3 ft gauge railways in the United Kingdom

Track gauge
By transport mode
Tram · Rapid transit
Miniature · Scale model
By size (list)
Minimum
  Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in)
Narrow
  600 mm,
Two foot		 597 mm
600 mm
603 mm
610 mm		 (1 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
(1 ft 11 5⁄8 in)
(1 ft 11 3⁄4 in)
(2 ft)
  750 mm,
Bosnian,
Two foot six inch,
800 mm		 750 mm
760 mm
762 mm
800 mm		 (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
(2 ft 5 15⁄16 in)
(2 ft 6 in)
(2 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
  Swedish three foot,
900 mm,
Three foot		 891 mm
900 mm
914 mm		 (2 ft11 3⁄32 in)
(2 ft 11 7⁄16)
(3 ft)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
  Three foot six inch,
Cape, CAP, Kyōki		 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)
  Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Broad
  Russian,
Five foot		 1,520 mm
1,524 mm		 (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in)
(5 ft)
  Irish 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
  Iberian 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in)
  Indian 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
  Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)
  Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
Change of gauge
Break-of-gauge · Dual gauge ·
Conversion (list) · Bogie exchange · Variable gauge
By location
North America · South America · Europe
A diesel passenger train built by Severn Lamb running on the Southend Pier Railway in England.

A list of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railways in the United Kingdom.

The worldwide usage of locomotives on railways, including 3 ft (914 mm) gauge railways, has its origins in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. In fact, in 1802, a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge plateway-type railway owned by the Coalbrookdale Company in England became the first railway in the world to have a locomotive designed and built for it. The locomotive's designer, Richard Trevithick, is credited with making the first recorded successful demonstration of a locomotive on rails (in 1804 on a different railway in Wales). 3 ft (914 mm) gauge locomotive-powered railways, along with other narrow gauge railways of varying width, would later become one of the most common railway gauges chosen for short-distance lines in the British Isles, such as those found in mines and industrial sites (see table below).

Installations

Country/territory Railway
England
  • Alan Keef Headquarters (private) (2 ft (610 mm) gauge lines and dual gauge lines with 2 ft (610 mm) gauge track also present) (all 3 ft (914 mm) gauge trackage is dual-gauged with 2 ft (610 mm) gauge trackage) (operating)
  • Coalbrookdale Company (world's first railway to have a locomotive designed and built for it; however, no record of a successful run of this locomotive exists) (gauge of locomotive itself slightly wider than 3 ft (914 mm) gauge due to railway's plateway design) (defunct)
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
  • Deep Mine Railway (located in Llechwedd Slate Caverns) (separate 1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm) gauge railway named Miners' Tramway also present) (operating)

See also

External links

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