An illustration of 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) track, in comparison with some other gauges used in Great Britain
Track gauge
By transport mode
By size (list)
Graphic list of track gauges
Minimum
  Minimum
  Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in)
Narrow
 
  • 600 mm
  • 610 mm
  • 686 mm
  • (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
  • (2 ft)
  • (2 ft 3 in)
 
  • 750 mm
  • 760 mm
  • 762 mm
  • (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
  • (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
  • (2 ft 6 in)
 
  • 891 mm
  • 900 mm
  • 914 mm
  • 950 mm
  • (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
  • (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)
  • (3 ft)
  • (3 ft1+13⁄32 in)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
  Three foot six inch 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  Four foot 1,219 mm (4 ft 0 in)
  Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)
  1432 mm 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
  Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Broad
 
  • 1,445 mm
  • 1,450 mm
  • (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in)
  • (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in)
  Leipzig gauge 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
  Toronto gauge 1,495 mm (4 ft 10+7⁄8 in)
 
  • 1,520 mm
  • 1,524 mm
  • (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft)
 
  • 1,581 mm
  • 1,588 mm
  • 1,600 mm
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄4 in)
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
  • (5 ft 3 in)
  Baltimore gauge 1,638 mm (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
 
  • 1,668 mm
  • 1,676 mm
  • (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft 6 in)
  Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)
  Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
Change of gauge
By location
World map, rail gauge by region

In railway terminology, track gauge indicates the distance between the inside edges of the running rails. Standard gauge is defined as 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), and narrow gauge as any gauge less than that distance.

In Britain, standard gauge is used for all main line routes and the majority of urban light rail. Narrow gauge railways were constructed mainly where there was a need for tighter curves, smaller structure gauges, and lighter rails, as they could be less costly to build, equip and operate than standard gauge railways (particularly in mountainous or difficult terrain).[1]

Narrow gauge railways in Britain used various gauges. 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) was relatively uncommon; in his book Railway Adventure, L. T. C. Rolt states that apart from the Talyllyn, the only public railways to use the gauge were the Corris and Campbeltown and Machrihanish railways.[2][lower-alpha 1] However there were several private railways, including mine and quarry railways, which used the gauge.

List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways

This list, whilst not necessarily complete, details all railways that are believed to have used 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge at some point during their existence.

Name Opened Closed Length Location Notes
Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway[3][4] 1877 1932[5] 6 miles (9.7 km) Mull of Kintyre, Scotland Remote line serving coal mines and passengers on the Kintyre peninsula.
Caphouse Colliery[6] 1988 present c. 2,000 yards (1,800 m) National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield Demonstration funicular railway.
Corris Railway (original) 1859 1948 12+1⁄4 miles (19.7 km) [5] Machynlleth, Wales Built to carry slate from the Corris district. Closed after flooding of the Afon Dyfi.
Corris Railway (preserved) 2002 present c. 1 mile (1.6 km) Corris, Wales Runs from Corris to Maespoeth with a new build steam locomotive based on one of the original locomotives.
Galltymoelfre Tramway[7] c. 1865 c. 1946 c. 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) Abergynolwyn, Wales A horse-drawn tramway that connected Bryn Eglwys quarry to the Talyllyn Railway via an incline at each end.
Glasgow Royal Infirmary Railway[8] c. 1910 c. 1920 c. 400 feet (120 m) Glasgow, Scotland Railway underground in the basement of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Operated by a battery-electric locomotive, and carried laundry. Closed following an accident in 1920, but sections of rail are still visible in the basement.
Glyn Valley Tramway Under construction present unknown Chirk Part of the former 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in (724 mm) tramway is being rebuilt as a 2' 3" gauge line at Chirk in North Wales.[9]
Hendra China Stone Quarry[10] 1860s after 1967 Unknown Nanpean, England Internal quarry tramway system with cable hauled inclines.
Huncoat Colliery Unknown 1968?[11] Unknown Huncoat, England National Coal Board mine railway. One diesel was sold to the Talyllyn Railway, and runs as No. 9 Alf.[12][13]
Lord quarry c. 1820s Unknown Unknown Blaenau Ffestiniog There is evidence that Lord quarry (later part of the Votty & Bowydd quarry complex) and other North Wales slate quarries used 2 ft 3 in gauge tramways in the 1820s.[14]
Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway[5] 1897 1899 7 miles (11.3 km)[5] Talybont, Wales Short-lived line serving the lead mines around Hafan.
Ratgoed Tramway[15] 1864 1952 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) Aberllefenni, Wales A horse-drawn tramway connected to the Corris Railway.
Quarry Close China Stone Works[10] 1863 1973 Unknown Nanpean, England A network of lines connecting several quarries to the GWR branch line from Drinnick Mill.
Talyllyn Railway[5] 1865 present 7+1⁄4 miles (11.7 km) Tywyn, Wales Built to carry slate from Bryn Eglwys quarry to the coast.
Upper Corris Tramway[16] 1859 1927 1.9 miles (3.1 km) Corris, Wales A horse-drawn tramway connected to the Corris Railway.
York Gasworks Company[17] 1915 1959 c. 400 feet (120 m) York, England Electrified railway, operated by a locomotive built by Dick, Kerr & Co.

