# List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways

Track gauge :
By transport mode :
Rapid transit
Tram
Miniature
Scale model :
By size (list) :
Change of gauge :
Bogie exchange
Break of gauge
Dual gauge
Conversion
list
Variable gauge :
By location :
North America
South America
Europe
Australia :
In railway terminology, track gauge indicates the distance between the inside edges of the running rails. Standard gauge is defined as 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), and narrow gauge as any gauge less than that distance.
In Britain, standard gauge is used for all main line routes and the majority of urban light rail. Narrow gauge railways were constructed mainly where there was a need for tighter curves, smaller structure gauges, and lighter rails, as they could be less costly to build, equip and operate than standard gauge railways (particularly in mountainous or difficult terrain).
Narrow gauge railways in Britain used various gauges. 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) was relatively uncommon; in his book Railway Adventure, L. T. C. Rolt states that apart from the Talyllyn, the only public railways to use the gauge were the Corris and Campbeltown and Machrihanish railways. However there were several private railways, including mine and quarry railways, which used the gauge.

## List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways

This list, whilst incomplete, details all railways that are believed to have used 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge at some point during their existence.

### United Kingdom

| Name | Opened | Closed | Length | Location | Notes |
| Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway | 1877 | 1932 | 6 miles (9.7 km) | Mull of Kintyre, Scotland | Remote line serving coal mines and passengers on the Kintyre peninsula. |
| Caphouse Colliery | 1988 | present | c. 2,000 yards (1,800 m) | National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield | Demonstration funicular railway. |
| Corris Railway (original) | 1859 | 1948 | 12+1⁄4 miles (19.7 km) | Machynlleth, Wales | Built to carry slate from the Corris district. Closed after flooding of the Afon Dyfi. |
| Corris Railway (preserved) | 2002 | present | c. 1 mile (1.6 km) | Corris, Wales | Runs from Corris to Maespoeth Junction with new build steam locomotives based on two of the original locomotives. |
| Galltymoelfre Tramway | 1865 c. 1865 | 1946 c. 1946 | c. 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) | Abergynolwyn, Wales | A horse-drawn tramway that connected Bryn Eglwys quarry to the Talyllyn Railway via an incline at each end. |
| Glasgow Royal Infirmary Railway | 1910 c. 1910 | 1920 c. 1920 | c. 400 feet (120 m) | Glasgow, Scotland | Railway underground in the basement of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Operated by a battery-electric locomotive, and carried laundry. Closed following an accident in 1920, but sections of rail are still visible in the basement. |
| Glyn Valley Tramway | Under construction | present | unknown | Chirk | Part of the former 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in (724 mm) tramway is being rebuilt as a 2' 3" gauge line at Chirk in North Wales. |
| Hendra China Stone Quarry | 1860s | after 1967 | Unknown | Nanpean, England | Internal quarry tramway system with cable hauled inclines. |
| Huncoat Colliery | Unknown | 1968? | Unknown | Huncoat, England | National Coal Board mine railway. One diesel was sold to the Talyllyn Railway, and runs as No. 9 Alf. |
| Lord quarry | 1820s c. 1820s | Unknown | Unknown | Blaenau Ffestiniog | There is evidence that Lord quarry (later part of the Votty & Bowydd quarry complex) and other North Wales slate quarries used 2 ft 3 in gauge tramways in the 1820s. |
| Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway | 1897 | 1899 | 7 miles (11.3 km) | Talybont, Wales | Short-lived line serving the lead mines around Hafan. |
| Ratgoed Tramway | 1864 | 1952 | 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) | Aberllefenni, Wales | A horse-drawn tramway connected to the Corris Railway. |
| Quarry Close China Stone Works | 1863 | 1973 | Unknown | Nanpean, England | A network of lines connecting several quarries to the GWR branch line from Drinnick Mill. |
| Talyllyn Railway | 1865 | present | 7+1⁄4 miles (11.7 km) | Tywyn, Wales | Built to carry slate from Bryn Eglwys quarry to the coast. |
| Upper Corris Tramway | 1859 | 1927 | 1.9 miles (3.1 km) | Corris, Wales | A horse-drawn tramway connected to the Corris Railway. |
| York Gasworks Company | 1915 | 1959 | c. 400 feet (120 m) | York, England | Electrified railway, operated by a locomotive built by Dick, Kerr & Co. |

### United States

| Name | Opened | Closed | Length | Location | Notes |
| Jazwieck’s Golfette and Trainland | 1955 | 1994 | unknown | Everett, Washington | Attraction at a mall, built using ex-mining equipment. |

## Similar gauges

A number of 700 mm (2 ft 3+9⁄16 in) gauge railways existed in Latvia, the Netherlands and Romania and several there were Cuban sugar cane railways.
Other British railways of similar, but not identical, gauge were:
* Snailbeach District Railways, 2 ft 4 in (711 mm) gauge
* Welbeck Colliery, Nottinghamshire, 2 ft 4 in (711 mm) gauge, which closed in 2010.
* Glyn Valley Tramway, 2 ft 4+1⁄2 in (724 mm) gauge