British Heritage Railway LinesBritish Heritage Railway LinesA heritage railway is a railway kept to carry living history rail traffic in order to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Often heritage railways are old railway lines preserved in a state which depicts a certain period, or periods, in the history of railway systems. British Heritage Lines Heritage railway lines contain historic rail infrastructure that has been substituted or made obsolete in modern railway transit systems. Historical installations, such as hand operated points, water cranes, and rail fastened with hand hammered rail spikes, are characteristic features of heritage lines. Apart from mere tourist railways, which carry mainly tourists and use only modern installations and vehicles, heritage lines' infrastructure naturally creates views and soundscapes of the past while operated. British Heritage Railways in Operation Due to the lack of modern technology, or to a desire for historical accuracy, railway operations can be handled with traditional practices, such as the use of physical tokens. Use of heritage infrastructure and operations often calls for assigning roles based on historical occupations to the railway staff. Station masters and signalmen, sometimes wearing period-appropriate attire, can be seen on some heritage railways. Most heritage railways carry heritage rolling stock, but modern rail vehicles can be used to showcase railway scenes with historical line infrastructure. British Heritage Railway Finance While some heritage railways are fully profitable tourist attractions, many are not-for-profit entities; some of the latter depend on enthusiastic volunteers for upkeep and operations, to supplement revenues from traffic and visitors. Still other heritage railways offer a viable public transit option and can therefore sustain operations with a sufficient amount of revenue from regular riders or government subsidies. British Heritage Railway Development British Heritage Railways as Children's Railways Children's railways are extracurricular educational institutions, where children and teenagers learn railway professions. Often they are fully functional, passenger-carrying narrow gauge rail lines. This phenomenon originated in the USSR and was greatly developed in Soviet times. Many sites were called pioneer railways, after the communist youth organisation. The first children's railway was opened Moscow in 1932, and at the breakup of the USSR, 52 children's railways existed in the country. Even though the fall of communist governments has led to closures of these railways, many preserved children's railways are still functioning in post-Soviet states and Eastern European countries. Many children's railways were built on parklands in urban areas. Unlike many industrial areas, typically served by a narrow gauge railway, parks were free from redevelopment. Child volunteers and socialist fiscal policy enabled stagnant existence for many of these railways. The old children's railways, which still carry traffic, have often retained their original infrastructure and rolling stock, including vintage steam locomotives. Some have also acquired heritage vehicles from other railways. Examples of children's railways with steam locomotives include: Dresden park railway, Dresden, Germany; Gyermekvasút, Budapest, Hungary; Park Railway Maltanka, Poznań, Poland; Košice Children's Railway, Košice, Slovakia, and the 7 inch gauge steam railway within the grounds of St Nicholas' school, Merstham, Surrey, which the children still help operate with assistance from the East Surrey 16mm Group, and other volunteers - it also has open days. British Mountain Railways Creating passages for trains up steep hills and through mountain regions offers many obstacles which call for special technical solutions. Special steep grade railway -technologies and extensive tunneling may be employed. The use of narrow gauge allows tighter curves in the track and offers a smaller structure gauge and tunnel size. In high altitudes, the difficulties in construction and logistics as well as limited urban development and demand of transport combined with special rolling stock requirements has meant that many mountain railways have been left unmodernized. The possibility to marvel at the engineering feats of the railway builders of the past with views of pristine mountain scenes has made many railways in mountainous areas profitable as tourist attractions. British Pit Railways Pit railways have been an important part of operating an underground mine all over the world. Small rail vehicles offer effective transportation of ore and waste rock, as well as workers, through narrow tunnels. Sometimes the trains were the sole mode of transport in the passages between the work sites and the mine entrance. Often the loading gauge of the railway dictated the cross-section of the passages to be dug, and the tunnel and the track created an integral combination. On many mining sites, pit railways have been abandoned due to mine closure or adoption of new kinds of transportation equipment. Nowadays some show mines exhibit a vintage pit railway and offer a chance to experience a man trip into the mine. British Underground Railways Millennium Underground Railway or M1, built from 1894 to 1896, is the oldest line of the Budapest Metro system and the second oldest underground railway in the world. In the 1980s and 1990s, M 1 underwent major reconstruction and Line 1 now serves eight original stations. The original appearance of the old stations has been preserved. In 2002, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is also a Millennium Underground Museum in the Deák Ferenc Square concourse where many other artifacts from the metro's early history can be seen. British Heritage Railways in United Kingdom In Britain, heritage railways are often railway lines which were once run as commercial railways, but were later no longer needed or were closed down, and were taken over or re-opened by volunteers or non-profit organisations. A typical British heritage railway will use steam locomotives and original rolling stock to create a supposed "period atmosphere", although some are now concentrating on more recent "modern image" diesel and electric traction supposedly to re-create the post-steam railway era. Many run on partial routes unconnected to a larger network or railways, run only seasonally, and charge high fares compared to services that focus mainly on providing transit. As a result, they are primarily, indeed exclusively, focused on serving the tourist