Similar gauges

No railways of an identical gauge are known outside Britain, though lines of 700 mm (2 ft 3+9⁄16 in) gauge are known in Latvia and Romania and several Cuban sugar cane railways.[18]

Other British railways of similar, but not identical, gauge were:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was also a public railway. Whether Rolt was unaware of this line, or chose to ignore it is unknown.

References

  1. ↑ Spooner, Charles Easton (1879). Narrow Gauge Railways. p. 71.
  2. ↑ Rolt, L. T. C. (1998). Railway Adventure. Sutton Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 0-330-02783-2.
  3. ↑ Nigel S.C. Macmillan (1970). The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway. David & Charles: Newton Abbot.
  4. ↑ "Macrihanish Online". 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitehouse, Patrick & Snell, John (1984). Narrow gauge railways of the British Isles. David & Charles. ISBN 0715301969.
  6. ↑ Keith Turner (2002). Cliff Railways of the British Isles. The Oakwood Press. p. 119.
  7. ↑ Boyd, James I. C. (1988). The Tal-y-llyn Railway. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. p. 165. ISBN 0-906867-46-0.
  8. ↑ Voice, David (2007). Hospital Tramways and Railways (3rd ed.). Adam Gordon. p. 43. ISBN 978 1 874422 67 9.
  9. ↑ "GVT revival will be 2ft 3in gauge track". The Railway Magazine. December 2022. p. 70.
  10. 1 2 Dart, Maurice (2005). Cornwall Narrow Gauge including the Camborne & Redruth tramway. Middleton Press. ISBN 190447456X.
  11. ↑ Colliery closed 1968. "The Huncoat Trails". Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  12. ↑ Bate, J.H.L. (2001). The Chronicles of Pendre Sidings. RailRomances. pp. 158, 160. ISBN 1-900622-05-X.
  13. ↑ Potter, D. (1990). The Talyllyn Railway. David St John Thomas. p. 202. ISBN 0-946537-50-X.
  14. ↑ Drummond, Ian (2015). Rails Along The Fathew. Holne Publishings. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9563317-8-6.
  15. ↑ James I. C. Boyd (1952). Narrow Gauge Rails in Mid-Wales: A Historical Survey of the Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid-Wales. Oakwood Press.
  16. ↑ Peter Johnson (2011). An Illustrated History of the Great Western Narrow Gauge. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-86093-636-7.
  17. ↑ Mitchell, Vic & Smith, Keith (2003). Branch Line to the Derwent Valley, including the Foss Islands Branch. Midhurst: Middleton Press. plate 24. ISBN 1-904474-06-3.
  18. ↑ "Sugar Cane Railways in Cuba, 2003" (PDF).
  19. ↑ "Industrial Narrow Gauge Railways in England". Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "Century of mining ends at Welbeck Colliery". BBC News. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
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