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 12 in)
(1 ft 11 58 in)
(1 ft 11 34 in)
(2 ft)
  750 mm,
Bosnian,
Two foot six inch,
800 mm
750 mm
760 mm
762 mm
800 mm
(2 ft 5 12 in)
(2 ft 5 1516 in)
(2 ft 6 in)
(2 ft 7 12 in)
  Swedish three foot,
900 mm,
Three foot
891 mm
900 mm
914 mm
(2 ft11 332 in)
(2 ft 11 716)
(3 ft)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 38 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 12 in)

Broad
  Russian,
Five foot
1,520 mm
1,524 mm
(4 ft 11 2732 in)
(5 ft)
  Irish 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
  Iberian 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 2132 in)
  Indian 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
  Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)
  Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 14 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 12 in (597 mm) gauge railway named Miners' Tramway also present) (operating)

See also

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, December 10, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.