Narrow Gauge Steam Railways round the World

I have been a narrow gauge freak for over 30 years, back then, many countries boasted working narrow gauge steam - by which I mean (by and large) railways with a gauge of less than one metre, but which are not 'miniature' again it is an arbitrary decision on my part. Now those countries with real narrow gauge steam can be counted on the fingers of one hand and nowhere is it remotely plentiful. So this page has to widen its scope to include operating museums and railways which will organise charter trains for visiting groups etc. If you have got to this page through search engines, please be aware that similar information is available for those who are broader minded through my main international steam pages. See also my museums page which will include references to non-active steam.

As always, updates, additions and corrections will be very welcome.

If you want a historical list of 30 inch (750/760/762mm) lines in the world check out http://www.pearcedale.com/c&b/thirty.html - this represents by far the most common gauge selected for construction. (Be aware that the site has not been updated since 2004 and many of the links appear dead.) Similarly for 24 inch or so (600/610mm) lines see http://members.shaw.ca/twofooter/ww2ftrr.htm. 

If your interest extends beyond steam, then the following sites will provide useful information along with that on steam:

If you are interested in narrow gauge steam then check out our ISV DVDs. These are properly researched quality documentary films with a story to tell.
'National Geographic Stuff' said one purchaser.

I don't include gratuitous advertisements to commercial products, but I am happy to make exceptions for

Narrow Gauge World, a bi-monthly UK publication with a significant international slant

Voie Etroite a bi-monthly French publication with a significant international slant

Additions/updates are given in chronological order: 

31st August 2007 - Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

1st September 2007 Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine.

2nd September 2007 France, Holland and Italy.

3rd September 2007 Austria, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, UK and USA.

18th September 2007 Sweden updated.

20th September 2007 Ireland updated.

25th September 2007 Germany and Holland updated.

2nd October 2007 Sweden updated.

4th October 2007 Bulgaria and Portugal updated.

10th October 2007 Sweden and Latvia updated.

3rd November 2007 USA updated.

27th February 2008 Switzerland updated

18th April 2008 France updated

31st May 2008 Russia updated

1st June 2008 Denmark updated

Africa

Narrow gauge railways were never common here, of those not mentioned which survived into the late 20th century, the public railways and industrial systems in Mocambique and Angola merit mention and relics of the Sierra Leone narrow gauge are covered in my museums' page.

Eritrea

This did threaten to become the steam story of the 90's with long stored Mallets being put back into service on the rehabilitated 950mm gauge railway between the port of Massawa and the mountain top capital of Asmara, with its spectacular operation, it just took a little longer than originally hoped. If you need convincing of the photographic rewards of joining one of the regular tours here, then you can check my own report on the 'Darjeeling of Africa' dating from late 2002.

South Africa

There are a number of preserved operations of which Sandstone (http://www.sandstone-estates.com/) is the most notable as there is a more than an element of reality about the trains they run at harvest time.  The Apple Express out of Port Elizabeth (http://www.apple-express.co.za/) is normally steam hauled. The Patons Country Narrow Gauge Railway runs between Ixopo and Carisbrooke. The last I heard was that these operators were still hoping to restart the Alfred County Railway Banana Express which having been in limbo following financial difficulties was operated by them for some time, but was apparently closed down by Spoornet in April 2006...

Americas

One of my favourite steam travel books is 'World of South American Steam' which lists many, many places which are now just history. It may be that there are other working 'preserved sites' in, say, Argentina and Brazil which I am not aware of.

Argentina

The Patagonian Esquel railway operation is still a classic, even in days of preservation. La Trochita's own website is www.latrochita.org.ar and contact email latrochita@epuyen.net.ar. Ferrocaril Austral Feugo - El Tren del Fin del Mundo (AR) is 500mm gauge, miniature or narrow gauge? See also the Americas section of this site.  

Brazil

The operational narrow gauge railway and museum at São João d'El Rey in West Minas is very special - see http://www.revistaferroviaria.com.br/memoriaferroviaria/materia3P.htm and  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Sparta/8579/ingles.htm.

