3 ft gauge railways in the United Kingdom
A list of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom.
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Tram · Rapid transit Miniature · Scale model |
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Break-of-gauge · Dual gauge · Conversion (list) · Bogie exchange · Variable gauge |
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North America · South America · Europe · Australia ![]() |
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The worldwide usage of locomotives on railways, including 3 ft (914 mm) gauge railways, has its origins in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. In fact, in 1802, a 3 ft gauge plateway-type railway owned by the Coalbrookdale Company in England became the first railway in the world to have a locomotive designed and built for it. The locomotive's designer, Richard Trevithick, is credited with making the first recorded successful demonstration of a locomotive on rails (in 1804 on a different railway in Wales). 3 ft gauge locomotive-powered railways, along with other narrow-gauge railways of varying widths, would later become one of the most common railway gauges chosen for short-distance lines in the British Isles, such as those found in mines and industrial sites (see table below).
Railways
Country/territory | Railway |
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England |
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Northern Ireland | |
Scotland |
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Wales |
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See also
References
- Tonks, Eric (1992). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 9: Leicestershire. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870-754-085.
- Quine, Dan (2016). Four East Midlands Ironstone Tramways Part Two: Kettering. 106. Garndolbenmaen: Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review.