List_of_British_heritage_and_private

List of British heritage and private railways

This list of British heritage and private railways is intended as a list of railways in Great Britain and the Channel Islands that are privately owned or kept, built and run for heritage. For rail museums, see List of British railway museums. More links at foot of page.

Many of the standard gauge railways were originally lines closed by British Railways under the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, and reopened as private and / or heritage lines.

England

Standard gauge

The engine sheds at Didcot Railway Centre

GWR Earl of Berkeley at Horsted Keynes Station, Bluebell Railway

Haworth station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

Goathland station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Mixed train on the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway

Arley station on the Severn Valley Railway

A general view of the Swanage Railway

Bishops Lydeard station on the West Somerset Railway

Astley Green Colliery Museum, Lancashire
Airedale Railway, North Yorkshire ("The Yorkshire Dales Branch")
Avon Valley Railway, Gloucestershire
Barrow Hill Engine Shed, Derbyshire (preserved Roundhouse Museum)
Battlefield Line, Shackerstone, Leicestershire
Bideford & Instow Railway, Devon
Bluebell Railway, East Sussex and West Sussex
Bodmin & Wenford Railway, Cornwall
Bowes Railway, Tyne and Wear
Bristol Harbour Railway and Industrial Museum, Bristol
Cambrian Railway Society, Oswestry, Shropshire
Cambrian Railway Trust, Llynclys, Shropshire
Chasewater Railway, Staffordshire
Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire ("The Icknield Line")
Churnet Valley Railway, Staffordshire
Colne Valley Railway, Essex
Cholsey and Wallingford Railway, Oxfordshire ("The Bunk Line")
Dartmoor Railway, Devon
Dean Forest Railway, Gloucestershire
Derwent Valley Light Railway, North Yorkshire ("The Blackberry Line")
Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire
Doncaster Railway Works, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Don Valley Railway, South Yorkshire
Dart Valley Railway, Devon
East Anglian Railway Museum, Essex
East Kent Railway, Kent
East Lancashire Railway, Lancashire and Greater Manchester
East Somerset Railway, Somerset ("The Strawberry Line")
Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, Derbyshire
Eden Valley Railway, Cumbria
Elsecar Railway, South Yorkshire
Epping Ongar Railway, Essex
Foxfield Steam Railway, Staffordshire
Fleetwood Branch, Lancashire
Furness Steam Railway, Cumbria
Great Northern Steam Railway, Norfolk ("The Poppy Line")
Great Western Steam Railway, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire ("The Cotswold Line")
Great Central Steam Railway, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire
Great Yorkshire Coast Railway, North Yorkshire
Haig Colliery Mining Museum, Cumbria
Helston Railway Preservation Company, Cornwall
Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Isle of Wight
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, West Yorkshire
Kent & East Sussex Railway, Kent and East Sussex
Lansalson branch line, Cornwall
Lavender Line, East Sussex
Lincolnshire Wolds Railway, Lincolnshire
Mid Hampshire Railway, Hampshire ("The Watercress Line")
Mid-Norfolk Railway, Norfolk
Mid-Suffolk Light Railway, Suffolk
Middleton Railway, West Yorkshire
Midland Railway Centre, Derbyshire
Midland Steam Railway, Derbyshire
Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, Devon
Nene Valley Railway, Peterborough
North Norfolk Railway, Norfolk
North Tyneside Steam Railway, Tyne and Wear
North Yorkshire Moors Railway, North Yorkshire
Northampton & Lamport Railway, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust, Northamptonshire
Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre, Nottinghamshire
North Somerset Railway, Somerset
North Lincolnshire Railway, Lincolnshire
Peak Rail, Derbyshire
Plym Valley Railway, Devon
Queensbury Regionel Railway, West Yorkshire
Ribble Steam Railway, Lancashire
Rother Valley Railway, Kent and East Sussex
Rushden, Higham & Wellingborough Railway, Northamptonshire
Severn Valley Railway, Shropshire and Worcestershire
Somerset and Dorset Joint Steam Railway, Midsomer Norton, Somerset
Spa Valley Railway, Kent
Swanage Railway, Dorset ("The Purbeck Line")
Swindon and Cricklade Railway, Wiltshire
Telford Steam Railway, Shropshire
Tyseley Locomotive Works, Tyseley, West Midlands
Teesdale Railway, County Durham
Tanfield Railway, County Durham and Tyne and Wear
Test Valley Railway, Hampshire
Weardale Railway, County Durham
Wensleydale Railway, North Yorkshire
West Somerset Railway, Somerset
Wharfedale Railway, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire
Wisbech and March Bramleyline, ("The Bramley Line")