Colombia

This barely counts as a narrow gauge railway in my book at three foot and large scale operation. There are occasional public and private steam specials - see the Americas section of this site.  

Cuba

Until a few years ago, real narrow gauge steam was one of the great features of the annual sugar harvest (the 'Zafra'). Now it has finished, there are a few museum mills which may run the odd tourist train, operation is a bit hit and miss, see the Americas section of this site. 

Peru

There a small museum operation on the Surco Park Railway in the suburbs of Lima.

Uruguay

The Indare narrow gauge museum has 27 steam locomotives but just one is operational.

USA (updated 3rd November 2007)

This site lists all known operational steam locomotives -  http://www.steamlocomotive.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?operational 

This site lists all known tourist operations - http://www.railserve.com/Tourist/North_America/

This site is devoted to the world of the 2ft narrow gauge railway especially in New England but not much is steam - www.thetwofooters.com 

Using the above, I have tried to eliminate 'theme parks' for the most part (Dollywood, anybody?). Beware also of replicas...

Three Foot (and Three Foot Six Inch = %%) Railways 

Other Narrow Gauges

Asia

Asia (particularly the sub-continent) epitomises narrow gauge steam for me, it was love at first sight in India in 1976. Alas, as everywhere, most of it history.

China

Ten years ago, the country was opening up and visitors were discovering new lines. Now there are just four accessible remaining known working narrow gauge steam railways (there is at least one more which is off limits to visitors) - and the first 3 at least were not known when I first went to China in 1995:

Shibanxi (Sichuan), Yinghao and Xingyang (Henan), Huanan (Heilongjiang)

For current information the best source is SY Country. 

I have been to them all several times, but in recent times only Shibanxi - the latest report is on http://www.chinasteam.com/trains/china244.htm. We are even working on a DVD of this fabulous railway - Shibanxi Heaven.   

Cook Islands 

The Cook Islands are an unlikely site for a new steam enterprise in the 21st century, a former Polish narrow gauge loco in exile - see the Asia East page on this site.

India 

The famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway now has its own official website http://www.dhr.in/. It is (was?) one of the great steam narrow gauge railways of the world until, having  acquired World Heritage status, Indian Railways promptly dieselised the main services in 2000 although steam has continued to put ever more rare appearances since then. The so-called 'school train' from Kurseong to Darjeeling has been diesel hauled at times but the last report I had (12th March 2007) said that it was currently rostered for steam.

The mountain railways Neral-Matheran and Kalka-Simla have steam locomotives which come out on special occasions...

Indonesia

The sugar mills of Java (in season, roughly June to September) now represent the greatest concentration (about 50) of working narrow gauge steam locomotives in the world. What is left is but a pale shadow of activity 20 years ago but is still very special in my book. For the latest information on the scene, Check out the Java 2007 reports. And if you can't get there, why not consider buying a copy of Sweet Spot - the story of the steamiest sugar mill in Java.

Myanmar

There are occasional private steam charters on the Burma Mines Railway - check out my own report of a 1999 visit.

Nepal

There are very occasional private steam charters on the Janakpur Railway.

Pakistan

The Changa Manga Forest Railway still uses steam - click here for the most recent report, confirmed operational again by Aya Kakuma and Chris Jeffery in February 2006.

Philippines

One or two steam locomotives are held in reserve at Hawaiian-Philippine and La Carlota on Negros island - see the Asia East page on this site..

Sri Lanka

The narrow gauge out of Colombo is defunct but I believe the steam railcar and one of the 4-6-4T are still steamable for visitors to Dermatogoda shed.

Taiwan

Hsin-Ying Sugar Factory has repaired 762mm gauge Tubize 370 to run tourist trains on the Wu-Shu-Lin Sugar mill system and now 46 at Hsi-Hu sugar mill is also under overhaul. These days at least 2 Shays at Alishan are 'runners' but no doubt only on special occasions. This information is believed accurate in August 2007, read my Taiwan summary page summary page for possible updates 

Europe

For lists which includes many European Museum sites see http://www.heritagerailways.com/world.html (English only) European Federation of Museum & Tourist Railways http://www.fedecrail.org/en/index_en.html and http://www.innvista.com/culture/travel/rail/museuro.htm (various languages). If you are prepared to spend some time browsing then the pictures on this site will take you to many preservation sites - http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix_frameset.html.

Austria (updated 3rd September 2007)

For an English language summary of extant lines please check out http://www.austrian-railways.org/argng.htm and http://members.surfeu.at/magag/index-e.htm. These are direct links to most of the operating railway's websites which are largely German language although the major ones have parts in English. The amount of steam activity varies from daily in the tourist season to occasional.

Bosnia

The coal mine at Banovici has working steam, although I believe its status is now spare to diesels. For the reports check the Europe page on this site.

Bulgaria (updated 4th October 2007)

2-10-2T 60976 has been reported active on special trains on the Septemvri to Dobriniště line - for picture of it in action in 2007 see the links on http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/bg/narrow_gauge/steam/609/pix.html. James Waite has sent a report of his visit (4th October 2007)

Czech Republic (added 1st September 2007)

The narrow gauge lines from Jindřichův to Hradec and Obrataň operate a diesel service with steam on summer weekends and special days, for their own website see http://www.jhmd.cz/ and for an introduction see also http://www.vitejte.cz/objekt.php?oid=3030&j=en. 

The Mladějov Museum of Industrial Railways is close to Brnuo. http:// www.mpz.cz (Czech language only). This is a former industrial railway which was taken over by railway enthusiasts who collect locomotives of closed industrial railways from all over Czech Republic and Slovakia. Most of them are still working. (Information extracted from Endre Barta's page http://www.trains.hu/eur/4a10-cz/front.htm.) 

Denmark (uopdated 1st June 2008)

For an excellent summary see "A VISITORS' GUIDE TO NORDIC (SCANDINAVIAN) NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS" by Philip Pacey. James Waite visited The Hedelands Railway at Roskilde in May 2008, you can read his report. 

Estonia (added 1st September 2007)

At Lavassaare is what is called a museum but is actually preserved narrow gauge railway - see http://www.museumrailway.ee/.

Finland (updated 31st August 2007)

The Jokioinen Railway is a preserved 750mm gauge in southern Finland. The railway's website is http://www.jokioistenmuseorautatie.fi and you can also read James Waite's report of a July 2007 visit. See also "A VISITORS' GUIDE TO NORDIC (SCANDINAVIAN) NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS" by Philip Pacey and this Finnish site which lists quite a few former narrow gauge lines in the country - http://www.netti.fi/~kpaanane/narrow.htm.

France (updated 18th April 2008)

The key website is that of UNECTO ( Union des Exploitats de Chemins de Fer Touristique) and in particular two lists and a map

The railways by gauge: http://www.trains-fr.org/unecto/_annu/cftfede.htm 
The railways by area http://www.trains-fr.org/unecto/_annu/index.html
A map of locations http://www.trains-fr.org/unecto/_dest/
An historical overview (English) http://www.trains-fr.org/unecto/_hist/cft40gb.htm 

The magazine Voie Etroite has a list of tourist railways, many of which of course will not be narrow and maybe not even steam!
http://www.voieetroite.com/annu_cft.htm.  

Putting it all together and using recent Continental Railway Journals for non-member organisations, it seems that roughly from north to south the following are steam operated and less than standard gauge (not included are some museums which offer short steam rides). I doubt it is a complete list:

Germany (updated 25th September 2007)

For a summary of extant lines please check out http://www.schmalspurbahn.de/ (German language site). A further internet search should identify English language sites where they exist. I have not been able to identify an English language site covering the German narrow gauge (steam) railways adequately.

