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Fifteen-inch gauge railways were pioneered by
Sir Arthur Percival Heywood who was interested in what he termed a
minimum gauge railway
Minimum-gauge railways have a gauge of most commonly , , , , , or . 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 ...
for use as estate railways or to be easy to lay on, for instance, a battlefield.
In 1874, he described the principle behind it as used for his
Duffield Bank Railway
The Duffield Bank Railway was built by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood in the grounds of his house on a hillside overlooking Duffield, Derbyshire in 1874. Although the Ordnance Survey map circa 1880 does not show the railway itself, it does show tw ...
, distinguishing it from a "narrow-gauge" railway. Having previously built a small railway of gauge, he settled on gauge as the minimum that he felt was practical.
Railways
See also
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Bassett-Lowke
Bassett-Lowke was an English toy manufacturing company based in Northampton. Founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, the company specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a m ...
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British narrow-gauge railways
There were more than a thousand British narrow-gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways. Many notable events in British railway history happened on narrow-gauge railway ...
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Heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
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List of British heritage and private railways
This is a list of heritage, private and preserved railways throughout the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies, and British Overseas Territories whether operational or closed, that are operated for charitable purposes or shareholder profit. ...
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List of track gauges
This list presents an overview of railway track gauges by size. A gauge is measured between the inner faces of the rails.
Track gauges by size
Minimum and ridable miniature railways
For ridable miniature railways and minimum gauge railways, t ...
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Minimum-gauge railway
Minimum-gauge railways have a gauge of most commonly , , , , , or . 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 ...
References
{{Rail tracks
Minimum gauge railways