The Volks Electric Railway

Restored Victorian coach at the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Narrow Gauge Railways

Abbey Light Railway, leeds
Amberley Chalk Pits Museum includes narrow-gauge railway
Amerton Railway, Staffordshire
Beeches Light Railway - private
Bicton Woodland Railway
Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway
Bressingham Steam & Gardens
Bromyard and Linton Railway - private
Bure Valley Railway - Norfolk
Cadeby Light Railway - now closed
Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, North East Lincolnshire
Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway, Derbyshire
Devon Railway Centre, Devon
Eaton Hall Railway - private
Gartell Light Railway, Somerset
Golden Valley Light Railway, Derbyshire
Hayling Seaside railway, Hampshire
Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry
Hollycombe Steam Collection
Kew Bridge Steam Museum, London
Launceston Steam Railway, Cornwall
Leighton Buzzard Railway
London Post Office Railway - not open to the public
Lynbarn Railway, Devon
Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, Devon
Moseley Railway Trust, Manchester
Morwellham Quay Open Air Museum, Devon
North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway
North Ings Farm Railway, Lincolnshire
Perrygrove Railway, Gloucestershire
Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, Staffordshire
Seaton Tramway, Devon
Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, Kent
Southend Pier
South Tynedale Railway between Alston, Cumbria and Kirkhaugh, Northumberland
Statfold Barn Railway - private
Steeple Grange Light Railway
Stevington and Turvey Railway - private
Volks Electric Railway Brighton
Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, Essex
West Lancashire Light Railway, Lancashire
Windmill Farm Railway, Lancashire
Yaxham Light Railway

Miniature railways

The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway in 1981

Trains on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway

Audley End Railway
Beer Heights Light Railway, Devon
Bekonscot Light Railway, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
Berkeley Light Railway, Gloucestershire
Broomy Hill Railway, Hereford
Bure Valley Railway, Wroxham, Norfolk
Dobwalls Forest Railroad near Liskeard, Cornwall
Downs Railway Colwall, Near Ledbury Herefordshire
Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway & Country Park, Hampshire
Echills Wood Railway, Kingsbury Waterpark, Warickshire
Frimley Lodge Park Railway
Gorse Blossom Farm Railway, Devon
Great Cockcrow Railway, Chertsey, Surrey
Kirklees Light Railway, West Yorkshire
Lakeside Miniature Railway, Southport, Merseyside
Lappa Valley Steam Railway, Cornwall
Malden District Society of Model Engineers, Thames Ditton, Surrey
Markeaton Park Light Railway, Derby
Moors Valley Railway, Ashley Heath near Bournemouth, Dorset
Saltburn Miniature Railway near Middlesbrough
North Bay Railway, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, Cumbria
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, Kent
Royal Victoria Country Park near Southampton, Hampshire
Ruislip Lido Railway, Ruislip, Greater London
Stapleford Miniature Railway, Leicestershire
Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
Weston Park Railway, Shropshire
Wicksteed Park Railway, Northamptonshire
Woking Miniature Railway, Knaphill, Surrey

Full details of all miniature railways

A 1931 Leeds tram seen at Crich Tramway Village in 2004

Tramways

Tramway operation in Britain almost ceased entirely in the post-WWII years. Once Glasgow had disposed of its lines, the sole survivor was the Blackpool Corporation Tramways, although considerably reduced in size. In the late 20th century there has been a revival in this form of transport, notably in Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, the West Midlands and Croydon, among others.

There are, however, the following places where preserved trams operate: