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The first miniature railway models were made by full size locomotive builders
and gifted model engineers. It was not until the Cagney Brothers in the USA and
Bassett-Lowke in Britain realised the commercial possibilities of miniature
railways that the growth of these lines really began.
Now in the UK alone there are over 170 public lines of 7 1/4" to 21" gauge
and over 70 club tracks of 7 1/4" gauge. Add to these the large number of public
and club tracks in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and you have
a veritable feast of miniature railways.
From the first 21" gauge steam outline Hudswell Clarke locos and the "main
lines in miniature" such as the Ravenglass and Eskdale and Romney, Hythe and
Dymchurch down to 7 1/4" gauge club tracks, there are always new lines and locos
appearing.
In recent years builders have completed a 15" Avonside 'Heisler' plantation
loco (Owl at Kirklees Light Railway, West Yorks), a 10 1/4" New York Central 'Niagra' 4-8-4, a 15" Leek & Manifold 2-6-4T
and a 10 1/4" GWR 'Saint' 4-6-0, whilst a 7 1/4" 'Shay' and a 15" Herschel
Spillman 4-4-0 have been imported from New Zealand. Under construction are a
15"
2-6-2T, a 10 1/4" Great Central 2-8-0, a 10 1/4" Royal Scot and a 71/4"
Londonderry & Lough Swilly 4-8-0 , to name but a few.
The NGRS has a regular miniature railway section in "Narrow Gauge News" and
historical articles in "The
Narrow Gauge". Our miniature railway coverage and records are
unrivalled.
We list web sites of miniature railway interest on our links page.
We also have a
list of NG and
Miniature Lines (2010) for public download which should be read with
Guide Notes (2010) (both are
PDF files):
Copies of an enhanced 2010 Annual Guide, including Postcode and website
information are available for NGRS members on request from NGRS Secretary, Iain McCall, at
either the address or e:Mail address on the Contacts page.
The existence of two editions of the Annual Guide is a
recent development, and is still the subject of discussion at Committee level -
our next meeting is in September, following which the situation may change.
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