15 дюймдік теміржол жүйесі

Railway with a 15 inch track guage

Minimum gauge railways have a gauge of most commonly 15in, 400, 16in, 18in, 19in, 500 or 20in. The notion of minimum gauge railways was originally developed by estate railways

The term was originally conceived by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood, who used it in 1874 to describe the principle behind his Duffield Bank Railway, specifically its 15 inches gauge, distinguishing it from a "narrow gauge" railway. Having previously built a small railway of gauge, he settled on as the minimum that he felt was practical. In general, minimum gauge railways maximize their loading gauge, where the dimension of the equipment is made as large as possible with respect to the track gauge while still providing enough stability to keep it from tipping over. Standard gauge railways have vehicles that are approximately twice, and in some cases nearly three times, the track gauge in width, but with minimum gauge railways this can be as much as four times the width of the track as in some of the Sugar Cane Railways of Australia. Minimum gauge railways allowed for ease of mobility on battlefields, mines, and other restricted environments. A number of gauge railways were built in Britain to serve ammunition depots and other military facilities, particularly during the First World War. In South Australia the Semaphore to Fort Glanville Conservation Park includes a steam engine service that runs on an track. In France, Decauville produced a range of portable track railways running on and tracks, most commonly in restricted environments such as underground mine railways, parks and farms.

The major distinction between a miniature railway (US: 'riding railroad' or 'grand scale railroad') and a minimum gauge railway is that miniature lines use models of full sized prototypes. There are miniature railways that run on gauges as wide as 2ft, for example the Wicksteed Park Railway. There are also rideable miniature railways running on extremely narrow tracks as small as 10.25in gauge, for example the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway. Around the world there are also several rideable miniature railways open to the public using even narrower gauges, such as 7.25in and 7.5in. Generally minimum gauge railways have a working function as estate railways, or industrial railways, or providers of public transport links; although most have a distinct function in relation to tourism, and depend upon tourism for the revenue to support their working function.

Name GaugeCountryLocation Notes Decauville 400 France Discontinued by Decauville Rufisque tramway 400 France See Fifteen inch gauge railway 15 inches The Valley Railway Adventure (Formerly the Evesham Vale Light Railway))15 inches UKEvesham Country Park, WorcestershireWhistlestop Valley (Formerly Kirklees Light Railway)15 inches UKKirklees, West YorkshireBure Valley Railway 15 inches UKAylsham to Wroxham, Norfolk Candy Cane Express 16in Canada Santa's Village Family Entertainment Park, Bracebridge, Ontario Replica diesel locomotive with passenger cars, working as amusement park ride Alamogordo/Alameda Park Narrow Gauge Railway 16in US The Toy Train Depot, Alamogordo, New Mexico Balboa Park Miniature Railroad 16in US Balboa Park (San Diego), San Diego, California Cedar Rock Railroad 16in US Leander, Texas Chippewa Valley Railroad 16in US Carson Park (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), Eau Claire, Wisconsin Lakeland Amusement Park 16in US Lakeland, Tennessee Defunct Little Florida Railroad 16in US Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Sanford, Florida Closed Michigan AuSable Valley Railroad 16in US Fairview, Michigan Defunct as of November, 2017 Old Smokey Train 16in US Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pennsylvania Pinconning and Blind River Railroad 16in US Fairview, Michigan (1953–1973) Pioneer Train 16in US Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pennsylvania Salt Mine Express 16in US Strataca Salt Mine Adventure, Hutchinson, Kansas, 650 feet underground Schnepf Farms 16in USSchnepf Frams, Queen Creek. Arizona Smokey Joe Railroad 16in US Eastern Shore Threshermen & Collectors Association, Federalsburg, Maryland Travel Town Railroad 16in US Travel Town Museum, Los Angeles, California Whiskey River Railway 16in US Little Amerricka, Marshall, Wisconsin Island Park Railway 16.5in Canada Woodstock, New Brunswick National Railway Museum 18in Australia Port Adelaide, South Australia Semaphore & Fort Glanville Tourist Railway 18in Australia Semaphore, South Australia Operated by the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide Aotea Railway 18in New Zealand Aotea Lagoon, Porirua Bicton Woodland Railway UK United Kingdom Heath Park Tramway 18in UK Cardiff Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch railway15 in (381 mm) UKKent, United kingdom Royal Arsenal Railway 18 inches UK Sand Hutton Light Railway UK Steeple Grange Light Railway UK Sundown Adventure Land 18in UK Retford, Nottinghamshire Terrific Train 18in UK New Metroland, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad 18in US Oak Meadows Park and Vasona Park, Los Gatos, California Collegeville and Southern Railway 18in US Fidalgo City and Anacortes Railway US Meadows and Lake Kathleen Railroad US Venice Miniature Railway 18in US Venice Beach, California 1943–1968 Griffith Park & Southern Railroad 18.5in US Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California Swanton Pacific Railroad 19in US Swanton Pacific Ranch, Swanton, California Southern Fuegian Railway 500 mm Argentina Geriatriezentrum am Wienerwald Feldbahn Austria Chemin de Fer Touristique du Tarn France Jardin d'Acclimatation railway France Petit train d'Artouste France Ledesma Mill Railway Argentina Province of Jujuy Partially 20 in Stanley Park Miniature Railway 20in Canada Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia North Bay Railway UK Scarborough, North Yorkshire Shipley Glen Tramway UK Woburn Safari Park UK Coronado Railroad 20in US Chase Creek Huff Puff and Whistle Railroad 20in US Story Land, Glen, New Hampshire Krasnoyarsk Child Railway Russia Central Park, Krasnoyarsk Pleasure Beach Express 21in UK Blackpool, Lancashire Little Puffer Miniature Steam Train 22in US San Francisco Zoo, San Francisco, California Orient Express 22.75in US Lakeside Amusement Park, Denver, Colorado

