Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale.
The Glyn Valley Tramway was a narrow-gauge railway that ran through the Ceiriog Valley in north-east Wales, connecting Chirk with Glyn Ceiriog in Denbighshire. The gauge of the line was 2 feet 4+1⁄4 inches (718 mm) while it was horse-drawn, which was unofficially increased to 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in when steam locomotives were introduced. The total length of the line was 8+1⁄4 miles (13.3 km), 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) of which were worked by passenger trains, the remainder serving a large granite quarry and several minor slate quarries.
A garden railway or garden railroad is a model railway system set up outdoors in a garden. While G is the most popular scale for garden railroads, 16 mm scale has a dedicated and growing following especially in the UK. Model locomotives in this scale are often live steam scale models of British narrow gauge prototypes. 16 mm scale track, the same gauge as O gauge is probably now more popular in the UK than G scale.
The Fairbourne Railway is a 12+1⁄4 in gauge miniature railway running for 2 miles (3.2 km) from the village of Fairbourne on the Mid-Wales coast, alongside the beach to the end of a peninsula at Barmouth Ferry railway station, where there is a connection with the Barmouth Ferry across the Mawddach estuary to the seaside resort of Barmouth.
Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam may be used to operate stationary or moving equipment.
Ten and a quarter inch gauge is a large modelling scale, generally only used for ridable miniature railways. Model railways at this scale normally confine the scale modelling aspects to the reproduction of the locomotive and with steam locomotives the accompanying tender. Rolling stock is generally made to carry passengers or maintenance equipment and is not to scale. There are also a number of railways which use this gauge of track but are narrow-gauge railways. Examples are Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, Isle of Mull Railway and Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. An organisation to promote this gauge of railway has been reformed in May 2010 as The Ten and a Quarter Railway Society, which will also cover the larger 12+1⁄4 in and smaller 9+1⁄2 in gauges.
A ridable miniature railway is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives.
Minimum-gauge railways have a gauge of most commonly 15 in, 400 mm, 16 in, 18 in, 19 in, 500 mm or 20 in. The notion of minimum-gauge railways was originally developed by estate railways and the French company of Decauville for light railways, trench railways, mining, and farming applications.
Willans Hill Miniature Railway is a rideable miniature railway located in Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens in the suburb of Turvey Park in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
The Sand Hutton Light Railway was a minimum gauge estate railway serving the estate of Sir Robert Walker, the Fourth Baronet of Sand Hutton, Yorkshire. It connected the main house with the LNER Warthill Station and the village of Bossall. It replaced the earlier, shorter, 15 in gauge Sand Hutton Miniature Railway that was built in 1914.
Saltwood Miniature Railway was a 7+1⁄4 in gauge miniature railway which first opened in Sheffield, but subsequently relocated to Saltwood in Kent, England. It closed in 1987.
The Audley End Miniature Railway is a miniature railway in Essex, England.
The Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society was formed in 1948 and built a miniature railway along a drainage channel behind houses on Anthony Road, West Ryde, Sydney, Australia. The site has been transformed by the addition of fill from excavation work during widening of the local railway line and the society has grown and now operates a miniature railway on the site with a 400m long elevated track of 21⁄2 inch, 31⁄2 inch and 5 inch gauge, and two 300m long ground level 5 inch railways.
Thorne Memorial Park Miniature Railway is a 7+1⁄4 in gauge and 5 in gauge miniature railway built in 1998 in Thorne, South Yorkshire, England, operating on two loops within the park.
The Hastings Miniature Railway is a 10+1⁄4 in gauge miniature railway located on the seafront at Hastings, a seaside resort, town, and ancient cinque port, in East Sussex, England. Opened in 1948, it remains a popular tourist attraction. The line was re-opened in the summer of 2011 after a period of reconstruction and restoration, which coincided with a forced closure of the eastern part of the line, to facilitate building work on a new art gallery adjacent to the railway.
A 7+1⁄4-inch gauge railway is a miniature railway that uses the gauge of 7+1⁄4 in. It is mainly used in clubs, amusement parks and as a backyard railway.
The Long Beach and Asbury Park Railway was a profitable but short-lived miniature railway with the unusual gauge of 14+1⁄2 in, which operated from 1902 until 21 August 1903 at Long Beach in California.
The Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway was founded in 1948 as the Cleethorpes Miniature Railway.
Wythall miniature railway is a dual-gauge miniature railway in the grounds of The Transport Museum, Wythall in England. It is operated and maintained by Elmdon Model Engineering Society (EMES)
The Miniature Railway Company on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, operated their ridable miniature railways at four World Expositions around 1900 and delivered them to many parks throughout the world.