and leisure markets, not local transportation needs. However, in the 1990s and 2000s some heritage railways have professed to provide local transportation and to extend their running seasons to cater for commercial passenger traffic. Following the founding of the Edaville Railroad, in the US state of Massachusetts, by Ellis D. Atwood in 1947, the first heritage railway to be rescued and run entirely by volunteers was the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. This narrow gauge line, taken over by a group of enthusiasts in 1950, is recognised as the start of the preservation movement in the United Kingdom. The world's second preserved railway, and the first outside the United Kingdom, was the Puffing Billy Railway in Australia. This railway operates 24 km of track with much of the original rolling stock built as early as 1898. There are now between 100-150 heritage railways in the United Kingdom and similar railway preservation schemes by enthusiast can be found in many of the other countries in Europe and the Commonwealth. The large number of heritage railways in the UK is due in part to the closure of many minor lines in the 1960s under the Beeching cuts. These were relatively easy to revive. The first standard gauge line to be preserved was the Middleton Railway, though not a victim of Beeching. The second, and first to carry passengers was the Bluebell Railway. Not-for-profit heritage railways differ in the intensity of the service that can be offered. While the Puffing Billy Railway operates a busier service than it regularly did in its pre-preservation working life, some see traffic only on summer weekends. Some of the more successful, such as the Severn Valley Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, may have up to five or six steam engines working, operating a four-train service daily. Smaller railways may run for seven-days-a-week throughout the summer with only one steam engine. The Great Central Railway is the only example of a preserved British main line that operates with a double track. It can operate over 50 trains on a busy gala timetable. In the UK, following the privatisation of main-line railways, the line between traditionally not-for-profit heritage railways and for-profit branch lines may appear to have blurred. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is an example of a commercial line run partly as a heritage operation and partly to provide local transportation. The Severn Valley Railway has even operated a few goods trains on a commercial basis. In addition, a number of heritage railway lines are regularly used by commercial freight operators. Since the Bluebell Railway reopened to traffic in 1960, the definition of private standard gauge railways in the United Kingdom as preserved railways has changed and evolved as the number of projects, length, operating days and function has altered. The 1970s distinction between narrow gauge, standard gauge and steam centres alone is no longer necessarily fit for purpose. The situation is further muddied by the huge variation in company structure of the ownership of the railway, its rolling stock and other assets. Unlike community railways, the tourist railways in the UK are vertically integrated, although those operating mainly as charities have their charitable and non-charitable activities essentially separated for accounts purposes. Quick Guide to UK Country Guides & UK Tourism Attractions Country Guides - Days Out - Tourism Attractions - Theme Parks - Family Days Out Tourism Guides - Beaches - Coastal Paths Quick Guide to UK Places to Visit & UK Cultural Tourism Theatres - Museums - Art Galleries - Cathedrals - Synagogues - Mosques - Temples Festivals - Concerts - Gigs - Sport Stadiums - Sport Events - Airports - Travel Insurance Zoological Gardens - Aquariums - Racing Tracks - Racing Circuits - Athletics Tracks Quick Guide to UK Rail Guides & UK Rail Tourism Rail Tickets - Railway Maps - Railway Tourism Advice - Rail Passes - Rail Tours - Eurostar Eurail - Interrail - Train Stations - Metro Stations - Underground Stations Railway Modelling - Railway News Train Tickets - Rail Tours - Luxury Rail Tours - Europe Rail Pass - Steam Trains - Rail Journeys HS2 - Mountain Trains - Heritage Trains - Cog Trains - High Speed Rail - Escorted Rail Tours Cable Cars - Funicular - Gondola Lifts - Tramways - Ski Lifts - Ski Pass Railway Companies of the World - Heritage Railways - Steam Trains - Luxury Rail Journeys Airport Shuttles - Night Trains - Sleeper Rail Cars - High Speed Trains - TGV - Eurostar Airport Taxis - Station Taxi - Cog Railways - Swiss Mountain Railways - Train Journeys - Express Trains Quick Guide to World Train Companies Amtrak - Orient Express - Rovos Rail - Rocky Mountaineer - Glacier Express Jungfrau Express - Gotthard Panorama Express - Jungfrau Travel Pass - Express Trains Eurostar - British Pullman - Bernina Express - Shongololo Express - Blue Train - Danube Express Trans Siberian Express - GoldenPass Panoramic - Golden Eagle Train - Andean Explorer Swiss Travel Pass - Jacobite - El Transcantabrico - Tren Al Andus - Hiram Bingham Business Centre - Exhibitions Business Centre - Trade Exhibitions - Trade Shows - Trade Fairs - Trade Events Trade Exhibition Staff - Trade Exhibition Stands - Trade Show Help Business Centre - Procurements Business Incorporation - Procurements - Business Leads - Foreign Exchange Business Insurance - Shares - Commodities - Futures - Property Sales - Money Transfer Asset Finance - Asset Leasing - Crowd Funding - Currency Transfer Business Centre - Freight Rail Freight - Rail Cargo - Multimodal Freight - Road Freight - Air Freight - Sea Freight Freight - Cargo - Containers - Pallet Delivery - Letter Delivery - Parcel Delivery Business Centre - Finance Business Finance - Business Insurance - Business Cards - Apprentices - Need Staff - Jobs Vehicle Finance - Car Insurance - Car Leasing - Commercial Property - Foreign Exchange Utility Swop - Utility Gas - Utility Electricity - Utility Oil - Utility Solar Power Rail Finance - Business Leasing - Crowd Funding - Currency Transfer Insurance - Utilities - Savings - Credit Cards - Car Insurances - Car Finance - Pensions Quick Guide to World Travel & Tourism Summer Holidays - Holiday Deals - Beach Holidays - Short Trips - Package Holidays Summer Vacations - Vacation Deals - Beach Vacations - Weekend Breaks - Package Vacations Winter Holidays - Winter Holiday Deals - Ski Holidays - Ski Lift Passes - Short Breaks Winter Vacations - Winter Vacation Deals - Ski Vacations - Ski Pass - Weekend Trips | |||||
| |||||
