA

★ Sonoma Traintown, California, USA

★ Tiny Town Railroad, Colorado, USA

★ Waterman & Western Railroad, USA

12" in (305 mm) gauge

★ C&H Railroad, 12" gauge, USA website

★ Wabash Frisco & Pacific Railway, 12" gauge, Missouri, USA website

★ Zilker Zephyr, 12" gauge, USA website

7¼" and 7½" in (184 and 191 mm) gauge

★ Los Angeles Live Steamers

★ Golden Gate Live Steamers, website

★ Sacramento Valley Live Steamers, website

★ Train Mountain, Oregon, website

★ Great Lakes Live Steamers, Royal Oak and Southgate, Michigan. website

★ Riverside Live Steamers, Riverside, California website

★ Many Model Engineering Societies in New Zealand, including

★
★ Kapiti Miniature Railway & Associates, Raumati Marine Gardens, Raumati Beach, New Zealand (5" and 7¼" dual gauge)

★
★ Havelock North Live Steamers and Associates inc

★
★ Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers, Christchurch, host of 2006 CANMOD International Convention

★ Railroad Museum of South Florida Train Village, 7.5" gauge, USA website

★ Finnish Railway Museum

★ Willow Creek Railroad, Oregon website

Others

★ Hesston Steam Museum website

★ Cedar Rock Railroad, 16" gauge (406 mm), USA website

★ Saint Louis Zoological Park

★ Wenatchee Riverfront Railway

See also

★ Backyard railroad

★ Bassett-Lowke

★ British industrial narrow gauge railways

★ Children's railway

★ Rail transport modelling

★ Train ride

★ War Department Light Railways

★ Garden railway

External links

★ Grand Scales Quarterly the US magazine of grand scale railroading

★ Miniature Railway World