2 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United Kingdom

Last updated October 28, 2024

A list of 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United Kingdom.

Installations

Country/territory	Railway
England	Alford and Sutton Tramway (defunct) Bowaters Paper Railway (defunct) (although later Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway (operational)) Chattenden and Upnor Railway (converted from 18 in (457 mm) gauge) (defunct) Chillington Iron Company Tramway (defunct circa 1900)^[1] Great Whipsnade Railway (located in ZSL Whipsnade Zoo) (operating) Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (defunct) Legoland Express (located in Legoland Windsor Resort) (operating) Oakhill Brewery (defunct) Pentewan Railway (defunct) Priddy's Hard Tramway (18 in (457 mm) gauge lines also present) (defunct) RNAD Broughton Moor (defunct) ROF Bridgwater (defunct) Statfold Barn Railway (private) (standard-gauge lines, dual-gauge lines with 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge track and 2 ft (610 mm) gauge track, and triple-gauge lines also present) (operating) Swanage Pier Tramway (defunct) Tower Subway (defunct)
Scotland	Almond Valley Light Railway (operating) Carstairs House Tramway (defunct) Hagdale Chromate Railway (defunct) ROF Bishopton (standard-gauge lines also present) (defunct)
Wales	Crickheath Tramway (defunct) Deeside Tramway (defunct) Pwllheli Corporation Tramways (defunct) RNAD Trecwn (defunct) Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (operating)

Gallery

The private Statfold Barn Railway in England runs railway equipment with two different track gauges.
The Earl and The Countess locomotives at the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway in Wales.

Related Research Articles

A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than 1,435 mmstandard gauge. Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm and 1,067 mm.

A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm. The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge, international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it.

A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge broader than the 1,435 mm used by standard-gauge railways.

In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges exist worldwide, gauge differences often present a barrier to wider operation on railway networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N scale</span> Modelling scale of 1:160, 1:150 (Japan), 1:148 (UK)

N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer, the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. Effectively the scale is 1:159, 9 mm to 1,435 mm, which is the width of standard gauge railway. However the scale may vary to simulate wide or narrow gauge rail. In all cases, the gauge is 9 mm or 0.354 in. The term N gauge refers to the track dimensions, but in the United Kingdom in particular British N gauge refers to a 1:148 scale with 1:160 track gauge modelling. The terms N scale and N gauge are often inaccurately used interchangeably, as scale is defined as ratio or proportion of the model, and gauge only as a distance between rails. The scale 1:148 defines the rail-to-rail gauge equal to 9 mm exactly, so when calculating the rail or track use 1:160 and for engines and car wheel base use 1:148.

4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels.

HOn30 gauge is the modelling of narrow-gauge railways in HO on N gauge track in 1:87 scale ratio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Level junction</span> Type of railway junction

A level junction is a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other that require trains to cross over in front of opposing traffic at grade.

On30gauge is the modelling of narrow gauge railways in O scale on HO gauge track in 1:48 scale ratio by American and Australian model railroaders, in 1:43.5 scale ratio by British and French model railroaders and 1:45 by Continental European model railroaders.

Railways with a railway track gauge of 5 ft first appeared in the United Kingdom and the United States. This gauge became commonly known as "Russian gauge", because the government of the Russian Empire chose it in 1843. Former areas and states of the Empire have inherited this standard. However in 1970, Soviet Railways re-defined the gauge as 1,520 mm.

Bogie exchange is a system for operating railway wagons on two or more gauges to overcome difference in the track gauge. To perform a bogie exchange, a car is converted from one gauge to another by removing the bogies or trucks, and installing a new bogie with differently spaced wheels. It is generally limited to wagons and carriages, though the bogies on diesel locomotives can be exchanged if enough time is available.

5 ft 6 in (1,680 mm) is a broad track gauge, used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The vast majority of North American railroads are standard gauge. Exceptions include some streetcar, subway and rapid transit systems, mining and tunneling operations, and some narrow-gauge lines particularly in the west, e.g. the isolated White Pass and Yukon Route system, and the former Newfoundland Railway.

Originally, various track gauges were used in the United States. Some railways, primarily in the northeast, used standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in ; others used gauges ranging from 2 ft to 6 ft. As a general rule, southern railroads were built to one or another broad gauge, mostly 5 ft, while northern railroads that were not standard-gauge tended to be narrow-gauge. The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1863 specified standard gauge.

This is a list of 3 ft narrow-gauge railways in the United States.

A list of 3 ft narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom.

A list of 2 ft, 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in, 600 mm, and 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom.

A list of 2 ft narrow-gauge railways in the United States.

A list of 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States. Apart from historical railways, it is commonly used in underground coal mines. Also, in the past, this gauge had been a popular choice for urban mass transit systems.

A list of 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States.

References

↑ "Chillington Wharf".

External links

World-wide 30" Gauge Railways and Railroads

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[1] "Chillington Wharf".

[1]

v t e 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 2 ft 3 in (686 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 1,945 mm (6 ft 4+9⁄16 in), De Arend 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