The following are, perhaps, among the better known of those operating steam services, being mainly in the former East Germany and having maintained 'real steam' into reunification, but now they are all effectively 'preserved' operations. But there is a lot more than these if you dig around in the site above and I shall be happy to add specific recommendations to the list below.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:

Niedersachsen

Sachsen:

Sachsen-Anhalt

Greece (updated 1st September 2007)

Many metre gauge steam locomotives survive, but I have not seen any suggestions that any are serviceable. The 600mm line to Milies has been part restored as a tourist operation but owing to fire risk, their steam locomotives see limited operation. For some pictures visit http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/gr/narrow_gauge/steam/pix.html which also includes static preserved items elsewhere in the country.

The 750mm line between Diakofto and Kalavryta is a (part) rack system which in theory could see steam charters but no reports of such seem to have been made in recent years.

Holland (updated 25th September 2007)

See this site for an English language list of Dutch railway museums - http://www.railmusea.nl/en_index.php.

Recommended (by James Waite) narrow gauge destinations are below - you can read his report on them (added 25th September 2007):

This park also has an operational narrow gauge steam locomotive - First Drenthe Association of Steam Aficionados (EDS), Barger Compascuum - http://veenpark.vlmg.nl/park.html. 

Hungary (added 31st August 2007)

For a summary of extant lines please check out http://members.surfeu.at/magag/index-e.htm. 

Particular mention should be made of the Gysev operation, the 3.6km museum railway "Széchenyi" in Nagycenk with regular scheduled steam - see https://www.gysev.hu/portal/page/portal/INTERNET/GYSEV_ONLINE?p_h_menu=2&p_v_menu=3. Click here for some pictures.

There appears to be a 14km preserved forestry railway at Lillafüred with some steam operation - see http://members.surfeu.at/magag/hulillafuered.htm - more details would be appreciated!

Ireland (updated 20th September 2007)

The vast majority of Ireland's wonderful 3ft gauge railways were swept away many years ago. The Irish Steam Preservation Society have a small operational railway of relatively recent origin - http://irishsteam.ie/.

James Waite has sent me a report of his own visits (20th September 2007) which includes the following systems:

Tralee and Dingle -  http://www.tdlr.org.uk

West Clare Railway - http://www.westclarerailway.ie

(Replica) Listowel & Ballybunion Railway - http://homepage.eircom.net/~lartiguemonorail.

Italy (added 2nd September 2007)

Italian steam was always 'different' and so were their narrow gauge railways, being built to 950mm gauge (they built the Eritrean railway too). For a general English language site on tourist railways, visit http://www.railtouritalia.com/railtouritalia_en/FRlinks.htm.

The best known of such railways are those on Sardinia, several of which have steam locomotives which are nominally serviceable but they seem only to be used for well-heeled tour groups and even then, not entirely in accordance with the advertised schedule... This page gives some information - http://www.rinbad.free-online.co.uk/it_sarde.htm - but it is a little out of date now. For Italian language sites see http://www.treninoverde.com/ and http://www.ferroviesardegna.it/. 

On the mainland, in Calabria there are narrow gauge sections based on Gioao Tauro (no active steam reported recently) and Cosenza where at least two steam locomotives are available in theory for a railway which includes a rack section.

Latvia (updated 10th October 2007)

There are two operational railways at Ventspils and Gulbene - read the report James Waite's July 2007 visit (updated 10th October 2007).

Norway (added 31st August 2007)

For an excellent summary see "A VISITORS' GUIDE TO NORDIC (SCANDINAVIAN) NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS" by Philip Pacey. On this site, you can read James Waite's account of ”Tertitten” - The Urskog-Hølandsbanen Railway.

Poland (added 31st August 2007)

For a general introduction, see http://members.lycos.co.uk/polishnarrowtracks/index.html, http://www.cleeve.com/poland/ and http://www.schmalspurbahn-in-polen.de/ (German language).

