Downs Light Railway

The Downs Light Railway is the world's oldest private miniature railway, with a track gauge of 9 ¹⁄₂ in (241 mm). The Railway is located within the private grounds of The Downs School in Colwall, near the town of Malvern in the English Midlands. The railway was built and opened in 1925 by Geoffrey Hoyland (Headmaster) as a 7 ¹⁄₄ in (184 mm) gauge railway, for the principal purpose of education. The railway was regauged during the 1930s to the larger gauge of 9 ¹⁄₂ in, to allow for new locos to be used on the line. After Geoffrey Hoyland left the school, the railway was allowed to deteriorate until it became unsafe to use by the late 1960s.

During the 1970s, restoration work began by former pupils of the school, most notably James Boyd. In 1983, the railway was handed over to the Downs Light Railway Trust, who became responsible for its ownership, preservation and operation.

The Downs Light Railway stands to be the only railway to be operated by Children aged between 7 and 13 years, as an educational extra-curricular activity.

Light railway

Light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail"; it uses lighter-weight track, and is more steeply graded and tightly curved to avoid civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow lower costs of operation, at the price of slower operating speeds and lower vehicle capacity.

Narrow gauge

In countries where a single standard gauge is dominant, the term light railway does not imply a narrow gauge railway. Most such narrow gauge railways operate as light railways, but not all light railways need be narrow gauge. After Spooner's development of steam-haulage for narrow gauge railways the prevailing view was that the gauge should be tailored according to the traffic, "the nearer the machine is apportioned to the work it has to do the cheaper will that work be done". From the 1890s though it was recognised that cost-savings could be made in construction and operation of a standard gauge railway, "light axle-loads and low speeds, not gauge, are the first condition of cheap construction and economical working. Gauge is quite a secondary factor."Break of gauge now became an important factor and there was much concern over whether this would become an additional cost for the transhipment of goods, or whether this was over-emphasised compared to the amount of warehousing and handling needed anyway. The Irish railway system in particular became a good example of a broad gauge main line system with many independent narrow gauge, 3 ft (914 mm), light railway feeder branch lines.