Name GaugeCountryLocation Notes Park Railway Maltanka 600 Poland Poznań Śródka Roundabout New Zoo, 2.4 mile (4 km), 4 stops Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Wenecja 600 Poland Wenecja Wenecja Biskupin, ~8 mile (13 km), 5 stopsAssiniboine Park R. R.24in CanadaWinnipeg, Manitoba Centreville Train 2ft Canada Centreville Amusement Park, Toronto, Canada One replica steam locomotive with tender, five passenger cars Greater Vancouver Zoo Railway 2ft Canada Greater Vancouver Zoo, Aldergrove, British Columbia Has two stations, stops only at one station Riverview Park Railway 2ft Canada Riverview Park & Zoo, Peterborough, Ontario Wildlife Express 2ft Canada BC Wildlife Park, Kamloops, British Columbia Park Railway 2ft UK Alton Towers Park Defunct 1953–1996 Wicksteed Park Railway 2ft UK Wicksteed Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire Bayou Le Zoo Choo Choo 2ft US Alexandria Zoological Park, Alexandria, Louisiana Casey Jr. Circus Train 2ft US Disneyland, Anaheim, California C. P. Huntington No. 3 2ft US Pullen Park, Raleigh, North Carolina Emerson Zooline Railroad 2ft US Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri Forest Park Miniature Railroad 2ft US Fort Worth, Texas Gatorland Express 2ft US Gatorland, Orlando, Florida Grand Sierra Railroad 2ft US Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California Hermann Park Railroad 2ft US Hermann Park, Houston, Texas 2 mile (3 km) of track, three stops Kennedy Express 2ft US Kennedy Park (Hayward, California), Hayward, California Oregon Pacific Railroad 2ft US Oaks Amusement Park, Portland, Oregon San Antonio Zoo Eagle 2ft US Brackenridge Park, San Antonio, Texas Tauber Family Railroad 2ft US Detroit Zoo, Royal Oak, Michigan Donated by The Detroit News about 1931 and also supported by Chrysler Motors, zoo patrons and fares Turtle Back Junction 2ft US Turtle Back Zoo, West Orange, New Jersey Two C. P. Huntington Trains Van Saun Park Railroad 2ft US Paramus, New Jersey Three Allan Herschell S 24 2 feet narrow gauge Iron Horse trains Zoo Train 2ft US Santa Barbara Zoo, Santa Barbara, California Zoofari Express 2ft US Museum of Life and Science, Durham, North Carolina BuJu Line 2ft6in US Burke Junction, Cameron Park, California Fort Wilderness Railroad 2ft6in US Walt Disney World, Bay Lake, Florida Defunct Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland 2ft6in US Disneyland, Anaheim, California Defunct Omaha Zoo Railroad 2ft6in US Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, Nebraska Viewliner Train of Tomorrow 2ft6in US Disneyland, Anaheim, California Defunct Washington Park & Zoo Railway 2ft6in US Washington Park (Portland, Oregon), Portland, Oregon Disneyland Railroad (Paris) 3ft France Disneyland Park (Paris), Paris Disneyland Railroad 3ft US Disneyland, Anaheim, California The two original locomotives are 5:8 scale models of a full size standard gauge locomotive.