Portugal (updated 4th October 2007)

Metre gauge Mallet E214 has been serviceable in recent years but a combination of fire bans, gauge conversions and sundry other problems have severely limited operation. The last report of it I have was that it had been "moved from Regua to Guifoes works for inspection" in April 2007, by September 2007 it was back in Regua where there were 5 other Mallets in fair condition (report by Trevor Heath - click here for pictures - added 4th October 2007).

Romania 

The railway at Viseus de Sus remains operational on a reduced scale - click here for the reports.

Russia (updated 31st May 2008)

For an entry point into the world of Russian (and former Russian Empire) narrow gauge start here - http://narrow.parovoz.com/indexe.php. Unfortunately the rest of the site is in Russian...

There is a narrow gauge railway and museum at Pereslavl, see http://narrow.parovoz.com/pereslavl/main-e.html and the official site (in Russian) http://kukushka.ru (added 31st May 2008).

There is a children's railway at Rostov-on-Don, see http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/narrow_gauge/steam/pix.html for pictures. Similarly at Nizhni Novgorod according to Continental Railway Journal 149 (Spring 2007).

Serbia

There is working steam at Kostolac Open Cast Mine, several 900mm Davenport 0-8-0's like UNRRA locomotives are here. For the reports check the Europe page on this site.

There is a narrow gauge railway and museum at Mokra Gora, see this page for basic information - http://www.zlatibor.co.yu/voz/english/--%20sarganska8%20--.htm.

Slovakia (updated 1st September 2007)

For a summary of extant lines please check out http://members.surfeu.at/magag/index-e.htm.

There is a metre gauge children's railway "Children Railway" in the Cermel Valley near Kosice - see http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/sk/narrow_gauge/steam/pix.html for pictures.

Čiernohronská Železnica Čierny Balog is a 760mm gauge former forestry railway. It operates over 12km of track from Hronec zlieváreň, some 2km from Chvatimech ŽSR station, between May and September. See http://www.zelpo.sk/region/cerzel/cerzel.html. This information comes from Paul Steane's excellent enthusiast's guide to travel in Europe http://www.steane.com/egtre/egtre.php and  http://www.steane.com/egtre/sk_info.htm in particular. For a general link try http://www.museum.sk/?obj=pamiatka&ix=chz and http://www.slovakiatourism.sk/article?id=226&category=39&lang=en.   

So far I have been unable to trace recent news on the projected Kysuce-Orava museum railway which should be a 7km 760mm gauge line about 20km east of Čadca. But in the meantime this seems the best information available - http://members.surfeu.at/magag/sknbv.htm.

Sweden (updated 10th October 2007)

For an excellent summary see "A VISITORS' GUIDE TO NORDIC (SCANDINAVIAN) NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS" by Philip Pacey.

James Waite has provided a report of his visit to the Jädraås–Tallås Järnväg (JTJ) - a 891mm preserved line (17th September 2007), similarly the Östra Södermanlands Järnväg (ÖSlJ), (the East Södermanland Railway), Uppsala–Länna Järnväg (ULJ) (2nd October 2007), Anten-Gräfsnäs Järnväg and Skara-Lundsbrunns Järnvägar (joint report, added 10th October 2007).

Switzerland (updated 27th February 2008)

The following excellent links provide a good guide:

Click here for James Waite's report on his visit to the Rhätische Bahn in February 2008.

Ukraine (added 1st September 2007)

There is a children's railway in Kiev which has at least one active steam locomotive - see http://www.hotels-kiev.com/child_railway.htm for information and http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/narrow_gauge/steam/pix.html for pictures..

United Kingdom (added 3rd September 2007)

This page offers links to most operational UK narrow gauge railways - http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/links/.

This page professes to list of all known UK narrow gauge railways http://www.ngrs.demon.co.uk/downloads/miniature-sites.htm although there are no links on it.

See also UK Heritage Railways Site but there is no specific narrow gauge list.

Australasia 

Australia

See http://internationalsteam.co.uk/anz/ausop.htm and Association of Tourist and Heritage Rail Australia (ATHRA) - www.athra.asn.au.

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Rob Dickinson

Email: webmaster@internationalsteam.co.uk