Ridable miniature railway

 ( Miniature, Ridable Railway ) 

A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by Diesel engine or petrol engines, live steam or ).

At gauges of and less, the track is commonly raised above ground level. Flat cars are arranged with foot boards so that driver and passengers sit astride the track. The track is often multi-gauged, to accommodate , , and sometimes gauge locomotives.

The smaller gauges of miniature railway track can also be portable and is generally / gauge on raised track or as / on ground level. Typically portable track is used to carry passengers at temporary events such as fêtes and summer fairs.

Typically miniature lines are operated by not for profit organisations - often model engineering societies - though some are entirely in private grounds and others operate commercially.

There are many national organisations representing and providing guidance on miniature railway operations including the Australian Association of Live Steamers and Southern Federation of Model Engineering Societies.

[[File:Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway River Irt.png|thumb|Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway]]
     

The original Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway was a line opened on 24 May 1875 to transport hematite iron ore from three mines near and around the village of Boot to the Furness Railway standard gauge line at Ravenglass.

The Jaywick Miniature Railway was built by FC Stedman, who owned the Jaywick Sands Estate on the Essex coast just south of Clacton-on-Sea. This railroad was built in order to transport individual potential buyers to view the homes for sale. Sign 1 - Jaywick Miniature Railway official website of Tendring District Counil. It was built in 1935, by Miniature Railway & Specialists Engineering, of Terminus Road, Eastbourne.

Stapleford Miniature Railway is an historic steam locomotive-hauled track gauge railway at Stapleford Park, Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England. External site about Stapleford Considered one of the finest examples of its type, the railway is now private but still attracts thousands of visitors from the UK and abroad during its two public charity events each year.

'Miniature railways' are that can be ridden by people and are used for pleasure/as a pastime for their constructors and passengers. In the US, miniature railways are also known as 'riding railroads' or 'grand scale railroads'. The track gauges recognised as being miniature railways vary by country, but in the UK the maximum gauge is .

A 'minimum-gauge railway', which generally starts at gauge, is one that was originally conceived as a commercial railway with small gauge track, with a working function as an estate railway, an industrial railway, or a provider of public transport links, such as the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, Fairbourne Railway or the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.

In the UK, a gauge of or or crossing a carriageway are the criteria used by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), at which a railway is no longer classed as miniature and is therefore subject to formal regulation: they may be minor railways and/or heritage railways; the concept of minimum gauge is not recognised for the purposes of regulation.

• Backyard railroad
• British narrow-gauge railways
• Children's railway
• Decauville
• Rail transport modelling scales
• Train ride

• Grand Scales Quarterly, the US magazine of grand scale railroading
• Miniature Railway World
• Live Steam Tracks
• Britains Great Little Railways
• There and Back Light Railway
• City of Oxford Society of Model Engineers
• 7¼ Inch Gauge Society
• Model Engineering Association of New Zealand